PRESIDENT Clinton has confirmed that efforts are being made to rescue people in northern Iraq who have worked with the US in covert operations intended to topple President Saddam Hussein.
CIA operatives who had been working with dissident Iraqis and Kurds in the anti Saddam Iraqi National Congress (INC) escaped to Turkey before the Iraqi army overran Arbil in the so called "sale haven" zone for Kurds.
But some 200 Iraqi Arabs involved in the CIA supported INC who have tied to the mountain city of Salahuddin are in danger of being arrested and probably executed as the Saddam backed Kurdish Democratic Party (KDP) advances.
About 100 of their colleagues were arrested by Iraqi secret police during the capture of Arbil and executed, according to Iraqi dissident claims which US officials have said are credible.
Mr Clinton said yesterday: "We're doing all we can to get US citizens out of Iraq and those who work with us." The US had "done a lot over the years to help the Kurds but it makes it difficult when they fight among themselves", he added. He refused to comment on reports of CIA involvement but did not deny them.
Both the New York Times and the Washington Post have reported that, since the ending of the Gulf War in 1991, the US has been secretly financing the INC in Kurdish territory. This includes antiSaddam Iraqis who have fled from the south, as well as representatives of both the Kurdish factions. With the help of the CIA it was hoped it would develop into a government in exile.
However, because of internal bickering the INC's activities were limited to intelligence gathering and some harassment. It distributed in Baghdad accounts of human rights abuses under the Saddam regime.
The INC headquarters was set up in Arbil in an impressive building and it had its own white and green flag and a "peace keeping" force formed by Iraqi military deserters to separate the two Kurdish factions. But the fighting continued, culminating last week in the KDP's seizure of Arbil with the help of the Iraqi army.
The KDP leader, Mr Massoud Barzani, defended this apparent sell out to Mr Saddam, who had in recent years massacred thousands of Kurds. He pointed out that the PUK under Mr Jalil al Talabani had recourse to Iran for military help against the KDP. An Iranian incursion earlier this year had given Saddam the pretext to send his troops into the Kurdish area.
US attempts to bring the Kurdish factions together - which included arranging a meeting in Ireland last year - failed. Hundreds of supporters of the INC are now in serious danger as Iraqi secret police use the KDP military success to root them out.
Members of the INC peacekeeping force told the Washington Post of their bitterness. The US, which was supposed to protect them in the Kurdish "safe haven", instead launched missile attacks on radar installations in the south of Iraq, leaving the INC exposed to Mr Saddam's army and police.
It has been made clear that any further US intervention will also be in the south, possibly in response to attempts by the Iraqis to repair the damaged radar sites.