Meeting coming between Talibani and Barzani

The main two Kurdish factions announced on Thursday that their leaders will shortly meet in northern Iraq to discuss a peace agreement in which the US has mediated to sign.

It is expected that Jalal Talibani, leader of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan and Mesout Barzani, leader of the Kurdistani Democratic Party will meet before the end of the current year in a territory held by Barzani's party. The spokesman for the PUK in Ankara, Sjazad Saeb, said "We have an agreement and we want to implement it. There are numerous points that should be discussed." He added that the meeting will take place "before the end of this year."

The spokesman for the Kurdistani Democratic Party, Dalshad Meiran stressed that preparations are underway for convening the meeting between the two Kurdish leaders.

Iraqi Kurdish sources told the London-based al-Hayat daily that Syria will extend an official invitation to Barzani to visit Damascus. On Wednesday, the representative of the party in Damascus, Omar Boutani, said he held talks with Syrian Vice-President Abdul Halim Khaddam and the assistant Secretary General of the Baath Arab Socialist Party.

Boutani arrived back together with the chairman of the al-Watan Iraqi party, Mashaan al-Jabbouri, from a visit to northern Iraq, where Mashaan met with Barzani and leaders of the KDP who helped in bringing viewpoints closer together "between Barzani and Damascus" on the grounds of a "joint desire to preserve the unity of Iraq."

Following Barzani's visit to Damascus in the middle of 1996, relations between Syria and the KDP entered a phase of " coolness" due to the party's strengthening of its relations with Turkey and to accusations raised by the Iraqi opposition because the KDP provided "cover" for the deployment of Turkish troops in northern Iraq.