U.S. giving Turkey intelligence on PKK in Iraq

WASHINGTON, Oct 31 (Reuters) - Washington is giving Turkey intelligence on Kurdish rebels hiding in Iraq and helping Ankara gain the "actionable" intelligence the Pentagon says is needed before any military strike, a Pentagon spokesman said on Wednesday.

"We are assisting the Turks in their efforts to combat the PKK by supplying them with intelligence, lots of intelligence," said Pentagon press secretary Geoff Morrell.

"The key for any sort of military response from the Turks or anyone else is having actionable intelligence and that's a pretty high standard, and we are making efforts to help them get actionable intelligence," he told reporters

"Actionable" intelligence refers to information that can be acted upon, such as information that pinpoints the location of a target for a military strike.

Washington has urged Ankara to show restraint after attacks by rebels from Turkey's outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), hiding in northern Iraq.

Turkey, which has NATO's second biggest army, has deployed as many as 100,000 troops on the Iraqi border and warned it will launch a major incursion into northern Iraq against the PKK unless U.S. and Iraqi forces clamp down on the group.

U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates last week said Turkey and the United States needed better intelligence about the location of PKK fighters in Iraq before launching a military strike.

Gates would not discuss the intelligence last week. Morrell on Wednesday also would not say how the United States was gathering the intelligence it shares with Turkey.