Fuel, food aid draw Iraq, Syria Kurds closer

FISHKHABOUR, Iraq (Reuters) - Kurds on either side of the river Tigris that runs between Syria and Iraq are linked by kinship, a history of oppression and now by fuel lines and boats ferrying food and medical aid across the waters that divide them.

The lifeline thrown by Iraqi Kurdistan to its neighbour extends the influence of Masoud Barzani, the autonomous region's President, over Kurds in Syria as civil war threatens to dismember the country.