IRAN’S PRESIDENT SUPPORTS CRACKDOWN ON KURDISH GUERRILLAS
PanARMENIAN.Net
29.10.2007 12:25 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad told Iraq he
supports a crackdown on Kurdish guerrillas in northern Iraq but wants
a peaceful solution to the crisis, Iraq’s government said.
A statement from Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki’s office released
overnight said Ahmadinejad phoned Maliki to discuss the issue. Turkey
is massing troops on the border and threatening to invade if Iraq
cannot stop cross-border attacks.
"The two men have agreed the necessity of confronting the terrorist
activities of the PKK, which damage the interests of Iraq, Turkey
and Iran," the statement said.
"They agreed that military action is not the sole option in dealing
with the crisis, which should be resolved by peaceful means."
Ahmadinejad also phoned Iraqi President Jalal Talabani overnight,
Talabani’s office said.
"He expressed his solidarity with Iraqi people’s ambitions to live
peacefully away from the woe of war and infighting, and expressed his
readiness to make efforts to end the current tension on Iraqi-Turkish
border peacefully," said a statement released from Talabani’s office
on Sunday.
"Talabani expressed his hopes that President Ahmadinejad could make
efforts with Turkish Foreign Minister Ali Babacan, who is in Iran
now, to help the language of dialogue and understanding prevail over
the language of threats and following the military path," it said,
Reuters reports.