In the northern province of Irbil, part of the autonomous Kurdistan region, the Kurdish Alliance was ahead, officials said.

VOA: standard.2010.03.12

One of Turkey's largest trading partners is now the Kurdish Autonomous Region in the north of Iraq.

CNN: PKK calls for guns to be silent, how will Turkey respond?

The sect is due to vote later alongside other Kurds outside the Kurdish autonomous region in a referendum on joining the grouping.

BBC: NEWS | Middle East | Iraq bomb death toll reaches 250

It is the first time Iraq's semi-autonomous Kurdish region has officially exported oil out of the country.

CNN: Iraqi Kurds begin exporting oil