IRAQ KURDS BARZANI =2 ANKARA 07:29 Oct 13, 1996

Iraqi troops and tanks helped Barzani take control of much of northern Iraq in a lightning offensive against the rival Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) last month.

Barzani, who heads the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), called for outside help against Iran.

``We are calling on all the countries in the world to help us against Iran's brutal invasion,'' Anatolian quoted him as saying.

The PUK, led by Jalal Talabani, on Sunday retook Sulaimaniya, the region's biggest city, from Barzani's forces who had occupied it for the last month. Pro-Baghdad Kurds accuse Iran of ``invasion 07:24 Oct 13, 1996

ANKARA, Oct 13 (Reuter) - Pro-Baghdad Iraqi Kurdish leader Massoud Barzani on Sunday accused Iranian forces of entering northern Iraq to help a rival Kurdish group retake a key city, Turkey's Anatolian news agency said.

``Our people and country have have been up against an invasion of Iranian forces in the Iranian border regions and in the Sulaimaniya region for the past three days,'' Anatolian quoted Barzani as telling Iraqi Kurdish radio.

Anti-Saddam Kurds Recapture Key City 07:17 Oct 13, 1996

BAGHDAD (Reuter) - Anti-Baghdad Kurdish rebels retook the Kurdish stronghold of Sulaimaniya Sunday, only a month after losing it to a Kurdish faction aligned with Iraqi President Saddam Hussein.

``Early this morning the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) took over Sulaimaniya from the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) of Massoud Barzani,'' a source at the U.N. coordinator's headquarters in Baghdad told Reuters.

In Damascus, Bayan Jabr, representative of the Shi'ite Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq which is aligned with the PUK, said in a statement the Kurdish group planned to retake the city of Arbil as well.

``According to information we got from northern Iraq minutes ago, the PUK will launch an offensive to recapture Arbil and the town will be in the hands of the PUK fighters within a few days,'' Jabr said.

The U.N. source said Talabani forces had also regained control of Chamchamal to the south and Darbandikhan to the east. ``The area from the Iranian border deep into Iraqi Kurdistan is now in Talabani's hands,'' the source said.

He said all U.N. staff in Sulaimaniya were safe and the city was calm. He said it apparently fell without any armed struggle.

``It is just a new day. KDP is out and PUK is in. Yesterday we had yellow flags today we have green ones,'' the source said.

Iraqi forces intervened on the side of KDP guerrillas led by Barzani late in August and helped them oust the PUK of Jalal Talabani from Arbil, Iraqi Kurdistan's administrative centre.

Washington, which opposes any military involvement in the area by Saddam, then launched punitive missile strikes against Iraqi air-defence targets in southern Iraq.

A statement from the PUK received in Ankara said its forces took control of the Kurdish city at 4 a.m.

``A spontaneous uprising by the population of Sulaimaniya, Iraqi Kurdistan's largest city, ejected Massoud Barzani and his forces from the city after a month-long occupation,'' it said. ``Barzani was confronted by hostile crowds and forced to flee to Iraqi-controlled Kirkuk.''

Reports reaching the U.N. office in Baghdad said KDP rebels had abandoned the city hours before the arrival of Talabani rebels. One source said he did not rule out a deal between the sides: ``We have not seen the last act of this drama.''

He said there was celebratory gunfire when PUK forces entered. ``They have re-installed their local administration and former governor.''

Iraq had accused Talabani of receiving Iranian aid in its battle with KDP rivals and the central government. After Barzani won control of Arbil and Sulaimaniya, Saddam removed restrictions on movement of people and trade to the Kurdish region.

Iraq's Deputy Prime Minister Tareq Aziz said on Tuesday that Barzani had an open invitation for talks on Kurdish self-rule. He said Baghdad wanted a political solution after five years of Kurdish autonomy under Western protection.

The fighting a month ago halted plans to implement an oil-for-food agreement between Baghdad and the United Nations because U.N. personnel overseeing the distribution in the north might not be safe.

On Wednesday U.N. Undersecretary-General Chinmaya Gharekhan said conditions in the Kurdish region were still not ready for the plan signed by Iraq and the U.N. in May that would have allowed the first Iraqi oil exports in six years.

By WAIEL FALEH Associated Press Writer Sunday, October 13, 1996 7:20 am EDT

BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) -- In counteroffensive following a monthlong lull, Kurdish rebels early Sunday recaptured a northern Iraqi city seized last month by a rival faction backed by Saddam Hussein.

The fighting that erupted in late August prompted the United States in early September to attack Iraqi military installations with bombs and cruise missiles.

A statement by the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan said its forces entered the city of Sulaymaniyah, the region's second-largest city, at dawn following a ``spontaneous uprising'' which ejected the forces of the rival Kurdistan Democratic Party.

The rival group's leader, Massoud Barzani, fled the city and took refuge in the northern oil city of Kirkuk, which is under the control of the Iraqi government, the statement said.

A Kurdistan Democratic Party official in the provincial capital of Irbil, Franso Hariri, confirmed the PUK had captured the city in an interview with Turkey's semiofficial Anatolia news agency.

The Iraqi government, in an official statement, urged the two groups to settle their differences through talks and sternly warned against what it called ``dealing with the foreigner,'' a reference to the PUK's ties with neighboring Iran.

The statement was issued after a meeting, chaired by Saddam, of Iraq's Revolutionary Command Council and the leadership of the ruling Arab Socialist Baath Party -- the country's highest executive bodies.

Barzani's forces drove the PUK from Sulaymaniyah, 170 miles north of Baghdad, on Sept. 9 in a offensive which brought most of northern Iraq under Barzani's control.

The attack began in late August when Barzani's troops -- with the help of the Iraqi army -- captured Irbil from the Iran-backed PUK.

The United States retaliated with missile strikes near Baghdad on Sept. 3-4 and increased its presence in the Gulf region.

The action, however, restored some of the Iraqi president's influence in the area for the first time since the 1991 Gulf War, when the United States and its allies declared Iraq's Kurdish area as a safe haven and enforced a no-fly zone above it.

The recapture of Sulaymaniyah followed a statement Saturday by the Kurdistan Democratic Party that PUK forces backed by Iranian troops and artillery crossed into Iraq from Iran on Friday.

The PUK denies Iran is backing its latest offensive, which officials said began Saturday, when PUK troops recaptured several towns in northern Iraq which form an arc about 30 miles northeast of Sulaymaniyah.

In a radio broadcast monitored by the British Broadcasting Corp., Barzani appealed on Saturday night for international help against what he called a ``brutal invasion'' by Iran and helped by the PUK.

The two Kurdish groups -- both of whom are seeking autonomy from Baghdad -- have been on-and-off enemies for years. For the most part, their disputes concern Iran and the best way to deal with Saddam while pushing for autonomy.

In a rare show of unity, the two groups temporarily joined forces in an uprising against the Iraqi government immediately after the end of the Gulf War. The Iraqi army ruthlessly suppressed the revolt.

IRAQ KURDS =2 BAGHDAD 04:02 Oct 13, 1996

The source said all U.N. staff in Sulaimaniya were safe and the city was calm. He said no fighting took place and U.N. personnel were not aware of any shooting in and around the city.

``It is just a new day. KDP is out and PUK is in. Yesterday we had yellow flags today we have green ones,'' the source said.

Iraqi armed forces intervened on the side of KDP guerrillas late in August and helped them oust PUK from Arbil, Iraqi Kurdistan's administrative centre.

The United States, which opposes Baghdad's military involvement in the area, then launched punitive missile strikes against Iraqi air-defence targets in southern Iraq.

Anti-Baghdad rebels recapture Sulaimaniya 03:40 Oct 13, 1996

BAGHDAD, Oct 13 (Reuter) - Anti-Baghdad Kurdish rebels of Jalal Talabani have recaptured the Kurdish stronghold of Sulaimaniya from the pro-Baghdad rebels of Massoud Barzani, the U.N. coordinator's office in Baghdad said on Sunday.

``Early this morning the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) took over Sulaimaniya from Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) of Massoud Barzani,'' a source at the coordinator's headquarters told Reuters