News stories by Karlos Zurutuza, page 6

TIL KOCER, Syria, May 18 (IPS) - "We all know that Ankara and Erbil have a joint plan to evacuate the entire region," Abdurrahman Hemo, head of the Kurdish Humanitarian Aid Committee tells IPS. "They want to choke the people here until they flee en masse."

QAMISHLI, Syria, May 04 (IPS) - Malki Hana says his men are afraid of cameras. "Most of them are army defectors and they may easily get in trouble," says this commander of a mostly unknown armed group in Syria.

TUZ KHORMATO, Iraq, Apr 22 (IPS) - "I don't dare tell you who the murderers are but their target is just us, Turkmens," says Ahmed Abdulla Muhtaroglu, sitting by the portrait of his brother killed last year.

ERBIL, Iraqi Kurdistan, Apr 12 (IPS) - Sunni Muslims have set up a new party amidst uncertainties whether elections can be held as scheduled in the troubled western regions of Iraq. Polling for the 328-seat Iraqi parliament is due Apr. 30.

JADU, Libya, Jan 02 (IPS) - Everybody in this mountain village is seemingly familiar with the new regulations. "People other than militiamen or policemen will be fined 500 dinars for carrying guns," local resident Younis Walid tells IPS.

TRIPOLI, Dic 19 (IPS) - Unless immediate changes are enforced, Libya is heading towards an "Afghan" model regarding women´s rights, Aicha Almagrabi, a Libyan writer and senior women rights activist, told IPS from her residence in Tripoli.

TRIPOLI, Dic 08 (IPS) - Youssef crossed the Sahara desert with a folded school map of Europe in his pocket. "Could you please point Lampedusa in the map for me? I cannot find it."

MURZUQ, Libya, Nov 26 (IPS) - "Can there possibly be anything more satisfying than teaching your own language to your own people?" Abdel Salam Wahali remarked to IPS. He is a teacher of Tebu, an ancient language which is experiencing a boom in post-Gaddafi Libya.

TRIPOLI, Nov 18 (IPS) - Car accident in Omar Mokhtar Avenue in downtown Tripoli. Nobody was injured but there's a bumper hanging off the back of a car. In just a few seconds, a group gathers around.

ZWARA, Libya, Nov 09 (IPS) - "Oil tankers won´t get crude from this port until Tripoli finally meets our demands," says Younis, one of the Amazigh rebels today blocking one of Libya´s largest gas and crude oil plants.