Kurd Rivals Keep On Fighting for Dam

Iranian-sponsored Kurdish guerrillas continued fighting to keep control of a hydroelectric dam in northern Iraq as thousands of civilians fled into Iran to escape the warfare between Kurdish rivals. A U.S. envoy, meanwhile, met with the leader of the Iraqi-backed faction in an effort to reach a cease-fire. The Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), which is supported by Iran, held Dukan Dam. The dam is the last barrier to PUK-held Sulaymaniyah, northern Iraq’s second-largest Kurdish city, which lies 40 miles to the southeast. The rival Democratic Party of Kurdistan (KDP) claimed it had taken Dukan on Sunday night. But before dawn, the PUK was in control of the town and had shut off power to Irbil, a city under KDP control.