Iraqi Kurdish forces clash with rivals near Iran

Iraqi Kurdish forces clash with rivals near Iran

SULAIMANIYA, Iraq (Reuter): Fighting between Iraqi Kurdish
forces in northern Iraq inched closer to the Iranian border, one
of the feuding factions said yesterday.

Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) official Shorsh Jalalal
said the rival Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) group struck at
PUK positions in five villages around Halabja, 10 kilometers from
the Iranian border.

"But with the support of new forces moved into position,
control of three of the villages was regained late last night,"
Jalalal told Reuters.

The latest attacks marked an expansion of the front in the
inter-Kurdish fighting, which took on fresh urgency last weekend
with Baghdad's intervention on behalf of the KDP.

The PUK leader Jalal Talabani has said he would seek Iranian
help if necessary to counter joint attacks by the KDP and
Baghdad's forces, which teamed up last weekend to oust the PUK
from the main Kurdish city of Arbil.

Turkey has indicated that it might also join in the fray,
moving forces in to stop anti-Ankara Kurdish separatists of the
Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) from using the region as a
springboard for attacks in southeast Turkey.

PUK officials said joint forces of the KDP and Iraq began to
advance from Arbil along the north route towards PUK's stronghold
Sulaimaniya, via Degala and the key town of Koi Sanjaq.

The KDP said it had killed more than 100 PUK guerrillas in
fighting around Arbil, but the PUK said the casualty figures were
exaggerated.

Baghdad's move into the Western-protected north drew U.S.
cruise missile attacks on targets south of the Iraqi capital.
Washington said on Thursday that Iraqi troops had withdrawn.

However, opposition groups report continued Iraqi involvement
in support of a KDP advance along the main road toward
Sulaimaniya.

A Reuters reporter who toured the region south of Arbil on
Thursday saw Iraqi tanks dug in but no evidence that they were
engaged in the latest fighting.

"Iraqi regular army, Republican Guards and KDP forces moved
their direction to Degala and Koi Sanjaq, where the land is
flat," said Riza Ghafur, head of the PUK foreign relations
office. He said the forces had advanced seven kilometers.

He said the KDP and Iraqi troops also continued to shell
Chamchamal, on another route to Sulaimaniya. Sulaimaniya is
around 120 kilometers southeast of Arbil.

According to the PUK, the joint forces are supported by 100
tanks and rockets and had on Friday morning captured Qushtapa, a
town 22 kilometers south of Arbil.

KDP spokesmen say more than 100 PUK guerrillas and a handful
of KDP fighters were killed in fighting around Arbil in the past
two days. It denied there was any fighting near Iran.

In the United Nations, a week after Iraqi troops went on the
offensive against Kurds, the UN Security Council was unable to
take a common position on Baghdad's action that unleashed U.S.
cruise missile attacks.

The council expects to discuss a British-drafted resolution
again on Friday after Russian envoys consult with Moscow over new
compromise language. "A final effort is being made to find an
agreement," said Britain's Stephen Gomersall.

The deadlock illustrates the crumbling of the coalition that
backed Washington in the Gulf War, with the United States coming
under increasing criticism for firing cruise missiles against
Iraq and then claiming it had UN authorization to do so. Britain,
however, remains a strong supporter.

For the past 24 hours Russia has opposed and even threatened
to veto the resolution, which was watered down considerably in
rapping Iraq for going into the Kurdish north. China agreed with
Russia and France had some reservations, as did Egypt and
Indonesia.

"What is the point of the resolution?," said Russian
ambassador Sergei Lavrov, noting the United States had
accomplished its mission in two air strikes in response to
Baghdad's attack on the Kurdish city of Arbil.