Thursday, 25 October 2007,
Dr Mahmoud Othman
AFP
The autonomous Kurdistan regional government (KRG) in northern Iraq denied on Thursday that there were any offices of the Turkey's rebel Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) in the region.
"There is no office of the PKK in the Kurdish region" of Iraq, Jamal Abdallah, spokesman of the regional government, told AFP, dismissing Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's order to shut down the offices of the rebel group.
"As far as the regional Kurdistan administration is concerned, we have no idea about such an office.
"But if Prime Minister Maliki knows about such an office in Iraq, let him close it. We do not know what the prime minister meant about closing the PKK offices. Where are these offices? What kind of offices do they have? Where are they located."
On Tuesday, Maliki ordered the closure of all offices of the PKK in Iraq in what was seen as a concession to intense pressure from Washington and Ankara following deadly attacks by the rebels against the Turkish army.
Kurdish MP Dr Mahmud Othman also denied there were any PKK office in Iraq.
"They do not have any office in Kurdistan, nor in other parts of Iraq," Othman said in Baghdad.
He said the PKK had used two flats in Baghdad to promote cultural activities but the "government closed them last year".
"The PKK has military bases in Qandil mountains (on the Turkish border) and I wonder how the prime minister is going to close them," Othman said.
"The Iraqi government is giving promises but cannot implement any of these promises. Why should they give promises?"
"As far as the regional Kurdistan administration is concerned, we have no idea about such an office.
"But if Prime Minister Maliki knows about such an office in Iraq, let him close it. We do not know what the prime minister meant about closing the PKK offices. Where are these offices? What kind of offices do they have? Where are they located."
On Tuesday, Maliki ordered the closure of all offices of the PKK in Iraq in what was seen as a concession to intense pressure from Washington and Ankara following deadly attacks by the rebels against the Turkish army.
Kurdish MP Dr Mahmud Othman also denied there were any PKK office in Iraq.
"They do not have any office in Kurdistan, nor in other parts of Iraq," Othman said in Baghdad.
He said the PKK had used two flats in Baghdad to promote cultural activities but the "government closed them last year".
"The PKK has military bases in Qandil mountains (on the Turkish border) and I wonder how the prime minister is going to close them," Othman said.
"The Iraqi government is giving promises but cannot implement any of these promises. Why should they give promises?"
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