Iraqi Kurd leader will not 'blindly' back US attack

A key Iraqi opposition figure said today that his group would not ‘‘blindly’’ commit to any US plans to topple Saddam Hussein.

Jalal Talabani leads the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, one of two Kurdish factions controlling northern Iraq.

He spoke in Ankara, Turkey, as he travelled to Washington to meet top US officials and other opposition figures.

‘‘We are not for blindly participating in any attack or in any plan,’’ Talabani said after talks with Turkish Foreign Ministry officials.

‘‘We are not in favour of having a new dictatorship replacing the old one,’’ he said.

Iraqi Kurds control an autonomous zone in northern Iraq that could be a key base if US forces try to remove Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein.

Kurds enjoy a large degree of freedom in the autonomous areas and are concerned about what type of government would replace Saddam.

Kurds rose up against Saddam after the 1991 Gulf War, a rebellion that was brutally suppressed by Iraqi forces that used bombers and attack helicopters to pound lightly-armed Kurdish fighters.

Many Kurds had been looking to Washington for support during that rebellion and are hesitant to consider joining any US-led alliance now.

But neighbouring Turkey is extremely wary of any cooperation with the Iraqi Kurds, fearful that they could set up an independent state, which might encourage Turkey’s own restive Kurdish minority.