Iraq pledges Turkey help with Kurd attacks

ISTANBUL, Turkey, Oct. 23 (UPI) -- Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari pledged Tuesday in Baghdad to assist Turkey rein in separatist Iraqi Kurds targeting Turkish troops.

At a news conference after meeting with his Turkish counterpart, Ali Babacan, Zebari offered few details of what Iraq would do with the group known as the PKK, a New York Times correspondent reported.

"We have a common position to fight terrorism wherever it is, we will not allow any party or any group, including the PKK, to poison our bilateral relations," Zebari said.

Kurdish militants based in Iraq crossed the border Sunday and ambushed a Turkish military patrol, killing 12 soldiers, prompting concerns Turkey would send troops into Iraq.

In London, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, at a news conference with his British counterpart, Gordon Brown, warned Iraq that Turkey will take action if nothing is done, The New York Times reported.

"We cannot wait forever," Erdogan said.

On Monday, the PKK offered to stop its attacks on Turkish forces in a cease-fire if Turkey drops its threat of raids on its bases in Iraq, The Los Angeles Times reported.

In Washington, U.S. State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said the Bush administration is encouraging Turkish-Iraqi cooperation, The Washington Post reported.