Kurds Charge Pullout Will Bolster Hussein

As the U.S. military mission to protect Kurds in northern Iraq nears an end, Kurdish leaders claimed Tuesday that the withdrawal may force them to sign a one-sided agreement with Saddam Hussein that will help extend his control throughout Iraq and entrench his dictatorship.

Already the Baghdad regime has launched a “systematic campaign of intimidation, harassment and repression” involving large-scale Iraqi troop movements against the northern Kurds, according to Jalal Talabani, secretary general of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan.

The 3.5 million Kurds in Iraq now face “a nightmare scenario,” he said. “There is no real effective support for the Kurdish movement or the Iraqi opposition from the international community to enable it to withstand Iraqi aggression.”

As a result, the Kurdish leadership is under pressure to sign an agreement on autonomy that falls far short of what the Iraqi leader promised when negotiations began in March at the end of an unsuccessful Kurdish uprising.

The major points of dispute in the accord are the size of autonomous Kurdistan, unfulfilled promises of liberalization and the status of the oil-rich Kirkuk region.

“Not only does the government fail to provide for any liberalization in Iraq’s political system, but it in fact commits the Kurdistan front to supporting and perpetuating one-party rule,” said Talabani, one of two Kurdish leaders in Washington for talks with U.S. and congressional officials.

The other, Hoshyar Zebari of the Kurdish Democratic Party, added: “This agreement, if it goes ahead, will definitely strengthen Saddam Hussein. He will gain credibility. He will be able to extend his authority over the entire country.”

The 2,032 coalition forces, including 1,183 American troops, deployed at Silopi in eastern Turkey for Operation Provide Comfort are scheduled to begin withdrawing next Monday. The remainder are British, French, Italian, Dutch and Turkish troops.

Asked if the Kurds had agreed to the U.S. withdrawal from Turkey and the end of Operation Provide Comfort, Pentagon officials refused to answer directly. “We are confident that this is the right thing to do in pursuit of this operation,” said spokesman Pete Williams.