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Article: Kurd voters flex political muscle.
- Article from:
- Chicago Tribune (Chicago, IL)
- Article date:
- February 4, 2005
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2005 Chicago Tribune. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Byline: Colin McMahon
IRBIL, Iraq _ At an hour when in Baghdad the streets are deserted and police turn their backs on cars rather than risk confronting insurgents, the Kurdish city of Irbil exudes energy. It's going on midnight, and the music blares, horns howl and people shout and wave Kurdish flags.
Forget the thump of military helicopters and the thud of bombs in Baghdad; this bedlam is the sound of freedom in Kurdistan. And forgetting about Baghdad is exactly what many Kurds would like to do.
Kurds make no secret of their thirst for self-determination. They turned out by the millions in last Sunday's elections to support a unified list of ...