Az-Zaman also insinuated that Turkey may be preparing for an attack on Northern Iraq to root out PKK units from Kurdistan. The daily said that formations from the Turkish army have been placed around and near the borders with Iraq, and that these units are currently being drilled in what looks like counterinsurgency tactics in a mountainous area. This information has prompted Az-Zaman to speak of a ‘winter offensive’ of the Turkish army against PKK positions in Northern Iraq during the coming weeks. If true, this would mean that the snowy season will not deter the Turkish army from conducting operations in the treacherous mountains of Kurdistan, an area that had resisted several incursions by the army of Saddam Hussein.
There have been increasing tensions in the last few months between the Turkish government and the Kurdish parties, the presence of PKK units in Iraq was presented as Turkey’s main concern; but the battle over the city of Kirkuk has also been a worry for the Turkish diplomacy, along with Turkish fears that an independent Kurdish state might be founded in Northern Iraq, which could complicate Turkey’s relationship with its Kurdish population. Turkey had conducted military incursions in Northern Iraq during its battles with the PKK in the 1990s.
On a different theme, the Iraqi government has directed criticisms towards Syria for the first time since the re-establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries last month. The official spokesman of the Iraqi government, `ali al-Dabbagh, accused Syria of adopting a “hostile position towards the Iraqi people” with the announcement of new Syrian restrictions on the influx of Iraqi refugees. The Syrian government has imposed more stringent visa requirements for the residence of Iraqis in Syria, an act that clearly aims to lessen the number of Iraqi refugees in the country, estimated to be as high as half a million.
Since the invasion of Iraq, thousands of Iraqi family gravitated towards their neighbors to the East, Syria and Jordan. While the first wave of migration mostly consisted of middle class and upper class Iraqis, poor Iraqis have also been flooding Damascus and `Amman in recent years. Part of the new Syrian visa requirements (Iraqis wishing to stay in Syria for more than two weeks need to present a lease agreement) are aimed at the poorer Iraqis who cannot afford adequate housing.
The twist in the story is that Syrian officials have said -according to Az-Zaman- that the new Syrian measures were prompted by demands of Iraqi president, Jalal Talabani, during his recent visit to Damascus. The unnamed Syrian officials say that Talabani requested that Damascus limit the influx of Iraqi refugees into Syria.
Lastly, more information about the battle of Najaf unfold as the city relaxes with the end of the religious season of `Ashura. Al-Mada reported that the curfew on the Najaf and Kufa city centers has been partially lifted, the aim of lifting the curfew, according to city officials, is to facilitate the performing of the Friday prayers by the residents. Al-Mada added that the curfew is set to return after Friday.
Al-Mada acknowledged that the attacks last weekend against the “soldiers of heaven” cult was a “pre-emptive strike”, as opposed to early reports claiming that the religious group had started the fighting.
Az-Zaman (Iraq edition) summed the results of the battle as follows: over 300 dead, and a similar number of wounded; 736 arrested, including 448 men who could have been fighters, and 288 women and children. Those were the numbers of the vice governor, while a spokesman of the defense ministry furnished lower estimates of 263 killed, 210 wounded and 502 apprehended.
The vice-governor of Najaf, `Abdel Husain `abtan, reiterated claims that the group intended to occupy parts of the holy city, assassinate high shi`a clerics and announce their leader as the Mahdi. `Abtan said that the security services were alerted when the group ordered 1500 headgears of the same color from Baghdad. `Abtan accused several outlaw organizations of sponsoring the cult, including al-qa`ida and the Ba`th. He also said that the religious cult attracted the “misguided” poor and some tribal elements.
