Kurd troops grab Kirkuk

By STEPHAN FARIS
SPECIAL TO THE NEWS
Friday, April 11th, 2003

KIRKUK, Iraq - Kurdish militia seized the oil-rich northern city of Kirkuk yesterday as U.S. troops began moving into Mosul, Iraq's third-largest city.

U.S. Special Forces were to meet with Mosul's leaders today to negotiate the surrender of the dregs of Iraqi forces, whom the Kurds said were seeking amnesty.

"I am told that in Mosul, there appears to be an opportunity for the regular Iraqi forces to turn in their weapons and no longer pose a threat, in which case Kurdish forces and U.S. forces in small numbers are in the process of moving into Mosul," Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said in Washington.

The lightning-quick advances in the north - and surprisingly slack resistance - brought Kurdish peshmerga and U.S. forces to within 60 miles of Tikrit - Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein's hometown.

Kurdish leaders have suggested Saddam, driven out of the capital by advancing U.S. forces, may be planning a last stand in Tikrit.

Amid the gains in the oil-rich north, U.S. forces moved quickly to avoid a confrontation between Kurds and Turks.

The Kurds have long claimed Kirkuk as their capital, and Turkey has worried that should they seize it - and its oil - they will declare independence.

Secretary of State Powell promised Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul the U.S. would ensure that the Kurds pull back and agreed Turkey could send a small group of monitors into Kirkuk.

White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said, "The city will be under American control."

A U.S. Special Forces major in Kirkuk, who asked not to be identified, said there had been no American order to take the city.

"It was planned, but it went a little sooner than expected," he said. Asked when the operation would have gone off, he made a show of checking his watch. "Oh, in about three days from now," he said.

Kurds toe the line

The conquering Kurds agreed to abide by American orders.

"Our relationship with the Americans is too important to sacrifice for short-term gains," said Hoshyar Zebari, head of foreign relations for the Kurdistan Democratic Party, a major Kurdish group.

Kurdish fighter Bafel Talabani, son of party head Jalal Talabani, said, "We're professional soldiers. ... If they want us to go to Tikrit, we'll go to Tikrit. If they want us to stay here, we will. ... We'll do what we're ordered to."

Meanwhile, Kirkuk was celebratory and chaotic.

Smoke from an oil-filled trench billowed from one side of town. Men and women lined the streets waving the colors of various Kurdish factions. Peshmergas raced around in pickup trucks firing weapons into the air.

By midafternoon, at least a dozen victims of accidental shootings had been brought to Saddam Hospital - renamed the Baba Gorgor hospital, after a nearby oil field.

Looters invaded government buildings, in some cases stacking furniture outside as if for a garage sale.

"We can't stop it," said Mam Rostam, commander of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, one of the groups that control northern Iraq. "A regime ruled the city by iron for 36 years, and when people get out of that, they will take a few things."

By late afternoon, Special Forces soldiers had set up checkpoints into and out of the city, hoping to control access and stop looters.

With News Wire Services