Peshmerga issue warning to Iraqi forces

ERBIL, Iraq, Aug. 25 (UPI) -- A senior leader of the Kurdish Peshmerga forces Monday warned of counterattacks if the Iraqi military entered Kurdish areas in northern Iraq.

Kurdish leader Mahmoud Sinkawi said Iraqi troops would meet a "violent reaction" from the Peshmerga if they moved to force Kurdish troops out of government buildings in Kurdish territory, Iraqi newspaper Azzaman said.

Sinkawi also targeted the Shiite Mehdi Army of radical cleric Moqtada Sadr, suggesting the "outlawed" militia did not react peacefully to government demands to disband.

Abdul Sattar al-Battat with the Mehdi Army responded, claiming it was the Peshmerga that was the outlawed force.

"The Mehdi Army is not the outlaw. The outlaws are those who are refusing to give the government buildings they have occupied," he said.

A rift between Peshmerga and conventional Iraqi forces threatened to erupt into violence in early August when the rival factions conflicted over operations in eastern Diyala province.

The Iraqi government grants Kurdish autonomy to several northern provinces but says only Iraqi national forces can maintain a sanctioned military.