Word: kurds
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With so much riding on his words and actions, Khalilzad knows no conversations with Iraqis can be entirely casual. But there are some moments when he can let his diplomatic guard down. Earlier in the day, he visits the palatial home of Iraqi President Jalal Talabani, a Kurd and a longtime U.S. ally. Here, Khalilzad is among friends. Talabani calls him Zal, and offers flattering compliments instead of angry complaints. They make jokes in Farsi and enjoy a Kurdish meal that includes several kinds of breads, pomegranate-infused rice and heaping plates of lamb. The ambassador blushes when the President...
...appointed last month to head the five-judge panel. For security reasons, three judges are not identified and never photographed. Abdel-Rahman took over after former chief judge Rizkar Mohammed Amin resigned to protest meddling by Iraqi government officials. One of Saddam's lawyers claims that Abdel-Rahman, a Kurd from Halabja, has a "personal feud" with Saddam and isn't impartial. Abdel-Rahman has rejected complaints by the defense, declaring that "political speeches have no place in this courtroom...
...trial by an Iraqi Special Tribunal, Wednesday: He denied the court's legitimacy, and challenged the presiding judge any time it was suggested that Saddam was no longer head of state in Iraq. Time and again, he got in the face of chief Judge Rizgar Mohammed Amein, a Kurd, over how he should be addressed, never hiding his contempt for the proceedings: "This court is false and whatever is built on a false basis is false," he said once, after being asked to identify himself. "I am the president of the Republic of Iraq." He took umbrage when the judge...
...would start the forging of a national identity-and undermine a rampaging insurgency by drawing Sunnis into the process-is still unclear on what it means to be an Iraqi. Does it mean being primarily a religious Muslim or a citizen of Anbar? Must Iraqis choose between being a Kurd or an Arab...
...Earlier today Iraqi legislators ended a three-month impasse by approving a Cabinet for new Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari. The new Prime Minister is a Shi'a, the new President is a Kurd, and--as always, of course--the Transportation Secretary is Hispanic." --JON STEWART...