Hiltermann believes the Kurds are seeking control of the region's oil fields

Kirkuk is a centre of tensions among Arabs, Turkomen and Kurds who want to include the area in the autonomous Kurdish region of the north.

The province that had been viewed by many as a model for the rest of the country may be turning into the next hotbed of sectarian violence.

On Wednesday's Riz Khan we will talk to Joost Hiltermann, the Middle East project director at the International Crisis Group and author of A Poisonous Affair: America, Iraq and the Gassing of Halabja.

Hiltermann believes that the Kurds are seeking, among other things, to secure control over the management of oil fields in the Kurdish region and, perhaps most importantly, control of oil-rich Kirkuk and other areas with Kurdish populations that currently fall outside the Kurdish region. He says their agenda is now tearing up Iraq, directly contrary to the stated US objective of preserving the country's territorial unity.

Watch this episode of Riz Khan here:

Watch this episode of Riz Khan Street Talk here:

To contact us click on 'Send your feedback' at the top of the page

Watch Al Jazeera English programmes on YouTube