ASKARI, ALI

(?-1978)

   Ali Askari was one of Mulla Mustafa Bar-zani's most capable commanders. After 1975 he became a prominent leader in the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK). During Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP)-PUK fighting in 1978, Askari was captured and executed by the KDP. This event still embitters intra-Kurdish relations between the two main Iraqi Kurdish parties.