Iraq: UN refugee chief calls return of Kurds displaced by Saddam Hussein 'a priority'

The top United Nations refugee official today discussed with Iraqi Kurdish leaders the return of hundreds of thousands of people, mostly Kurds, forcibly displaced under Saddam Hussein's devastating "Arabization" policy, calling it a priority but one that also needed a fair solution for the Arabs brought in to replace them.

On the second day of a visit to northern Iraq, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Ruud Lubbers, conferred in Sulaymaniyah with senior officials of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), one of the two main Kurdish political parties, including the leader of the local government, Barham Salih.

Yesterday in Erbil, Mr. Lubbers held similar discussions with leading officials of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), including the deputy leader of the local government, Sami Abdul Rahman.

Mr. Lubbers said a major challenge now was to reverse the "Arabization" policy so that the Kurds who were expelled can return to their homes, UNHCR spokesman Rupert Colville told a briefing in Geneva.

"He sees this as a priority," Mr. Colville said. "Of course, fair solutions are also needed for the Arab families who were resettled by Saddam Hussein in the Kirkuk area."

Mr. Lubbers said UNHCR was ready to work on this issue but responsibility for it lay primarily with the new authorities in Iraq, and particularly the United States-run Provisional Authority.

"While the liberation of Kirkuk was done in an exemplary way, we now need to follow up on this, and to follow up quickly, to prevent disillusionment and renewed conflict," the spokesman quoted Mr. Lubbers as saying.

Mr. Lubbers is scheduled to travel tomorrow to Baghdad before visiting Basra in the south, and later Iran as part of an eight-day, four-country tour of the region devoted to the Iraqi crisis.