Kurdistan Observer

Iraqi constitution appear likely to enshrine Islam as the main basis of law in the country - a stronger role than the United States had hoped for and fear will mean a more fundamentalist regime. Already, Shiite leaders in some southern cities have tried imposing Islamic-based rules, pressuring women to wear headscarves and forcing liquor stores and music shops to close. reported AP ----------------- A member of the Turkish paramilitary forces in Northern Kurdistany was killed early Sunday in clashes with Kurdish fighters. Another member of the so-called "village guardians" -- paramilitaries recruited by Ankara was wounded in the fighting in a mountainous region about 70 km north of Amed, AFP said.

• Iran Confiscating Minorities' Land Says UN Report

• Kurdish Rebels Confirm Turkish Mayor Kidnapped

• News Snapshot

"The Americans and the British are demanding that the constitution be done on time and we are asking the Americans and British to put pressure on the Kurds," said Maliki, a member of Jaafari's Dawa party. But Kurdish committee member Mahmoud Othman criticized U.S. officials for pressuring the Kurds. "If they want to interfere they should do it openly inside the committee. The American ambassador should ... come speak during our meetings. He should not speak to members on the side," Othman said. "It is a shame for a superpower to behave like this," reported AP

• Britain Plans On Opening Consulate In Irbil

• UN Calls on Syria To Stop Torture, Free Activists

• Kurds In Eastern Kurdistan Stage New Protest As Unrest Continues

• Irbil-Salahaddin Highway Curves Opened

• Three More People Arrested In Northern Kurdistan

July 30, 2005

• Two Turkish Soldiers Killed In Car Bomb Blast

• Kurds Demand Say Over Northern Oilfields

• Al-Daawa Official: Kurds Are Seeking Sweeping Central Powers

• Horrifying Evidence Of Mullahs' Rule Of Terror

July 29, 2005

• Kurds Soft-pedal On oil Share, Kurdistan-Iraq

• Woman Protestor Killed by Iran’s Security Forces In Kurdish Town

• Kurdish Rebels Take Mayor Hostage In Eastern Turkey

• Turkey Calls For US Action On Kurdish Guerrillas

• Iran Press Reports Kurdish Riots

July 27, 2005

• Barzani: The peshmergas Will Stay, There Is No Force That Will Be Able To Cancel Them

Massoud Barzani, President of Southern Kurdistan said Kurds would never dissolve their militias and repeated demands for the return of Kurds to Kirkuk area from which tens of thousands of them were expelled under Saddam Hussein. More

• Bush Invites Barzani To Washington

• Police Shoot Dead Two Demonstrators in Eastern Kurdistan

• Kurds Leave Their Homes In Mosul

July 26, 2005

• Syrian Regime Bans Meeting of Relatives of Kurdish Political Prisoners

• Kurdish lawmaker: Kurds are Ready To Begin a Civil Disobedience Movement

• Kurdish Canadian Remember Qassemlou

• The Constitution And The Kurds

July 25, 2005

• Mahabad Governor says 64 Kurds Arrested

• Freedom At Heart Of New Iraq, Says Talabani

July 24, 2005

• Four Kurds Jailed In Syria

• Demand of Kurds For Option To Secede Rejected

• Kurdish Rebels Ready To Release Kidnapped Turkish Soldier: Report

• Don't Pursue PKK Rebels in Iraq, Zebari Tells Turkey

July 23, 2005

• Barzani Adheres To Kirkuk's Belonging To Kurdistan Region

• News Snapshot

The PUK has officially requested Turkish Airlines (THY) to start flights to Sulaimani in Southern Kurdistan, Turkish media reported. PUK conveyed its bid of THY`s having direct flights between Istanbul-Sulaimani twice a week to Turkish (MFA) on Thursday. The international airport in Sulaimani has been opened to international flights just two days ago. ----------------- Kurdish rebels said Friday they had downed a Turkish helicopter in Hakkari province in Northern Kurdistan. "The helicopter, which was transporting personnel to the operation area, was destroyed together with the soldiers in it," reported AFP. The Turkish army, meanwhile, said four soldiers were injured, two of them seriously, when a Sikorsky helicopter operating in the same area "went out of control while landing as a result of an incident that occured in its tail section due to a yet undetermined cause, and sustained damage." ----------------- Turkmen have insisted on three issues to be included in the new Iraqi Constitution. They demand Turkmen to be accepted as the main component, the Turkmen language be accepted as the official language and Kirkuk)be given a special status. Turkmen said they will boycott the constitution if their demands are not fulfilled. July 22, 2005 • Kurdish City Mahabad Under De Facto Martial Law • Nechirvan Barzani Says No To Half-Baked Constitution • Baydemir: Kurdish Should Be Tauhgt At Common Schools • Kurds Wants US To Hand Over Private Guards in Kurdish Shooting • Kurdish Leaders Present Redrawn Map With Larger Kurdistan To Iraqi Assembly • Kurdish Airline Takes Flight As Kurdistani Airport Opens • Barzani Asserts Completion Of Constitution With Sunnis' Participation • Saddam Interrogated For Crimes Against Faylee Kurds • Turkish Official: Learning Kurdish In State Schools Is Out Of The Question • News Snapshot At a press conference last wek, Iraqi president Jalal Talabani - who is a Kurd - reaffirmed that the Kirkuk issue will not be resolved until after the constitution has been drafted. ----------------- Turkey, Iraq and the United States will hold a second security meeting next August in the American capital, Washington, it was said here on Thursday. Turkish Ihlas news agency cited security sources saying that the three-way meeting would discuss several security issues, focusing on Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) infiltration into Northern Kurdistan from Southern Kurdistan July 18, 2005 • U.S. Cautions Turkey Not To Pursue Kurds July 16, 2005 • Minibus Explosion in Turkey Leaves 5 Dead • News Snapshot The Delegation of the Unification Process (DUP) said that the unification of the two Kurdish administrations in Southern Kurdistan is almost a done deal. KDP's Masrur Bazrani and PUK's Kosrat Rasol told the media that points of view of both parties, KDP and PUK, concerning the unification of the two administrations, are almost similar and they have finished discussing the important points. They said that they want to establish a strong unified government and therefore they need to discuss every thing in detail. ----------------- Three US soldiers shot the convoy of a KDP official on his way to work in Irbil Thursday. Baiz Ismael, a member of the KDP’s 16th branch directorate, who was heading towards his directorate office in Shawais district (10 km north of Irbil), was shot by three US soldiers traveling in a vehicle. The attack resulted in wounding Ari Ismael, Baiz Ismail’s brother in the head. The reason behined this attack was no known yet, but the police forces have started investigations to find the reason, reported paymner July 15, 2005 • Erdogan Warns US Over PKK • Erdogan Warns Reuters And BBC Over PKK • News Snapshot Shops and businesses in the Kurdish city of Mahabad remained shut on Thursday in a protest of the killing of the Kurdish man, Shiwan Qadri by Iranian Islamic thugs, reported the Italian news agency AKI . Approximately 2000 people gathering in Mecbur Awa, held a-theere-hour demonstration with Kurdish flags, shouting against the current Iranian regime and carrying the pictures of Qadri. The demonstrators also kindled fires and condemned newly elected Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmedinejat with a harsh wording. ----------------- The new international airport in Sulaimani is due to be officially inaugurated next week by the prime minister of Iraqi Kurdistan. The airport's facilities have been adapted and improved to take both national and international flights and the first is due to touch down on Friday. Next week will see the first international flight land, from the Jordanian capital Amman, bringing with it the Iraqi planning minister Barham Saleh, who played a decisive role in bringing the airport project to fruition, reported the Italian news agency AKI. July 14, 2005 • Parliament to Be Formed in Southern Iraq, Kurdish Lawmaker: Deal With Kirkuk • Photos of Kurdish Man Killed by Iranian Islamic Thugs • Turkish Troops, Kurds Renew Regional War This month, the military launched another operation in the eastern province of Bingol. During the funeral for Ahmet Okur, a PKK commander killed during the operation, his father shed no tears but berated the Turkish government, whose soldiers pelted the funeral with tear gas. "I want peace and no more bloodshed," Haydar Okur was quoted in the Turkish press as saying. "But the state is still denying the Kurds their full rights." More

• Iran Security Forces Kill Youth At Point Blank, Drag Body In Town

• News Snapshot

The Arab League received Wednesday official Iraqi approval of a proposal by league Secretary-General Amr Moussa to help draft Iraq's constitution. In a letter, Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zibari welcomed the proposal to participate in Iraq's political process, Arab League sources told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa. In an interview with Sharq al Awsat, Kamaran Sa’ed, a member of the Iraqi permanent constitution drafting committee said that any text in the new constitution saying that Iraq is a part of the Arab nation will be rejected by the Kurdish representatives. Dr. Mahmod Othman made clear that the Kurds will not agree to an Administrative type of Federalism, and said that the Kurdistan Parliament has announced a Political Federalism for the Kurds since 1992. “The Kurds are a nation with their own distinct history, language, and culture, and therefore have the right to own Political Federalism, unlike the rest of Iraq, which can if it chooses to, have an administrative-based type of federalism.” Dr. Othman said, reported Peyamner yesterday

July 13, 2005

• Kurdish Rebels in Iraq Vow to Keep Up Fight

• News Snapshot

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