PUK Delegation
Attends the 12th KDP Congress
(October 6, 1999, Irbil/Suleimania) In response to an
invitation from the Kurdistan Democratic Party to the
Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, a PUK delegation set out for
Irbil to participate in the KDP's 12th Party Convention. The
PUK delegation was led by politburo member Mr. Faraidoun Abd
al-Qadir and included Mr. Sa'di Ahmed Pireh and Mr. Mulla
Bakhtiar, both members of the party leadership council.
The inauguration of the conference took place at 9:30 am,
with KDP leader Mr. Masoud Barzani extending a special
welcome to the conference guests in his brief introductory
remarks. Among the guests he singled out the PUK visitors,
saying that their participation 'here with us' in the opening
sessions of the conference was a happy occasion. "We
extend them our warmest welcome and we value their presence,
as this is a positive step towards moving the Kurdistan peace
process forward. I believe the KDP did the right thing when
it sent out the invitation to the PUK, and that the PUK did
the right thing - and more - when it accepted our invitation.
Once again, we welcome you here among us."
Regarding the peace process, Mr. Barzani stated that
"sooner or later the Washington Accord will have to be
fully implemented, but sooner would be better than
later." Following Mr. Barzani, PUK's Faraidoun Abd
al-Qadir spoke, congratulating the participants on their
coming together for the conference, on behalf of Jalal
Talabani, the PUK politburo and steering committee and all of
the PUK membership. He affirmed the commitment of the PUK to
comprehensive and durable peace.
Following lunch at the KDP table after the morning
proceedings, the PUK delegation departed Irbil at 2:30pm.
The text of PUK
Politburo to the inaugural session of the 12th KDP Congress
follows:
"Brother Masoud al-Barzani, President of the Kurdistan
Democratic Party,
Brothers in the Politburo and Central Committee of the KDP,
Honorable participants in the 12th Party Congress, Dear
brothers and sisters:
To begin with, I convey to you the warmest congratulations
from your brother Mam Jalal, the Secretary General of the
Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, from the PUK politburo,
leadership council, and all of the PUK membership and
peshmargas. If Mam Jalal were present today with us in the
homeland he would most certainly have attended in person. Now
I am standing in his stead.
Gentlemen,
Your conference today convenes here in the midst of the
special circumstances through which our people are passing,
and at a time when the situation in Iraq is moving toward
concrete change, change which is itself an outcome of the
peace process in Kurdistan.
Our people have, as a result of continuous struggle, been
able to establish and protect a historic achievement, namely
the federal autonomous region of Kurdistan. This region has
its own particular, independent existence and benefits from
autonomous self-government, international protection, and
particular sources of finance and budgetary support. It
enjoys a de-facto recognition by the major powers in the
world and the region, and these interact with us on a
practical basis. Our Kurdish region has the capacity to
become an effective actor and to have a positive impact upon
the future of Iraq, for democratic change and the revival of
the country. The only impediment is the internal conflict and
regrettable in-fighting that has occurred throughout recent
years - were it not for this, this region could have taken
great strides forward in all domains - political, economic,
social and cultural, and our future would have been brighter
and more secure.
Despite all of this, in the light of the current
circumstances we can say that the situation in Kurdistan is
now better than that in the other areas of the country. Yet
the freedom and the opportunity that the Kurd can enjoy in
this region confronts a number of real threats and dangers.
The international protection of Kurdistan, the financial
support derived from the UN Security Council Resolution 986,
the American, international and regional interest in the
Kurdish region - none of this will last forever - it will
come to an end sooner or later. At the same time, we should
not expect the Iraqi regime to remain on the sidelines with
folded arms, or its armed forces to remain as weak and
emaciated as they are at present. Therefore, our priority and
that of all parties is and must be to channel all of our
efforts into rendering the peace process a success. We must
work together, above all, to re-install order into the
Kurdish home, from the inside. We must restore the situation
in Kurdistan that existed pri
or to the internal fighting, and we should begin with the
return of internally displaced persons to their homes and
compensation to them for damages they sustained as a result
of the in-fighting. All prisoners should be released, as
well.
By the "situation in Kurdistan that existed prior to the
internal fighting," I do not advocate or mean the
fifty-fifty sharing of everything from the position of
night-watchman to minister. Rather, I mean that participation
and cooperation in the administration to create an
environment in which friends, members of the two contending
parties, can feel full confidence in their ability to gain
livelihoods, to move about freely, to travel, and to express
views and opinions. This is what is needed so that we can
deal effectively with the issue of majority and minority
relations in the affairs of state, through referral to the
will of the people by means of the voting box, that is,
scrupulously free and fair elections.
As we know, work of this nature requires a joint effort to
organize and carry out elections with polling stations
throughout Kurdistan, under the supervision of the United
Nations or friendly nations. Other priorities include using
modern methods of collecting revenues from the entire region
and channeling them through the Kurdistan Regional Government
spending them for reconstruction and public services. And
also there is the need to keep armed party-affiliated forces
away from city centers, and preventing them from interfering
in the lives of citizens or the law.
We believe that this approach will strengthen the confidence
of the entirety of the Kurdish people, as well as the world
at large, in the banishing the ghost of internal fighting
forever from the eyes and lives of our people.
Given our firm belief in the in the unity of the Kurdish
people and the importance of the peace process, we have
always striven to solve problems through dialogue and
non-violent means. Today security of lives and property of
citizens in Kurdistan is greater than in any other part of
Iraq. The living standard is also better, and the currency is
worth 100 times more in Kurdistan than it is elsewhere.
Health and services provision is advanced, and the child
health and nutrition indicators are better. There is no
famine in Kurdistan, and no one goes hungry. Shortages of
medicines such as are found in central and southern Iraq,
where each day hundreds of children die, are not to be found.
This is something our people can be justifiably proud of. It
is a matter of justice and fairness for our two contending
parties to look with respect and veneration upon the sincere
and dedicated persons, who helped to create this flourishing
state of affairs, be they in the joint regional government or
the two separate Kur
dish administrations.
Since the beginning of the events of 1994-1995, we have seen
numerous peace initiatives led by our brother Jalal Talabani;
the arrival of our delegation led by Dr. Fouad Ma'soum; the
many meetings held in Drogheda, Paris, Dublin, Tehran, and
Washington; the recent visit of Mam Jalal to Salahudin; the
on-going meetings that take place today. The goal of all of
this activity has been to revive the spirit of hope in the
souls of the people of Kurdistan by uniting our forces and
the will of our people within one jointly run and unified
administration.
Esteemed Participants,
We say with full confidence that the opportunities we have
and the cards that we play are the property of our people, so
that we must protect them with the utmost care and
selflessness. We cannot allow anyone or any interest to abuse
this prized trust. We must eliminate the possibility of abuse
of this trust or its usurpation because in this trust lies
the fate and the future of our people.
For this reason, if we do not Face events with one will and
one voice, hand in hand, working together; Deal with our
differences and varying positions and voices;
Strengthen harmonious relations between ourselves - then
pressing dangers surrounding us will cast our achievements
and hopes into a furnace of harsh consequences, and then our
people and we will lose so much of what we have gained.
As long as we do not, through the peace process and joint
administration in the service of the people, start to erase
the traces and currents of this internal fighting, from the
minds of our friends and our enemies, then we shall lose the
respect, assistance and the support of the states and the key
forces - as they lose their confidence in us. At that point,
without help and protection, we will be facing real and great
dangers. As long as we do not work together to provide for a
better life and livelihood to our people, or develop the
economic situation, public services, education and cultural
affairs or to attract and retain the feelings and support of
our people, then our enemies will be able to loot us and put
an end to our experience of long struggle.
Your conference is thus taking place in this context of the
important and complex circumstances confronting Kurdistan,
Iraq and the region. These circumstances demand the tasks and
important duties that I have outlined above. Therefore we
hope that this conference will conclude with positive
decisions with a clear benefit for our people via clear and
accurate policy guidelines.
Once again, I wish all success for your conference, for the
sake of peace and unity of the will of the people, for
Federalism for a Democratic Iraq, and for political,
economic, social and cultural development and prosperity.
Report on Jalal
Talabani Visit to UN
General Assembly & Washington
(October 1, 1999, New York, Washington D.C.) PUK Secretary
General Jalal Talabani arrived at JFK Airport in New York on
9/19/99, leading a delegation of Iraqi opposition leaders to
the 1999 session of the UN General Assembly.
On 9/20/1999, US Secretary of State Dr. Madeleine Albright
met with Mr. Talabani and the Iraqi Opposition delegation. In
a meeting attended by Mr. Richard Holbrooke, US
Representative to the UN and other senior officials from the
US Department of State and the National Security Council,
Secretary Albright affirmed the US commitment to support the
democratic opposition in Iraq. She also stressed the need to
proceed with the implementation of the 1998 Washington Accord
between the PUK and the KDP to resolve the conflict in Iraqi
Kurdistan.
The Iraqi delegation was also met by US Assistant Secretary
of State for International Organizations' Affairs, Mr. David
Welch, and in-depth discussions were held on the situation in
Iraq, including relevant UN Security Council Resolutions
relating.
During these meetings, Mr. Talabani reviewed the conditions
now prevailing in Iraqi Kurdistan. He affirmed the need to
implement UNSCR 688 to prevent the Iraqi government from
continuing its efforts to ethnically cleanse Kirkuk,
Khanaqin, Makhmour, Sinjar, and other areas of Kurdistan
under Baghdad's harsh rule. He also called for improved
implementation of UNSCR 986 and ensuring continuity of the
supply of food, medicine and essential items for the
rehabilitation of the socio-economic infrastructure of
Kurdistan. He affirmed the central importance of respect for
human rights in Iraq as a framework for all UN decisions
regarding the country.
On the following day, September 22, Mr. Talabani met with the
Coordinator for Iraqi Affairs in the US National Security
Council and with former US Secretary of State Dr. Henry
Kissinger. Speaking later the same day in a comment on the
situation in Iraq to the Voice of America, Mr. Talabani
stated:
"The Iraqi regime is continuing its oppression against
the people of Iraq, especially at the present time against
the Shiite Arabs in the south and central parts of the
country. Its policy of Arabization and ethnic cleansing in
the Kurdish areas under its control is also continuing. We
believe that the regime holds the main responsibility for the
continuing tragedy and ordeal of the Iraqi people, and for
the extended period of sanctions. "
Mr. Talabani also met with the Director of the Iraq program
at the UN, Mr. Benon Savan, to review the implementation of
the UN oil-for-food program in Iraqi Kurdistan.
After the conclusion of his meetings in New York, Mr.
Talabani traveled to Washington DC for meetings with senior
officials of the US Administration and Congress. He met with
Leon Fuerth, National Security Advisor to the Vice President,
Martin Indyk, Assistant Secretary of State for Near East
Affairs, Marc Grossman, Assistant Secretary of State for
European Affairs, Franck Riccardioni, Coordinator for
Transition in Iraq, and other senior officials of the State
Department and the National Security Council.
Mr. Talabani was also received by Senator Joseph Lieberman
and Senator Robert Kerrey, and Congressman John Porter. The
Iraqi opposition delegation was hosted in a reception by the
Chairman of the House International Relations Committee,
Congressman Benjamin Gilman.
The visit provided a good opportunity to discuss issues
pertaining to PUK-KDP reconciliation. The PUK leader held
three meetings with Mr. Nachirvan Barzani, KDP politburo
member to explore avenues for the implementation of the
Washington Agreement of September 1998. The meetings took
place in a cordial atmosphere, and a series of measures were
agreed upon to expedite the peace process.
Iraq Continues
with Ethnic Cleansing Campaign
October 4, 1999 -- The Government of Iraq continues its
Arabization policy in the districts of Kirkuk, Khanaqin,
Sinjar and other districts of Iraqi Kurdistan under the
government's control.
In the latest phase of the Arabization campaign, the Command
of Ta'amim Branch of the Ba'ath Party issued a directive
(referenced 1403/687/92, dated Sept. 7, 1999), citing a
decree of the Office of the President to the Governor of
Ta'amim, to initiate the deportation of 25 Kurdish families.
Further, the Iraqi authorities are intensifying a component
of the Arabization campaign, officially referred to as
"Nationality Correction", which requires Kurds to
formally relinquish their Kurdish identity and register their
nationality as "Arab." Kurdish tribes in Mosul
province have been notified that they face eviction and
dispossession if they fail to "correct" their
nationality. Among the tribes affected by this order are the
Baba, Khalaf, Asodko, Keranize, Bashouki, Serhouki,
Shekihler-kirovi, Bashki, and Khotki.
By deporting Kurds and Turkomans and replacing them with Arab
settlers, the Government of Iraq is altering the demographics
of historically Kurdish districts. Any forced relocation
policy, let alone the wholesale Arabization of non-Arab
communities, is tantamount to a campaign of ethnic cleansing
and contrary to the international covenant on human rights.
It is also a direct violation of UN Security Council
resolution 688, which demands an end to repression by the
Government of Iraq against the Iraqi people.
The international community must act to ensure that his vile
policy is brought to an end and that the authorities in
Baghdad are restrained from further violations of Iraq's
international obligations.
British
Official Visits Iraqi Kurdistan
(September 18, 1999) Joined by a visiting team from the
University of Durham and a delegation from the UK-based
agency ITRT, UK Ankara Embassy First Secretary Mr. Alistair
MacField was received by the KRG Prime Minister Kosrat Rasul
Ali today. The Durham University team was led by Professor
Ian Anderson, and included Ms. Rosemary Papillion, General
Coordinator of ITRT, Messrs. Gayte Stussfield, Hussam Latif,
and Jenny Piler from the same agency. The meeting, also
attended by the KRG ministers of Education, Health,
Agriculture, Finance, Public Works and Reconstruction, the
President of the University of Suleimania, and KRG's
Consultative Council for UN SR 986, focused on the political
and economic conditions in the region.
Delegation from
UNOPS in Suleimania
(September 20, 1999 - Suleimania) The PM met with a
delegation from UNOPS today, including Mr. David Bucks, the
Field Director, and his deputy. Discussions focused upon the
upcoming program in general and on the Sixth Phase of the
"Oil for Food" program under UNSC Resolution 986,
in particular. The PM emphasized the importance of close
coordination with the Ministry of Humanitarian Assistance and
Coordination's Directorate of Mine Clearance. He pointed out
the urgent need to train local cadres in mine clearance and
mine awareness, so that sufficient national human resources
for this vital pre-requisite for rehabilitation and
development work can be built up.
Swedish
Parliamentarian Visits Kurdistan
(September 21, 1999 - Suleimania) PM Kosrat Rasul Ali
received the visit today of Mr. Gustave Van Essen, member of
the Swedish Parliament and director of the Swedish agency
known as "Qandil". The meeting discussed the
projects and activities of the agency and its program for the
future, in all fields. A firm basis for cooperation between
government institutions and Qandil was established in order
to optimize the positive impact of the program in the service
of the people of Kurdistan.
Later the same day, the PM had similar discussions with a
delegation from 'Habitat', the UN Center for Human
Settlements, led by Mr. Antonio, the agency's program manager
in Kurdistan. Current reconstruction activities and projects
were reviewed and evaluated. The PM highlighted the need to
encourage farmers to return to their villages and to rebuild
their areas through a program of rural road building and
paving combined with opening of health centers in villages
and ensuring supply of vital necessities to areas undergoing
reconstruction works. He promised Habitat to cooperate fully
to make the agency's Kurdistan program a success.
PUK-KDP
Consensus on 'Oil-for-Food" Program
(September 20, 1999 - Suleimania) - Delegations from the KDP
and the PUK met here today to finalize preparations for the
distribution of the second installment of funds totaling $295
million for the Sixth Phase of the "Oil-for-Food"
Program under UN Security Resolution 986. In a statement to
the press following the meeting, held as part of continuing
deliberations by the Supreme Council for the Monitoring of
UNSCR 986, meeting participants Messrs. Ma'moun al-Barifkani
and Imad Ahmed indicated that they had achieved a successful
outcome. Both sides worked as one team and agreed to meet at
the earliest possible stage with the United Nations agencies
concerned to finalize arrangements for disbursal of the funds
and subsequent program implementation. There was also a
shared consensus between the KDP and PUK delegations
regarding problems and bottlenecks experienced with the UN
operational agencies concerned in the delivery of UNSCR 986.
The unified approach to implementation of 986 was a vital
element of secu
ring the peace process in Kurdistan, as well as being a
product of that very process, Mr. Imad Ahmed indicated.
In a subsequent meeting of the Supreme Council for the
Monitoring of UNSCR 986, the PUK and KDP delegations met with
UN officials, including UN Humanitarian Affairs Coordinator
for Iraq Mr. Max Von Sponeck, Ms. Mary Waikes, the
Humanitarian Affairs Coordinator for Kurdistan, and Mr. Barry
Mollman, Deputy Coordinator of Humanitarian Affairs in
Kurdistan, and a number of heads of UN agencies. The meeting
lasted two hours and reviewed points previously agreed by the
Supreme Council. It also discussed the allocation of the
additional oil sales revenues totaling $220 million,
resulting from the increase in world oil prices. Ten million
($10 million) was allocated to establish an advanced hospital
in Suleimania, and decisions to distribute asphalt, medicines
and food supplies, and electrical supply materials were
taken. A commitment to address the pressing issues of water
shortages, road paving, and power supply was voiced at the
meeting.
Affirming the
Rights of the Iraqi Turkman Community
(August 29-30, 1999 - Suleimania) The Central Committee of
the Turkman Union Party held an extended meeting this week to
discuss Iraqi affairs and in particular those of Iraqi
Kurdistan. The Central Committee confirmed its support of the
party's policy for peace in the Kurdistan region, calling
upon the two main Kurdish parties to adhere to the
implementation of the Washington Peace Agreement of September
17, 1998. A Comprehensive Peace with Security Guarantees and
on-going dialogue were prerequisites to free and democratic
elections, it declared. It also called for the lifting of
economic sanctions imposed upon the Iraqi people.
The Tragedy of
the "Failyee" Kurds
(September, 1999 - Sweden), from a special correspondent
The "Failyee" Kurds are a deep-rooted branch of the
Kurdish people who lived in Baghdad, Mandali, Khanaqin,
Shahriban, Zuhayrat, Ba'quba, Kirkuk and the middle Kurdistan
regions. For centuries they carried on with their daily life
in peace with their Arab and Turkman brethren, and were
models of good citizenship and contributed to the progress of
the country, excelling in manufacturing, commerce, science,
literature and the humanities. They participated fully in and
sacrificed much during the struggles of the Iraqi people for
liberation and independence. As a result they were singled
out for excessively harsh treatment by successive Iraqi
regimes, from executions to separation from employment,
confiscation of properties, and forced migration. Nearly 250
thousands Failyee Kurds were forcibly deported to Iran, after
having had all of their personal papers confiscated and
consequently being denied any claim to Iraqi citizenship and
its rights. The largest single mass expulsion of the Failyee
Kurds took place
on the 4th of July 1980. Since that time thousands of Failyee
men continue to languish in the jails and prison camps of the
Iraqi government, after having been separated from their
families who were deported. These men are now are vulnerable
to myriad diseases as a result of malnutrition and the denial
of health services, and many have been subjected to chemical
experimentation.
The Failyee Kurds have been denied Iraqi nationality and
citizenship despite their long residence in the country,
which predates the founding of the state in 1921. They have
been denied education, the right to be appointed to any
government positions (civil or military), or to travel
freely. 450 of the larger commercial Failyee merchants were
deported from the country to Iran on July 4, 1980, on the
pretext that they were Iranians in origin, after the
confiscation of their properties, residences and financial
assets. They are to be found scattered throughout the Kurdish
Diaspora all over the world.
The Failyee tragedy, while no doubt part of the broader
Kurdish tragedy, has its own particular characteristics.
These call for a special effort on the part of Kurdish
writers and intellectuals so as to help make their saga a
more prominent international and Kurdish national concern,
one that should rightly be on a par with the sagas of Halabja
and the Anfal campaigns. Media and the tools of modern
communication must be deployed to forge a lasting solution to
their plight, which must be one that encourages them to
return to their home in Kurdistan, and to re-start life in it
among their Kurdish compatriots.
Compensation for all the victims of the world, but willful
deprivation of Iraqis from the same!
- an essay by Adnan Mirkhas al-Failyee
The exhausted shuttling back and forth of foreign ministry
officials of Jordan and Kuwait have finally brought forth an
important outcome: to reward 25,000 Jordanians who were
working in Kuwait at the time of the Iraqi invasion with a
sum of $3 billion as a compensation for the material losses
they sustained!
This money is of course deducted from the revenue derived
from the sales of Iraqi petroleum, which is distributed, to
everyone but the traumatized, starving, and ill-fated Iraqi
people!
Billions of Iraqi dollars have been passed around to the
entire world, from the Western Industrial nations and their
multinational corporations to the ditch diggers and
construction workers of Bangladesh. All of this takes place
in front of the noses of the authorities in Baghdad, as long
as they remain in power. One wonders who will do justice by
the people of Iraq? Who will do justice to the wives and
mothers who have been devastated by the loss of husbands and
offspring, women whose numbers now exceed half a million?
These mothers who have lost their children in the regime's
never ending series of destructive wars or in its dark and
dank prisons and detention camps, scattered far and wide over
the country…who will take care of the children of the
martyrs, and shelter them from the heat and cold of the
regime? When will the victims of Halabja obtain justice, and
what have the United Nations organizations done for their
sake?
When will the names of the Kurdish women and children and
elders who were buried alive, in the desert areas of south
and south east Iraq during the 1988 Anfal campaigns, be
published?
Why haven't the quarter-million Failyee Kurds who were
dispatched from Iraq to Iran prior to the Iran-Iraq war been
compensated for their confiscated properties and their
imprisoned sons?
When will the world authority responsible for the looting and
distribution of the bounty of Iraqi petroleum take note of
the existence of the sons and daughters of Iraq, and speak of
their tragedies?
When will the villagers of 5000 beautiful Kurdish villages
that were destroyed by bulldozers of the Iraqi Army before
and after the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait be compensated?
Are the several tons of Kuwaiti flour sent to help Southern
Iraqis seeking refuge in Iran to be considered
"compensation", or "humanitarian
assistance"?
There is no doubt that this world is measured by different
(and double) standards! But the night will pass and the
people of Iraq will one-day get their full and just due. For
Iraqis, no matter what their sects, their ethnic grouping or
their status - be they Arabs, Kurds, Turkmans, Assyrians,
steadfast inside or outside Iraq, or scattered in exile all
over the world - Iraqis will rebuild their homeland, their
"Iraq" once more. A Peaceful, United, Democratic
and Federal Iraq, without wars and looting of its bounties,
and without the tragedy of refuge in Europe and America!
1st Conference
of the Association of Academics of Kurdistan
"We call for the formation of research centers of
varying disciplines within the association, and for work to
abolish the central system of admissions."
- Dr. Kamal Fu'ad
"The conference takes us forward a giant step towards
intensifying scientific activity and channeling it to the
service of society."
- Dr. Kamal Khoshnaw
(September 23, 1999 - Suleimania) Under the banner "the
academics of Kurdistan lead the civil society," and
under the auspices of KRG PM Kosrat Rasul Ali, the First
Conference of the Association of Academics of Kurdistan
convened today in the Conference Hall of the Cultural Center
of Suleimania University. Attending the opening ceremony were
Dr. Kamal Fu'ad, head of PUK politburo's working group; Dr.
Jalal Shafiq, Minister of Higher Education and Scientific
Research; Prof. Khusrou Mustafa, Minister of Education; Dr.
Yadegar Ra'ouf Hashmat, Minister of Health and Social
Affairs; Dr. Kamal Khoshnaw, President of Suleimania
University; Mr. Adil Murad, head of the Central Public
Affairs office of the KRG; and a number of University
professors.
In his address to the conference, Dr. Kamal Fu'ad underlined
the diversity of the scientific fields represented by the
association's members, and called for each specialist to work
towards the establishment of a specific research center in
his field of specialization, under the umbrella of the
association. He also urged the gathering to take advantage of
the phenomenon of globalization and to introduce it to
different sections of the public. One of the negative
remnants of dictatorial regimes, he said, was the system of
centralized academic admissions, calling upon the gathering
to do their utmost to abolish this outmoded system.
Closing the inaugural ceremony, the Suleimania Kindergarten
presented an operetta, before the second session of the
conference commenced with the report of the preparatory
committee.
Rehabilitation
and Reconstruction Digest
(9/22/99) - Dr. Yadegar Ra'ouf Hashmat, Minister of Health
and Social Affairs, met with a WHO delegation to review the
ministry's needs for the coming three month period. The
delegation agreed to supply all of the identified needs for
the next three months.
(9/22/99) - Mr. Qadir Hameh Jan, Governor of Suleimania, met
with the Swedish Organization Qandil to discuss humanitarian
projects planned or underway under the agency's program in
Suleimania governorate. The Swedish delegation announced the
arrival of new equipment to locate and drill for ground
water.
9/22/99 - Mr. Jalal Jawhar, Governor of Kirkuk, also met with
the Swedish Qandil delegation to review the latest
reconstruction developments and the Iraqi government policy
of "Arabization" and forced migration from the
Kirkuk area.
9/22/99 - Mr. Bakr Mustafa, Governor of Irbil, met with a
delegation from the UN Food and Agriculture Organization to
discuss the progress of the FAO's reforestation program and
the revival of the free-range poultry project in Taqtaq. It
is anticipated that work on this latter project will start
very soon. The FAO delegation announced the forthcoming award
of an additional vehicle to the Irbil Mobile Veterinary
Clinic.
- A decision to proceed with the installation of a 500-line
telephone exchange with a 700-line phone cable network for
Taqtaq district was announced this week by the Ministry of
Transport and Communications.
- Darbandikhan road-paving campaign continues in response to
popular demand. The Kirkuk Roads Directorate in cooperation
with the Suleimania Roads Directorate and the Darbandikhan
district administration is undertaking the work. The work is
to cover all streets and alleys of Darbandikhan and not only
the main streets, and greater attention will be paid to
maintaining quality standards of materials and execution of
the project.
- 36,000 cubic meters of concrete has been poured in public
works campaigns to pave roads and alleys in the cities of
Pishdar district. Work on clearing rubble, road repairs,
paving, and asphalting started on September 11, 1999 by the
KRG Ministry of Public Works on a daily basis from 8 am until
6 p.m., using a daily average of 800 tons of asphalt.
- District and urban housing complex projects are underway
under UNSR 986 in Penjween, Halabja, Seyyid Sadiq,
Darbandikhan, Kalar, Rania, Qala'a Duzzeh, Sangsar, Khormal,
Singaw, Aghchalar, Mawat, Basini, and central Suleimania.
Implementation is under Phase V of UNCR 986 and is
sub-contracted to local contractors.
- Raniya Hospital is now conducting 50 surgical interventions
a week, making it one of the most important health facilities
in the KRG. The outpatient clinic handles more than 1200
patients per day, and nurse-training programs are underway on
a continuing basis in the hospital. Plans for expansion and
new divisions and services are under preparation.
- Head of the Halabja Water Authority: "We have repaired
the new water supply network". Recently built homes in
Halabja will soon be supplied with piped water one and
one-half hours per day, according to a newly established
distribution schedule. This new development follows pipeline
repairs and rubble-clearance works undertaken in the spring,
and is combined with meticulous monitoring of the water
purification system and the chlorine content of the water.
The official remarked that the biggest problem needing
attention at the moment was the lack of sewerage drainage
systems for the newly built houses.
- Habitat will build 550 homes for deportees from the Kirkuk
region, according to a statement issued by the Kirkuk
governor Jalal Jawhar on September 19, following a meeting
with a delegation from the UN agency for human settlements.
250 of the new homes will be located in Tekkiye Kakahmand,
100 in Kalar, 50 in Dara in Darbandikhan, and 150 in
Qahrenaw. The project, which is implemented in the
collaboration with the KRG, falls under the activities of
Phase Five of the UNSCR 986 program, and is considered to be
a new milestone in the process of resettlement of the forced
migrants.
Suleimania Book
Fair
…." September 12, 1999 -- Jalal Talabani opened the
Dar al-Amada book fair in Suleimania. The books were brought
by the Damascus-based Dar al-Mada Publishing House and with
the local cooperation of the Galawezi-nwe Literary Club. The
inauguration ceremony was packed with visitors and yet
dignified. I was prevented by the throng from actually
getting inside the exhibit hall, but I took this to be an
incontrovertible sign of health, proving the love of our
people for books and learning, especially after these years
of emaciation! Two days later I crossed the threshold of the
exhibit and wandered about the good words and books, and
re-discovered by love and respect for so many authors from
whom I have learned. But what really got by attention was the
exorbitant high prices, which was such as to burn holes in
any reader's pockets - and regrets into his heart! I saw a
retired civil servant being tormented by a book he wanted to
purchase, but he looked at me helplessly and said, "Can
you imagine that the price
of this book is equal to two months' retirement
benefit!" Should he let his family go hungry for two
months so that he can buy that book? I could give him no
reply; the prices were so outrageous no person could afford
to buy them or find good reasons for doing so! One wonders
how our friends at the Dar al-Mada Publishing House, who
should be thanked for opening a window for us to illuminate
our minds and our thoughts, could be so thoughtless as to
ignore the economic conditions that afflict Kurdistan when
pricing the books they placed before us? …."
- From an Ittihad op-ed column by Mustafa Salih Karim
Art Festival of
Inaugurated
(September 19, 1999 - Suleimania) Accompanied by Mrs. Hero
Ibrahim Ahmed and Messrs. Mustafa Seyyid Qadir, Minister of
the Interior, and Yadegar Ra'ouf Hashmat, Minister of Health
and Social Affairs, PM Kosart Rasul Ali attended a festival
of music, song, theatre, arts and crafts in the Suleimania
Auditorium of the Youth Center. The festival was the
initiative of the Kurdish Society for the Protection of
Kurdish Childhood, in cooperation with Save the Children Fund
UK, and had the theme "inoculation for child
rights".
"The
Mujahideen-i Khalq committed massacres and atrocities against
the Kurds in Iraq" Interview with Mujahideen defector
Karim Haqqi Mouni
(Arnheim, Holland - August 20, 1999) -- Karim Haqqi-Mouni is
an Iranian opposition politician who worked for many years in
the ranks of the Iranian opposition Mujahideen-i Khalq
organization, which adopted a base for itself in Baghdad, in
1982. Karim al-Haqqi was the organization's number two, after
President Masoud Rajavi. He later parted company with Rajavi
and opted to step down from political engagement with the
organization, divesting himself of any association with it
because of the mistakes it had fallen into, particularly
collaboration with Iraqi Armed Forces in the perpetration of
massacres against the Kurdish populace of Northern Iraq.
Al-Ittihad's correspondent visited al-Haqqi at his home in
Arnheim, Holland, where he is waging a legal battle against
the Mujahideen-i Khalq who are seeking to win a gag order
against him. Haqqi won the first round, in that the presiding
judge objected to the Mujahideen-i Khalq writ, being of the
view that Haqqi should have full rights to make any
statements and criticisms he wished, and that there was no
call for any censorship to be imposed upon him.
For two years now Haqqi has published a weekly magazine
called "Peyhvand" (The Link) and he has accused
Mujahideen-i Khalq of being a terrorist outfit that has
committed massacres against the Kurdish people in Iraq. The
Mujahideen-i Khalq recently resumed its court campaign
against Haqqi in Arnheim, and has claimed that it has
"never committed any massacres against the citizens of
Iraqi Kurdistan". Haqqi replied that the accusation
against the Mujahideen-i Khalq "requires no proving, as
the massacres were committed in broad daylight in full view
of many persons, including children". At the same time,
he stated that he had sufficient proofs that could be brought
forward to support his claims regarding Mujahideen-i Khalq
involvement in mass executions and burials at the instigation
of the Iraqi government.
The Ittihad' interview follows:
Ittihad: Could you tell us a bit about the political
personage, Karim Haqqi Mouni?
KHM - Twenty-two years ago, two years before the outbreak of
the Islamic Revolution and the fall of the Shah, I became
involved in political work with some friends, in a secret
university grouping. I only really got started in political
work in 1979, when my entire family joined the Mujahideen-i
Khalq. We were active for three years until 1981 when the
organization opted for armed struggle against the Islamic
Revolution, and as a result it went underground. I was
imprisoned until the end of 1981 three times in Tabriz,
although I managed to escape on July 27, 1981 and remained in
hiding for three months.
Ittihad: When the Mujahideen-i Khalq came under pressure from
the Iranian Government in 1982, its members fled to Iraq and
sought refuge there. Where did they set up camp at that time?
KHM: In the beginning, when the organization left Iranian
territory and sheltered in Iraq - apart from a few
individuals an groups who stayed on in Iran to carry out some
undercover work - it set up camp in the Galaleh area, where
the Iraqi government gave us a building that originally had
been a school, and a second building that had been used by
Iraqi Customs.
Ittihad: What was meant by the "second ideological
revolution"?
KHM: In 1991, and during the Gulf War, after the organization
failed both as a mass structure and movement and lost its
reputation on many levels, Massoud Rajavi returned to us with
another theoretical concoction, after the "first
ideological revolution", called the "second
ideological revolution". This imposed obligatory divorce
upon married couples within the Mujahideen groupings, and
sending their children away from home (abroad), so that they
would be entirely devoted to carrying out Rajavi's orders.
That upset most all of us and I was the first to refuse the
order to divorce our wives and cut the ties with our
children. 600 of us left the organization to protest this
practice which really began the process of disintegration of
the Mujahideen, and also marked the beginning of my problems
with them. We were all imprisoned and sent to Ramadi province
in Western Iraq, so as not to escape or leave Iraq. The
remaining Mujahideen cadres were assimilated into the Iraqi
Army. Anyone who was not happy with th
e decisions of Rajavi was imprisoned or tortured until he
would accept them, but I strongly refused the order to
divorce my wife. So I presented a petition to be relieved of
my duties and offered to work as a simple fighter for the
goal of liberating Iran and returning to Iran.
Ittihad: Let's go back to the period when the organization
pulled out all of its secret groupings from Iran - what
happened to these and where did they end up?
KHM: After the first ideological revolution the organization
sent me to France to be the head of the central committee
abroad. I was in charge of the activities and movements of
the secret groupings inside Iran. These always started off
from bases in Iraq, since there were no bases in Iran.
Individuals would set off for Iran, to carry out orders
issuing from the Central Committee in France, and then return
to regroup in Iraq. At that time our only goal was to bring
down the regime in Iran. They hoped that the people would
revolt with them, but that was in vain. Subsequently they
discovered that all of their telephone communications were
monitored, which resulted in many Mujahideen being killed or
in their failure to be able to carry out their missions
inside Iran. But Masoud Rajavi would never admit to the
weakness or the setbacks that occurred. He would always say
"eight of us killed for one Iranian is worth it for the
Mujahideen". This refusal to tell things as they were
led to weakness in the ranks of
the organization, especially within the secret cells. Some
forty cells of two persons each were sent inside Iran, and
most all of them were killed before they ever even crossed
the border. Many others were arrested and imprisoned, so that
only three cells, six persons, actually reached Teheran. They
blew up a building of the Revolutionary Courts, but were
immediately captured and subsequently were executed…I was
subsequently appointed commander of an entire detachment in
Baghdad, at the time of two large military operations
(Khorehtav and Chelchera) which were supported by Iraqi
artillery and aircraft. The last operation was Feroughi
Javidan, which Iran called Operation Mirsad, and which was
followed by the cease-fire agreement between Iraq and Iran in
1988. The organization lost 1200 persons in that operation
alone, while it claimed to have killed 5500 Iranian soldiers.
I then became promoted to the rank of Head of the Central
Committee, so that the only person higher than myself in the
organization was
Rajavi. The cease-fire agreement between Iraq and Iran marked
the end of all of our activities against Iran, with Feroughi
Javidan being the last operation.
The Gulf War and the Massacres of Kurds
Ittihad: We have arrived then to 1991 and the eruption of the
Gulf War; the Mujahideen-i Khalq played a prominent role
alongside the Iraqi armed forces in the annihilation of
Kurdish civilians and the perpetration of massacres against
the Kurds. Even foreigners know this, so can you tell us how
this came about, and in which fronts?
KHM: Yes, when the National Freedom Army that was created by
Rajavi joined forces with the Iraqi Armed Forces the Iraqi
Army had been spent, with most of its elements having been
killed, or captured, or having gone into hiding. So the
Mujahideen-i Khalq were really the savior of the Iraqi
regime, the hand which executed the will of the government -
and carried out its crimes. One day in 1991 Rajavi told us
that he intended to undertake a military operation inside
Iranian territory. At the time I was in disagreement with the
Mujahideen-i Khalq, and had stepped down from my position as
second in command to Rajavi, after his stubborn adherence to
the political errors I mentioned before…But I expressed my
willingness to join them to fight for Iran. We set out in the
direction of Teheran, which we were told was our destination
but spent the night not very far from our original positions.
When we awoke the next day they told us that there was a
group of Iraqi Kurds plotting with the Iranian government to
overth
row the president of Iraq. In those days Rajavi had begun to
be concerned about who might succeed the Iraqi President, and
he worried that a dark fate might await the Mujahideen, so he
took the decision to stand up against the Kurds who had
joined forces with Iran, "Agents of Iran" as Rajavi
liked to call them. So he decided to form three battalions to
seal off the area between Kalar and Khalis, so as to prevent
the Kurdish forces from moving against Baghdad.
Among the important areas of fighting against the Kurds were
the villages of Suleiman-Beg which is located south of Touz
Khormato, Qadir Karam, Kalar itself, Khanaqin, Mandaly,
Khalis, and Mulla Hassan (to the north of Khanaqin and on the
road to Haush Kouri, which goes on to Qasr-i Shireen). In
addition to the operations and battles in these locations
there were other large battles that took place in the
triangle between Touz Khormato, Suleiman-Beg and the road
from Kirkuk to Diala Governorate (Ba'qouba) and on to
Baghdad. Massoud Rajavi's personal residence was in
Abu-Ghreb, and Mariam Rajavi's residence was in Khalis. I
remember one of the persons who split off with us from the
Mujahideen, whose name was Muhammad Reza, (he now lives here
in Holland) told me that Mariam Rajavi used to tell them:
"Point your rifles at the Iranian Pasdar (Border Guards)
but aim your artillery and tanks against the Kurds."
Ittihad: So how did you react to these operations since you
were not happy with them, and what do you recall of them?
KHM: Personally I was never happy with these inhumane
operations. I saw with my own eyes how the artillery and
tanks entered Kafri and bombarded it, killing civilians, and
the results of the battles with the Peshmarga who became
entangled with the Mujahideen-i Khalq, when they had deceived
us into thinking we were going to fight the Iranian forces. I
saw once in Kifri how the local people were hiding in fear
from the Mujahideen-i Khalq, and I saw how the Mujahideen
would spray unarmed people with machine gun fire while
searching areas, even if the people had raised their arms,
killing one after the other, and then trampling over them to
make sure that they were dead. They were not Pasdaran, as
they had told us, nor were they Iranian army. They
(Mujahideen-i Khalq) were always telling us that they must
die so that they don't bring down the Iraqi regime -
"who will back us when he is gone?"
During these battles, the Mujahideen-i Khalq set up military
bases around Kifri and Touz Khourmato. I remember a unit was
trying to return to Khalis and had to pass through Touz,
which was under the command of the Peshmarga, so the
Mujahideen-i, Khalq sent a number of persons to negotiate
with the Peshmarga to allow them to pass through the town.
The Peshmarga commander asked them to fly their flag so that
they would be recognized and allowed to pass but no sooner
had the Mujahideen arrived in the center of Touz than they
began killing many Kurds sniping with rifles and using the
Kalashnikov and the Doshka. No sooner had they done this than
they would contact the Iraqi Army to hand over the retaken
position to the Iraqis. Detainees would be transferred to the
military intelligence HQ in Touz for interrogation and then
they would be killed as soon as they learned a person was
from a Peshmarga unit.
One of the situations which most affected me was when a car
passed by a check point in Touz carrying two older men, a
younger man, and a boy about 15 years old. They stopped the
car and opened fire on them killing the two men immediately,
although they were unarmed. The boy was still breathing,
between life and death, and they took him off to a building
and kept him imprisoned without treatment or even food, until
he died also the next day.
All of these massacres and killings of Kurds, which took
place in these areas, were really carried out by the
Mujahideen-i Khalq, because there were no Iraqi armed forces
there. The Iraqi army command simply gave the orders, and
then received the cleansed area with thanks once it had been
taken over by the Mujahideen-i Khalq.
Ittihad: How did things finally end between you and Rajavi?
KHM: As I said, when I took issue with his stubborn political
decisions I resigned from carrying out senior political
duties, so as not to cause more loss of innocent life…I had
withdrawn to become a simple soldier in the ranks of the
soldiers. I saw at first hand massacres committed against the
Kurds, and finally decided to leave the organization once and
for all. I sent a letter on Nawroz 1992 to Rajavi explaining
the reasons for my resignation. They came for me the next day
and took my weapons and imprisoned me. More than eight people
took part in torturing me in my solitary confinement. After
two months they allowed me to meet with Rajavi, who asked me
why I had made that decision, so I asked him: "What had
the Kurds done to be killed with such barbarity?" He
replied that the Kurds had been "rented" by the
Iranian government, and that made killing them
"lawful"! So I responded, "Aren't we all
mercenaries? Don't we get our weapons and our equipment from
Iraq?" I remember he then asked me, "Which is worse
, the Iraqi regime or the Iranian regime?" I told him he
should ask the Kurds and the Iraqis on their views, as they
were better informed than we were!
Ittihad: So the weapons used by the Mujahideen-i Khalq were
not captured from the Iranian armed forces, as they claimed?
KHM: The Mujahideen-i Khalq always claimed that the tanks and
artillery used against the Kurds had been obtained in battle
victories from the Iranian Army, but that was simply for
foreign public consumption. Iraq supplied these weapons. The
weaponry taken from Iranian forces (such as the Chieftain
Tanks, T72, T52, MLB and BMB2 BMB1 Troop Carriers etc) were
English and American-made, and were captured after Operation
Chel Chera, when the Mujahideen-i Khalq took over Mehraniyan.
This material was of no use to them, so they handed it over
to Iraq, and Iraq in turn handed it over to an Arab
government, since the Iraqi Army, whenever it obtained such
weaponry during its war with Iran, would simply hand it over
to that Arab government. The Iraqi government supplied the
Mujahideen-i Khalq with all of the heavy and light weaponry
used to annihilate the Kurds. Some of the weaponry was
returned the very next day; it was borrowed for one day only,
to carry out one military operation or another. The
Mujahideen-i Khal
q would cover their faces so that the Kurds would think that
they were the Iraqi military that was carrying out the
massacres. Once it was done the guns would be returned to the
Iraqi Armed Forces.
Ittihad: What about the relations of other Iranian political
parties with the Mujahideen-i Khalq and the Iraqi regime?
KHM: Mujahideen-i Khalq are in fact a kind of official force
within the Iraqi military, and also constitute a large part
of the elite Republican Guard. So they receive a great deal
of financial and military equipment and weaponry. When the
Iraqi government was committing its crimes against the Kurds
all the opposition Iranian parties and political
organizations were decrying and protesting these crimes -
except the Mujahideen-i Khalq which supported them, if they
did not participate in them. In short, the organization would
obtain whatever it needed in the way of weaponry from the
Iraqi regime. Although it has its own independent policies,
it enjoys a great deal of legitimacy throughout Iraq. For
instance no one can move about Baghdad or any Iraqi city
carrying arms, with the exception of members of the
Mujahideen-i Khalq. In order to obtain power they have not
stopped at killing Kurds, but have also acted as spies for
the regime, supplying all manner of information on the
Iranian Army and its military cap
abilities as well as economic information. History will
document that betrayal and treason is the predominant feature
of the Mujahideen-i Khalq's relations with all other
political parties, such as with the Iranian Kurdistani
Democratic Party, which the Mujahideen-i Khalq wished to
subordinate and co-opt under their control - but the Iranian
Democratic Party refused to submit to this.
Ittihad: But wasn't they're an alliance between the
Mujahideen-i Khalq and the other parties, in a united front?
KHM: Yes, when the Mujahideen-i Khalq formed (in 1370 Hejri)
a front called the Popular Resistance Front, the Iranian KDP
was one of the armed factions which joined, along with other
individuals and parties - although all eventually backed out
of it, one after the other. (It included persons such as
Abu-al Hassan Bani Sadr, Khan Baba Tehrani, Mateen Daftari,
Kambezi Rousta, Bahmani Nirouzmandi, Mansouri Farhangi,
Hizb-I-Toufan, the "Leftist Unionist Council", the
Kurdistan Democratic Party and others.) They dropped out
because they found the Mujahideen-i Khalq to be an example of
dictatorial terrorism, working only for Rajavi as
mercenaries.
Ittihad: What about the relationship between America and the
Mujahideen-i Khalq, especially in view of the tense relations
between America and Iran? Did the organization receive any
sort of American aid?
KHM: America views the Mujahideen-i Khalq as a terrorist
organization, especially after it killed the American
advisors, despite the organization's claim at the time that
they were not responsible for their deaths, and that it was a
leftist off shoot of the Mujahideen-i Khalq that killed them.
When Mujahideen-i Khalq left Iranian soil and removed all of
its units to Iraq, they tried very hard to obtain support
from the Americans, but they were not successful. America had
placed them at the top of the list of world terrorist
organizations, despite the fact that some members of the US
administration were sometimes supportive of the Mujahideen-i
Khalq, and were not beyond playing them as a card in their
hand.
Ittihad: And what about the Iranian Kurds, how does the
organization view them??
KHM: When the Popular Resistance Front was created the
Kurdish Democratic Party cooperated with the Mujahideen. The
Mujahideen benefited the most from the areas of Kurdistan
that at the time accepted the idea of autonomy, on paper and
in the media, but when the split occurred they changed their
policy…Rajavi's own view of the Kurds of the world is well
known. He considers them to be traitors, in his words, and he
is always dreading the day the Iraqi regime will fall, and
with it his protection. Given the treatment received at the
hands of Rajavi by the Kurds, what can Iranian Kurds expect
from Rajavi?
Ittihad: Now, after your separation from the organization,
how do you see Rajavi and the organization?
KHM: Personally I don't consider it to be a political
organization, but more of a cult that only carries out the
will of the leader, Rajavi, and without any thought
whatsoever. Masoud Rajavi thinks for everyone… He is a
deranged person. Iraqis feared the Mujahideen a great deal,
thinking they were tantamount to being a private intelligence
agency for the Iraqi leadership, so close were they to it,
and so trusted by it. During the war, when some people
couldn't find a drop of water to drink, Rajavi's stores and
warehouses were full of food. I remember in Kirkuk when the
PUK forces took over one of the Mujahideen's camps, they
found enough food supplies to last the whole camp more than a
month.
Ittihad: What would you like to add to close this discussion?
I'd like to relate an incident to demonstrate the extent of
the malice that the Mujahideen harbored with respect to the
Kurds, excepting a few of them. When we were in a camp in
Sinjavi we had taken two houses, owned by an old woman, as
our base. This Kurdish woman had three sons who fought within
the Iranian KDP. She used to bring us food every day, and
helped us with all of her heart. One day she brought her
nephew to the house, as he was ill, and only six years old.
But the Mujahideen would not allow her to meet with the
doctor, and they would not tell the doctor of her visit. The
next day she came back and the boy was near death, and they
told her that the doctor wasn't there, so she went. I learned
later that the boy had died and that when the doctor learned
of this he resigned and left the area for good. She received
that treatment from them because she was a Kurd and had three
sons in the KDP.
Ittihad: Thank you Mr. Karim Haqqi Mouni for receiving us and
giving us this opportunity to talk with you.
KHM: Thank you, and thanks to your newspaper.
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