Kurdish leader Barzani dies

          
          5/27/2011
          Article - Untitled Article
          Publication: Guardian 1821-2000; Date: Mar 3, 1979; Section: None; Page:6
          Kurdish leader Barzani dies
          From AP
          in Washington
          Mustafa Barzanl, the exiled
          ICurdish leader who claimed he
          was betrayed by the Shah of
          Iran and the United States, has
          rt , aged 75, just as his
          people are renewing their
          quest for autonomy.
          Barzani died of lung cancer
          on Thursday night at George .
          town University Hospital in
          Washington. He lived his final
          years an exile in the US, but
          his home was In the maun•
          Iambus Middle East region of
          the Kurds , which includes
          parts ot—Turkey, Iraq, the
          Soviet Union and Iran.
          Iron icafly, his dea t h ca i ne at
          a time when one of those he
          blamed for his exile, the Shah.
          is also in exile. And it came
          when Kurdish nationalists
          seemed dv ct to successfully
          wirnung autonomy than at any
          time in recent years.
          The revolution in Iran and
          the weakening ot cerl wfl gov-
          ernment cornrol have been
          accompanied by demonstrations
          and lighting In the Eurdish
          areas of Iran aimed at wI l IL il l ig
          the autorruTny that Barzani
          fou?ht for unsuccessfufly. Ba!
          zani said he never gave up
          hope. “Of course I have hope.
          No one can live without ihope,”
          be told an interviewer in 1978.
          He was born into a family of
          Moslem zealots and tribal ware
          riots. Whim he was three, he
          and his mother went to gaol
          because of the family's role in
          the effort to win an autonts .
          mous homeland for his ICur-
          dish people. When Barzii*'s
          otder brother was hanged for his
          part in a rebellion, the Leader-
          ship fell to him.
          Barzant continued the
          struggle for better part of the
          © Guardian News and Media Limited
          next 60 years, fighting from re-
          mote mountain hideawayS ,
          going into exile, and then re-
          turning to fight again.
          The final phase of his guer
          rilla career began in 3961
          against Iraq. The fight dragged
          on for I I years until the Shah 1
          who was having troubles with
          neighbouring Iraq, decided it
          would be useful to back The
          Kurds in their struggle .
          Acording to Barzani, the Shah
          arranged for his American
          allies to receive a I curdish
          delegation secretly in Washing-
          ton In 1972. There, the CIA
          promised to supply arms to the
          I curds .
          With these weapons, the
          stru gie grew. But in 1975, the
          Iraqi Government decided to
          settle its differences with Iran.
          This mollified the Shah, w1 . ,
          decided he no longer had need
          of the ECurds . Suddenly, Ear-
          zanl said, the flow of arms
          stopped, and his army was de '
          fenceless.
          Most of the Zurds were
          forced from their liuaisdand to
          southern iraq, and some 1 in-
          cluding Barzanl. escaped to
          Iran. From there, a few
          liuiith'ed came to the United
          States, including Barzani, who
          needed treatment at the Mayo
          clinic in Minnesota.
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          •
          • Mustafa Barzani; Never gave up hope
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