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Monday February 28, 02:41 PM Syrian Kurds captured Saddam's brother BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Syrian Kurds seized Saddam Hussein's half-brother in northeast Syria and handed him to Iraqi Kurds before he was taken into custody by Iraq's security forces, government sources in Baghdad say. Sabawi Ibrahim, a former spy chief and senior adviser to Saddam, was captured in the Syrian town of Hasakah, about 50 km (30 miles) from the Iraqi border, the sources said on Monday. Iraq's government announced his capture on Sunday but did not say when, where or how he was caught. It is unlikely that Syrian Kurds,...

If Kurds are not free, Tayyip Erdogan will not be free either… 07 February 2005 KurdishMedia.com (Translated) By: Ahmet Altan It seems as if it is very difficult for Turks to understand that they are not the only race on the face of the earth and that they do not hold the divine power to decide how life evolves. Since they are not interested in their own recent past, they are not aware of where this chain of “unreasonable decisions” is dragging this country. If they just read what was being said here before the Balkan war, maybe they could...

Recep Tayyip Erdogan is alone in his concerns about Iraq 07 February 2005 KurdishMedia.com - By Rauf Naqishbendi AFP stated (1 Feb 05): "Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan hit out at the United States on Tuesday for failing to rein in Kurdish moves in northern Iraq which he said could throw the entire region into turmoil." Since Iraq’s liberation, Mr. Erdogan continues to make threats against Iraq’s Kurdish and against the United States. Surely Mr. Erdogan recognizes that his threats do not carry any weight in the international community, for Turkey’s power is quickly becoming a relic of the...

As Iraqis celebrate, the Kurds hesitate 02 February 2005 The New York Times - By Peter W. Galbraith Erbil, Iraq — Of all the remarkable things that happened at the Iraqi polls on Sunday, perhaps the most striking was pulled off by the Kurdish independence movement. With almost no advance notice, hundreds of Kurds erected tents at official polling places in Iraq’s Kurdish areas and asked those emerging from the ballot booths to take part in an informal referendum on whether Kurdistan should be independent or part of Iraq. From what I saw, almost everyone stopped to vote in the...

Kurds lay out conditions for staying Iraqi 25/01/2005 AFP SULAIMANIYAH, Iraq, Jan 25 (AFP) - 16h15 - Iraq’s Kurds are not actively seeking independence but will be unable to remain Iraqis if the Baghdad government fails to observe their key demands, a top Kurdish official has warned. "There are three red lines for us... If they are crossed, we will no longer be Iraqis," Noshirwan Mustafa, an aide of Patriotic Union of Kurdistanleader Jalal Talabani, told AFP in an interview. "If the Arabs do not accept the principle of federalism, we will no longer be Iraqis. If they insist on...

<p>It’s all in stark contrast to the rest of Iraq, where contestants are afraid to be identified, campaigning is underground and millions of voters are expected to steer clear of polls, either in protest or out of fear.</p> <p>"There’s a sense of gathering excitement among the Kurds over elections," said Barham Salih, Iraq’s deputy prime minister and one of the highest-ranking Kurds in the current government. "Our aspirations are very high. It’s an exciting moment in our history. This is the first time we Kurds have been allowed to take part in deciding the future of Iraq."</p>

Kurds fear renewed oppression by Arab-dominated government January 16, 2005 Sunday Herald By Seb Walker in Arbil As uncertainty grows in Iraq over the feasibility of holding elections in a country ravaged by violence, the mountainous Kurdish region in the north is one of the few areas where polling could be carried out in relative safety. In the Kurdish capital, Arbil, traffic wardens issue parking tickets, foreign businessmen relax in newly built hotels and gunfire is seldom heard. But while security conditions are favourable here, Kurds are reluctant to press ahead with polling while the rest of Iraq is in...

KurdistanObserver.com Of Arab Political Culture, the Kurds, and the Falsehood Called Iraq By: Dr. Sabah A. Salih January 7, 2005 It must be a symptom of Arab political culture’s utter disregard for civic responsibility and historical accuracy for so many of its members not to be able to get outside of their own heads regarding Halabja and the falsehood called Iraq. Every time confronted with intellectual honesty regarding a Middle Eastern issue it has a different opinion about, Arab political culture—from Assadism to Saddamis, Arabism to Naserism, along with its all-time backer, political Islam—is quick to respond with the usual...

“We did not expect to be bombed by friendly Americans” 08/01/2005 KurdishMedia.com Hewler-New York (KurdishMedia.com) 08 January 2005: Around 12:30 AM on 5 January 2005, in the first US military strike in Kurdish-controlled territory since the fall of Saddam Hussein’s regime, an American helicopter fired two rockets at the electricity generator on the roof of the Khairallah Abdul-Karim dormitories of the University of Salahaddin and another rocket at the roof of a car garage next to the dormitory. The generator and tank next to it caught fire, and, as a result, seven dormitory rooms were burned and nine students were...

DIYANAH, Iraq -- The sun has not yet touched the snowy peak of Korek, the 6,943-foot mountain that towers over Forward Operating Base Round Top. But already, Staff Sgt. Steve Bond is up preparing breakfast for his Charlie Company platoon. "It's beautiful, isn't it?" says Bond, who has been here nearly seven months and still starts each day in awe of the postcard-perfect scenery -- unlike anything he'd see back home in Waterford. "I haven't minded this one bit." Nor have the people in this northeast corner of Iraq minded having Bond and his comrades from the Maine Army National...

Kurds drift toward autonomy, away from Iraq's daily violence By Richard A. Oppel Jr. NEW YORK TIMES NEWS SERVICE January 1, 2005 IRBIL, Iraq – Even at night, on a busy thoroughfare in this Kurdish city, the sedan is an easy mark for the Kalashnikov-toting police at the checkpoint. It has Baghdad license plates and, more alarmingly, Arabs in the front seat. "What are you doing here?" the police demand, motioning the car to the side. It was a routine exchange, but one that reveals how far Irbil and the entire Kurdish region have drifted from the rest of Iraq...

The EU has negated its democratic principles in considering Turkey`s candidacy 25/12/2004 The Kurdistan Democratic Alliance Press release - 24 December 2004 Kurdistan Democratic Alliance, as a Kurdistan-wide organisation, eagerly followed the recent process about Turkey’s candidacy to the EU membership. While many European governments took a position based mainly on economic gains and losses, the basic human rights of the Kurds, Armenians and Assyrio-Chaldeans were again marginalised and ignored in the process of considering Turkey’s candidacy. As Kurds, our main concern is about the systematic annihilation of the existence of our people in northern Kurdistan (currently within borders of...

Kurdish Christians await Christmas with excitement and trepidation 24/12/2004 AFP ARBIL, Iraq, Dec 24 (AFP) - 6h13 - Christians in Iraqi Kurdistan are preparing for Christmas with a mixture of excitement and trepidation, with the continued violence meaning they cannot even drop their guard for the festive season. "We are scared that a terrorist dressed as Santa Claus might find his way to some kids and blow himself up. Yet, we believe the Lord will protect us," says Amal Franscis in the largely Christian Kurdish town of Ain Kawa. Although Kurdistan is relatively immune from the violence across Iraq, local...

Kurds: Bombers are militant splinter group 24/12/2004 Newsday - By Mohamad Bazzi IRBIL, Iraq -- The group that claimed responsibility for Tuesday’s attack on a U.S. military base in Mosul is an offshoot of a Kurdish militant group that pioneered the use of suicide bombings in Iraq, Kurd.ish security officials say. Ansar al-Sunna took credit for the apparent suicide bombing inside a dining tent on the U.S. base, which killed 22 people including 14 American service members. The group has absorbed members and leaders from Ansar al-Islam, a militant organization that fought a two-year civil war aimed at toppling secular...

Two American Army Captains Describe Their Experiences in Kurdistan Dec 24, 2004 By: CPT Justin Thomas, USAR CPT Kevin Curseaden, USAR Dr. Sabah Salih’s article, “Of Halabja, the Kurds, and American Politics” certainly struck a chord within us. His eloquent observations and arguments as to the disregard of Kurds and Kurdish identity by the international community are representative of the opinions we heard from the Hawramani Kurds from the first day of our arrival. It would become a conversation we learned by rote by the time we left Iraqi Kurdistan one year later. As U.S. Army Civil Affairs Officers, we...

Arab Nationalists Spread Hatred Against Kurds What happened in Kurdish Halabja? Source: Al-Jazzira By Mohammed al-Obaidi Dec 20, 2004 The truth of what happened in Halabja had always been hidden from the public, and many who knew exactly what happened in this Kurdish village in the second half of March 1988 disputed the western media coverage of the story. It is a fact that key Kurdish leaders aided by the CIA and the Israeli Mossad have used a wide network of public relations companies and media outlets in the west to manipulate and twist the truth of what happened in...

KurdistanObserver.com The Halabja- Falluja Paradox By: Dr. Nazhad Khasraw Hawramany Dec 1, 2004 For an uninformed outsider the names of cities like Halabja and Falluja might be just exotic names for foreign cities like many similar other names all over this planet. For us Kurdistanis and Iraqis, these names have very deep and different meanings, because we are acquainted with the events and stories attached to those cities. It simply tells the story of Kurds and Arabs in Iraq, the story of decades of suffering and genocide on one side and of human cruelty and disregard of human lives on...

Kurdistan Referendum Movement heads to the U.N. 21/12/2004 KurdishMedia.com New York (KurdishMedia.com) 21 December 2004: A non-partisan Kurdish delegation from North America, Europe and Kurdistan plans to meet with the United Nations officials in New York City on Wednesday, 22 December 2004, to deliver the more than two million signatures collected by Kurds, endorsing a call for a referendum on the future of South Kurdistan. The number of signatures collected by the Kurdistan Referendum Movement seemingly reflects the will of the majority of Kurds of voting age. The Kurdistan Referendum Movement cites its success in gathering these signatures as reflective...

Iraqi Kurds seek UN referendum 23/12/2004 TVNZ A group of Iraqi Kurds presented UN officials with a petition signed by 1.7 million Iraqis seeking a referendum on whether northern Iraq should be made an independent Kurdish state. "The Kurds under international protection have been exercising de facto independence in South Kurdistan (northern Iraq) for the last 13 years and they do not wish to be controlled by an Arab-dominated Iraq," the group said. Iraq’s Kurds are ethnically, culturally and philosophically distinct from Iraqi Arabs and "for the last 80 years have been subjected by the Iraqi Arab state to repression,...

Peace with security in Kurdistan 17 December 2004 KurdishMedia.com - By Azad Amedi It would be an understatement to say that the US plan for Iraq following the elimination of Saddam Hussein’s terror regime has proven to be flawed, if indeed such a plan ever existed. I was one of those who believed that Iraq, after decades of torture under the Ba’athist regime, would be peaceful and prosperous one year following regime change. I remember that in April 2003 a friend said to me, half-joking, that soon I would be working in Baghdad. As we all know, many parts of...