New tragedy for the Kurds

Saddam Hussein's move to pull out of Kurdish areas in northern Iraq may have come too late to prevent a delay in Iraq's much needed oil-for-food deal with the United Nations.

The plan would allow Iraq to sell US$2 billion worth of oil to buy food, medicine and other necessities to ease the situation in the country where most of the people are suffering the effects of sanctions imposed after Saddam's troops invaded Kuwait in 1990.

Many Iraqis had high hopes that hard times would be over after this month but U.N. Secretary General Boutros-Boutros Ghali said he was postponing the deal because of the deteriorating situation in northern Iraq.

Iraqi government troops backed by tanks and artillery have pulled out from the main northern Kurdish town of Arbil and there now seems to be a serious split in the Kurdish freedom movement.

Over the weekend, Iraqi troops supporting the Kurdish Democratic Party (KDP) captured Arbil from rival forces of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) and hoisted the Iraqi flag over what used to be the Kurdish parliament.

Fighting between the two Kurdish factions -- long-time rivals who have shifted alliances between Iraq and Iran -- flared in mid-August despite U.S. efforts to broker a cease-fire.

PUK leader Jalal Talabani said Iraqi aircraft bombed its forces near Arbil on Sunday in contravention of a "no fly zone" imposed over northern Iraq by the U.S. and its allies after the 1991 Gulf War. Officials in Washington denied there had been Iraqi air strikes.

Ironically, there was a time when the KDP and PUK were united against Saddam's forces and this was evident during the worst period of Operation Desert Storm, when the Iraqi forces seemed to be out of control.

While Saddam needs the prevailing chaos in the Kurdish north to divert attention from the dire economic situation at home, it is important to note, however, that it is in this area that one of the richest oil fields in Iraq is located.

If the north gains independence and splits from Iraq, it would only be a matter of time before the Shi'ite south follows suit, leaving Iraq dismembered.

There is a general consensus throughout the region, and even in Washington, that the borders in the Middle East should not be re-drawn again. The minute they are re-drawn there is an overwhelming fear that a Pandora's box will be opened and nobody knows when the process will end.

In the meantime, however, the plight of the Kurds fighting for an independent Kurdistan goes unnoticed in the world.

-- The Nation, Bangkok