this period, female fighters were also incorporated into the Peshmerga to bolster the forces' numbers in the fight against Saddam Hussein.

image copyright Reuters image caption Kurdistan Regional Government President Massoud Barzani led the KDP, succeeding his father Mustafa Barzani

image copyright AFP image caption Jalal Talabani of the PUK, became the sixth President of Iraq, and the first Kurd to hold that office

Co-operation with the CIA

After reconciliation between the two opposing Kurdish factions was sealed by the 1998 Washington Agreement, the US Special Forces deployed CIA agents to Kurdistan, the start of a relationship of co-operation between the Peshmerga and the US, both pitted against Saddam Hussein's Iraqi government. The role of the Peshmerga was key in the eventual toppling of Saddam Hussein.

After his Baathist government was dismantled, USforces continued to work with the Peshmerga, training fighters and holding joint operations throughout the area. When the PUK's Jalal Talabani was elected as the sixth president of Iraq, and the KDP's Massoud Barzani was elected president of Iraqi Kurdistan, Kurdish hopes for self-determination continued to grow.