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Bonni Network
Iraqi Kurd group accuses rival on eve of talks 09:32 Oct 29, 1996
ANKARA, Oct 29 (Reuter) - An Iraqi Kurdish militia on Tuesday again accused a rival group of receiving military support from Iran, on the eve of U.S.-brokered peace talks to end Kurdish fighting in northern Iraq.The Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) said in a statement that it had evidence of Iranian forces fighting alongside the rival Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK).
The statement carried photocopies of what Massoud Barzani's KDP said were identity cards taken from the bodies of two Iranian soldiers killed in a clash near the strategic Dukan Dam on October 20.
The PUK was not immediately available for comment but both it and Tehran have denied previous KDP charges of military cooperation.
Delegations from the two Kurdish groups are to meet in Ankara for peace negotiations on Wednesday, diplomats said. U.S. envoy Robert Pelletreau is to chair the talks at which Britain and Turkey will take part as observers.
Pelletreau brokered a ceasefire between the Kurds last week.
Barzani joined forces with Baghdad in late August to take the key city of Arbil from the PUK, prompting U.S. missiles strikes against targets in southern Iraq.
The KDP said one of the captured identity cards showed a member of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards whom it identified as Namiq Sadik Bassemi. It said the other document belonged to Mahamed Ahmed Wayess, an observation officer in Iran's 33rd artillery regiment.
Iran scepticim over U.S.-brokered Kurd talks 10:28 Oct 29, 1996
``The Islamic Republic of Iran sees the establishment of a ceasefire in northern Iraq as positive, but is sceptical about the activities of the White House in the region due to America's expansionistic goals,'' Tehran radio said in a commentary.
``Therefore, Iran has announced its readiness to mediate and considers it necessary to enter this field of activity to ensure security in the region,'' it added.
The radio was commenting on U.S.-brokered peace talks due to begin in Turkey on Wednesday between the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) and the rival Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK). U.S. envoy Robert Pelletreau brokered the ceasefire last week.
``Iran can play an effective role in resolving the crisis in northern Iran, thanks to its cultural and historic ties as well as its geographic proximity,'' the state-run radio said.
Iran has said the conflict should be resolved through mediation by regional states and without interference by powers from outside the region.
Diplomats say the KDP's military alliance with Baghdad in August and its charges that the PUK receives military backing from Iran will be issues of contention at the negotiations in Turkey.
The KDP on Tuesday renewed charges that the PUK had received military support from Iran.
Tehran has repeatedly denied it was helping the PUK. The PKK killed 14 soldiers in a single clash in Diyarbakir province in fighting that began on Monday night, security officials said. Five dead in Kurdish suicide bombing in Turkey 06:32 Oct 29, 1996
ANKARA, Oct 29 (Reuter) - A Kurdish woman suicide bomber detained by police on Turkey's national day on Tuesday killed herself and four others in an explosion in the central town of Sivas, police said.
She was the third human bomb since Kurdish rebels fighting for self-rule in southeast Turkey launched a campaign of suicide bombings in July. All three bombers have been women.``We have three police martyrs. The female terrorist and a civilian also died,'' a police spokesman said after the attack in Sivas.
He said the woman, suspected of belonging to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) rebel, exploded a device inside a police car after she had been picked up to be searched.
Security at public places throughout the country had been stepped up to ward off any PKK attacks on Republic Day celebrations.
Security officials said police in the southeastern city of Diyarbakir had at the weekend arrested a Kurdish rebel planning a suicide bombing on a national day military parade. The rebel was caught with explosives.
A PKK suicide bomber killed herself and four other people in an attack on a police station in the southern city of Adana last Friday.
The rebels staged their first suicide bombing in July. Ten people died in that attack in the town of Tunceli.
PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan had earlier threatened to stage a wave of suicide bombings.
More than 20,000 people have been killed in the 12-year-old war for Kurdish self-rule in southeast Turkey.
The state-run Anatolian news agency said on Tuesday that guerrillas had killed 14 soldiers in a single clash in Diyarbakir province in fighting that began on Monday night. ANKARA, Oct 29 (Reuter) - Two people died on Tuesday in an explosion in front of a police station in the central Turkish town of Sivas, Anatolian news agency said.
The agency said a car parked in front of the police station blew up at 8.50 a.m. (0650 GMT). It gave no more details.
Armed far-left groups and Kurdish rebels are both active in Sivas province. Security at public places throughout Turkey has been stepped up to ward off any Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) attacks during Tuesday's national day celebrations. USA turns down Ciller's offer