Iraq wil go to the polls in January 2010 but an election law remains controversial.

The oil-rich city of Kirkuk in the north is at the heart of the debate. Kurds consider Kirkuk a Kurdish city and want it to be part of their self-ruled region in northern Iraq.

Arabs and Turkmen vehemently disagree. They want control to be with the central government in Baghdad and some accuse Kurds of deliberately changing demographics in their favour. The new law benefits the Kurdish community.

Al Jazeera's Mosab Jasim reports.