82                             HUMANITARIAN OPERATIONS IN NORTHERN IRAQ, 1991:


Kurdish People (SPKP), the Kurdistan Peoples Democratic Party (KPDP), and
the Workers Party (WP). The Kurds also were deeply divided by tribal rivalry.
    The oldest, best kIlown, and most powerful political organization was the
Kurdish Democratic Party (KDP). From 1946 until 1975, Mustapha Barzani's
KDP was the single most important conduit for Kurdish nationalism in Iraq. In
1975, Jalal Talibani started the rival Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK). The
KDP and the PUK have vied for Kurdish leadership ever since. Charismatic
Massoud Barzani inherited the mantle of KDP leadership after his father's death
in 1979.
    In late April, Jalal Talibani met with Saddam Hussein, after which he
announced a return to the principles of Kurdish autonomy. He also urged the
Kurds to cease fighting and begin returning home. However, the skeptical Kurds
remained unconvinced because they had heard Saddam's lies too many times
before. In 1970 he promised them autonomy, but by 1975 had renewed a
campaign of repression which included using chemical weapons against Kurdish
civilians in 1988. The brutality of the recent reoccupation of Kurdistan was also
still fresh in their minds. Talabani's pronouncements were ignored by the
Peshmerga who continued fighting Iraqi forces.


                                          Painting by Co Peter M. Mike' Gish, USMCR
                              Tents at Zakho I, Iraq