SURCHI

The Surchi are an important KurdishtribeinIraqiKurdistan who live near theBarzanisand have often been at odds with them. In the time ofMulla Mustafa Barzani, the Surchi werejoshsupporting the government ofAbdul Karim Kassem. During the Kurdish uprising of 1991, however, the Surchi, under their leader Omar Surchi, joined the Kurdishnationalists.

The Surchi became one of the leaders of the tribally oriented Kurdistan Conservative Party (also known as the Kurdish Tribes Society or Mosul Vilayet Council) that was created in September 1991. On 16 June 1996, the Barzani-ledKurdistan Democratic Party(KDP) killed Hussein Agha Surchi, an important member of the Surchi family, during a squabble over the Surchis' ultimate allegiances in the KDP's civil war against thePatriotic Union of Kurdistan(PUK). The incident caused a great deal of ill will among the Kurds and illustrated their continuing tribal divisions.