Iraq Demands Turkey Withdraw From Border Conflict With Kurds

Iraq's government today demanded Turkey immediately withdraw from northern Iraq after six days of fighting between Turkish troops and Kurdish separatists.

Government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh said the military action was a violation of Iraqi sovereignty, and called on the Turkish government to engage the Iraqis in dialogue instead.

"The Iraqi cabinet has denounced the Turkish army's incursion," Dabbagh said in a televised statement after the government met to discuss the issue.

"The cabinet calls on Turkey to withdraw its troops immediately and stop military interference."

Turkey launched the incursion into northern Iraq last Thursday against the Kurdistan Workers' party (PKK), which the US and European Union regard as a terrorist group. It told Iraq the operation would be limited to attacks on rebels.

Many Iraqi Kurds believe Turkish generals are using the presence of the PKK in Iraq as a pretext to destabilize the Kurdish autonomous area.

Dabbagh acknowledged the threat to Turkey posed by the rebels and said Iraq stood ready to work through trilateral discussions with the US, or any bilateral dialog, to prevent the PKK from using Iraqi territory to attack Turkey.

"The unilateral military activity is an unacceptable deed and endangers the good bilateral relations between our two neighboring countries," he said, promising that Iraq would continue to respect mutual agreements with Turkey.

The Turkish military said 153 rebels were killed in the operation. Kurdish rebels disputed the figures and claimed Turkey could not win the conflict.

"They have stepped into a quagmire, they are trying to set themselves free," Firat, a pro-Kurdish news agency, quoted PKK commander Bahoz Erdal as saying.

The PKK wants autonomy for predominantly Kurdish south-eastern Turkey, and rebels have carried out attacks in Turkey from bases in Kurdish Iraq. The conflict started in 1984 and has killed up to 40,000 people.

Meanwhile, a suicide bomber killed 14 people in an attack on a bus in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul. Another seven people were wounded in the attack, according to Reuters.