Iraqi Kurds Hold Peace Talks in Ira

[kurdeng at aps.nl]

Subject: Iraqi Kurds Hold Peace Talks in Iran


      TEHRAN, Oct 3 (Reuter) - The leaders of two rival Iraqi Kurdish groups
are holding talks in Tehran to solve their disputes, an Iranian official was
quoted on Tuesday as saying.

    The Kurdish leaders were in Iran to ``bridge the existing gap between
them on control of northern Iraq. They both want peace and stability,'' Ali
Khorram, advisor to the Iranian foreign minister, was quoted by Iran News
daily as saying.

    Kurdish Democratic Party (KDP) leader Massoud Barzani and Patriotic Union
of Kurdistan (PUK) head Jalal Talabani started their talks on Saturday,
Khorram said.

    ``The current negotiations have been arranged (by Iran) on the request of
the two rival faction leaders,'' Khorram added.

    The two groups failed to reach agreement in U.S.-brokered talks in
Ireland last month on the demilitarisation of the city of Arbil, held by the
PUK, and the collection of border oil levies, controlled by the KDP.

    Iran was critical of U.S. mediation in the conflict, saying regional
conflicts should be solved without outside interference.

    The factions, with a history of rivalry going back to the 1960s, agreed
to a ceasefire and exchange of prisoners at a first round of talks in Ireland
in August.

    About 3,000 people have died in intermittent fighting between the armed
groups since last summer.

    The militias have shared the control of northern Iraq, since shortly
after the 1991 Gulf War, when United States, British and French planes based
in Turkey started patrolling the area and keeping Baghdad's troops at bay.

Mass Strikes Hurt Turkey

     ANKARA, Turkey (Reuter) - Turkey's biggest strike for
decades has begun to cut deep into the country's trade and
production of basic goods, causing losses of over $10 million a
day of exports, officials said Tuesday.
     ``Initial figures show that Turkey is losing about $300 to
$350 million a month on its exports because of strikes,'' said
Okan Oguz, head of the influential Turkish Exporters Council.
     ``The threat is doomed to grow bigger soon if the government
and strikers do not reconcile,'' he told Reuters.
     The strike, which now involves some 330,000 public sector
workers, started in the agricultural and mining industries on
Sept. 20, the day Prime Minister Tansu Ciller's coalition
government collapsed due to a row between the two partners.
     Later, thousands more workers in the railway, petroleum,
iron and steel, leather, paper, printing, ports and roads
sectors and village services sectors joined in.
     There has been talk of the government invoking laws allowing
it to suspend strikes which threaten strategic interests. But
Turkey's politicians are deeply embroiled in their own
governmental crisis and no decisive action has been taken either
to crack down on the unions or to look for a compromise.
     Turk-Is, Turkey's biggest labor confederation, called the
strike to force Ankara, which is trying to stick to an austerity
program, to match pay rises to Turkey's hyperinflation,
predicted to be about 70 percent at the end of this year.
     The labor confederation demands pay raises of an average 38
percent for the first six months, then 25 percent for the next
half-year.
     Turk-Is head Bayram Meral said the government's offer of 5.4
percent over a year ``has broken any (possibility of) dialogue
with the government.'' He said Monday strikes would not end and
the total number of striking workers would reach 350,000 by
mid-October.
     The labor ministry said it would cost $2.3 billion to meet
the strikers' demands at a time when Turkey is battling to cut
is budget deficits.

---
 * Origin: APS Amsterdam (aps.nl), bbs +31-20-6842147 (16:31/2.0)