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Wednesday, March 26, 2003

By Borzou Daragahi, The Associated Press

SULAYMANIYAH, Iraq -- An Islamic group in Kurdish-ruled northern Iraq said yesterday it is relocating to avoid being hit again by U.S. airstrikes aimed at a different Islamic organization, one allegedly linked to al-Qaida and Saddam Hussein's regime.

	Iraqi-Kurd Khamoo Haji, 52, listens to a radio as he and about 50 family members take shelter inside a cave yesterday about six miles south of Dohuk, in Kurdish-controlled northern Iraq. Coalition warplanes landed in Kurdish territory Monday and launched airstrikes against barracks in northern Iraq, prompting frightened residents to flee the area. (Kamran Jebreili, Associated Press)

The Kurdistan Islamic Group says it suffered 43 deaths, 30 injuries and lost six buildings in last weekend's strikes aimed at Ansar al-Islam, an Islamic group with alleged al-Qaida and Baghdad ties.

"We're moving so we don't give the Americans an excuse to attack us again," Anwar Mohammad, a high-level official of the Kurdistan Islamic Group, said yesterday.

"Someone gave the wrong information to the Americans, giving them the wrong impression that we are terrorists. We are not terrorists. We have agreements with the government. And we have no problems with Americans."

Mohammad said a convoy of 10,000 Kurdistan Islamic Group members would come down from the mountains and relocate temporarily to another base near the Iranian border in the next three days.

Under the terms of an agreement signed by Kurdish leader Jalal Talabani and witnessed by Iranian officials, the Kurdistan Islamic Group may return to its original base in three months.

The Bush administration has accused Ansar al-Islam of maintaining ties to Saddam Hussein's regime. Early Saturday, U.S. forces launched 40 to 50 missiles at Ansar positions near the Iranian border in the northeastern corner of Iraq.

Missiles also struck the Islamic Group, which controls territory next to Ansar. Airstrikes continued into yesterday, when at least eight loud explosions could be heard near Ansar positions.

The Kurdish autonomous region, established after the 1991 Gulf War, is protected by U.S.-British air patrols. It is governed by The Patriotic Union of Kurdistan in the east, and the Kurdistan Democratic Party in the west.

A high-level Kurdish official called the attacks on the Islamic Group a mistake, and likened them to friendly fire.

"It happens sometimes that an American helicopter is hit by an American missile," said Kosrat Rasool Ali, considered the No. 3 official in the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan. "We are not at war with the Islamic Group. We treat them as friends."

Even so, Barham Salih, prime minister of the southeastern half of the Kurdish enclave, said the Islamic Group had been repeatedly warned to separate itself "politically, militarily and geographically" from Ansar, which he said maintained friendly ties to the Islamic Group.

"You cannot claim neutrality when terrorists use your cover to terrorize people," he said. "You cannot have it both ways."

The area near Ansar's stronghold remains far from stable. Three alleged Ansar militants and Kurdish government militiaman died in a ferocious 30-minute firefight Monday night in the village of Anab, near Halabja, Kurdish officials said.

Six Kurdish militiamen, called Peshmergas, were also injured. Islamic Group officials and a leader of another political group say no more than 12 Ansar militants were killed in U.S. airstrikes.