Iraqi Kurds Wary of U.S. Action Against Iraq

Wednesday December 5

ANKARA (Reuters) - Northern Iraq's two main Kurdish factions said on Wednesday they
were wary of the U.S. war on terrorism targeting President Saddam Hussein's government
and said Iraqis must be left to decide their country's fate.

Secretary of State Colin Powell on Wednesday assured Turkey that President Bush's
administration has not made a decision on taking action against Iraq for its refusal to allow
U.N. weapons inspectors to enter the country.

``We reject the random bombardment of Iraq, because only the people of Iraq will suffer,''
said a Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) official at the group's mission in Ankara.

``We cannot leave the future of Iraq to be shaped by others,'' he said,  quoting a PUK policy
statement. ``We are directly affected and must be involved to ensure that the future of Iraq is
different from its miserable and brutal past.''

Since the 1991 Gulf War, U.S. warplanes have protected Kurdish-held territories in Iraq's
north administered by the PUK and the rival Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP).

The PUK and KDP, which wrested control of the region from Iraq after the Gulf War,
oppose Hussein but say they are committed to working within Iraq's territorial integrity.

The KDP is ``watching the situation very carefully. We are very wary of developments,'' an
official told Reuters.

``We want to preserve the unity of Iraq and end the misery of the Iraqi people brought on by
the (U.N.) embargo,'' he said.

Ankara has said it too opposes strikes on Iraq, saying it has lost billions of dollars in trade
with Baghdad since the United Nations  imposed sanctions in 1990.

Turkey also fears upheaval in its neighbor could stir its own restive Kurds.
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