Eleven electricity plant workers were killed in an ambush as they drove to work in northern Iraq April 4. Police said gunmen stopped a vehicle carrying the workers near Hawija, about 70 kilometers southwest of Kirkuk, then sprayed it with gunfire. Seven of the workers died instantly; four others were fatally wounded. (Reuters via Zaman [2], Turkey, April 4)
An editorial in the Turkish daily Zaman [3] sees positive signs in the meeting of Prime Minister Tayyip Recep Erdogan with Kurdish leader and Iraqi president Jalal Talabani. They discussed the controversial future of the oil-rich north of Iraq and the presence of Kurdish Workers' Party (PKK) fighters in Iraq. The meeting comes at a time when many Turkish military leaders and nationalists refuse to meet with Kurdish representatives for their alleged support of the PKK. (Madrid11.net [4], April 4)
See our last posts on Iraq and the struggle for Kirkuk [5].
