Heres another pay attention story from northern Iraqi Kurdistan. This time its Jala Talabani (PUK leader) sounding off. Several European news sources quoted Talabani as saying that he expect the US to strike at Saddam Hussein in the first months of 2003. Talabani said that there is no US military presence in northern Iraq, at least at the moment. Heres another interesting quote, this one from an AFP story, but apparently passed on from the Turkish media. Talabani is reported to have told a senior Turkish diplomat that (quote) "the change of the (Iraqi) regime is the task of the Iraqi opposition with the support of international and regional powers...The Iraqi opposition wants to have a democratic, parliamentarian, federative system in Iraq. No group is trying to have an independent state. On the contrary we are for reuniting Iraq." How to read this? The Kurds dont object to Saddam departing for the netherworld. Its also code language for Turkey, that the PUK and the KDP (Barzani Kurds) wont opt for an independent Kurdish state once Saddam goes. Regional powers in this case refers to Turkey, and the Turks are bitterly opposed to an independent Kurdistan. (Austin Bay)