The sudden expulsion of families from a 20-mile border strip between the autonomous Kurdish north and the rest of Iraq has led to speculation that President Saddam Hussein is clearing a buffer zone to defend against a US invasion from the north. ``It seems like they're clearing a buffer zone,'' says Fawzi Hariri, a KDP spokesman. ``It may be a new method or strategy, and it could well be part of a military maneuver.'' The Mujahedeen Khalq denied that its fighters were stationed in northern Iraq or assisting Saddam's forces in any way. A spokesman for the group, Farid Soleimani,...