Analysis: U.S. puts Kurds on terror list

WASHINGTON, Jan. 21 (UPI) — The U.S. National Counter-Terrorism Center says it was a mistake to include the symbol of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan — the political party headed by Iraqi President Jalal Talabani — on a list of “terrorist logos” that police should be on the lookout for during traffic stops and other contacts with members of the public.

The PUK, one of the two Kurdish political parties that makes up the regional government in Iraq’s Kurdish area, is not on the lists of designated foreign terror groups maintained by the U.S. departments of State or Treasury, and indeed is considered by many in the U.S. government as one of the closest U.S. allies in its war on terrorism.



“After a review, we determined that the PUK logo should not have been included, and we have updated the online version,” National Counter-Terrorism Center spokesman Carl Kropf told United Press International Saturday.

Qubad Talabani, Talabani’s son and the U.S. spokesman for the Kurdish regional government, called the inclusion of the PUK’s logo “egregious” and accused the center, generally called NCTC, of “a gross error.”

“I find it quite disturbing,” he told UPI.

UPI