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Kurdish guards take a break during less-secure phase of the Sanandaj ceasefire.
Kurdish-Iranian truce
brings peace to western city
Sanandaj, Iran (A J—ñ cease-use tie-
tweep Kurdish tribesmen and government
troops restored peace to this strife -torn
western city yesterday after the Kurds
gained promises of at least limited auton-
omy from the Tehran administration.
In central Sanandaj. several hundred
men loaded their bags and weapons
aboard buses, trucks and ears for the jour-
ney back to their villages. I.,oudspeakers
blared messages of appreciation from the
people of Sanandaj for their help.
The cease-fire went into effect Wednes-
day night after almost 4 days of fighting
claimed some 2 00 lives and wounded
hundreds- Many victims were women and
children wounded by Iranian Army nior-
tar barrages and by machine-gun strafing
by military helicopter gunships.
Religious and government officials
from Tehran reportedly had worked out
an agreement with local Kurdish tribes-
men granting the Kurds a “semi-autono-
mous” status. But Kurdisli officials said it
had been “simply proposed” by the interi-
or minister, Seyyed .Javadi, and was not
yet agreed to,
Mr- Javadi and Ayatollah Mahmoud
Taleghani , Tehran's Shiite Muslim leader,
met with Kurdish officials but it was not
disclosed whether Sheik Ezzedin Rosseini
—the acknowledged political and religious
leader of the Kurds, who are Sunni Mus-
lims—was at the meetings. Shell Rosseini
was in Sanandaj Thursday and was hailed
by thousands of Kurds at an open-air rally.
- The 4 million Kurds of Kurdistan pro-
vince, which borders Ira Turkey in
western and northwester have been
pressing for a separate state for centuries.
They altered the' mands to autono-
my within a greate after Shah Mo-
hammad Reza l'ahlavi's monarchy was
toppled February 12 by an Islamic revolu-
tion. The revolution was inspired by Aya-
tollah Ruhotlah Khomeini , leader of Iran's
dominant Shiite Muslims-
The Kurds belong to the rival Sunui
Muslim sect, which dominates most other
Muslim nations.
At a mosque packed with thousands of
Sanandaj residents yesterday, Ayatollah
Mehdi Beheshty. an aide to Ayatollah Tal-
eghani , spoke in favor of Kurdish demands
for autonomy.
‘The Islamic republic will give you the
rights of nationality because you took part
in the revolution,” he said. “You don't
need another revolution, and those telling
you that are anti-Islamic people.”
But he made it clear that some hos-
tages hetd by the Army would be freed on-
ly when the Kurds gave up the radio sta-
tion and airport they captured earlier. Re-
lease of the hostages reportedly had been
a part of the cease-fire agreement.
The Kurdish rebels took control of this
city of 115,000 and stormed the Army gar-
rison Sunday night after the Army distrib'
utcd arms toShuite civilians but refused to
give them to Kurds because they were
Sunnis.
Reproduced with permission of the copydght owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
