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Politics : Stockman Scott's Political Debate Porch -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: lurqer who wrote (39810)	3/18/2004 12:51:10 PM
From: lurqer	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 89467

For those paying attention. Iraqi Kurds protest clashes involving fellow Kurds in Syria By Mariam Fam SULAIMANIYAH, Iraq (AP) Thousands of Iraqi Kurds rallied Thursday to protest clashes between security forces and Kurds in Syria, waving flags and singing national songs. ''We ask for their rights. There are many Kurds in Syria who don't even have a nationality and are deprived of everything,'' said demonstrator Chotyar Mohammed, 28. Clashes between the Kurdish minority and state security forces in Syria erupted Friday over a soccer match in the town of Qamishli between supporters of two teams one with many Kurdish players, the other with Arab players. The violence killed at least 24 people and wounded more than 100. Fires still burned Thursday on the outskirts of Qamishli, near the Turkish border, although Faisal Youssef, an executive of the Progressive Kurdish Party, said the city was returning to normal. The unrest, which spread Tuesday to Aleppo, Syria's second-largest city, raised fears of a government crackdown on Kurds who may be inspired by the rising political status of fellow Kurds in Iraq since the overthrow of Saddam Hussein. An estimated 250 Kurds have been detained since the violence began. In the Kurdish city of Sulaimaniyah, demonstrators gathered outside a building of the Kurdistan Regional Government Council of Ministers, which also houses officials of the U.S.-led Coalition Provisional Authority. ''We want America and coalition forces to support and help the Kurdish people in Syria,'' said Sabreya Moustafa, a teacher and a member of the delegation. ''We don't want another genocide as happened to the Kurdish people in Iraq.'' The United States has criticized Damascus' handling of events with the Kurds. Syria said the clashes were a foreign attempt to meddle in its internal affairs. Kurds make up about 1.5 million of Syria's 18.5 million people and live mostly in the underdeveloped provinces of Qamishli and Hasakah. Some of Thursday's protesters wrapped their bodies in Kurdish flags. Others yelled: ''Kurdistan is one land.'' Armed Kurdish forces watched the protest from atop buildings. ''We don't want more Kurdish blood to be shed,'' said Aram Rasul, 18. ''If the American slogans about freedom are true, then we want them to topple the regime in Syria like they did here, whether by force or by political means.'' Jamel Kheder Abdal, a Kurdish official, said the problems of Syrian Kurds should be solved peacefully, and that Kurdish officials would raise the Kurdish demands with Iraq's Governing Council. boston.com lurqer