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Baghdad slams Kurds for letting in US aides

BAGHDAD: An Iraqi official newspaper on Saturday slammed Kurdish parties in the north for allowing US officials to enter Iraq.

Iraq has already complained to the United Nations that American and Turkish officials entered Iraq illegally last month to meet leaders of Kurdish factions, and has urged it to prevent any recurrence.

"They (the Kurdish parties) are trading with the fate of our Kurdish people, kneeling before the American envoys and letting them enter the north of our dear homeland illegally," the daily Al-Qadissiya said.

It also accused the US envoys of interfering in Iraq's internal affairs in breach of international law and the U.N. Charter.

The Baghdad government has had little direct control over the northern part of Iraq since the end of the 1991 Gulf War that followed its invasion of Kuwait.

The United States has tried on a number of occasions to reconcile rival Kurdish factions in hope of fostering the downfall of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein.

"Our Kurdish people are looking forward to seeing this state of unconsciousness being abolished and the flag of the leader Saddam Hussein prevailing over the Autonomy region," Qadissiya said.

The Al-Iraq daily also urged the Kurds to rise up against their leaders and expel them.

"All facts reaffirm that the hour of explosion is very near and our people in Kurdistan...will rise against the injust (leaders) to evict them beyond the borders," the paper said. -Reuters