[timesarechangin]

SULAYMANIYAH, Iraq (AP) - Suspected Islamic militants gunned down three Kurdish leaders and three civilians in northeastern Iraq, a party military commander said Sunday.
The commander blamed the Ansar al-Islam organization for the Saturday night killing of Gen. Shawkat Haji Mushir, a leader with the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, which controls the eastern section of the Kurdish autonomous region of northeast Iraq.

Sheik Jaffar Mustafa, the party's military commander of the nearby town of Halabja, said the three attackers also killed Hekmat Osman, party security chief of the Sirwan district, and Sardar Qafoor, military commander of Sirwan.

Mustafa also said a man, a woman and a child were killed.

Mohamad Tawfiq, security chief of Halabja, was seriously injured, he said.

Ansar al-Islam has been at war with the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan for two years.

Mustafa said Mushir had been expecting to receive an Ansar defector at the house at about 10:20 p.m., when the attack occurred.

Instead of defecting, the Ansar member and two other Ansar men opened fire with Kalashnikov rifles and tossed grenades.

AP-ES-02-09-03 0408EST

[Cathryn Mataga]

Interesting. Yeah, my understanding is that there are a lot of radical Islamic fundamentalists in the Kurdish areas. So, that's another reason why the US won't support a Kurdish state. I think that's what this is all about.

Still, this could be Yugoslavia all over again -- and maybe independent Kurdish state will be unstopable. That's what I wonder.