In Brief:Rival Kurds in battle for city

Nicosia - Rival Kurds fought for control of the key city of Arbil in Iraqi Kurdistan, as President Saddam Hussein offered a dialogue to halt the conflict. Forces of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) led by Jalal Talabani pounded residential a reas of the city, the official Iranian news agency IRNA reported.

Earlier, Mr Talabani declared "all-out war" to drive the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) of his rival Massoud Barzani out of the region. Long-standing negotiations between Baghdad and the Kurds on extending autonomy for northern Iraq collapsed three years ago, before the Kurds elected their own parliament and formed a PUK-KDP government in May 1992, so they are unlikely to accept Saddam's offer. AFP