Associated Press

February 13, 2003 Thursday

HEADLINE: Some residents in northern Iraq already face war

BYLINE: BORZOU DARAGAHI; Associated Press Writer

DATELINE: QAMESH TAPA, Iraq

BODY:
The women of this rustic farming village quietly weep in the kitchen as the men mourn in the front room.

As the United States prepares for a possible invasion to oust Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein, residents in this community with mud-brick homes and a tiny green mosque say they're already living in the middle of a war between the secular government and Islamic radicals holed up in the mountains.

Villagers are caught in the crossfire between local authorities of the autonomous Kurdish region and Ansar al Islam, a militant Islamic group which the United States claims is tied to al-Qaida and Saddam Hussein. The most recent attack on Saturday left seven people dead, including four members of this tight-knit town of 50.

"We're all poor," said Mushir Majid, a grizzled farmer among the mourners. "There's a lot of turmoil in the area. We cannot even talk about everything we have to deal with."

For two years, Ansar has terrorized residents in this corner of the Kurdish area from several villages it controls in the towering Zagros Mountains on the Iranian border. Hoping for an end to their misery at the hands of the extremists, the residents privately expressed the hope that the United States would do away with the group.

Publicly, they say they're too scared to criticize Ansar.

"We're living here in the middle of the situation," Majid said as he mourned at the house of the brother of Hassan Fatha, a 36-year-old farmer who was killed Saturday, leaving behind a wife and four children. "We're a neutral people, and we often have to travel between towns controlled by different groups."

Advocating an Islamic state from several villages it controls, Ansar has declared war on secular Kurdish parties. Local authorities belonging to the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan - Ansar's main rival - allege that the group has killed dozens of Kurdish soldiers as well as innocent villagers.

On Saturday in Qamesh Tapa, 70 kilometers (40 miles) east of Sulaymaniyah, Ansar operatives assassinated a well-known minister, Shawkat Haji Mushir, two other senior leaders, and four civilians.

One of the victims, 8-year-old Deroon Fazel, was shot in the head and waist as she lay sleeping. She fell into a coma, dying hours later, residents said.

"She was an innocent and playful girl who put a smile on everyone's face," said Abdul Rahman Ali Mohammad, a farmer and Qamesh Tapa resident.

Witnesses and officials say the attack on Mushir, his entourage and the innocent bystanders was as devious as it was violent. Members had apparently approached the renowned tribal leader weeks ago, dangling the prospect of a massive defection of Ansar members into the Patriotic Union fold.

Mushir had apparently met with the group several times before, and the two parties finalized a deal after a 45-minute meeting Saturday.

Then the Ansar guerrillas began shooting and lobbing grenades, witnesses and officials say, creating pandemonium in the tiny hamlet and wounding and killing people in the house as well as neighbors.

"They were randomly attacking everybody," said Nozad Azad, a friend of the victims. "They were very barbarous. It was so fast."

Deroon Fazel's mother, Fatima Mohammad, was caught up in the gunfire. She was described as a "beautiful, polite and honorable," 27-year-old housewife and leaves behind a husband and two other children.

Siaman Hana Salih, a 14-year-old secondary school student, was described by friends as a sociable "little guy" who made people laugh. Hekmat Osman and Sardar Qafoor, two local officials accompanying Mushir, were also killed.

Villagers said Ansar had never found its way up to the dirt path from the main road until Saturday night.

"It was their first visit," Azad said.