Kurds respond to Arafat comparison

WASHINGTON, Oct. 6 (UPI) -- U.S. representatives for the Kurdish government Monday offered a rebuttal to comparisons between the president of Iraqi Kurdistan and Yasser Arafat.

Sam Brennan with the Center for Strategic and International Studies issued in World Politics Review last week a scathing condemnation of the Kurdish leadership, blaming President Massoud Barzani for putting Iraqi Kurdistan and its people in peril.

"Because of the misrule of Massoud Barzani, the president of the Kurdistan Regional Government in Iraq ... may go down as the Yasser Arafat of the Kurdish people," the report said.

In response, Qubad Talabani, a Kurdish representative to the U.S. government and son of Iraqi President Jalal Talabani, said the statements were categorically false.

"The Kurdistan Region is the most stable and democratic part of Iraq, and regularly acknowledged as such by administration officials and members of Congress," the representative said.

The representative noted the various disputes between the two governments, but pointed to the willingness of the Kurdish leadership to put its differences aside to address broader national issues.

"That the KRG, like many governments, is imperfect and has corruption is true. But unlike other governments in the region, the KRG can point to a level of progress in democratic reforms, tolerance, transparency and better governance," he said.