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| Iraq |
| Iraqi Kurds move to restrict PKK |
| 2009-02-12 |
| Iraq's Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) has taken security measures against the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) rebels in northern Iraq. The government has imposed a security blockade around the Qandil Mountains in northern Iraq to control PKK rebels' activities in the region, said Qubad Talabani, KRG's representative to the United States who is also the son of Iraqi President Jalal Talabani. "To implement measures, we have created a security belt around the Qandil Mountains," he told a panel at the Washington-based Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Relations between the Kurdish administration in northern Iraq and Ankara soured over PKK activities, as Turkish officials blamed the KRG for providing a safe haven for the militants. PKK militants who have been blacklisted as a terrorist organization by the international community are holed up in mountainous areas inside Iraq, using the region as a launch pad for mounting attacks against Turkish troops. The activities of the outlawed group have prompted Turkish authorities to launch cross-border operations against the PKK. |
| Posted by:Fred |