PUK dismisses 4 turncoats

BAGHDAD / IraqiNews.com: Iraqi President Jalal Talabani’s Patriotic Union of Kurdistan politburo dismissed four of its members who recently announced from London that they established a new entity away from the PUK, the party’s spokesman said on Saturday. “In their constituent statement, the four defectors provoked other PUK organizations to start a sort of coup against the party,” Azad Jindiani told IraqiNews.com. “The decision to dismiss them was not due to fears of what they have been claiming, but as a precaution that a step like this may affect the party’s ranks,” he said. “They were dismissed because they formed a party within the party, a matter that contradicts the PUK’s basic principles and regulations,” he explained. “Those four have been far from political activities since 1991,” he added. MH (P)/AmR 1