(Agencies)
Updated: 2007-11-04 17:10

Under intense political pressure from Baghdad and the US, Iraqi Kurdish officials Saturday closed the Irbil and Sulaimaniyah offices of the Kurdistan Democratic Solution party, alleged to have close ties to the PKK. The two cities are the largest in Iraq's northern Kurdish region.

Regional authorities have sought to prevent journalists from talking with the PKK leadership by closing roads into the Qandil Mountains, where various Kurdish rebel groups have historically sought shelter. But an AP reporter managed to meet PKK officials there late Friday.

In a compound in the mountains here, the PKK flew their banned flag and decorated their offices with portraits of Abdullah Ocalan, the PKK leader arrested in Kenya in 1999. He is currently in a Turkish prison.

The compound was far from any village, but the rebels had satellite television, and generators provide electricity.

Iraqi Kurdish leaders say they are urging the PKK members to lay down their arms and seek a political settlement with Turkey. Avesta suggested that the guerrillas see little reason to negotiate with Ankara.

"Working to obtain rights under dictatorships without resorting to arms is a difficult and impossible matter," Avesta said.

She defended the PKK's assaults on Turkish forces, saying Ankara had a history of "detention and genocide campaigns against the Kurds. Therefore the PKK took up arms to defend itself."

And she warned that if Turkey launches attacks inside Iraq, the PKK will respond. "The PKK fighters will teach the Turks an unforgettable lesson," she vowed.

The United States and the European Union have labeled the PKK a terrorist organization. The group's tactics have included car bombings, suicide bombings and kidnappings.

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