Rebel Kurds Defy Turks, US

The leadership of the Kurdistan Workers' Party, the rebel group based in northern Iraq that the United States considers a terrorist organization, has spoken out to warn of resistance to any Turkish cross-border incursion. In a report by a pro-Kurdish news agency, a leading PKK commander warned that his group would fight not only the Turkish army but also any US and Kurdish Iraqi parties that aid Turkish efforts.

The US and Iraqi Kurdish factions "should understand that if we want, we can create instability and place their interests in danger," said Cemil Bayik, a leading commander of the PKK. Yesterday General David Petraeaus met with the head of Turkey's army, but no details have been released about their meeting and whether Turkey will go ahead with planned sorties in northern Iraq. (More Kurdistan Workers' Party stories.)