Kurds demand guarantee
if U.S. attacks

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Kurdish envoys have told U.S. officials that they would not agree to an American military attack from northern Iraq without guarantees that Washington will remain in the area indefinitely to protect the Kurds.

The envoys cited the Iraqi military offensive in Kurdistan in 1995, which prompted a flight by CIA operatives and their Kurdish allies.

Western diplomatic sources said U.S. officials have relayed a pledge from Washington that it will consummate its campaign to topple Iraqi President Saddam Hussein.

Kurdish leaders also discussed with U.S. officials a proposal for a federal state in Iraq that would include an autonomous Kurdish region in the north and an Arab area in the southern and central portion of the country. The federal state concept was agreed to by rival leaders Massoud Barazani and Jalal Talabani before the talks in Washington.

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The proposed Kurdish area of autonomy would designate Kirkuk as the capital. The region would include such cities as Akra, Bedre, Duhok, Irbil, Hanekin, Mendeli, Seyan, Suleimaniya and Zumar. Turkey has expressed opposition to the plan.

Kurdish politicians had proposed an Iraqi federation as early as 1992, but the United States, under strong Turkish pressure, refused to formally examine the plan. Ankara has opposed any formal Kurdish entity, fearing that this would escalate separatism in southeastern Turkey.

The federal concept was discussed during a Washington conference on Iraq during the first week of June. Kanan Makiya, a professor at Brandeis University and a leading Iraqi dissident, said a federal state would renounce the use of war and undergo demilitarization.

"The first step is to move towards a new state system where there is no majority rule; where the rights of minorities are protected and guaranteed," Makiya said.

U.S. officials have told Kurdish and other Iraqi opposition groups that Washington does not plan an imminent offensive against Saddam.

"There is a lot of preparation needed before there is change in Baghdad," said State Department official Thomas Warrick, an adviser in the office of Northern Gulf Affairs.

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