The insurgents seized large numbers of police weapons on Thursday and Friday, and the US forces responded with aerial bombardment.”I personally gave clear instructions to my soldiers to be careful,” Brigadier Dolan said, “not to send the message that this is a fight between Kurds and Arabs. Iraq’s deputy prime minister, the Kurdish politician Barham Saleh, said he feared that deploying Kurd-only units against Arab forces in Mosul could lead to an all-out Arab-Kurdish war in Iraq.Most of Mosul’s 400,000 Kurds – nearly a quarter of the population – live on the east bank of the River Tigris. There is a danger that the terrorists are trying to create a war between us and the Arabs.”With more than 30,000 men under arms, the Kurdish autonomous region has the strongest indigenous force in Iraq. Suleimania and Erbil [Kurdish ING battle groups sent to Mosul] are veteran Peshmergas.” Peshmergas are Kurdish fighters, some of whom were recently absorbed into the ING.

Technically under the Iraqi defence ministry in Baghdad, they are based in Peshmerga encampments and answer to Kurdistan’s two political leaders – Massoud Barzani and Jalal Talabani. Insurgents attempted, and failed, to gain a foothold on the Kurdish side of the river on Thursday So far, the Kurds have kept them out of their areas. However, some Kurds have left Mosul – fearing further attacks by the mainly Arab insurgents. Meanwhile, outside the city, the American-ING forces were mobilising for what some military officials promise would be another Falluja-type assault.”We will be moving in the next day or so in Mosul to restore the rule of law,” announced Iraqi interim prime minister Iyad Allawi.

An Iraqi journalist in Mosul reported that ING troops have retaken two of the six police stations controlled by the insurgents. Insurgents and American-ING battalions were each demonstrating their control of different parts of Mosul in advance of what most observers believe will be a major battle for the city.Brigadier Dolan, a veteran Kurdish fighter, blamed Iraqi government forces based in Mosul for yielding to the insurgents “I am sure the [Mosul ING] brigade is not professional. “So, the Iraqi Defence Minister asked for forces from Suleimania, Dihouk and Erbil.” Reports from inside Mosul indicated that insurgents, joined by local policemen, were patrolling the streets to demonstrate their power in neighbourhoods of the city’s Arab majority. Other names mentioned include Mr Kerry’s running mate, John Edwards, and the Iowa governor, Tom Vilsack.The battle for the leadership of the party highlights a continuing struggleto determine which direction the Democrats must take to avoid a third successive defeat in 2008.

even going so far in the end as to seek the involvement of our enemies. We know it well, we are prepared, we accept it, we have a firm commitment to do it,” Mr Otegi told up to 10,000 supporters in a sports stadium.Batasuna’s dramatic plea is the party’s most important political gesture since it was banned nearly two years ago. Batasuna stopped short of condemning violence, and Mr Otegi did not call for Eta to lay down arms. But his assertion that peace was now the priority, and his promise to stick to democratic methods breaks from the usual belligerent rhetoric and could bring a truce nearer.There has been nothing comparable since 1998 when similar gestures heralded a 14-month Eta truce.

Batasuna leaders recognised for the first time the “current reality” that Navarra, the Basque country and the French Basque region were three separate areas. Hitherto they have insisted as a condition for talks that the three regions formed an indivisible Basque homeland. But observers warned that Batasuna’s declaration, albeit a first step towards ending the conflict, could easily falter and yield to resumed violence Batasuna is not Eta No one expects Eta to lay down arms just yet. The separatist movement is convulsed by debates between conciliators and hardliners. The internal debate was revealed by a letter last month from six veteran Eta leaders in prison to the organisation’s high command, urging an end to armed struggle. About 100 Eta leaders have been detained in police raids, devastating the organisation and demoralising its militants The government could simply rebuff the gesture.