ANKARA (AFP) – The Turkish military, without giving precise figures, said yesterday that “many” Kurdish rebels were killed in two bombing raids in neighboring northern Iraq last week. Forty-three fighter jets took part in the air strikes on Friday and Saturday, which targeted Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) positions in the Zap, Avashin and Khakurk regions, the statement said. More than 100 rebel targets, including hideouts, anti-rocket defense posts and communication centers, were destroyed and “many terrorists believed to be preparing for attacks against Turkey were rendered ineffective.”

LONDON (Reuters) – Britain said yesterday it had agreed to a NATO request to send a 600-strong reserve battalion to bolster an alliance peacekeeping force in Kosovo. “We are... well prepared to meet NATO’s request and I have agreed to deploy our Operational Reserve Force battalion until June 30, 2008,” Defense Secretary Des Browne said in a written statement to Parliament. “The deployment will demonstrate our commitment to the security of the region and will provide NATO with extra flexibility in maintaining peace and stability for all communities within Kosovo,” he said.

The leader of Turkey’s main Kurdish party was conscripted into the army yesterday in the middle of his trial on using false documents to evade compulsory draft, the Anatolia news agency reported. Nurettin Demirtas, head of the Democratic Society Party (DTP), had been held since December on charges of obtaining false medical reports declaring him unfit for military service. Late Monday, a military court freed Demirtas, 35, along with 51 others standing trial on similar charges. He risks up to 10 years in prison if convicted. (AFP)

A former Kosovo ethnic Albanian minister and an editor appeared at the UN war crimes tribunal yesterday charged with contempt for allegedly interfering with a witness during the trial of Kosovo’s former prime minister. Ex-Culture Minister Astrit Haraqija, 35, pleaded not guilty to charges of contempt of court after prosecutors accused him of trying to persuade a protected witness not to testify against Ramush Haradinaj. The editor of Bota Sot newspaper, Bajrush Morina, 45, also pleaded not guilty to contempt charges. (Reuters)

International soccer body FIFA has lifted a ban it imposed on the Albanian soccer association last month, it said yesterday. FIFA, which imposed the suspension due to government interference, said it lifted the ban after Sports Minister Ylli Pango dropped legal action he had started. (Reuters)