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ANKARA (AFX) - The US has ordered the capture of
commanders of the rebel Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK)
in Iraq, where many of the group's militants are
based, the Turkish army number two was quoted as
telling reporters.
Ilker Basbug, the deputy chief of the Turkish
general staff, made the remarks during a briefing to
a group of reporters here, both the NTV news channel
and the Anatolia news agency reported.
A spokesman for the US embassy in Ankara told Agence
France-Presse that he can neither confirm nor deny
Basbug's remarks, adding that he is unable to
comment on operational matters.
www.afxnews.com
U.S. 'wants Kurdish rebels
seized'
(CNN) - A Turkish military official says the
United States has ordered the arrest of Kurdish
rebel leaders in Iraq, a Turkish news agency
reported.
Turkey has long urged Iraq and the U.S. to take firm
action to stop Turkish Kurdish guerrillas based in
Iraq from crossing into the country.
Deputy Chief of Staff Gen. Ilker Basbug was quoted
by the news agency Anatolia Tuesday as saying the
U.S. gave direct orders that leaders of the
Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) be arrested in
northern Iraq.
Basburg was speaking after a Kurdish militant group
linked to the PKK was reported to have claimed
responsibility for a bomb attack Saturday in the
town of Kusadasi that killed five people, but this
could not be confirmed. (Full story)
"There are a lot of things that can be done against
a terrorist organization. Capture the leadership.
They (U.S.) have a serious intention about this
issue, more than that, they are determined," private
CNN-Turk television quoted Basbug as saying.
"They've given direct orders to capture the
leadership."
A Turkish Foreign Ministry official confirmed that
the Foreign Ministry spokesman, Namik Tan, told
reporters at a news conference Tuesday that Turkey
reserved the right to launch its own offensive in
Iraq if the government believes it must.
"Turkey will of course take necessary measures when
it deems it is necessary," the official quoted Tan
as saying. "The opposite is unthinkable."
Turkey's Foreign Ministry said Ankara had given the
U.S. a list of suspected PKK rebel leaders in
northern Iraq to a U.S. diplomat in January.
Ankara says the rebels have launched several attacks
in southeastern Turkey since the end of a
five-year-old cease-fire between the group and
Turkey last June, and has complained that the U.S.
is not doing enough to help stop those attacks.
A spokesman for the U.S. Embassy in Ankara said he
could not comment on military matters and referred
all questions to the U.S. military in Washington or
in Iraq.
The PKK is considered a terrorist group by Turkey
and the United States.
www.cnn.com
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