Three Turkish soldiers and four Kurdish rebels were killed Wednesday in fighting in the country`s east and southeast, security officials and media reports said.

Fighting between security forces and rebels from the outlawed Kurdistan Workers` Party (PKK) near the town of Lice, in Diyarbakir province, saw another four troops also wounded in the clash, local security sources said.

Iraq on Wednesday repatriated the remains of 150 Kurds killed in the 1980s during Saddam Hussein`s rule and buried in a mass grave outside the Shiite holy city of Najaf.

In a solemn ceremony at Najaf`s newly opened airport, Human Rights Minister Wejdan Mikhail and Najaf`s governor, Assad Abu Gulal, paid their respects to the victims of Saddam`s brutal campaigns in the 1980s and 1990s.

A Turkish soldier was killed and five others were wounded Wednesday in clashes with Kurdish rebels in the mountainous east of the country, the Anatolia news agency reported.

Iraq, Turkey and the United States agreed Wednesday to form a joint committee to combat the Kurdistan Workers` Party (PKK), a guerilla movement based along the mountainous Iraq-Turkey border.

Iraq, Turkey and the United States agreed Wednesday to form a joint committee to combat the Kurdistan Workers` Party (PKK), a guerilla movement based along the mountainous Iraq-Turkey border.

An Iranian Kurdish journalist has been arrested on undisclosed charges in the city of Sanandaj in western Iran, a newspaper reported on Wednesday.

Bahman Tutunchi was arrested Tuesday morning at his home in Sanandaj in Kordestan province, the reformist Kargozaran paper said, quoting a family member.

An Iranian Kurdish journalist has been arrested on undisclosed charges in the city of Sanandaj in western Iran, a newspaper reported on Wednesday.

Bahman Tutunchi was arrested Tuesday morning at his home in Sanandaj in Kordestan province, the reformist Kargozaran paper said, quoting a family member.

Iraq`s Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki stepped up a war of words with the country`s Kurdish parties on Wednesday over pro-government militias that could undermine the parties` power.

Iraq`s Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki stepped up a war of words with the country`s Kurdish parties on Wednesday over pro-government militias that could undermine the parties` power.

Iraq`s Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki stepped up a war of words with the country`s Kurdish parties on Wednesday over pro-government militias that could undermine the parties` power.

Iraq`s Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki stepped up a war of words with the country`s Kurdish parties on Wednesday over pro-government militias that could undermine the parties` power.

Iraq`s Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki stepped up a war of words with the country`s Kurdish parties on Wednesday over pro-government militias that could undermine the parties` power.

Iraq`s Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki stepped up a war of words with the country`s Kurdish parties on Wednesday over pro-government armed groups that could undermine the parties` power.

Iraq`s Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki stepped up a war of words with the country`s Kurdish parties on Wednesday over pro-government armed groups that could undermine the parties` power.

Iraq`s Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki stepped up a war of words with the country`s Kurdish parties on Wednesday over pro-government armed groups that could undermine the parties` power.

Iraq`s Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki stepped up a war of words with the country`s Kurdish parties on Wednesday over pro-government armed groups that could undermine the parties` power.

Iraq`s Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki stepped up a war of words with the country`s Kurdish parties on Wednesday over the issue of pro-government local councils that could undermine the parties` power.

Iraq`s Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki stepped up a war of words with the country`s Kurdish parties on Wednesday over the issue of pro-government local councils that could undermine the parties` power.

Iraq`s Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki stepped up a war of words with the country`s Kurdish parties on Wednesday over the issue of pro-government local councils that could undermine the parties` power.

Iraq`s Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki stepped up a war of words with the country`s Kurdish parties on Wednesday over the issue of pro-government local councils that could undermine the parties` power.

Turkish armed forces shelled Kurdish guerrilla strongholds in northern Iraq for an hour and a half Monday, according to an official with the Iraqi border guard.

The official, who asked not to be named, said the bombardment took place north of the town of Dohuk near the border between 4:30 pm and 6:00 pm (1330 and 1500 GMT). There there was no word yet on casualties.

A suspected Kurdish militant believed to have been plotting a bomb attack was arrested Saturday in the western Turkish port city of Izmir, the Anatolia news agency reported.

Acting on a tip-off, anti-terror police arrested the suspect after watching him for about a week, seizing also plastic explosives and a detonator in the operation, the agency said.

An explosion on Wednesday shook a building housing offices of the ruling Justice and Development Party in Turkey`s mainly Kurdish southeast, Anatolia news agency reported.

There was no immediate word on the cause of the blast in Cukurca town, which caused only material damage.

Police sealed off the area and bomb experts were examining the scene, Anatolia said.

Iraqi President Jalal Talabani has said that American troops can set up bases in northern Iraq`s Kurdish region only if the Shiite-led government in Baghdad gives its approval.

`It is not possible for US troops to stay in Kurdistan without the approval of the central government,` Talabani said in an interview with state television Al-Iraqiya late on Sunday.

Nearly 200 Kurdish protesters who were arrested after staging a protest in the Syrian capital at the weekend have been freed, a human rights group said on Monday.

The demonstrators were held on Sunday after staging a sit-in organised by Kurdish political parties that was dispersed by security forces.

Dozens of protesters were arrested on Sunday as Syrian authorities broke up a demonstration by Kurdish parties in Damascus, a human rights group reported.

`The parties had organised a sit-in in protest at a decree forbidding the sale without prior authorisation of land and property in border areas,` the National Organisation of Human Rights in Syria (NOHRS) said in a statement.

Turkish police Sunday clashed with some 3,000 Kurdish demonstrators protesting a visit by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan to the country`s restive Kurdish-majority southeast, a local security source said.

A top Iraqi Kurdish leader has said the US military could have bases in northern Iraq if Washington and Baghdad fail to sign the controversial security deal, a local newspaper reported Sunday.

Hundreds of Kurds rioted Saturday in eastern Turkey and a suspected bomb blast rocked the offices of the ruling party as Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan visited the conflict-torn region.

A suspected bomb blast injured two people Saturday at a Kurdish-majority city in Turkey`s restive southeast on the eve of a visit there by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, officials said.

Two people were injured in an explosion Saturday in a Kurdish-populated city in Turkey`s restive southeast, a day before a planned visit by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, a security source said.

The cause of the explosion at the local offices of Erdogan`s Justice and Development Party -- in the city Hakkari, close to the border with Iraq and Iran -- was not immediately clear.

Two people were injured in an explosion Saturday in the city of Hakkari in Turkey`s mainly Kurdish southeast, a day before a planned visit by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, a security source said.

The cause of the explosion at the local offices of Erdogan`s Justice and Development Party was not immediately clear.

Iraqi Kurdish leaders may have a preference for Republican candidate John McCain but they do not foresee any dramatic change in US foreign policy if Democrat Barack Obama wins the day.

Over 120 militants have defected from the rebel Kurdistan Workers` Party (PKK) after Turkish air raids against the group`s hideouts in neighbouring Iraq over the past month, the Turkish military said Friday.

Turkish warplanes bombed Tuesday Kurdish rebel positions in northern Iraq, the army said.

The jets, backed by artillery fire, pounded `effectively` Kurdistan Workers` Party (PKK) hideouts in the regions of Hakurk and Avashin-Basyan as well as Zap, a major rebel stronghold, the statement said.

Hundreds of Kurds demonstrated outside United Nations headquarters in Beirut on Sunday to protest against the alleged bad treatment in prison of rebel Kurd leader Abdullah Ocalan.

The protesters, who began their march at Borj Hammoud, a mostly Armenian district in the northeast of the city, waved Kurdish flags and photos of Ocalan.

ANKARA, Oct 26, 2008 (AFP) - Fresh protests over the alleged mistreatment of jailed PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan ended in violence and arrests Sunday, Anatolia news agency reported.

Police used teargas to break up a protest in the town of eastern town of Gaziantep and arrested 10 supporters of the Kurdish leader. A number of officers were injured by stone-throwing protestors.

ANKARA, Oct 24, 2008 (AFP) - Twenty-five Kurdish rebels were killed in a Turkish air strike last week targeting Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) hideouts in northern Iraq, an army spokesman said Friday.

Four people were injured Tuesday in southeastern Turkey when Kurds protesting the alleged abuse of jailed rebel leader Abdullah Ocalan clashed with police for a fourth day, local security officials said.