Senior leaders from Kurdistan region and Turkey plan to hold a broad peace conference either in Iraq or Europe to work on ending the thirty year old violence battle between Turkish army and the guerrillas of PKK, a Kurdish official of Turkey revealed on Friday.

Speaking at a press conference in Ankara, Ahmed Turk head of the Kurdish bloc in Turkey’s parliament said the conference would target ending the long standing bloody battle between Turkish military and the PKK.

He also said leaders of the two sides agreed on holding the conference came after his recent visit to Kurdistan region, where he met with Iraqi president Jalal Talabani, Kurdish president Masoud Barzani and other officials from the KRG.

PKK, fighting for the rights of Kurdish people in Turkey through armed struggle, and the Turkish army have experienced a long history of bloody battles, in which Turkish sources estimate more than 40 thousand persons killed.

No Turkish official have either confirmed or denied Ahmed Turks allegations.

holding that expected conference would be the first of its kind between the the region and the neighboring Turkey since the first foundation of KRG in 1991, as Ankara still refuses to formally recognize the region.

Kurdistan region and Turkey have also sliped into tension in 2007, as the Turkish armed forces carried out military incursion into Kurdistan region under the pretext of chasing PKK, a move strongly opposed by the Kurdish officials.

However, a landmark visit of Iraqi president Jalal Talabani to Turkey amid rising the tensions between the two side paved the way for a gradual normalization of the relations, reaching the point now the Turkish president Abdullah Gul is expected to make a visit to Erbil to hold talks with the Kurdish leaders.  

KURDSAT

Iraqi high criminal court will resume trials of the former dictator aides who were involved in the chemical massacre of Halabja in 1988, in which more than 5 thousand innocents were slaughtered and double were wounded.

8 suspected criminals are set to appear before the court, including Ali Hassan al Majid, known as chemical Ali, who masterminded the bombardment.

the trials will begin on 21st of December.

Sources near to the Iraqi court said that chemical Ali is expected to reveal new information and new confessions about the crime.
Iraqi parliament and presidency have adopted a bill formally recognizing the crimes against Kurdish people in Halabja and Anfal campaign as crimes against humanity.

In Halabja, crowds of people are expected to take into the streets to call for confirmation about the criminals’ trials and sentencing them with the toughest punishment.

By LARRY NEUMEISTER

NEW YORK (AP) — The president of a foundation that co-owns a Manhattan building allegedly linked to a bank accused of supporting Iran's nuclear program was arrested Friday.

Farshid Jahedi, 54, the president of the Alavi Foundation, was charged with obstruction of justice after he tried on Thursday to throw away documents responsive to a subpoena he received one day earlier, federal prosecutors said.

An FBI complaint against Jahedi said he was warned not to destroy documents requested by a grand jury. It said he disobeyed the order when he went home to Ardsley, N.Y., where he dumped papers in a public trash can.

The documents referred to Assa Limited, Assa Co. and 650 Fifth Ave. Co., subjects responsive to the subpoena, authorities said. Jahedi's Alavi Foundation owns 60 percent of the building on Fifth Avenue.

The U.S. government said Assa Co. Ltd. was a front set up by Iran's Bank Melli to funnel money from the U.S. to Iran. Bank Melli has been accused of providing support for Iran's nuclear program. Earlier this week, the Treasury Department sought forfeiture of the 40 percent interest that Assa held in the building and the money in its bank accounts.

The government alleged the company violated U.S. sanctions with Iran and engaged in money laundering. It claimed that Assa Corp. had repeatedly transferred rental income from the building back to Bank Melli through Assa Co. Ltd.

The government also said Assa Corp. had shared financial and other information on a regular basis with Bank Melli.

Last year, the United States accused Bank Melli of providing services to Iran's nuclear and ballistic missile programs and put the bank on its list of companies whose assets must be frozen.

Prosecutors said the Alavi Foundation is the successor organization of the Pahlavi Foundation, a nonprofit group used by the Shah of Iran to advance Iran's charitable interests in the United States.

The Pahlavi Foundation built the Manhattan office tower with a substantial loan financed by Bank Melli, prosecutors said.

If convicted, Jahedi could face up to 10 years in prison. A lawyer representing him and his foundation did not immediately return a call seeking comment.

United Press International

LUXEMBOURG, Dec. 19 (UPI) -- A European court in Luxembourg issued a ruling in favor of the People's Mujahedin of Iran, declining a challenge to maintain the group on state terrorist lists.

The European Court of First Instance declined a request by the European Union and the French government for reconsideration of a Dec. 4 ruling for the delisting of the PMOI by the EU. The PMOI, along with its political wing, the Paris-based National Council of Resistance of Iran, is seeking regime change in Iran.

"The PMOI is no longer on the list, and the (European) Council has no alternative other than formally and publicly removing the PMOI from the EU terrorist list," said NCRI President-elect Maryam Rajavi.

The PMOI is listed on several state terrorist lists for its activity against the clerical regime in Iran in the latter part of the 20th century. The group says it renounced violence in 2003, however, and has lobbied aggressively to be delisted.

The European court ruled Dec. 4 the European Union had "violated the rights of defense" of the PMOI, adding Europe had not provided sufficient grounds to include the group on its list of terrorist entities.

The Dec. 4 decision follows a move in May by the British court of appeals moving to delist the group.

A group of 100 French lawmakers called on the government in Paris, meanwhile, to embrace the decision and reverse its standing on the PMOI.