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Saddam's allies advance on rival Kurds
U.S. ponders more military intervention
September 8, 1996
Web posted at: 9:00 p.m. EDT (0100 GMT)(CNN) -- Renewed fighting broke out Sunday between rival Kurdish factions in northern Iraq, as Clinton administration officials signaled possible new action against Baghdad.
Forces of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), which are allied with Iraqi President Saddam Hussein, seized the towns of Degala and Koysanjak from the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), according to news reports. The PUK claimed Iraqi troops were involved, but Baghdad and the KDP denied that.
White House Chief of Staff Leon Panetta confirmed "severe fighting" in Degala. He could not confirm whether it involved Iraqi troops or whether Degala had fallen, but suggested Washington was watching Saddam Hussein closely.
"If he continues to behave in a way that is aggressive and continues to use force in that part of the country, we will continue to extract prices," Panetta said on CNN's "Late Edition."
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Gen. John Shalikashvili, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, refused to rule out further U.S. military action in Iraq in light of the new fighting.
He also warned of "serious consequences" if Iraq proceeds with what he said were signs Baghdad was trying to repair installations damaged by U.S. missile attacks Tuesday and Wednesday.
Both contested towns lie along the road from the key Kurdish city of Irbil to Sulaimaniya, the PUK's last major stronghold in northern Iraq. Iraqi forces have been encamped in the area since August 31, when they helped the KDP oust the PUK from Irbil.
A Baghdad government official denied Iraqi troops were involved in Sunday's fighting.
"We stress once again that our armed forces have already returned in full to their previous positions," an Information Ministry source told the state-run Iraqi News Agency.
Baghdad defiant
For its part, Iraq claimed again Sunday that it fired anti- aircraft weapons at U.S. and allied aircraft patrolling northern and newly-expanded southern "no-fly zones," off- limits to Iraqi military aircraft since the end of the Gulf War.
The Iraqi fire missed and the planes fled, the official Iraqi News Agency said.
Iraq made the same claim on Friday and Saturday. American pilots have said they have detected no Iraqi response to their sorties.
The mood in Baghdad was one of upbeat defiance, with another staged protest against U.S. intervention, this time by members of parliament.
"This is the first time that all the world and peoples of the world (are) standing beside Iraq because of this illegal attack of the Americans on the Iraqi people," said Iraqi Parliament member Muhammad Adhami.
They claim Washington erred in believing the Gulf War coalition would automatically support the cruise missile attacks.
"This is where Mr. Clinton made a strategic mistake," said Iraqi Parliament Member Yusif Hammadi. "He tried to use this opportunity to gain extra points in the presidential election. He doesn't need them."
Whatever else Baghdad may gain or lose in the renewed tension with Washington, Saddam Hussein may have gained an unexpected dividend in entering Irbil. His troops there stumbled across what has been reported as a CIA-backed plot to topple his government.
Panetta declined Sunday to comment on The New York Times report.
Kurds call for different kinds of intervention
PUK leaders appealed for Western intervention, claiming the KDP is marching toward Sulaimaniya intent on taking control of the region set aside to protect the Kurds from Saddam Hussein.
"Urgent and decisive help is needed," the PUK said in a statement. "We call on the United States-led coalition to move urgently to stop the Iraqi onslaught."
The KDP urged the United Nations on Sunday to implement a food-for-oil deal, suspended after Iraq's northern incursion. A KDP radio statement, echoing a Baghdad plea for United Nations' action on the deal as soon as possible, was monitored by the British Broadcasting Corporation.
The deal was suspended by the U.N. indefinitely last week after Iraq's military action in support of the KDP. It would allow Iraq to sell up to $2 billion of oil to pay for needed humanitarian relief.
Defense Secretary William Perry said Sunday the U.S. intentions in Iraq were constrained.
"My judgment is that we should not be involved in the civil war in the north, and that we should focus our actions where our interests are, which is not just in the south, it's the strategic heartland of Iraq," Perry told CBS' "Face the Nation."
Shalikashvili reiterated the U.S. position, that it would not send ground troops into northern Iraq.
He also downplayed French and Russian objections to the missile attack. And Saudi Arabia is cooperating in allowing coalition planes to patrol the "no- fly zone" out of air bases in Saudi Arabia, he said.
Weak signal from Arab countries
The six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council, meeting in Saudi Arabia, called on Iraq to abide by United Nations' guidelines, but avoided mentioning the U.S. air strikes. Some members privately expressed concern, saying the U.S. acted without adequately canvassing Arab input.
The ministers also pledged to support "efforts by the coalition concerning U.N. resolutions" against Iraq. The six GCC states -- Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Oman, Bahrain, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates -- were part of the U.S.-led multinational force that drove Iraq out of Kuwait in 1991.
The Council also condemned Turkey's plans to implement a buffer zone inside Iraq's northern border, and backed the U.N.'s food-for-oil deal.
Correspondent Peter Arnett, reporter Kathleen Koch, the Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.
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