title: Iraqi parliament 'has no right' to remove Kirkuk's governor: senior Kurdish official
text: ERBIL, Iraq (Reuters) - Iraq s parliament  has no right  to remove Kirkuk s governor from office, a senior Kurdish official said on Thursday, after parliament voted him out following a request by Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi.  He is an elected governor of the council of Kirkuk,  said Hoshyar Zebari, a close adviser to Kurdish President Massoud Barzani.  That is the only body that can remove him.  The decision to remove the governor, Najmaddin Kareem, comes after Kirkuk - an oil-rich province claimed by both the central government in Baghdad and the autonomous Kurdish region in northern Iraq - voted to take part in a referendum set for Sept. 25 on Kurdish independence.     