Iraqi Kurd nature reserve bids to shed violent legacy

Near Iraq's northernmost point, close to Turkey and Iran, a national park of snow-capped peaks and forested valleys is drawing tourists and researchers keen to explore a hardly touched land. But this region of outstanding natural beauty has also been scarred by war, and local officials are grappling with the problem of minefields left over from years of conflict. The 1,100-square-kilometre (425-square-mile) reserve, known as the Halgurd Sakran National Park, encompasses Iraq's highest peaks along the border with Iran. It has been listed as a national park by the northern autonomous Kurdish region for a year, but has inherited a legacy of violence in the region. There are still minefields left from the 1980-88 Iraq-Iran war, and until recently Turkey and Iran shelled the nearby area, targeting Kurdish separatists from those countries who maintain rear bases in north Iraq.