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Kurds aiming for final agreement next week Ecevit says Turkey prepares its defenses Trouble brews between Kurds/Islamic rebels in Iraq KDP and PUK Set to Seal Agreement on Implementing Four-Year-Old Peace Deal Kurds tell of Iraqi war ignored by outside world Iraq's Kurds Fear Results of U.S. Attack on Saddam Former US diplomat visits Iraqi Kurdistan Turkey's Kurdish party sees no ban before polls Al-Qaeda Surrogate Islamic Group in Southern Kurdistan Destroys Sufi Shrines Two Kurdish guerrillas killed in Southern Kurdistan Police Smash Immigrant Smuggling Ring Washington will not lay the groundwork for a "provisional government" Iraqi Kurds Fear Islamic Militant Group Attack by Islamist Radicals in Kurdistan Brings Kurdish Factions Closer Sweden Arrests Kurd in Immigrant "Honor Killing" Turkey set for November polls, EU reforms in doubt
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Massoud Barzani Warns Turkey Against Invasion DIE ZEIT
Barzani:
Discussions take place, but there is no agreement so far. The United States
needs us because we know the area. And the Kurds are the only ones who have
relentlessly fought against Saddam. With our modern weapons, we could win the
war even without America
Barzani:
Yes. Kurdistan has always been the laboratory for Saddam’s weapons of
mass-destruction.
Barzani:
It is crucial that Saddam is eliminated. Just as important as the question is
who comes after Saddam and how will Iraq be ruled? Before we make concessions to
the United States, we want the guarantee of a federal system.
Barzani:
To topple Saddam is more important than our differences.
Barzani:
On paper Saddam has 400,000 soldiers. But he has disgraced their honour. They
are only fodder for him. It is only a question of time, when Saddam’s soldiers
will rise to destroy him.
Barzani:
The west should not accept this cat and-mouse-games any longer.
Barzani:
At least fifty years - and that if Saddam lets the inspectors do their work.
Barzani:
If you could ask half million of Kurdish and Arab political prisoners, you would
find too much understanding for them. It is wrong to disaffiliate this conflict
as a thing of the US, because it concerns us all.
Barzani:
No, it would not be. It would be like the war against the Taliban in Afghanistan
and against Manuel Noriega in Panama.
Barzani:
Today, not yet. But if Saddam remains in power, perhaps- such an act of insanity
would also meet different countries.
Barzani:
We would give our life to our enemies, but not Kirkuk. Kirkuk remains the heart
of Kurdistan.
Barzani:
That is our largest desire. But in the today’s situation, since no one
supports us, autonomy is the more realistic goal. Barzani:
Empty threats. We would not give up an inch of land to the Turks.. Not only will
our soldiers fight but also our women, young people and the elderly. A Kurdish
uprising would turn our streets into a graveyard for Turkish soldiers. Turkey
should instead protect the rights of the 15 million Kurds in their country. Barzani:
That is an embargo against the Kurdish people. Since long Turkey also wants to
turn the water off. To their disappointment, they must regard how we flourish.
Barzani:
We respect each other and do not interfere in each other’s business. Barzani:
We make up 15 to 17 per cent of the Iraqi population – but Saddam registers us
as only 13 per cent. Only the aides, with which the Iraqis cannot do anything,
arrive for us. Patients in our hospitals are missing basic equipments and lie
there with temperatures up to 50 degrees. Nevertheless we don’t beg, we pay
with our oil for their assistance.
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