"Media reports as well as eyewitness accounts from Human Rights Watch indicate widespread intimidation and displacement in and around the city of Kirkuk and in other areas," said a statement issued by Annan's spokesman.

"The secretary-general is concerned that unless the security vacuum that now exists is quickly addressed, there is a very real prospect of population displacement in Iraq," it noted.

Annan appealed to all concerned to respect fundamental human rights principles, including the right to live free from intimidation and forced expulsion.

It is reported that after the US and Kurdish forces seized Kirkuk, Mosul and other areas in northern Iraq, Kurds launched a wave of reprisal attacks against local Arabs, looting their properties and taking over their houses.

(Xinhua News Agency April 17, 2003)