The Baath regime, which still considered itself victorious and believed that it had defeated the greatest revolution in Kurdistan, attempted to assassinate Kurdistan's leaders, including Masoud Barzani There was also the fact that both the son of Mustafa Barzani, the leader of the Kurdish people's liberation movement, and after his father's illness, he and Idris Barzani managed the affairs of the Kurdistan Democratic Party and the Kurdistan Liberation Movement.

Masoud Barzani who was in America with his father, President Mustafa Barzani, in 1978, it was necessary to meet with the leadership on the affairs of the revolution, and for this purpose he visited Europe. During this visit, the Iraqi government delegation headed by Barzan Tikriti was also in Vienna, but it is not clear whether it was only to assassinate Masoud Barzani They went and used some government work as an excuse, or they knew there that Masoud Barzani there, they decided to take advantage of the opportunity and tried to kill him, President Masoud Barzani In his book Barzani and the Kurdish Liberation Movement, he says that Barzan Tikriti and several others came specifically to kill me, because in those years the Iraqi government's goal was to destroy me.

Therefore, the best source to rely on in this regard is the book Barzani and the Kurdish Liberation Movement, because the terrorist incident that occurred was experienced by the author of the book himself. The story of the incident is told in the words of the President Masoud Barzani is as follows:

In December 1978, we left London for Vienna and were stationed at the League headquarters. Then I decided to visit Paris on December 8, 1979, to see Imam Khomeini. I wanted to Faris Bawe See you on the evening of the 8th. January 1st In 1979, I informed Hemarez and Azad Berwari to visit Pirot Ahmed's house together. On the way, I told them that I wanted to see Faris. They insisted that we go back, but I didn't do what they said. Pirot had a room in an apartment. He didn't know we were leaving until we went to the door.

President Masoud Barzani Requests friend Pirot to say Faris Bawe come to him, but somehow friend Pirot doesn't tell Faris that Masoud Barzani is here and wants to see you, instead, he tells her that he has a message from a friend and that he is coming.

Continuing his speech, Barzani recounts the story of the murder and writes:

After the meeting, I got ready to leave and said: Faris, let's go, but he swore to me that we would hold our breath, let our friends look outside, then we would go. When the friends went downstairs, a car from the Iraqi embassy was waiting for them outside, two of them came forward and thought it was Mr. Azad and put a gun to his head, but fortunately it did not explode and the bullet came out.

The President's friends managed to escape from the terrorists, and one of his friends was carrying a stun gun and then detonated it, which caused the terrorists to panic and they were forced to leave the place. They did not even know that Masoud Barzani It's on top of that, otherwise they might not give up so easily.

After the incident, the police arrived and Barzani complained to the Iraqi government, and the Austrian government provided him with security guards. Then, waiting for the plane in the Athens transit hall, Saddam's brother Barzan Tikriti and 12 other people with him want to return to Iraq.

President Barzani said that he recalled this incident with Barzan Tikriti during dinner in 1991 during negotiations with the Iraqi government, and did not deny the incident or his participation in that terrorist act.

Source:

1. Masoud Barzani, Barzani and the Kurdish Liberation Movement, Part 4, volume 1, May Revolution 1975-1990, (Hewlêr- Roksana Publishing House- 2021).