US escalates war on northern Iraq's militants

As is true elsewhere in the Middle East, analysts caution that the popularity of Islamic politics here is more a reflection of popular frustration than a genuine response to the appeal of pious men with beards and guns. "The Islamic groups in Kurdistan are the result of civil war and the bad economic situation," says Shwan Ahmed, a writer and journalist who has studied local Islamists. "They are not the result of people's belief in the groups."

In contrast to Ansar, Komala cooperates with the PUK's administration of its region in exchange for a monthly stipend of about $250,000. The group also enforces Islamic principles but less stringent ones.

Dr. Salih says the group has continued to aid its radical brethren. "We told them you are in bad company," Salih says. "You cannot have it both ways."

Another PUK official, speaking on condition of anonymity, isn't impressed by the distinctions between the armed Islamist groups that operate in the Kurdish areas. "They are all the same to us," he says. "To eliminate them all is better," he adds. He nods his head in the affirmative when asked if "eliminate" is a euphemism for "kill."

In early March, PUK soldiers at a checkpoint outside Sulaymaniyah shot and killed a senior Komala leader, three bodyguards, and a driver. PUK officials immediately described the incident as a case of mistaken identity, explaining that they had been tracking Ansar members traveling in a similar vehicle, and apologized to Komala.

In retrospect, Bapir says the killing of his colleague now looks like a warning. The Kurdish official acknowledges that such a thing "could be."

Bapir says Komala has received a new round of apologies from PUK officials who he says have told the group that they were not aware of US plans to attack its villages. To back up this statement, he produces a handwritten letter, purportedly from PUK leader Jalal Talabani to Komala spiritual leader Sheikh Mohammed Barzinji, that Bapir says was delivered Friday evening.

He says the letter warns of an imminent US attack against Ansar, but makes no mention that Komala territory would also be struck.

Bapir says the group has asked Iraqi National Congress leader Ahmed Chalabi to explain to the US the "details and attitudes" of Komala, perhaps in an effort to ward off future US attack.

He also says he has agreed to move his group's fighters to another part of the region, away from Ansar's enclave.

That decision seems to have led to a cooling off of tensions, as is evidenced by Bapir's presence at Komala's headquarters in Sulaymaniyah.

Although Bapir says he wants to avoid civil war, it is also clear that he is not about to renounce militancy simply because of American attack.

When this reporter asks him about the whereabouts of a Komala fighter he has interviewed, a young man named Khalid Jalal, Bapir pauses to remember.

He seems to have no memory of the young fighter. Then he stands up and smiles. "If that Khalid is gone," he says, "we have so many Khalids."

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