Warring Kurd factions exchange prisoners

The two main Kurdish conflicting parties in Northern Iraq, the Kurdistan Democratic Party and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, on Sunday exchanged prisoners on the occasion of celebrating the new Kurdish year, "Nairouz."

The KDP, led by Masoud Barazani, was quoted in a statement released in Dubai on Sunday as saying that it set free some 75 persons. In February, the two parties decided to strengthen a bilateral cease-fire accord enforced since December 1997.