Iraq: five persons killed in a Kurdish- Islamic confrontation

Five persons were killed in a clash between Kurdish fighters in Iraq and an armed Islamic group said to be have links to al-Qaida organization.

An official in the Kurdistani National federation in northern Iraq said that the fighters of the Islam partisans group ( Ansar al-Islam ) attacked one check point for the national federation near the border with Iran last week.

The Kurds say that the group has links to al-Qaida organization which is led by Osama Bin Laden, but the Kurdistani national federation said he had refused an American offer to give support for subjugating this group by means of force.

An official from the national federation said that " three fighters of the Kurdistani national federation were killed and al-Ansar left two killing É Our leaders say that large number of them were wounded and killed but they took the bodies with them."