<This story was on page 13 of my newspaper, and I had to do a search to find it on their website.

A search on CNN.com under "kurdish" found nothing. Maybe I missed it.

Of course, this is merely a coincidence, and does not imply any connection whatsoever between the government of Iraq and terrorist networks.

SULAYMANIYAH, Iraq - Kurdish Islamic militants allegedly in league with Al-Qaida assassinated a senior Kurdish general and two security officials and seized two hostages whose fate remained unknown, witnesses and Kurdish officials said Sunday.



The killings intensify the war between the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, a secular party allied with the United States that controls part of the Kurdish autonomous in northern Iraq, and the Islamic militant group Ansar al-Islam (Partisans of Islam).

The Kurds are among the Iraqi opposition groups supporting a possible U.S.-led invasion to oust Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein. Thousands of U.S. troops are expected to deploy in the Kurdish region, and there are concerns that Ansar and its alleged Al-Qaida allies could target them with terrorist attacks.

The attack was the third assassination attempt by Islamists against Kurdish leaders in northern Iraq since 2001. In previous attacks, Islamists have killed the governor of one Kurdish region and narrowly missed killing one of the two prime ministers in the Kurdish zone. The killings and abductions Saturday virtually shut down the government Sunday.

Officials packed an enormous funeral at Martyrs Hill, a cemetery on the city's edge, and attended memorial services throughout the afternoon at which they remembered the assassinated minister, Shawkat Hajji Mushir, as a nearly perfect example of a life sacrificed for the Kurdish autonomy struggle.

Mushir, 56, was the senior-most Patriotic Union of Kurdistan official killed by Ansar, the Kurdish officials said. He was a member of the party's leadership council, served as the PUK's chief envoy to Ansar, and had been trying to negotiate a peace deal with the militants for more than a year.

A team of gunmen, whom Kurdish officials said were able to get close to the minister because they were masquerading as peace negotiators, also killed three civilians and wounded 12 other people. Among the injured was an 8-year-old girl shot in the forehead. Doctors said she was likely to die.

PUK Interior Minister Faraydoon Abdul Qader said Mushir was killed Saturday night after being lured to a secret meeting on the pretext of discussing the defection of Hemin Banishary, a member of Ansar's leadership council. The three Ansar emissaries were allowed to keep their weapons during the talks at a private residence in the eastern village of Gamestapa. Mushir had previously held several rounds of talks on the matter.

Shako Mirza Raheem, a PUK driver wounded in the attack, said two Ansar gunmen stayed outside, and the third met Mushir inside. As the militant left the meeting, he shot the security officials to death in a hallway and then fired at Mushir. He then killed three people who lived in the house, Raheem said.

One of the Ansar gunmen outside fired through a window at Mushir, while the other hurled grenades and shot at PUK drivers and guards, Raheem said.

Qader said he believed Ansar targeted Mushir because of his efforts to win defections and because he was working on reconstruction programs aimed at alleviating the poverty that helps produce recruits for the group.

The attack would not have taken place without Al-Qaida's blessings, the officials contended.

Ansar operates from a heavily defended slice of rugged territory in northeastern Iraq. The PUK has far more manpower, but it does not have the heavy weapons needed to defeat Ansar.