Kurdish Leadership Studying Saddam's Call For Dialogue

July 18, 2001

The two main Kurdish parties, KDP & PUK, have not yet revealed their positions to
Saddam's call of July 15 to start dialogue with the Iraqi government over the future of the
Kurdish region in Iraq.  A spokesman for the KDP indicated that his party is still studying
Saddam's call and added, "In principle, the KDP's position is to seek a solution within an
integrated Iraq commensurate with sacrifices and aspirations of the Kurdish people, and 
with the new realities in the Kurdish region."

The PUK's spokesman in London revealed to the London based Arabic newspaper,
Al-Zaman, that it wishes to obtain the full text of Saddam's speech before it reveals its
official position.  Other Kurdish sources indicated that the general feeling among the
Kurdish circles is that Saddam's call is fashioned as an intimidation which may be followed
by a military attack to bring the Kurdish region back under the control of the Iraqi regime.
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