In Iraq, Iranian Kurd Rebels Hope for Their Moment Message-ID: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> User-Agent: eGroups-EW/0.82 X-Mailer: Yahoo Groups Message Poster X-Originating-IP: 66.94.237.48 X-eGroups-Msg-Info: 1:12:0 X-Yahoo-Post-IP: 68.100.237.239 From: "David Bier" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> X-Yahoo-Profile: bafsllc MIME-Version: 1.0 Mailing-List: list osint@yahoogroups.com; contact [EMAIL PROTECTED] Delivered-To: mailing list osint@yahoogroups.com List-Id: <osint.yahoogroups.com> Precedence: bulk List-Unsubscribe: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Date: Sun, 20 Mar 2005 03:13:12 -0000 Subject: [osint] Reply-To: osint@yahoogroups.com Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit
It would be interesting for Komala to sponsor MEK into its area of Iraq and turn them loose on Iran. http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=7944549 In Iraq, Iranian Kurd Rebels Hope for Their Moment Fri Mar 18, 2005 08:01 AM ET By Seb Walker ZARKUS, Iraq (Reuters) - From the military bunker which serves as his office, Ibrahim Alizada can glimpse the snow-capped mountains of his homeland as he plots the downfall of Iran's Islamist government just 30 miles away. Alizada, who fled Iran in 1985, heads the Iraqi branch of Komala -- an Iranian Kurd socialist party which gives succor to Kurds crossing into Iraq to escape persecution in Iran. About 1,000 Iranian Kurds live in the party's hillside compound near Sulaimaniya, in the heart of northern Iraq's Kurdish zone, and nearly a third are trained guerrillas. Each week dozens more arrive. "We're getting about six new arrivals every day. Of these, we usually accept two or three," said gray-haired Alizada, who describes himself as an intellectual. His group takes on about 30 trainees each month, half of whom are sent back into Iran to conduct "clandestine activities" after receiving training at the mountain camp, he says. Despite growing U.S.-led pressure on Iran, Alizada is quick to play down the prospect of linking up with Western powers to try to bring down the Islamic government that has ruled in Tehran since the 1979 revolution that overthrew the Shah. "We can't rule that out, but we think it's unlikely," said Alizada, adding that his party receives no support from Washington, although, "they close their eyes to our activities." "We don't expect changes in the short-term -- perhaps two or three years ... we are waiting for the people to start changing the situation (in Iran)," he said, somewhat wistfully. READY TO FIGHT Kurds, perhaps the world's largest ethnic group without a nation, number about 20 million spread mostly across Syria, Turkey, Iraq and Iran. They enjoy the most strength and autonomy in Iraq, where there is a Kurdish regional government. Komala is just one of several Iranian Kurd political parties now based in the Kurdish zone of northern Iraq, and the region is also home to around 10,000 Iranian Kurd political refugees. As well as Komala, the Kurdistan Democratic Party of Iran also draws wide support from the exile community. The groups have differing ideologies, which has led to friction in the past, but activists say there is a new-found sense of unity -- seven Iranian opposition groups, including the main Kurdish ones, have signed a co-operation pact. Iraqi Kurd officials acknowledge the presence of politically active Iranian Kurd groups in their region, which encompasses three provinces of northern Iraq, but say military activities are both non-existent and prohibited. Iranian Kurd groups participated in the 1979 overthrow of the Shah, but fell out with the central government due to the Shi'ite Islamic revolutionaries' hardline religious principles -- Kurds, while more secular, are predominantly Sunni Muslims. After years of armed resistance in the Kurdish region of western Iran, many fled to Iraq pursued by Iranian forces who staged frequent cross-border raids to eradicate subversive elements -- Komala's camp was attacked three times in the 1990s. These days, the bomb shelters which protected Komala's members from Iranian missile and mortar attacks are used only for practice drills. But the group has its own expanding militia force and armed guards keep watch over the camp. In one of its huts, young men and women in traditional Kurdish military uniform gather for a lesson in political thought. Each holds a Kalashnikov rifle and listen attentively as their teacher outlines the ills of Iranian society. "Women must defend themselves from the suffering they endure in the Islamic Republic. Any revolution which does not include women will fail," is one female trainee's fierce response to a question about sexual equality. Many of the camp members are heartened by rumblings of dissent emanating from within Iran, but there is suspicion over the wisdom of any Western-backed direct intervention. "Iraq is a good example. The U.S. came here and liberated the area, but people are still being killed here every day," said Shoresh Salahi, 26, who left Iran seven years ago. "We are ready to fight if necessary ... but we don't think the U.S. is trying to help the Iranian people. They have their own interests at heart." WAITING GAME? Salahi said fomenting change in Iran indirectly and through the media was preferable to joining up with external forces, and that seems to be the focus of the group's activities. >From a makeshift recording studio in another section of the camp, subversive radio programs are broadcast across Iranian frequencies. The party also publishes a newspaper and leaflets intended for distribution inside Iran. "We try to make connections with social organizations and communities inside Iran," Alizada said. "We're not expecting the United States to do the same thing they have done here in Iraq." But having seen their Iraqi Kurd neighbors first rid themselves of an oppressive government and then win a powerful voice in their own country, some Iranian Kurds are eager for action. "We're coming here to make something happen, to fight for our rights," said Bijen Sultani, 25, who arrived Iraq this year. Sultani said that because of discrimination against Kurds and women, she was barred from certain university courses and could earn only $30 a month despite as a physiotherapist. Pointing to the improved situation for Iraq's Kurdish minority, she said she hoped for a similar scenario in Iran. "With the help of the international community we can remove the unbearable segregation which exists within our society," she said. ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> Give underprivileged students the materials they need to learn. Bring education to life by funding a specific classroom project. http://us.click.yahoo.com/FHLuJD/_WnJAA/cUmLAA/TySplB/TM --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> -------------------------- Want to discuss this topic? 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