Kurdish Leader Reports Clearing Key Obstacles in Talks With Baghdad

Kurdish rebel leader Masoud Barzani said Friday that talks with the Iraqi government cleared some key obstacles but that an autonomy deal had not yet been reached.

“There is not full agreement in all areas but the difficult things we have passed,” Barzani told reporters at his hotel.

Baghdad’s negotiating team, headed by President Saddam Hussein’s deputy, Izzat Ibrahim, remained tight-lipped about the talks.

Barzani said he plans a news conference today to give details of the progress so far.

Issues resolved include an end to strife in the north, the Kurdish Democratic Party leader said. Hundreds of thousands of Kurds fled the region when Iraqi troops crushed an uprising against Hussein after the Gulf War.

Barzani said another key issue, control of the northern city of Kirkuk and its oil resources, is now “not a problem.”

Barzani also said he is confident that Iraq is ready to sign an agreement with the United Nations to provide some kind of U.N. security presence in northern Iraq, where U.S. and other Western troops have created a haven for Kurds.