Exode (des Kurdes d'Irak) - Institut kurde de Paris

REVUE DE PRESSE-PRESS REVIEW-BERHEVOKA ÇAPÈ-RlVISfA STAMPA-DENTRO DE LA PRENSA-BASlN ÖZETi
Rebels Seek to.Shield All Iraqi I{urdistan
By William Drozdiak cale five kiJometers(three nùles) Shaklawa about 100, kilometers
Washing/on POSI Service from Iran. away, said the protection zone es-
HAJ OMRAN, Iraq - A Kurd- Mr. Barzani said negotiations tablished by American, French and
ish resistance leader said Monday with the Baghdad government to Brilish Iroops was a "positive de-
'thai he would seek 10 exlend an establish a durable, political settle- velopmentthal should be extended
international zone of protection to ment were proceeding on the basis to all of Kurdistan."
all of Iraqi Kurdistan as part of any of the March 1970 agreement that He said this step was necessary
, peace agreement with the Baghdad
government.
promised Kurdish autonomy.
Thal accord, which called for
because the Kurdish people "no
longer have any confidence" in !"Ir.
Masoud Barzani. the head of the free elections and power sharing to Hussein's word after chemical
, Kurdish DemOCratic Party and one create a democratic and decentral- 'weapons attacks in 1988 and the
of the two top Kurdish leaders in ized government in Iraq, fell aparl lalest wave of repression, which
Iraq, said thatlasting international in 1974 when the Kurds spumed generated one of the most massive
,guarantees were necessary "to put a the proposal. exoduses in history.
stop to massacres and the At the time the United States Mr. Barzani did not call for Mr.
scorched-earth policies" of the was encouraging Kurdish intransi- Hussein's removal as a condition to
,Iraqi I?resident, Saddam H;ussein. gence by funneling arms to aid .!lccept a deal for autonomy with
Since Mr. Hussein launcheJ hiS their rebellion against Mr. HU$sein, Baghdad. But many refugees have
' brutal reprisals agairist the Kurds' But the arms now was soon cut off 'd h Id h I 'f
when the shah of Iran reached an Sa.J t ey wou return orne on YI
insurgency,lhree weeks ago, ,Mr. ~oreemenl sellling a border dispute they were sure that the Iraqi dicta-
,Barzani said, n~arly 3 million ..... lor would not rema!'n J'npower
"Kurds have ned. seeking refuge in w,'th Iraq and the Unl'ted, States A d' , .'II
sought better relations wilh the So- ccor mg 10 a semor guem a
"Turke v and Iran. d "s dd ' b k h
Jo viet Union. cornman er, a am s ac as
, He said that all major cities in been broken" by the Gulf war,'and
Kurdistan had been evacuated, but Mr. Barzani said the current his presence "no longer really mat-
,that as many as 100,000 Kurds now talks in Baghdad had yielded "no ters."
were beginning to return to areas results yet." Negotiations were be. The commander said Kurdish
inside Iraq that were controlled by ing conducted for the Kurds by Mr. forces had expanded their grip over
Kurdish guerrillas. Barzani's son, Noshirwan, as well
Mr. Barzani made his comments as JaIaI Talabani, head of the the coun,tryside and now controlled
Kurdish Patriotic Um'on, and other more than haU of the territory in
in an hourlong conversation with IraqI' Kurdistan
Danielle Mitterrand, wife 0f Presi- leaders. Iraq l'S represented by l''''~t ' ....
.
,dent Françots
. M'
Itterran
d f Ibrahim, Mr. Hussein's second-in- Although Iraqi government
0 ill d' h I
France, and four journalists who command on the ruling Revolu- troops st orronatet e arger
'ed h hi l 'I tionary Council. towns of Arbil and D'hok, as well
accomparu ,er,to t s raql 0-, h 'I f' Id Kirk k h
Kurdish guerrilla leaders say as t e 01 Ie s near u , t e
, they now control three times the guerrilla commander said his forces
territory that they did in 1970 and were capable of seizing several of
, feel strong enough to conclude a the large towns within a week if the
,"settlement now that would satisfy present cease-fire should collapse.
most of their terms. Mr. Barzani, The Kurdish guerrillas say they
who carne to the mountainside en- captured many heavy mortar and
counter from his stron~old of" artillery pieces in recent fighting
with the Iraqi government troops
and have consolidated enough ar.
eas under their own control so that
they are now encouraging former
residents to return and begin rebuilding.
With an estimated 4,000 villages
destroyed by Mr. Hussein's systematic
repression, Mr. Barzani said,
he believes that international guarantees,
such as enlarging the pro- ,
teelion zone under United Nations
supervision if necessary. could
solve the refugee crisis, whicb is
placing enormous hurdens on Iran
and Turkey,
Mr. BarzanJ salJ lhal 1.5million.
Kurds were now in Iran and that
800.000 had sought refuge in Tur- '
key. He said that he wanted 10 see
all Kurdish refugees relurn home
quickly but Ihat lhis could be accomplished
only through a political
settlement backed by international
guarantees.
At the frontier èrossing near Piranshahr,
a caravan of cars bearing
Kurdish families stretched into the
distance. Many of them said they
had been living ill their cars for
more Ihan a week.
Iran has been reluctant to allow
passage, citing security concerns
and the overtaxC;d facilities in the
Iranian villages. ,
The wretched conditions in the
camps, perhaps more than the
prospect of a poli tical settlemen t;
have compelled many of the refugees
to begin making the return
journey through the clogged mountain
pass at the frontier.
Tuesday, April 23, 1991
THE CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR
IH'ÎElIHATlOHAL
RELIEF
Governments, Citizens AidKurds
Despite response, aid organizations warn generosity is proportional to mediaco~ero:~e
-
By Eiizabeth A. BrOWll
Staff wriler al The Chrislian Science Manilar
'"P
BOSTON
HONES are ringing and
, checks are being signed as
. Americans dig into their
{pockets to help the Kurdish refu-
,gees fleeing Iraq.
- ,A plethora of nonprofit
organizations have formed a network
to send money, volunteers,
and supplies - blankets, food, and
sanitation equipment- to the millions
of Kurdish refugees _and"
306
'öthèrlJeoples displaced in the Nor are theré tofàl dollar 6g- '
wake of the Gulf war. . ures yet for what supplies are
At the nexus of the network IS needed and what has been raised.
~nte~Ac~ion,~n association of h~- But so far, say most organiza-
',mamt.anan aId groups bas~d I!l tions polled, the initial response
'Wash~ngt?n, D.C. InterActIon IS .from the American public has
coordmatII?-gthe effort tensure been swift and generous.
tha~ supplIes and donatIons a~e, "The phones have not stopped
aBpropnately, and evenly dIS-;' ringing - from individual citizens
tnb.uted. .. ';as well as from' foundations
:-: Most ?f. th~ relief organiza-. ,groups, people wanting to b~
:~lOnsay It ISstIll.too early to t~ll', :helpful," saysHarold Fleming, se-
If long-term publIc response WIll ,nior program funding officer at
be stronger for this crisis than for UNICEF in New York. ,
such fund-raising emergencies as ,;.:TheU,nited Nations dtildren's
the Armenian and San Francisco" agency has'gathered some $6 riiil~-',
,~arthguakes and for famine relief lion for refugee aid from goveiTImAfqca.ments
around the world and