Kurdish Leader Chastised by Arabs for Moderate Statement on Israel
May 16, 2006
Leader of the northern Iraqi district of Kurdistan, Massoud Barazani, has been the target of Iraqi criticism following moderate statements he made regarding relations with Israel.
Barazani was quoted by Iranian state radio and the press in the Gulf states as saying that diplomatic "relations with Israel are not a crime," as they are often referred to in both Iraq and Iran. The report led unnamed Iraqi officials to condemn Barazani, calling his statements "very dangerous" and saying they "ignore the suffering inflicted on the Arabs by the Zionists."
In the 1970s, the Iraqi Kurds and Israel collaborated in the struggle against the Iraqi dictatorship; however, the new Iraqi regime is currently led by an Kurd, Jalal Talabani.
IsraelNN.com
