PUK-KDP Study A Joint Response To Saddam's Call For Dialogue

July 24, 2001

A column published by the London-based Al Hayat today reports that Iraqi Kurdish
leaderships have focused their talks on drafting a joint response to a call by Saddam Hussein
for dialogue.  A KDP delegation met their PUK counterpart in Sulamaniah yesterday to
discuss and draft a joint rebuttal to the call by Iraqi president.  The two delegations are
expected to meet again tomorrow or Thursday for further talks. A Kurdish source refused to 
elaborate of the progress achieved so far except to say "the Kurds have always called for a
negotiated settlement with the Central government to the Kurdish question.  The question is
whether conditions for success of the negotiation exist.  These conditions are now under
investigation."

Meanwhile the peace process between the two Kurdish parties advanced further yesterday
after the repatriation to Sulaimania and Arbil of hundreds of displaced families resulted from
past conflicts.  On the other hand, no progress was made regarding unifying the parliaments. 
One of the stumbling blocks seems to be the issue of naming the common parliament.  In this 
regard, Al-Hayat reported that efforts are now underway to schedule a meeting between
Masoud Barzani and Jalal Talebani, leaders of the KDP and PUK respectively to resolve the
outstanding issues.
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