Turkey wins Iraq pledge on PKK, wants action

ANKARA, Aug 7 (Reuters) Turkey won promises from Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki today to crack down on Kurdish rebels who use northern Iraq as a base, but said it now needed to see his words being put into action.

Maliki and Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan signed a statement vowing to root out rebels of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), whose continued operations have drawn threats from Ankara of military intervention in mainly Kurdish northern Iraq.

''The two prime ministers expressed their joint will to fight against terrorist organisations ... including the PKK-Kongra Gel and reiterated their common understanding to activate every effort to isolate, pacify and eradicate the presence of all terrorist organisations in Iraq,'' the statement said.

But Turkish officials said they knew Maliki had little clout in the autonomous Kurdish region of northern Iraq and that he had also been weakened both by Iraq's dire security situation and by fresh turmoil in his crumbling government in Baghdad.

''Whether we are satisfied or not will depend on the implementation, but I can say we have seen a green light (from the Iraqi side),'' a Turkish Foreign Ministry official said.

''We have binding promises from Iraq. They said they are ready to do everything including exchange of intelligence.'' Despite Maliki's pledges, Iraq's Kurdish leaders seem loathe to turn against their ethnic kin. The head of northern Iraq's Kurdish administration, Massoud Barzani, has consistently rejected Turkish demands to crack down on the PKK.

Ankara blames the PKK for the deaths of more than 30,000 people since 1984 when the group launched its armed struggle for an ethnic homeland in southeast Turkey.

ANTI-TERRORISM ACCORD The Turkish official said an Iraqi team would visit Ankara in the next two weeks to complete work on an anti-terrorism accord and that it could be signed in two months' time.

Turkey has boosted the number of troops along its mountainous border with Iraq to try to prevent PKK rebels crossing over to attack Turkish military and civilian targets.

The United States and the Baghdad government have urged Ankara to avoid any military incursion into northern Iraq that could destabilise the most peaceful part of that country.

Erdogan and top Turkish army generals have refused to rule out military action, though officials said it did not feature in today's talks with Maliki.

Turkey and Iraq also agreed today to boost cooperation on energy, including the construction of thermal power stations in both countries.

The deal also includes enlarging and renovating electricity transmission lines and cooperation on oil exploration. Turkey is keen to invest in Iraq's lucrative energy sector.

Maliki also hailed the active involvement of Turkish construction firms in helping to rebuild his shattered country.

Maliki, pressured by Iraq's unrelenting sectarian violence and US impatience over failure to push through reforms, suffered a new blow this week when more ministers withdrew from government meetings.

Erdogan, meanwhile, has been under pressure from Turkey's powerful military and from opposition parties to order an incursion into Iraq to crush the PKK. That pressure has subsided to some extent after his AK Party won re-election last month.

But with nationalists in the new parliament and continued PKK attacks on Turkish troops, he needs to keep up pressure on Maliki's government to deliver on its security promises.

Reuters AE VP0005