Seven dead Kurdish rebels found in SE Turkey

DIYARBAKIR, Turkey, Mar 11 (Reuters) Turkish security forces discovered the bodies of seven armed Kurdish guerrillas today in Diyarbakir province in the mainly Kurdish southeast.

The Diyarbakir governor's office said authorities had launched an investigation into the cause of the rebels' death. It said they might have been killed following an internal dispute within the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK).

Turkish security forces have been battling PKK separatist rebels for more than two decades in a conflict that has claimed more than 30,000 lives.

Ankara fears an upsurge in clashes in the next few months as the mountain snows melt and more guerrillas cross into Turkey from mainly Kurdish northern Iraq, where the Turkish military estimates up to 3,800 rebels may be hiding.

Yesterday the head of Turkey's land forces, General Ilker Basbug, reaffirmed Ankara's right under international law to pursue the PKK rebels into Iraqi territory if it deemed fit.

REUTERS MS KN2233