http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20050127/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq_kurds_1
Kurds Campaigning in Iraq at Full Force
Thu Jan 27, 3:47 AM ET
Middle East - AP
By YAHYA BARZANJI, Associated Press Writer
SULAIMANIYAH, Iraq - Farhad Sangawi, Kurdistan's best-known
newscaster, used to whip up nationalist sentiment among Kurdish
militiamen fighting Saddam Hussein (news - web sites)'s army in the
1980s. Now he says its time to put weapons aside and go to the ballot
boxes.
Campaigning in Iraq (news - web sites)'s northern Kurdistan region is
in full force with political leaders holding almost daily meetings
with tribal leaders. Advertisements fill local Arab and Kurdish
newspapers, while billboards show the slogans of secular and religious
political parties.
Iraqis are scheduled to vote Sunday for a 275-member National Assembly
and provincial councils. Iraqi Kurds will have an additional job to do
� elect a local parliament in their autonomous region in the northern
provinces of Sulaimaniyah, Irbil and Dohuk.
The elections will be a chance for Kurds to gain more influence after
decades of oppression and marginalization under the Baath Party that
ruled the country for 34 years.
The two largest groups in the autonomous region, the Kurdistan
Democratic Party and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, have formed a
coalition with two smaller groups, the Islamic Union Party and the
Communist Party in Kurdistan, guaranteeing a majority of seats in the
111-member Kurdish Parliament.
Unlike other Iraqi provinces where fear of attack by Sunni insurgents
has limited campaigning, Kurdistan has been relatively quiet. It has
not been under Saddam's rule since the 1991 Gulf war.
Deputy Prime Minister Barham Saleh said in a speech last week in the
town of Halabja, where Saddam's cousin Ali Hassan al-Majid, also known
as Chemical Ali, killed 5,000 Kurds with chemical weapons, that "these
times are over and forever."
"We will bring Chemical Ali to put him on trial here," Saleh said
receiving a huge applause.
After years as a political refugee in the West, Sangawi, the
newscaster, returned to his homeland shortly after the fall of
Saddam's regime in April 2003. Since his return to the
ethnically-mixed city Kirkuk, the 42-year-old has worked with PUK, the
group he supported for decades.
"The era of revolution and weapons is over. The dream of our martyrs
and the future of our children is linked to your vote," Sangawi said.
"Through parliament seats and new constitution we can get the demands
and rights of our people."
Kurdish militiaman Salar Jalal, 45, who fought Saddam's forces during
the Anfal campaign in the 1980s in which 182,000 Kurds were killed,
said "Farhad Sangawi's voice was our power when we fought against a
large army."
"He helped us resist a dictatorial regime like that of Saddam Hussein.
Now he is the power that pushes us to go vote," said Jalal.
Saddam's 23-year rule was a nightmare for Kurds, thousands of whom
were buried in mass graves during brutal campaigns against them. Since
Saddam's ouster, Kurdish leaders have focused on influencing political
decisions in Baghdad with the aim of reinforcing autonomy in their
northern provinces.
Kurds now hold senior government posts, such as deputy prime minister
and army chief of staff, as well as several ministries such as Human
Rights and the Foreign Ministry.
Iraq's first lady Nesreen Mustafa Berwari is a Kurd.
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