The Kurds want to incorporate oil-rich Kirkuk into their semiautonomous region.

CNN: U.S. military says al Qaeda in Iraq mastermind dead

Mohamed Abdulrahman, director of the maritime force that led the mission, said Monday that the rescued hostages -- who hailed from Yemen, India, Pakistan, Ghana, Sudan and the Philippines -- were in good health at a military base in Puntland, a semiautonomous region of Somalia.

CNN: Ship crew held for 1,000 days rescued off coast of Yemen

Zari is from Bajur, part of Pakistan's semiautonomous tribal region bordering Afghanistan.

NPR: Pakistani Woman Makes History With Run In May Vote