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Article: Saddam thumbs his nose, Barzani strolls to power.(Saddam Hussein; Kurd faction leader Massoud Barzani)
- Article from:
- The Economist (US)
- Article date:
- September 14, 1996
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1996 Economist Newspaper Ltd. 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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DID Saddam Hussein care? He did not. This week his aircraft and air-defence men in both Iraq's no-fly zones were busy provoking the United States to resume the missile attacks of a week before. By Thursday they seemed likely to get that, and something much worse.
Meanwhile in the north his new-found Kurdish friends were strolling to power.
Ten days after the fall of Arbil, Sulaymaniyah collapsed without a battle into Massoud Barzani's hands; the defenders, Jalal Talabani and his forces, sensibly melted away from their last stronghold.
This time, the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) did not need the direct involvement of Iraqi troops. But Mr Talabani, ...