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MOUNT QANDIL,
Kurdistan-Iraq, April 3, 2006, - A little-known
organization based in the mountains of Iraq's
Kurdish north is emerging as a serious threat to the
Iranian government, staging cross-border attacks and
claiming tens of thousands of supporters among
Iran's 4 million Kurds.
The Party for a Free Life in Kurdistan, better known
by the local acronym PEJAK or PJAK, claims to have
killed 24 Iranian soldiers in three raids against
army bases last month, all staged in retaliation for
the killing of 10 Iranian Kurds during a peaceful
demonstration in the city of Maku.
Three more soldiers from Iran's elite Republican
Guard were killed last week in a gunbattle near the
Iraqi border, Iran's official news agency reported.
But the greater threat to the Tehran regime may come
from the group's underground effort to promote a
sense of identity among Iranian Kurds, who make up 7
percent of that country's population. PEJAK leaders
say the effort is spreading quickly among students,
intellectuals and businessmen.
"The Iranian government's plan to create a global
Islamic state is destroying our people's culture and
values," said Akif Zagros, 28, a graduate in Persian
literature who was interviewed in a simple stone hut
at the group's headquarters. "So we fight back. But
our aim is not just to bring freedom to Kurds, but
to liberate all the peoples of Iran."
PEJAK units first began targeting the Iranian
military in 2004. After attacking, the militants
melt back into a supportive society or cross the
Iraqi border to join several thousand guerrillas at
the group's leafy main camp a few miles from the
Iranian border.
"Because the Iranian government oppresses people and
prevents demonstrations, we needed a way to defend
ourselves," said Mr. Zagros, one of four men and
three women who make up the group's leadership
council.
"The Iranian government has provoked the people of
Iranian Kurdistan to defend themselves," Mr. Zagros
continued. "But at the same time, the government is
quite weak in these regions, and so our people can
respond if they are attacked."
Unlike most other rebel groups in the Middle East,
PEJAK is secular and Western-oriented. When the
group's members talk, their Kurdish is peppered with
such Western words as "freedom," "human rights" and
"ecology."
Iran has denounced it as a terrorist group and
accused the United States of funding it. But at
PEJAK's camp, there is no obvious evidence of
American equipment or money. The only weapons on
show are AK-47 assault rifles and grenades, and the
funding is clearly limited.
Each recruit has a single pair of khaki fatigues,
and even its leaders subsist on simple meals of
bread, cheese and fresh vegetables at communal
outdoor tables.
The group's leaders say that they have had no
contact with the United States, but that they would
be willing to work with Europe or America against
the Tehran government.
"We demand democratic change in Iran," Mr. Zagros
said. "And if the U.S. government wants to help us,
we are happy to accept their support. "The U.S.
talks about bringing democracy to the region," he
added. "But for 200 years, the Kurds have struggled
against dictatorship and oppression and in defense
of our human rights. And so far the West has not
helped us. Why?"
PEJAK's ideology combines the Kurds' traditionally
low-key Islam and pagan-influenced culture with the
movement's political opposition to the dogmatic
Islamic government in Tehran.
Nearly half the group's members are women, attracted
by its promotion of sexual equality. Female
volunteers receive the same training as the men,
wear the same clothes, and greet visitors with a
steady eye and firm handshake.
"Here in our camp, the women learn to be strong so
that when they go back to Iran, they can teach women
and, in fact, all people about our struggle for
democracy and human rights," said Gulistan Dugan,
36, a psychology graduate from the University of
Tehran and a member of the leadership council.
"The daughters of our movement take part in all our
operations, including military ones."
washingtontimes.com
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