 The rivalries between the Kurdish parties prompted the KDP to seek armed support from Saddam Hussein for its capture of the town of Arbil from rival PUK.Iraq took advantage of the request by launching a military strike in which 200 opposition members were executed and as many as 2,000 arrested.650 oppositionists (mostly INC) were evacuated and resettled in the United States under parole authority of the US Attorney General.