Kurd-Arab patrols rattle Kirkuk

KIRKUK - A newly deployed mix of Iraqi and Kurdish security forces embedded with U.S. troops in Kirkuk province is sparking controversy among local leaders in a row that is stirring the oil-rich city's ethnic and territorial tensions.

It was an idea first announced by the number one American military official in Iraq last year, aimed at forging some co-operation between bitter Iraqi and Kurdish troops in an area where such cohesion is needed most, where insurgents have been able to continue their efforts at destabilizing the restive parts of Kirkuk, Ninewa and Diyala provinces.