Iraq conflict: Kurds 'seize oil fields' in north

Iraqi Kurds have taken over two oil fields, Iraq's oil ministry says, amid a growing dispute with the government in Baghdad.

Kurdish peshmerga forces seized control of production facilities at Bai Hassan and the Kirkuk oil fields, in the north of Iraq, on Friday, the ministry adds.

Kurdish MPs have also withdrawn from Iraq's central government.

They did so after Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki accused the Kurds of harbouring extremists.

Kurdish forces have moved into areas of

north-western Iraq abandoned by the Iraqi army during the advance of Islamist insurgents led by the Isis (Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant) group over the past month.

In a statement on Friday, the Iraqi oil ministry condemned the seizure of oil refineries, adding that they expected Kurdish fighters to "support security forces in confronting terrorist groups rather than using the conditions to raid and occupy oil fields".

Kurdish officials have not yet commented on the allegations.

Tensions came to a head when Prime Minister Maliki said on Wednesday that the Kurdish provincial capital Irbil was a haven for Isis fighters.

Soon after, a spokesman for Kurdish leader Massoud Barzani said Mr Maliki "had become hysterical" and urged him to step down.

Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshiyar Zebari, who is himself a Kurdish politician, told Reuters news agency on Friday that the Kurdish political bloc had suspended all day-to-day government business after Mr Maliki's remarks.

He said the country risked division if an inclusive government was not formed soon, adding: "The country is now divided literally into three states - Kurdish, a black state [Isis] and Baghdad."

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