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The top American civilian administrator for Iraq met today in northern Iraq with the two main Kurdish leaders and called for a new Iraqi government to be a "mosaic," fairly representing all Iraqis. The official, Jay Garner, a retired Army lieutenant general, received a notably warmer greeting in the north than he had the day before in Baghdad, with cheers, hugs and a shower of flower petals reflecting his efforts in the early 1990's to help create the thriving Kurdish autonomous area of northeastern Iraq. "The new government of Iraq will have one leader, one army, one government," General Garner...

Americans accused of turning blind eye to killings by Kurds By Kim Sengupta in Kirkuk 23 April 2003 A bitter conflict is unfolding in northern Iraq between two minority communities, with the Americans accused of turning a blind eye to killings and ethnic cleansing. The Kurds, the victims of oppression by Saddam Hussein and previous regimes in Baghdad, are being blamed for a violent campaign of intimidation against the Turkoman population. Organisations representing the Turkomans say they want British and European troops to protect them because the Americans are acquiescing in what is taking place. Kirkuk, a city with a...

JAY GARNER, the retired US general appointed to run postwar Iraq, received a hero’s welcome yesterday when he returned to the region where he is fêted for helping to create a save haven for Kurds after the first Gulf War. Crowds of students cheered the 65-year-old head of the Pentagon’s Office of Reconstruction and Humanitarian Assistance for Iraq as he arrived in Sulaimaniyah, providing a stark contrast with his reception in Baghdad a day earlier. But even as Kurds assured General Garner that they wanted autonomy within Iraq, and he in turn praised the 12-year Kurdish experiment with democracy as...

The retired US general charged with forming an interim administration in Iraq has arrived in the north of the country on the second day of a tour around the country. Jay Garner received a rapturous welcome from crowds in Sulaymaniyah - in contrast to a lukewarm reception in Baghdad on Monday. He was sprinkled with flower petals and some people's eyes filled with tears of emotion as he walked through the streets, reports our correspondent in the city, Clare Marshall. Mr Garner is remembered in Kurdish-controlled northern Iraq as the man who, 12 years ago, set up a safe haven...

In a monumental first meeting, Iraqi diplomats and exiles—and the U.S. military—discuss democracy in the ancient city of Ur Iraqi exile Entifada Qanbar is a pretty tough guy. He fought in the Iran-Iraq War for five years. He was arrested by Saddam Hussein’s abusive secret police. Eleven of his close friends were executed. He escaped Iraq in 1990 and hadn’t been back—until yesterday. TUESDAY AFTERNOON, when we landed at Tallil Air Base in Iraq, the 44-year-old couldn’t keep from crying. “It’s a great thing. A dream that came through,” he said. “This is something I dedicated all my life for.”...

Kirkuk is liberated from Saddam's rule, but old ethnic tensions threaten to engulf it in new horrors, writes Ed O'Loughlin. Nobody knows how many people live in Kirkuk. The size of the population and its ethnic breakdown are so sensitive that every census since 1957 has been rigged or suppressed. Three races claim this town as their own - Arab, Turkoman and Kurd - and the oil fields on its fringe make it a prize worth having. Each of the three is armed, each is frightened of the others, and each believes it can call on outside forces. Don't let...

REBUILDING PLAN AGREED Free Iraqis have drawn up a 13-point plan to rebuild their country following the collapse of Saddam Hussein's regime. The plan was agreed at US-hosted talks at Ur, the birthplace of the biblical prophet Abraham. The delegates also voted to meet again in 10 days' time. In a statement they said a future Iraqi government must be democratic, no leader must be imposed from outside, and the Baath party must be dissolved. As the meeting began, hundreds marched through the streets of nearby Nasiriyah protesting about US involvement in their country's future. They were concerned that the...

KADEK is the new name of PKK. This is a Kurdish terrorist organization, listed as such by the US DoS. This organization has ties to the leaders of the PUK nad the KDP in northern Irak. Turkey has been exposed to terrorism for years that has never been experienced before in any country. This terrorism has shown itself in various forms. Unfortunately, in the end thousands of our innocent people have lost their lives (approx 36000), thousands of people have become disabled, and economic loss worth of millions (that's really billions) of dollars has been realized. Foreword Part 1 -...

The General Staff of Turkey has given the Turkish Armed Forces the "operation pre-start" command, which is the highest level of alert preceding the "operation start." All leaves were canceled. Commanders were asked to do one last inspection of their groups and report. Starting today, border troops will operate on a 24 hour basis. Commanders will not be able to leave their posts. All personell and their equipment will remain at a 24 hour level of readiness. If Talabani won't leave, we'll enter with the Turks Following the entry of Talabani's PUK forces into the city of Kirkuk, the KDP...

Kurdish troops say take northern Iraq town Domiz DOMIZ, Iraq, April 5 (Reuters) - Kurdish peshmerga militia fighters said they captured the town of Domiz in northern Iraq on Saturday after a firefight with defending Iraqi troops. A Kurdistan Democratic Party military official told Reuters the battle followed a reconnaissance mission by Kurds investigating the town they thought was abandoned by Iraqi troops. "A team went there on a reconnaissance mission but the other side started firing. Before we knew it, we had captured the whole place," a KDP military official said. "It was their fault. They shouldn't have started...

KARNE, Iraq (Reuters) - Iraqi Kurdish officials on Friday accused Turkey of repeated shelling over the border into Iraq (news - web sites), a charge Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul denied. The charges came as the United States works to defuse tension and deep mistrust between Turkey and the Kurdish groups that run northern Iraq. Secretary of State Colin Powell (news - web sites) visited Turkey on Wednesday and said U.S. forces in northern Iraq had stabilized the region, leaving no reason for Turkey to move in. Faysal Rostaki, a senior officer for the Iraqi Kurdish "peshmerga" force in northern...

KANILAN, Iraq - A U.S. airborne brigade in northern Iraq is preparing to move south toward a ridge of hills northeast of Baghdad, backed by U.S. air power, special operations forces and tens of thousands of Iraqi Kurdish guerrillas, according to U.S. and opposition officials. Some of the 173rd Airborne Brigade's combat forces left their base in the north Wednesday on armed patrols to probe for Iraqi forces in the direction of the oil-rich northern cities of Kirkuk and Mosul. Another battalion was expected to do the same soon. But the officials said the withdrawal of Iraqi Republican Guard...

THE most powerful Kurdish militant group has threatened to resume its war with Turkey, should Ankara’s Armed Forces enter northern Iraq. “We will undertake military actions throughout Turkey, in the countryside and cities, on military, economic and bureaucratic targets,” said Othman Ocalan, 47, a commander of Kadek, the Kurdistan Freedom and Democracy Congress, formerly known as the PKK. A bear-like figure who said that he possessed nothing but the uniform in which he stood and a .38 Smith & Wesson seized from a dead Turkish commando officer, Mr Ocalan was speaking in his Qandil Mountain stronghold in Iraq. The younger...

ARBIL, Iraq (Reuters) - Iraq (news - web sites)'s Kurds are not bothered by reports of a buildup of Turkish troops on the border of their self-governing region, but a Kurdish leader urged them on Saturday not to enter Iraq. Hundreds of Turkish army vehicles moved toward the Iraqi border area on Friday, amid increased military activity that the armed forces have described as security precautions. "We have noticed reports of troop movements and deployments inside Turkish territory. We are not concerned," said Massoud Barzani, head of the Kurdish Democratic Party, which runs the northern Iraqi provinces of Arbil and...

Massoud Barezani, the head of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) in northern Iraq, was due to arrive here Saturday night to discuss Iraq's future with Iranian officials as well as heads of the Supreme Council of the Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI), an informed source here said. The visit takes place right on the heels of Barezani's recent visit to Kuwait where he met with the head of SCRIRI, Ayatollah Mohammad Baqir al-Hakim. The two stressed on the ouster of Saddam Hussein and election of a new leader accepted by all Iraqi groups. Political pundits have not ruled out rival...

On August 3rd, 2002 at 11 a.m. while Dr. Aydin Beyatli member of the Executive Council of the Iraqi Turkmen Front, along with three professors from Turkey where visiting the Turkmen Cultural Center in Erbil, over a hundred Peshmergas from the KDP Sulaimanieh Division attacked the building with machines guns, under the pretext of arresting a Turkmen citizen who took refuge in the building. The attack caused fear and panic among the women and children who were in the building. With the arrival of the Turkmen Defence Militias, the incident was prevented from getting worse. The ITF officials protested this...