Kurd tells Saddam trial of mass execution
13h23 - BAGHDAD, Oct 31, 2006 (AFP) - Iraqi troops dragged prisoners to a pit dug out of the desert sands and shot them two-by-two under the lights of a waiting bulldozer, a survivor of Saddam Hussein's alleged genocide said Tuesday.

Cyprus shocked by Turkish chemical 'guinea pigs' report
19h52 - NICOSIA, Oct 24, 2006 (AFP) - Cyprus on Tuesday described as "shocking" a report by a US-based group that said some Greek Cypriots who were captured by Turkish forces in 1974 were used as guinea pigs in biochemical laboratories.

Kurdish rebels killed, soldiers injured, in latest clashes
13h19 - ANKARA, Oct 24, 2006 (AFP) - Three people were killed and two soldiers were injured in clashes in southeastern Turkey between military forces and separatist Kurdish rebels, the Turkish army said Tuesday.

Dutch may call Saddam Hussein as witness in war crimes appeal
12h53 - THE HAGUE, Oct 23, 2006 (AFP) - A Dutch appeals court said Monday that it would study the possibility of hearing former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein as a witness in the appeals case of a Dutch businessman, convicted for supplying chemicals used in gas attacks on Kurdish villages in Iraq in the 1980s.

Kurdish rebels release son of ruling party official
14h31 - ANKARA, Oct 21, 2006 (AFP) - Separatist Kurdish rebels in Turkey have released the son of a provincial official from the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) after keeping him hostage for almost a month, the Anatolia news agency reported Saturday.

Turkey's Kurds voice loyalty to jailed rebel leader
09h49 - ANKARA, Oct 20, 2006 (AFP) - More than three million Turkish Kurds have signed a declaration proclaiming loyalty to jailed Kurdish rebel leader Abdullah Ocalan, whom Ankara sees as the country's number one terrorist, activists said Friday.

'You came here to die' Iraq guard told Kurds: witness
10h18 - BAGHDAD, Oct 19, 2006 (AFP) - Guards cut off the water supplies to Kurdish detainees in a desert prison deep in Iraq's south, a witness told the court in Thursday's session of Saddam Hussein's genocide trial.

Kurds tell of mass murder by Saddam death squads
13h28 - BAGHDAD, Oct 18, 2006 (AFP) - Saddam Hussein's troops drove terrified Kurdish villagers into the desert and gunned them down by the truckload, witnesses told the ousted Iraqi leader's genocide trial Wednesday.

Dutch court reject's Turkish extradition request for alleged PKK member
15h31 - THE HAGUE, Oct 17, 2006 (AFP) - A court in Maastricht, southern Netherlands, on Tuesday rejected a Turkish extradition request for Nedim Seven, sought by Ankara because he allegedly carried out deadly attacks for the PKK, the Dutch news agency ANP reported.

Dozens of Kurds died each day in Saddam's prisons: witness
09h48 - BAGHDAD, Oct 17, 2006 (AFP) - At least 30 people died every day in Saddam Hussein's grim prisons, a Kurdish witness said Tuesday as the stormy trial resumed of the ousted Iraqi president and six others on genocide charges.

Turkish premier plays down tough army line on Kurds
08h51 - ANKARA, Oct 16, 2006 (AFP) - Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, in remarks published Monday, played down the army's vow to fight Kurdish rebels to the last "armed terrorist" as too ambitious, and impossible to achieve.

Mine kills two Turkish soldiers
11h57 - DIYARBAKIR, Turkey, Oct 14, 2006 (AFP) - Two Turkish soldiers were killed and another wounded Saturday in the explosion of a mine which local authorities said had been laid by Kurdish separatist rebels.

Iraqi PM due in Turkey to discuss Kurdish rebels
15h09 - ANKARA, Oct 13, 2006 (AFP) - Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki will hold talks here next week to discuss bilateral ties and measures against Turkish Kurd rebels holed up in northern Iraq, Turkish officials said Friday.

Kurdish rebels still a threat despite ceasefire: US envoy
15h02 - ANKARA, Oct 12, 2006 (AFP) - Washington welcomes a ceasefire decision by Iraq-based separatist Kurdish rebels, but still sees the militants as a security threat to NATO ally Turkey, a special US envoy said here Thursday.

Kurdish women tell of rapes in Saddam's death camps
14h18 - BAGHDAD, Oct 10, 2006 (AFP) - Kurdish women told Wednesday how they had witnessed savage rapes, murders and other horrors in Saddam Hussein's death camps, as the ousted Iraqi leader's genocide trial continued.

Saddam expelled from dock as Kurds tell of death camps
10h31 - BAGHDAD, Oct 10, 2006 (AFP) - Ousted Iraqi president Saddam Hussein clashed with his judge and was expelled from court Tuesday after a Kurdish woman told of the horrors she had seen in the former regime's brutal death camps.

Kurd tells Saddam trial of death camp atrocities
09h01 - BAGHDAD, Oct 10, 2006 (AFP) - Ousted Iraqi president Saddam Hussein sat impassive in the dock Tuesday as a Kurdish villager told the genocide trial about the horrors of life and death in the former regime's brutal death camps.

Dutch warcrimes convict wants Saddam Hussein as appeals witness
17h20 - THE HAGUE, Oct 9, 2006 (AFP) - A Dutch businessman, convicted for having supplied chemicals used in gas attacks on Kurdish villages in Iraq in the 1980s, requested on Monday that former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein be called as a witness at his appeal.

Kurds accuse Saddam of slaughtering families
13h38 - BAGHDAD, Oct 9, 2006 (AFP) - Kurdish witnesses accused Saddam Hussein on Monday of cramming their starving families into disease-ridden death camps and casting the bodies of the fallen into mass graves.

Iraqi 'devil-worshippers' cancel annual pilgrimage due to unrest
14h06 - ARBIL, Iraq, Oct 7, 2006 (AFP) - Iraq's Yazidis, a minority religious sect who have been branded devil worshippers by suspicious neighbours, cancelled an annual pilgrimage Saturday over fears for devotees' safety.

Slain Kurdish MP buried in northern Iraq
11h11 - SULAIMANIYAH, Iraq, Oct 7, 2006 (AFP) - Assassinated Kurdish lawmaker Mohammed Redha Mahmud was laid to rest on Saturday in the northern Iraqi city of Sulaimaniyah, mourned as a victim of the country's "blind sectarian war".

150 Kurdish immigrants disembark in southern Italy
06h48 - ROME, Oct 7, 2006 (AFP) - Around 150 clandestine Kurdish immigrants landed overnight in Calabria, southern Italy, sea rescue services said Saturday.

Rice urges Kurds to work for peaceful, unified Iraq
18h21 - ARBIL, Iraq, Oct 6, 2006 (AFP) - US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice met the leaders of Iraq's autonomous Kurdish region on Friday, urging them to cooperate with Iraqi Arabs in building a peaceful and unified country.

Two Turkish soldiers wounded in first clash since ceasefire
13h25 - ISTANBUL, Oct 6, 2006 (AFP) - Two soldiers were wounded in eastern Turkey in the first clash with Kurdish rebels since the unilaterial declaration of a ceasefire five days earlier by the Kurdistan Workers' Party, security sources said Friday.

Rice leaves Iraq after delay due to aircraft fault
11h39 - ARBIL, Iraq, Oct 6, 2006 (AFP) - US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice left Iraq on Friday after a delay of more than two hours due to aircraft technical problems, her spokesman said.

Kurdish women tell of rapes in Saddam's death camps
12h18 - BAGHDAD, Oct 10, 2006 (AFP) - Kurdish women told Wednesday how they had witnessed savage rapes and other horrors in Saddam Hussein's death camps, as the ousted Iraqi leader's genocide trial continued.

Saddam expelled from dock as Kurds tell of death camps
10h31 - BAGHDAD, Oct 10, 2006 (AFP) - Ousted Iraqi president Saddam Hussein clashed with his judge and was expelled from court Tuesday after a Kurdish woman told of the horrors she had seen in the former regime's brutal death camps.

Kurd tells Saddam trial of death camp atrocities
09h01 - BAGHDAD, Oct 10, 2006 (AFP) - Ousted Iraqi president Saddam Hussein sat impassive in the dock Tuesday as a Kurdish villager told the genocide trial about the horrors of life and death in the former regime's brutal death camps.

Dutch warcrimes convict wants Saddam Hussein as appeals witness
17h20 - THE HAGUE, Oct 9, 2006 (AFP) - A Dutch businessman, convicted for having supplied chemicals used in gas attacks on Kurdish villages in Iraq in the 1980s, requested on Monday that former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein be called as a witness at his appeal.

Kurds accuse Saddam of slaughtering families
13h38 - BAGHDAD, Oct 9, 2006 (AFP) - Kurdish witnesses accused Saddam Hussein on Monday of cramming their starving families into disease-ridden death camps and casting the bodies of the fallen into mass graves.

Iraqi 'devil-worshippers' cancel annual pilgrimage due to unrest
14h06 - ARBIL, Iraq, Oct 7, 2006 (AFP) - Iraq's Yazidis, a minority religious sect who have been branded devil worshippers by suspicious neighbours, cancelled an annual pilgrimage Saturday over fears for devotees' safety.

Slain Kurdish MP buried in northern Iraq
11h11 - SULAIMANIYAH, Iraq, Oct 7, 2006 (AFP) - Assassinated Kurdish lawmaker Mohammed Redha Mahmud was laid to rest on Saturday in the northern Iraqi city of Sulaimaniyah, mourned as a victim of the country's "blind sectarian war".

150 Kurdish immigrants disembark in southern Italy
06h48 - ROME, Oct 7, 2006 (AFP) - Around 150 clandestine Kurdish immigrants landed overnight in Calabria, southern Italy, sea rescue services said Saturday.

Rice urges Kurds to work for peaceful, unified Iraq
18h21 - ARBIL, Iraq, Oct 6, 2006 (AFP) - US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice met the leaders of Iraq's autonomous Kurdish region on Friday, urging them to cooperate with Iraqi Arabs in building a peaceful and unified country.

Two Turkish soldiers wounded in first clash since ceasefire
13h25 - ISTANBUL, Oct 6, 2006 (AFP) - Two soldiers were wounded in eastern Turkey in the first clash with Kurdish rebels since the unilaterial declaration of a ceasefire five days earlier by the Kurdistan Workers' Party, security sources said Friday.

Rice leaves Iraq after delay due to aircraft fault
11h39 - ARBIL, Iraq, Oct 6, 2006 (AFP) - US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice left Iraq on Friday after a delay of more than two hours due to aircraft technical problems, her spokesman said.

Rice departure from Iraq delayed by aircraft fault
10h01 - ARBIL, Iraq, Oct 6, 2006 (AFP) - US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice was stuck in the northern Iraqi city of Arbil Friday because the plane she flew in on from Baghdad earlier in the day was damaged on landing, a member of her entourage said.

Rice tells Iraq's Kurds to share their oil
08h51 - BAGHDAD, Iraq, Oct 6, 2006 (AFP) - US Secretary of State Rice continued her surprise visit to Iraq on Friday with a trip to the Kurdish autonomous region in the north for talks on sharing of the country's oil wealth.

Iraq parliament condemns assassination of Kurdish colleague
07h26 - BAGHDAD, Oct 6, 2006 (AFP) - Iraq's parliament condemned the assassination of a Kurdish deputy on Friday following the discovery of his body and that of his bodyguard in a Sunni neighborhood.

Rice visits Kurdish leader in northern Iraq
07h11 - ARBIL, Iraq, Oct 6, 2006 (AFP) - US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice arrived Friday in Arbil, in Iraq's Kurdistan, for talks with regional president Massoud Barzani on efforts to ensure that Iraq's oil resources benefit the entire country, an AFP journalist traveling with her said.

Bush, Turkey's Erdogan discuss EU, terrorism
17h17 - WASHINGTON, Oct 2, 2006 (AFP) - US President George W. Bush on Monday backed Turkey's push for European Union membership and hailed joint efforts to fight terrorism as he met with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Turkish army vows to fight Kurdish rebels despite ceasefire
10h47 - ISTANBUL, Oct 2, 2006 (AFP) - The Turkish military vowed Monday to fight on against Kurdish separatists despite a rebel ceasefire ordered at the weekend, saying that the only way out for them was to surrender.

Iraq Kurds in turmoil over Saddam spy allegations
17h48 - ARBIL, Iraq, Oct 1, 2006 (AFP) - Iraqi Kurds were left reeling after two independent newspapers named scores of people who allegedly cooperated with Saddam Hussein's feared intelligence services, including many now in positions of power.

Turkey to demand more from Washington on Kurdish rebels: FM
15h43 - NEW YORK, Oct 1, 2006 (AFP) - Turkey expects Washington and Baghdad to do more to curb Kurdish rebels, Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul said in an interview Sunday, warning that Turkey would "do the job ourselves" if needed.

Conflict against Kurd separatists at heart of Turkish-US talks
12h45 - ISTANBUL, Oct 1, 2006 (AFP) - Despite the ceasefire in its 22-year struggle to gain freedom from Turkey announced this weekend by Kurd rebels, the conflict was expected to be at the heart of talks Monday in Washington between Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and US President George W. Bush.

Syria frees writer and Kurd militant
12h43 - DAMASCUS, Oct 1, 2006 (AFP) - Writer Mohammed Ghanem and young Kurd militant Shevan Abdo were freed from prison Sunday after serving their sentences, the National Organisation for Human Rights in Syria said in a statement.