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

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inaliy-j)iut Of the existing àùtonQ.;
mous region of Kurdistan, at a later
stage of the talks. >
Mr. Jalabani said the Kurds had
failed to bring down the central
government and the central gov-
Kurds Declare
.
Iraq
. 'ernment had failed to crush the
Will Grant Autonomy ,~:~::''k'f:~l.':y: ..
International Herald Tribune April25, 1991
. Compiled by Our Staff From Dispatches
BAGHDAD - A Kurdish rebelleader, Jalal Talabani,
announced an agreement in principle on Wednesday with
. President Saddam Hussein onassuring autonomy for
Kurds in Ira9.
Mr. Talabani appealed to hundreds of thousands of
Kurds who had fled toward Iran and Turkey to return to
. their homes in northern Iraq. The Kurdish exodus followeda
failed uplising against the Iraqi government.
"As a principle I can say yes," he told a news conferenèe
. when asked if heand other Kurdish representatives had
reached agreement in negotiations with Mr. Hussein.
. "We Î1eëd to have another round of negotiations for
details to implement it," he said.
Mr. Talabani said the next stage of talks would begin
. after celebrations of Mr. Hussein's 54th birthday, which is
. on Sunday. Mr..Talabani was wearing Kurdish national
. dress and was seated under a portrait of Mr. Hussein.
The Kurdish leader said the ne'Y pact was based on a
. 1970 arrangement that granted the 3.5 million Kurds
autonomy in Iraqi Kurdistan. Kurdish leaders say the
Baghdad government failed to keep its part of that bargain.
.
"The final agreement wi\I be signed by Masoud Barzani,"
Mr. Talabani said, referring to the leader of the
Kurdistan Democratic Party, one of the main Kurdish
groups waging a guerrilla campaign against the central
government.
Mr. Talabani's announcement, at a news conference
attended by the Iraqi information minister, Hamid Youssef
Hummadi, came at the end of five days of talks with
senior Iraqi officials. Mr. Talabani led a delegation to
Baghdad at the invitation of the government.
Appealing to Kurds who fled their homes after the
collapse of their revolt this month, Mr. Talabani said:
"We want to stay in Iraqi Kurdistan, not leave it."
He said the rebelleaders had received promises from
Mr. Hussein.and others "that all Iraqi Kurds will be safe."
"We think that democracy wi\I be the main guarantee
for the national Kurdish objective," Mr. Jalabani said,
suggesting future political changes in Iraq.
. . " ,'. Earlier, a statement Dy the Iraqi
Mr. Talabaru smd he eXPl:C?teda Kurdish role In the press agency INA said Mr. Hussein
central government of Iraq WIth a gove~ent reshuffle, and Izzat Ibrahim, vice chairman
.' once agree~ent has been reached .. He ~d he favored. of the Revolutionary Command
better r~latlOnsbetween I~q and Syna, which acts now as; Council, had met with Mr. Talathe
mmn base. for Kurdish rebel I~ders. i .bani, of the Patriotic Union for
Mr. Talabanl, who met Mr. HusseIn for more than an. Kurdistan and three other leaders.
h~ur on ~ednesc:!ay with ~resentativ~ of three of the::' On Wednesday night,'before Mr.
eIgh~ m~ Kurdish çr~ups In Iraq, smd he found the Talabani's announcement, Iraqi
presIdent m good spmts. television showed Mr. Hussein
In response to a ql!~tion about the presence of U.~. 'meeting with the four Kurdish
troops who are proVIding safety zones for refug~ In' leaders and kissing eachof them on
northern Iraq, the Kurdish leader said that once a fmal' both cheeks. It was the first official
agreement had been reached, all foreign forces should indication that the talks might have,
leave Iraq. '. succeeded. .
"We prefer to have United Nations forces, but until we ;In addition to Mr. Talabani,
have it, are not against the presence of other forces to . ; KUrdishrepresentatives at the talks
safeguard the refugees," he said. . . : were Sami Abdul Rahman of the
Mr. Talabani said the two sideS would dISCUSSthe Kurdistan Democratic People's.
question of the oil-producing center of Kirkuk, not for- Party, Rasoul Mamend of the 80-:
............. " .. '.' ..... cialist Party, and NechiivanBara-'
zanchi, nephew of Mr. Barzani. .
. (Reulers. NYT)
British Marines Move Into KurdishBorder Town'
By Blaine Harden
Washington Post Service
ZAKHO, Iraq - British Marines who just spent six
months patrolling the streets of Northern Ireland were
deployed Wednesday inside this border town in the Kurdish
safe zone with orders to enforce a U.S. military
demand that Iraqi. police leave the area.
Riding in U.S. troop trucks, 640 Royal Marinesrolled
into this nearly abandoned town in the early afternoon.
They quickly surrounded Zakho's tallest building, a grain
silo, and clamored to the roof of an unfinished office'
building on the other end of town.
A British Marine officer said his men would probably
be patrolling the streets of Zakho by Thursday.
Captain Jeff Mason, the commander of a British Ma-
would report her to the police if
..they could hear her. '
.' About 200 police arrived Sunday
as part of an apparent attempt by
the government of Saddam Hus-
But the haven plan also calls for tens of thousands of -sein to harass the Kurds and test
people from Zakho, a town that had a population ofabout 'the resolve of the allied task force.
50,000 before t~e failed Kurdish rebellion last month, to : They came in just as Iraqi soldiers
go back to theIr houses.;were complying with an American .
The newly arrived Iraqi police, roaming the streets at or~er to move 39 kilo~eters (24
wi\I, glaring at locals who speak to foreigners and report- miles) south of the Turkish border.
edIy breaking into many houses, have ~pered U.S.' Captain Mason said Wednesday
efforts to persuade the Kurds tlIat Zakho IS safe." he had been told. that the Ameri-
"The residents of Zakho now in the Turkish mountains cans had given the Iraqi police 48
wi\I never come here if there are police," a teacher at a •hours to leave. But the U.S: miliprimary
school said. "They wi\I never come back. TheY.ar,e tary .here ~n 'Y~nesday dId not
so afraid." . "speclfya Ume limit on the order.
Th t h s oke in a whisper saym"g hèi- colleagues ' A Pentagon sp