bases                                                                 
Tehran, March 22, IRNA -- The Jamat-e-Islami party of Iraq's Kurdistan
(Islamic Society of Kurdistan) on Friday strongly criticized the      
Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) for "giving the green light" to US 
troops to launch missile attacks on its bases in northern Iraq.       
    The party in a statement stressed that the PUK was responsible for
US air blitz on the party's positions, describing the Union's stances 
to the effect as "most wicked and despicable".                        
    "Rather than healing the wounds, the PUK committed a most wicked  
and despicable crime by giving the green light to US troops to bombard
the positions of the Jamat-e-Islami," it read.                        
    The statement further stressed that US bombardment of Jamat       
positions were either based on false data, or had been intentionally  
carried out "without an earlier notice".                              
    In either of the two cases, it added, the PUK and the US are      
responsible for the attacks.                                          
    Meanwhile, the party's representative in Tehran Haj Balal Soleyman
told IRNA that the PUK had overlooked the agreements concluded between
the two sides, voicing regret that the Union was "doing whatever they 
desired".                                                             
    "We have concluded an agreement with the PUK under the supervision
of the Islamic Republic of Iran over our activities in a certain      
area," he said.                                                       
    "Still, it is regrettable to see that the Union does whatever it  
desires regardless of the agreements so far concluded between the     
two sides."                                                           
    Asked whether the real target of US air blitz was the bases of the
Ansar al-Islam, Soleyman said the US forces had acted against the     
Jamat "under the pretext of action against the Ansar".                
    "However, we, without any exemption, will be ultimately targeted  
by them."                                                             
    Soleyman said the Jamat-e-Islami had "moderate" ties with the     
Ansar al-Islam, and stressed that each party had its own particular   
viewpoints.                                                           
AA/JB                                                                 
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