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Iran Warns U.S. Against Attack

By AFSHIN VALINEJAD Associated Press Writer Saturday, December 14, 1996 6:01 pm EST

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) -- Iran's leader warned Saturday that any U.S. attack on his country would have grave consequences for the entire oil-rich Gulf region.

The comments by Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the country's top religious and political authority, followed a report that the United States would retaliate if it found evidence of Iranian involvement in a bombing in eastern Saudi Arabia in June that killed 19 U.S. airmen and injured scores.

``It seems that the United States is trying to strike a blow against the Iranian nation,'' said Khamenei in a speech to the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, Iran's main fighting force.

``It should know that the region can have tranquility only when Iran has tranquility,'' said Khamenei in remarks broadcast on the state-run radio.

Referring to the United States as Satan, he issued a veiled warning against Saudi Arabia and the oil-rich sheikdoms across the Gulf from Iran, saying that trouble for his country would mean trouble for them.

There are about 25,000 U.S. servicemen, including 15,000 sailors in the region.

Thursday, the Los Angeles Times reported that the Clinton administration is considering several retaliatory measures against Iran, including military strikes, if officials determine that it was involved in the June attack.

But White House press secretary Mike McCurry said Clinton won't considering any steps until the Saudi investigation of the bombing is over.

Iran, a Farsi-language newspaper, said there was no evidence of Iranian involvement in the bombing and criticized Saudi officials for not refuting the U.S. media reports.

PKK declares end to violence in Germany - Spiegel 13:15 Dec 14, 1996 EST

BONN, Dec 14 (Reuter) - The European leadership of the banned Kuristan Workers' Party (PKK) has written to Chancellor Helmut Kohl declaring an end to its campaign of violence in Germany, the news magazine Der Spiegel reported on Saturday.

The letter, which came from Brussels, pledged ``regrettable incidents'' of the past few years would not be repeated, Spiegel said in a report released ahead of publication on Monday.

A chancellery spokesman said he could not confirm whether such a letter had been received.

Spiegel said the letter also urged Bonn to mediate between the Turkish government and the PKK, which has waged a 12-year guerrilla war for Kurdish autonomy in southeastern Turkey.

The report would appear to tally with recent conciliatory statements attributed to PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan. He told Germany's ZDF television in September he was calling an end to violence in Germany.

Germany banned the PKK as a terrorist organisation in 1993. Investigators believe the group has been behind scores of firebomb attacks on the property of Turks in Germany who are perceived as being ``loyal'' to the Turkish government.

UNHCR to withdraw from Turkish Kurd camp in N Iraq 12:44 Dec 14, 1996 EST

GENEVA, Dec 14 (Reuter) - The United Nations refugee agency UNHCR said on Saturday it was pulling out of a Turkish Kurd refugee camp in northern Iraq which Turkey says is a guerrilla base for Kurdish rebels fighting in its southeast areas.

UNHCR spokeswoman Christiane Berthiaume said the Atrush camp, home to 14,000 Turkish Kurds who fled conflict between rebel Kurds and Turkish troops in southeast Turkey, would be disbanded in the near future because her agency's work was being blocked by ``activists'' preventing refugees from going home.

Berthiaume declined to say if UNHCR's decision was in response to pressure from Ankara, which has long sought the camp's closure, saying it is a base for operations by the independence-seeking rebel Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK).

``We will be disbanding the camp in the near future. We've made no secret of fact that for some time we've been unable to carry out humanitarian efforts effectively,'' Berthiaume said.

``Those controlling things there are activists who don't want to allow the refugees to exercise their own free will on the matter on whether or not they want to go back to Turkey.''

U.N. security sources and aid officials have said that PKK rebels often stayed in the camp and refugees have admitted close ties to the guerrillas.

Berthiaume said refugees who did not want to go back would be assisted at temporary transit centres but added that UNHCR would not set up new permanent camps for them in north Iraq.

``We are not abandoning the refugees. We're looking for ways of helping them make a free choice and finding durable solutions for any refugees who decide not to go to Turkey,'' she said.

``The majority of the camp population are old men, women and children. They must be protected from any kind of threat. No one will be forcibly repatriated to Turkey,'' she added.

Berthiaume said the Turkish government had welcomed the refugees home and given security assurances.

Atrush camp, some 60 km (38 miles) from the Turkish border, was founded for Kurds fleeing Turkey in 1994 into northern Iraqi territory controlled by the Iraqi Kurdistan Democratic Party.

Kurdish villagers in southeast Turkey are caught in the middle of a dirty guerrilla war between Turkish troops and PKK rebels fighting for autonomy or independence from Ankara.

More than 21,000 people have died during the 12-year conflict.