A Kurdish leader said Tuesday Kurds in northern Iraq will refuse to cooperate with any U.S.-inspired covert action to topple Saddam Hussein. Masoud Barzani said the Iraqi issue won’t be solved by military or covert action, and called for transparency and clarity and reform efforts. Barzani’s comments came in response to a Washington Post exposé revealing the CIA has launched a new covert action to topple Hussein, with explicit permission from the White House to assassinate him.