Aadel Collection
Iranian Ethnic Factions Ignore Cease-Fire Order
Iranian Ethnic Factions ignore Cease-Fire Order B // ii iarn Bier igir // ashngto i Post I oteigli Sen ice The U oihho',oiz P( it (1) 4 ( w1eni h1e 21, 1979. Pr iQ iest Historical Ness spapers The /Vashrngton Post (1877 1994) pg Ut att1 g u Nørthw st lrainan Ethnic Factions )e ignore. ease r ire t raer By William Branigin - Wishin tOn Post POr iRIi Servthe/ TEHRAN April 22—A conflict be- tween Kurdish tribesmen and Turk- ish speaking Azerbai nnis raged into the third day today despite a cease- fire ultimatur n fl-am the government in Tçliran' and a threat to send Ayatol Iah RuhoIlah Khotheini' Islamic Ai -m to quell the fighting The combatants in the town of T hqadeh in northwestern Iran appar- euitly nored t ie government's de- mand:that they cease fire by 4 p m or fá e intervention by Army troops. Sal- di rs fronra military gatiison “1 the ai a v ii e sent to the scene arbund n1 dday, but there were conflicting ye- po t s on whether they actually en- tered the town The troons reodrtedly nuthbeiied no more than a few bun ed and were believed to have taken positrons outside Naqadch Report from the scene tonight said e fighting died dawn after nightfall 1 ‘but it was unclear whether this was J cause of any truce agreement. Tbe reports said tension was rising in neighboring towns between Kurd- ish and Turkish inhabitants 1 and that authorities feared that the violence thight pread beyond Naqadeh. Teliran newspapers today said up to 80 people have been killed so far in fierce house-to-house fighting in Naqadeh, a town of mixed Kurdish, Turkish- and Persian-speaking inhabit- ants in Iran's West Azerbaijan Prov- ince While the battle in Naqadeh dealt a new setback to Khomeini's efforts to restore otder and centralired author ity to a countiy wracked by revolu tion, the ayatollah extended his influ enec aver the government in Telu-an by naming a close aide acting foreign minister. Dr. Ibrahim Yazth, the deputy pre mier for i evolutionsi y affan s, was put in charge of the Foreign Ministry to day following the resignation last week of Karini San3abi, Prime Minis ter Mehdi Bazargan technically took over the foreign ministers' portfolio, but the task of running the ministry was assigned to Yazdi, A farmer cancer researcher in iTp rp Ve di hiw h nme the subject 0' controversy here because of his be hind the scenes role as a lending mem ber of Khomeini's entourage Yazdi's cor solidation of personal power he keeps his position as deputy prime minister—appeared likely to aggra vate strains between staunch Kho mcmi supporters and an emerging co- alition of Iranian liberals and leftists, who are feeling i creasingly excluded by the government. At the same time, the Tehran gov- ernment issued a warning to the United States and Mexico that any of fer of asylum to tile deposed shah, his family and entourage would be con sidered ‘an unfriendly act” The gay- ernmenf said it has invalidated the Iianian passports of the shah and other members of the royal family who left the country before the Feb ruary revolution that topplecr the mnn s- hy In Naqadeh fighting intensified to- day following two days of battles sparked by shooting during a rally for Kurdish autonomy at a sports sta dium Battling the predominantly Suni Moslem Kurds of the leftist Iranian wing of the Kurdistan Derhocratic party in today's fighting were Azerba- i anis of Turkish origin and Persia s loyal to the Khomeini revolutionary committees. Bath gi oups are mostly Shilte Moslem and more conservative. In a message to the people of Na- qadeh, Interior Minister Ahmad Sadr Haj Seyed Javadi called for an end to the fighting “between brother Moslems ” Desprte his cease fire ul timatuin and threat to send in troops, however, the government appears to have no alternative capable of restor- ing oi-der short of talking the warring factions into accepting a truce. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner Further reproduction prohib ted without permission