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Dear ppg, Peter and all, With regard to a possible Kurdish-American deal I've found the below translation of an Arabic text which I take the liberty to haul over here. The extradition of Saddam by the Kurds may well shore up their bargaining position for a "Kurdistan" which will not any longer envisage an Iraqi federation (blissfully undefined up today) but a con-federation. They seem to inch forward the trajectory from multiple lipservices to Iraqi federalism to any form and maximum option of independence which will only stop short of directly inviting the Turkish army. Please, see in this context also my earlier postings on the splitting up of Iraq (--> Leslie Gelb), the Israeli machinations (--> Land buys and setting up of banks, the propagandistic "Kurdish-Jewish-blood relationsship" mythology etc). Best Andreas --------------------------- http://www.aina.org/bbs/index.cgi?read=15768 Posted By: Sahdina Date: Sunday, 21 December 2003, at 6:11 a.m. Arabic version at www.iraq4allnews.dk/viewnews.php?id=35164 -- Unofficial translation -- The kurdish group in the governing council presents a law about confederalism Suleimaniya- Iraq 20/12/2003 A kurdish executive confirmed Friday that the kurdish group (5 members) in the transitional governing council presented a law regarding confederalism. Bakhtiar Amin,deputy of Mahmood Osman a kurdish member in the governing council,said that the five kurdish members in the governing council, leader of PUK Jalal Talabani,leader of the KDP Masoud Barzani,Mohamad Osman,Dara Nour al-Din,and Salah al-din Baha al-Din presented ten days ago to the governing council a project named the State Law which was passed in the kurdish parliament a year ago and was agreed upon by about 37 kurdish parties. Amin added that "This law came about because there are no details regarding Confederalism and we don't want to delay the subject after the passing of the permanent constitution of the country". Amin clarified also that this project constitutes the founding of a federal,plural,parliamentary Iraq and it includes how to organize the relations between Baghdad as a central capital and the rest of the regions in Iraqi Kurdistan. Amin indicated that according to this project,the kurdish regions are made of four governorates : Arbil,Dohuk,Kirkuk and Suleimaniya as well as the kurdish areas in the governorate of Dyala (66 km north-east of Baghdad) such as Khanqeen,Mandali,Jaloula and Saadiya,and the cities of Shikhan,Sinjar,and Makhmour in the governorate of Mosul (400 km north of Baghdad). The kurdish executive confirmed that according to this project,the region of Kurdistan includes all the areas which have a kurdish majority as per the 1957 census. Amin added that the project includes the powers of the region and the matter of revenues as well as the matter of ethnic cleansing of the kurds in Kirkuk (255 km north-east of Baghdad) by the former regime. Amin also explained that with accordance to this,the governing council decided to form a committee of three members Ahmad al Chalabi, Adnan Baja Ji, and Abdul-aziz al-Hakim,as well as the kurdish group and representatives of the Turkman and Assyrians to discuss this project in order to complete the formulation of a decision about it by the end of February of next year (2004) The Iraqi kurds hold five of the 25 ministries in the transitional government including foreign affairs. At this the kurdish leaders assert their tenacious adherence to a federal system in Iraq. ----- Original Message ----- From: "Peter Brooke" <pbrooke@ukonline.co.uk> To: "ppg" <ppg@nyc.rr.com>; <casi-discuss@lists.casi.org.uk> Sent: Tuesday, December 23, 2003 11:23 AM Subject: [casi] Kurds Dear PG and all > Australia's THE AGE newspaper reports "Saddam came into the hands > of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK.)" It doesn't talk about Kurds, > but a Kurdish state. Except, that state does not officially exist. It's a > dream of the Kurds in Northern Iraq, and a nightmare for Turks. PG has recently mailed an article from 'Op-ed news' (I don't know what Op-ed News is) arguing that the US might have cut a dangerous deal with 'the Kurds' giving them the separation they want which might throw the whole area into (yet more) turmoil. Which may be the case but this extract, which confuses the name of the political party, the PUK, with the name of a state doesn't inspire confidence. On the other hand, the confusion may be understandable. Does anyone have any idea what is happening in the Kurdish areas? Shortly before the invasion a united Kurdish Parliament was hastily cobbled together (see my news mailing for 6-13 September, 2002), uniting the PUK and the KDP controlled areas. We hear a lot about the 'Prime Minister' Barham Saleh, who I assume is the PM of this united Parliament. So does that mean he is PM of the area that includes the KDP areas? And that he speaks for them as well? Or is he just PM of the PUK area, since I think the two fiefdoms still have their own Parliaments, and it seems probable that the united Parliament is only there for the sake of appearances. In fact we hear nearly nothing about Barzani and the KDP. A recent article in the FT on Ahmad Chalabi posted to the list referred to his rival 'Jalal Talabani's palatial spread on the banks of the muddy Tigris. The place is so large and garish it seems more like an official building than a residence, typical of the old regime.' So has the PUK won the old inter-Kurd war? Or is something being prepared in the Kurdish areas while Talabani is swanning about with the international set? Best wishes Peter _______________________________________________ Sent via the discussion list of the Campaign Against Sanctions on Iraq. To unsubscribe, visit http://lists.casi.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/casi-discuss To contact the list manager, email casi-discuss-admin@lists.casi.org.uk All postings are archived on CASI's website: http://www.casi.org.uk _______________________________________________ Sent via the discussion list of the Campaign Against Sanctions on Iraq. To unsubscribe, visit http://lists.casi.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/casi-discuss To contact the list manager, email casi-discuss-admin@lists.casi.org.uk All postings are archived on CASI's website: http://www.casi.org.uk