Kurd rebel commander confirms Turk air strike inside Iraq, says ‘no casualties’ suffered

Ankara holds back from launching ground operation, but reserves right to military action against PKK

Turkish President Abdullah Gul (left) arrived in the Pakistani capital yesterday, becoming the first foreign leader to do so since the declaration of emergency rule, officials said. Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf (right) and his wife Sehba received Gul and his delegation at Chaklala military base near Islamabad, a gesture in recognition of the warm relations between the two countries. Gul and Musharraf will discuss ‘issues of bilateral, regional and global importance’ during the visit, a Foreign Ministry spokesman said.

ARBIL, Iraq (AFP) – A leader of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) acknowledged yesterday that rebel fighters had come under attack by Turkish helicopters inside Iraq but insisted they had suffered no casualties.

The commander, who spoke on condition of anonymity, had initially denied any attack when Turkey announced on Saturday that it had inflicted heavy casualties on a group of “50 to 60 terrorists” inside northern Iraq. “There were helicopter strikes along the (Iraq-Turkey) border, but we suffered no casualties,” the commander told AFP.

Turkey’s Anatolia news agency reported that combat helicopters had targeted various locations in a bid to prevent Kurdish rebels from returning to rear bases inside Iraq.

Speaking by telephone, the rebel leader said the PKK is “keen to resolve the crisis” and urged Ankara to consider a conditional ceasefire offer made by the group in October after its guerrillas ambushed and killed 12 Turkish soldiers.

Ankara rejected the ceasefire offer and received parliamentary authorization in October to launch military action against the PKK inside Iraq.

Turkey has so far held back from any ground operation amid strong lobbying by the United States, which is concerned about the impact on the autonomous Kurdish region of northern Iraq – much the most stable area of the country.

But Turkey has warned Iraq that it reserves the right to resort to military action.

Among the conditions laid down by the PKK in its October ceasefire offer, the group demanded that Turkey enshrine the rights of the country’s large Kurdish minority in its constitution. It also wants rebel leaders in Turkish prisons to be released. “If these conditions are met, we can give up arms,” the statement announcing the offer said.

Iraqi Kurdish leaders yesterday welcomed the PKK’s desire to resolve the crisis.

“We welcome any initiative aimed at achieving justice and guaranteeing the rights of the debating parties,” said Fadhel Mirani, head of the political bureau of the Kurdistan Democratic Party headed by Regional President Massud Barzani. Mirani urged both the PKK and Turkey to work toward a solution to the crisis.

In recent weeks Turkey has deployed around 100,000 soldiers along its 380-kilometer (235-mile) border with Iraq.

However, US Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte reiterated Washington’s opposition to the PKK as a “terrorist” group as he wrapped up a six-day visit to Iraq during which he traveled to the Kurdish north.

“We all agree that the PKK is a very negative organization, a terrorist group and it cannot be allowed to operate from Iraqi territory against the country of Turkey,” Negroponte told reporters in Baghdad. “So we share the common goal of seeking to end PKK activities once and for all.” Negroponte said that failure to end PKK activities could “jeopardize” the achievements in both northern Iraq and Turkey.