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BAGHDAD, Iraq May
3, (AP) — The Iraqi government is using diplomacy to
try to stop Iranian forces from shelling Kurdish
rebel positions in the north and does not expect an
incursion by ground forces, the foreign minister
said Wednesday.
Hoshyar Zebari, a Kurd, made the comment in
parliament after some Kurdish legislators demanded a
strong statement against Iranian attacks against
border camps operated by Iranian Kurdish rebels
linked to the Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK.
"The Iraqi government is making necessary contacts
with the countries concerned and with international
sides," Zebari said. "There were some violations,
but we do not think that there is a present threat
or possibility of major incursion."
He said there were some "sticky issues and
problems," but the border attacks "should be handled
through diplomatic means."
Iranian forces fired artillery across the border
north of Sulaimaniyah on Sunday and Monday, causing
no casualties but forcing some families to move,
according to Iraqi Kurdish officials. The Iranians
launched a similar barrage April 21.
Rebels seeking self-rule in Kurdish areas of Iran
operate from Iraqi territory and have been active
recently, mounting attacks against Iranian army and
Revolutionary Guard posts.
Iraqi Kurds have suggested the Iranians also fear
the degree of autonomy Kurds have gained in
post-Saddam Iraq. They theorize Iran also may be
using the incursions by Kurdish rebels as an excuse
to shoot back and to warn that Iran will not abide
similar ambitions in its territory.
The Kurds, who have never had a state of their own
in modern history, are spread across a large region
including northeast Syria, northern Iraq,
southeastern Turkey, northwestern Iran and some
areas of the Caucusus mountain countries that were
former Soviet republics.
Iran also has a large Arab population along its
southern border with Iraq near Basra, and there have
been a series of deadly bombings in the region's
largest city, Ahvaz, for which Tehran has blamed the
United States and Britain.
The attacks, however, are most likely the work of
Arab nationalists in the region that formerly was
part of Iraq, which is predominantly Arab.
Turkey last month deployed more than 30,000
additional troops in its predominantly Kurdish
southeast and along its rugged border with Iraq and
Iran to fight the Kurdish guerrillas and stop them
from crossing the frontier.
That came after Kurdish rebels reportedly killed two
Turkish soldiers and wounded a third in a grenade
attack on a military outpost, raising the number of
Turkish troops killed this year to at least 17. More
than 40 Kurdish guerrillas also have been killed in
clashes in the same period.
The Turkish deployment boosted an already large
garrison in the region that by some estimates tops
250,000 soldiers.
AP
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