Kurdish Evacuees Leave Turkey For U.S.

About 600 Kurds arrived at this U.S. territory on Thursday, bringing the number of refugees to nearly 3,000. Many will eventually be resettled in the mainland United States.

The Kurds, most of them members of the CIA-aided Iraqi National Congress, which opposes Saddam Hussein, were evacuated from northern Iraq this week following an offensive by Saddam-allied rebels.

After medical and identification checks, the evacuees were put on two planes at a U.S.-run airbase in Turkey and flown to this Pacific island.

The CIA helped the Iraqi National Congress with news releases, books and radio and television broadcasts, but there is no indication it gave it military aid.

Last month, about 2,000 Iraqi Kurds affiliated with U.S. aid groups were flown to Guam. Most have since completed the political asylum process and are waiting for FBI checks that are a prerequisite to their immigration, said Air Force Maj. Gen. John Dallager, head of “Operation Pacific Haven.”