US Defense Secretary offers help in Kurd-Arab dispute

US Defense Secretary Robert Gates has visited the semi-autonomous Kurdish region in Iraq as part of his tour of Iraq.

U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates, right, shakes hands with Kurdish regional President Massoud Barzani in Irbil, Iraq, 350 kilometers  (217 miles) north of Baghdad, Wednesday, July 29, 2009. U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates visited the semiautonomous Kurdish region Wednesday during a brief trip to Iraq that has included meetings with political leaders who are feuding with Kurdish leaders over the borders of the oil-rich Kurdish lands. (AP Photo/Jim Watson, Pool)

During a meeting with Kurdish officials on Tuesday, Gates said the US was ready to help resolve oil and border disputes in the Kurdish region.

The Kurds have been locked in a dispute with Baghdad over control of oil resources and contested territory in northern Iraq, Particularly in the flash-point city of Kirkuk. The disagreements have stalled a national oil law that is considered vital to encouraging foreign investment.

US officials are warning that Arab-Kurdish tensions could erupt into a new front in the Iraq conflict, and jeopardize security gains elsewhere.