The Associated Press

December 18, 2002, Wednesday, BC cycle

SECTION: International News

LENGTH: 585 words

HEADLINE: Kurds in front-line city nervous at prospect of war, but ready to speak out against Saddam

BYLINE: By BORZOU DARAGAHI, Associated Press Writer

DATELINE: DOHUK, Iraq

BODY:
The budding public alliance between Iraqi Kurds and more outspoken Iraqi opposition groups has civilians in this front-line city worried about the risks they'll face if the United States tries to overthrow Saddam Hussein.

Until recently, many Kurdish leaders had feared taking a strong position in favor of ousting Saddam for fear of reprisal, but with a possible regime change looming many believe it is now worthwhile.

"The situation here is a little scary," says Babekir Zebari, military commander for the city and province of Dohuk, one of three Kurdish provinces protected by U.S. and British aircraft patrolling the northern no-fly zone. "When we join in slogans calling for Saddam's downfall, we become legitimate targets when the war starts," Zebari says. "He will have a right to attack us. And there's no doubt that he will."

Dohuk, a densely populated city of 250,000 about a mile from Saddam's forces, lies perilously close to the demarcation line between the Kurdish self-rule area and Iraqi forces. The line was drawn up hurriedly after a Kurdish uprising against Baghdad was crushed toward the end of the 1990-91 Persian Gulf war.

The poorly equipped Kurdish militiamen who guard the line know they are no match for Saddam. They call themselves Peshmergas - literally "those who face death."

"Anytime he decides, he could destroy this city in five minutes," says Shawkat Bamarni, an adviser to the Kurdish Democratic Party. "He doesn't even have to invade. He can just use cannons and artillery."

Many Kurdish political leaders believe the U.S. threat of war against Baghdad leaves them no choice but to join with the Iraqi opposition groups.

They say the 11-year experiment in self-rule has reached an economic and political dead end and cannot grow except as part of a unified Iraq.

"For the sake of safety were supposed to say nothing and accept Saddam?" says Bamarni, the Kurdish political adviser. "We think it's worth the risk."

As Kurds watched nervously, their leaders joined a London conference of exiled Iraqi groups that have long advocated the overthrow of Saddam.

With Masoud Barzani of the Kurdish Democratic Party and Jalal Talabani of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan attending, the London meeting agreed Tuesday on the basic outline of a would-be post-Saddam government. Exiled opposition leaders were expected to hold another session Jan. 15, this time at Irbil, in the Kurdish autonomous zone.

Many Kurds are terrified of Saddam, whose regime has admitted spraying chemical weapons on Kurds in the northern city of Halabja in 1988. But even if Saddam forgoes weapons of mass destruction, Kurds admit they're too weak - even with their 70,000-man militia - to defend themselves against Baghdad's army.

If war erupts and Saddam attacks Dohuk, a scenic trading city with a large middle class, officials expect civilians will flee into the mountains as they did in the 1991 crisis when thousands of Kurds died of exposure and malnutrition.

"This is the closest place in Iraq to Saddam's forces," says Abdullah Said, a deputy commander at a Kurdish outpost near the demarcation line.

The Peshmergas, armed with Kalashnikov assault rifles and a 15-year-old anti-aircraft artillery piece wrapped in plastic to prevent rust, have neither helmets, walkie-talkies nor medical equipment.

"I'm not afraid," says one, 35-year-old Issa Yassin Taha. "If there's an attack we won't be alone. Others will come join us. We will fight if we have to."