US troops stop Kurds from liberating Kirkuk

national | miscellaneous | news report Thursday April 10, 2003 00:46 by Maubere

http://home.cogeco.ca/~dbonni1/9-4-03-us-force-kurds-stayaway-kirkuk.html

Don't the Kurds know that only Americans can liberate Iraq. I mean if those pesky Iraqi people liberated the country from Saddam's regime then how on earth can the Americans control the oil!!!

US Force Kurds to Keep Away from Desired Capital

CHAMCHAMAL, (Southern Kurdistan), April 8 (AFP) Kurdish fighters hoping to seize Kirkuk in northern Iraq and turn it into their new capital are being held back from their goal by the US troops operating alongside them.

Since war broke out on March 20 they have progressed to within five kilometers (three miles) of the oil-rich city, after pushing back Iraqi troops with deadly coalition airstrikes, directed by US special forces.

But instead of moving against Kirkuk as, further south, US troops enter to "liberate" Baghdad, the Kurds have been told by Washington to stay outside the historically Kurdish city.

The reason is because Turkey has threatened to intervene militarily in northern Iraq if the Kurds make a move on Kirkuk or Mosul, and Washington, keen to keep Turkey out of the war, has promised to keep the Kurds under control.

According to a senior Turkish government official, US Secretary of State Colin Powell pledged during a visit to Ankara last week that the Kurds would not be allowed to advance "beyond a certain line" around Mosul and Kirkuk.

Turkey fears that control of local oil resources around the two cities could embolden Iraqi Kurds to move towards independence, a prospect that could set an example to Turkey's own Kurdish minority.

"There hasn't been any direct confrontations," said one Kurdish fighter (peshmerga), speaking about the advance on Kirkuk.

"All depends on the Americans, if they give us the instructions, we'll go," said another peshmerga, standing near a bridge retreating Iraqi forces dynamited.

Around Kirkuk, forces loyal to the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), one of the two main Kurdish factions controlling northern Iraq, have been operating along with small teams of US special forces, harassing Iraqi positions and calling in airstrikes.

Over the weekend, Kurdish forces were also making progress in securing the strategic town of Guare, 40 kilometers (25 miles) southeast of Mosul and 90 kilometers (56 miles) northeast of Kirkuk.

A road linking Kirkuk and Mosul cuts through Guare, and capturing the town would enable Kurdish fighters to cut off Iraqi lines of communication between the two cities.

The Kurds are waiting for coalition forces to have Baghdad firmly under control, which could be a green light for them. "We have waited 14 years, we can wait another four days," said Kurdish general Mam Rustom. "Kirkuk is where the heart of Kurdistan beats," he added.

In light of Turkey's threats and US demands, a senior PUK official suggested on Thursday that Kurdish troops would wait until the capture of Baghdad by US-British forces before making any move.

"The PUK will not move against Kirkuk as Kurds. Should a decision be taken to move it will be done as the Iraqi opposition and in tandem with the coalition," said PUK prime minister Barham Salih.

"But we do not want to do anything that will undermine the mission, which is Baghdad," he said, alluding to the prospect of Turkey's intervention.

And while coordination between the Kurds and Americans has been high, the mistaken bombing by a US warplane of a Kurdish convoy on Sunday that killed 18 Kurds, mostly fighters, and wounded some 45 others near Arbil has shaken confidence.

Some Kurds fear that the United States will abandon them, like it did during their 1991 uprising against Saddam Hussein's regime, or will make them lose the 12 years of semi-autonomy from Baghdad they have enjoyed since then.

"How could the Americans mistake Kurdish and Iraqi positions when their planes were flying so low," said Paman Yassin, a 26-year-old student.

"It's stupid, many people have had enough of this war. But people are scared ... to say the Americans, Christians on Muslim lands, have come to take our oil and stay for a long time," she added.