Kurdish leaders admitted Tuesday that their supporters shot and killed 60 unarmed Iraqi prisoners of war at point-blank range in the northern Iraqi city of Suleimaniya.
A statement by the Kurdistan Democratic Party said an inquiry was launched to determine the identity of those who executed the Iraqi POWs on Monday during fighting in the area between Kurds and Iraqi forces.News reports said Monday that the unarmed soldiers were shot to death as they were kneeling inside a building with their hands on their heads.
"The KDP strongly condemns the killing of Iraqi prisoners, since this is a clear violation of Geneva conventions," said the statement, which the group's headquarters in London sent by fascimile to The Associated Press in Nicosia.
It said Massoud Barzani, scretary-general of the Kurdistan Democratic Party and co-chairman of the Kurdish Front coalition, "is appalled by the unwarranted killing of POWs and has demanded an immediate inquiry."
The announcement of the killings followed the first official word from the Baghdad government of renewed clashes in Kurdistan.