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| Axis of Evil |
| Iraqi Kurds patch up their differences... |
| 2002-07-30 |
| The two main Kurdish factions sharing control of northern Iraq are poised to seal an agreement on the implementation of contentious provisions in a 1998 US-brokered peace deal. The Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) of Massoud Barzani and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) led by Jalal Talabani are expected to announce Wednesday that they have agreed on "final formulas for resolving" the remaining issues in dispute, sources in the KDP stronghold of Arbil told AFP. They described Wednesday's meeting as the "most important" in a series of meetings officials of the two sides have held to discuss implementation of the deal signed in Washington four years ago. The Hawlati newspaper, published in PUK-controlled Sulaymaniyah, said on Monday that the two parties had agreed to hold elections for a new regional parliament within six to nine months, "conditions in the area permitting", and to allow each faction to reopen offices in the zone controlled by the other. The KDP and PUK often fought each other in the past for predominance in the Western-protected enclave in northern Iraq, which has been off-limits to the Baghdad government since the end of the 1991 Gulf War. I'd guess that conditions in the area should permit formation of a new regional parliament within the next six to nine months. Now maybe they can get going with setting up a "provisional government" for the U.S. to deal with. |
| Posted by:Fred Pruitt |