"There is no pressure on anyone to leave Kirkuk, but some Arabs, who we also consider as victims of the former regime, decided to go back to their original cities. It was their decision. Also, some of the Kurds and Turkmen who were deported from Kirkuk came back."
Kirkuk has been under the spotlight as a city that could potentially spark a civil war because it sits on top of the countries richest oil fields. The city is ethnically diverse with a make up three dominant groups - Kurds, Arabs and Turkmen.
Under Saddan Hussein's rule many Kurds were ushered out of the city - sometimes killed by the regime in a heartless fashion, as part of Saddam's campaign of "Arabisation". Mass graves have been found in Iraq recently showing dead proof that this persecution took place in large numbers. Other displaced Kurds have since returned to the city.
Human rights groups say hundreds of Arabs and Turkmen were driven out at the same time, but it is difficult to be exact on numbers.
It is no secret that Kurds would like to make Kirkuk the capital of what they call Kurdistan - a Kurdish region on Iraq. Now the governor is Kurdish, however, the post of deputy remains open.
Fattah told Reuters that, "everything about Kirkuk future is determined in the interim constitution, which all Iraq's players signed. "There may be differences on Kirkuk's political views and its future," said Fattah. "But we have the law, it is clear, and it says that Article 58 should be implemented to return things the way they were before ... the regime."
"Everyone agrees on the naturalisation of Kirkuk. There is a law and everyone agreed on it."
