Also in the north, U.S. special forces discovered a large weapons cache just south of Kirkuk.
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Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice made a surprise visit to Kirkuk in northern Iraq today.
The giant Kirkuk oil field is pumping 500, 000 bpd, compared with 850, 000 before the war.
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With its massive oil reserves, Kirkuk is the most bitterly contested of Iraq's disputed territories.
The oil-rich Kirkuk, about 20 kilometers north of Baghdad, has been the scene of tensions recently.
As a token of good intent, they have agreed to start resettling Arabs from Kirkuk.
One from Kirkuk to Ceyhan, a Turkish port, could be expanded but with difficulty.
Earlier, Negroponte met with Arab representatives in Kirkuk to discuss a Kurdish-Arab dispute over the city's ethnic tensions.
Unlike Kurdistan, which is fairly peaceful, Kirkuk has become a hot spot for attacks by various Iraqi factions.
In addition, the battle for control of Kirkuk, a city in an oil-rich region, must still be resolved.
Since the 1950s, Iraqi regimes encouraged Arabs to settle in Kirkuk and other predominantly Kurdish and Turkmen areas.
The oil-rich Kirkuk, about 240 kilometers (150 miles) north of Baghdad, has been the scene of tensions recently.
Kirkuk is the most bitterly contested of Iraq's disputed territories, claimed by both the Kurdish region and Baghdad.
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The fourth, Baghdad, may have a Sunni majority, as may two of the next-most-violent provinces, Diala and Kirkuk.
Seventy-five miles from Bina Bawi runs Iraq's biggest export route, the Kirkuk-to-Ceyhan pipeline.
Oil was first discovered in Kirkuk in 1927 by the Turkish Petroleum Co.
Kirkuk is probably the most volatile city in Iraq because of its mix of politics and power and resources.
This launched a tense standoff with units of the Iraqi army, which had been deployed to areas near Kirkuk.
The helicopter crash occurred near Kirkuk, according to a U.S. military intelligence source.
Again, the Iraqis have been pulling back without much of a fight and consolidating their positions around Kirkuk and Mosul.
Kirkuk would be highly desirable for Kurds who wanted to include it into the autonomous Kurdish region in the north.
The dispute between Baghdad and the Kurds over Kirkuk has lasted more than 80 years and has often been violent.
Differences over the disputed oil-rich Kirkuk province have still not been settled, so it too has had to be left out.
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That's why Kirkuk now is gaining a lot of attention from the United States on the ground here in northern Iraq.
American special forces and Kurdish fighters closed in on Iraqi forces in the north, and entered the city of Kirkuk .
Kirkuk is also calm, despite the fact that the two rival Kurdish parties in control of it have appointed separate governors.
Thursday's push started northwest of Kirkuk in the town of Altun Kupri.
The cable says they're part of an effort by Kurdish political parties to exercise authority in Kirkuk in an increasingly provocative manner.
Mr. DIAMOND: Exactly, because of the likelihood that they will incorporate Kirkuk.
In particular, the Kurds want control of the oil-producing region of Kirkuk.
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