Paul Maubec, known by his pen name Chris Kutschera (13 May 1938 â 31 July 2017), was a French journalist, researcher, writer and specialist on the Middle East, with particular interest focused on Kurdish national movements. During his career he interviewed and photographed leading Kurdish figures, many of whom later took senior government positions, including: Mustafa Barzani, Dara Tawfiq, Masoud Barzani, Jalal Talabani, Nechirvan Barzani, Abdullah ÃÂcalan, Hoshyar Zibari and Barham Saleh.