312. Editorial Note

According to a report, [cable number not declassified], during the first week of July 1976, armed Kurdish forces attacked two Iraqi military camps in the Sarsank and Jabal Sinjar regions. About 100 Iraqis and 30 Kurds were killed. Sixteen Kurds were executed in Baghdad.

The report also noted that Vice Chairman of the Revolutionary Command Council Saddam Hussein made an inspection trip to the al-Hakam region and warned officials and citizens about the serious consequences of cooperating with sabotage activities against the Iraqi Government.

Lastly, the report detailed a Baghdad news story about a tour by Saddam Hussein of the northern area of Iraq July 5–8. He was accompanied by several Ministers, RCC members, the Chief of Staff of the Iraqi Army, and the Commander of the First Army Corps. On July 8, while addressing Iraqi forces in the vicinity of Ninawah, he announced that the Iraqi leadership had studied the general Arab situation and had decided to form an Algerian-Libyan-Palestinian-Iraqi front. He gave no details on how the proposed front would be created. (Ford Library, National Security Adviser, NSC Middle East and South Asian Affairs Staff: Convenience Files, Box 7, Iraq (1))