Kurdistan’s Tangled Web

Nothing is ever as it seems in northern Iraq. Washington may have succeeded in bringing Jalal Talabani and Masoud Barzani together but does this represent more of a blow to Saddam or to Turkey? Is this latest US-mediated Kurdish agreement likely to contribute to America’s attempts to revitalise the Iraqi opposition? The answers to these questions are not at all clear – there are simply too many tangled strands and rival interests at stake in northern Iraq.