Word: barzanis
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...side are the followers of Massoud Barzani in the K.D.P., strong in tribal tradition, who control the lucrative smuggling routes into Turkey. On the other are many urban intellectuals who follow Jalal Talabani and his P.U.K. The two men despise each other and disagree fundamentally on how to achieve self-rule: Barzani would accept autonomy within Iraq, while Talabani would settle only for full independence. Perhaps worse, Talabani, whose territory is squeezed between Iraq and Iran, is jealous of the rich "customs tax" Barzani collects from the truckers surreptitiously ferrying oil and goods between Turkey and Iraq in violation...
Then in late July a new player entered the picture. Iran--plagued by cross-border raids from a faction of Iranian Kurds in Talabani's territory--launched an incursion with the agreement of Talabani, who needed money and weapons for his campaign against Barzani. In exchange, Tehran left him a large cache of weapons. That, said Barzani, is what scared him into his unthinkable alliance with Saddam. Still, Kurdish alliances can change in minutes. Barzani has already passed a message to Secretary of State Warren Christopher, saying he threw in with the Kurds' old tormentor only to counterbalance Iranian military...
...offensive destroyed any current hope of reuniting the two violently feuding factions. Talabani, who had accepted help from Iran, has openly called his K.D.P. counterpart, Massoud Barzani, "a traitor" for opening the door to Iraq. In an exclusive interview with Time, Barzani, who has always believed in a federal union with Iraq, cited the Iranian involvement. "All we have done is to defend ourselves against the foreign threat of invasion." Speaking at the resort of Asalahuddin, 18 miles north of Erbil, he said, "We are still willing to cooperate with America if it is really serious." He does not rule...
After losing several strategic areas, Massoud Barzani, the head of the K.D.P., turned to Saddam. As one Western diplomat put it, "The K.D.P. said they were on the verge of being wiped out by the P.U.K. with Iran's help. The Americans weren't coming in and stopping the fighting, so they turned to Iraq...
Last month the State Department dispatched an emissary to urge Talabani and Barzani to make peace. Turkey opposes an independent Kurdistan, but it has nevertheless warned both sides to stop the fighting, fearing a flood of refugees if civil war continues or Iraqi troops move in. Saddam has bolstered his forces in the north but has held off any major attacks, hoping to charm the U.N. into lifting sanctions...