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Arbil, Iraq: Iraq's president, a Kurd, ordered Kurdish guerrillas yesterday to lay down their arms or leave Iraq after the rebels ambushed a military unit inside Turkey, killing at least 16 soldiers and increasing pressure on the Turkish government to stage a cross-border incursion.
Iraqi President Jalal Talabani urged the PKK to stop their attacks. "We have appealed to the PKK to desist fighting and to transform themselves from military organisations into civilian and political ones," Talabani said.
"But if they [the PKK] insist on the continuation of fighting, they should leave Kurdistan, Iraq, and not create problems here."
Talabani tempered his strong words, however, acknowledging the difficulties in controlling the rebels who operate from bases in northern Iraq.
In Turkey, military and government officials were meeting President Abdullah Gul to decide the response. In Kiev, Ukraine, after talks with US Defence Secretary Robert Gates, Turkish Defence Minister Vecdi Gonul said Turkey has "plans" to make a crossborder incursion but "not urgently".
Turkey's military general staff said 12 soldiers and 32 rebels were killed in continuing clashes.
Hours after the ambush, Turkey fired about 15 artillery shells toward Kurdish villages in northern Iraq but caused no casualties, an Iraqi army officer said.
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