Turkish soldiers freed after diplomatic push

By Selcuk Gokoluk

ANKARA (Reuters) - Kurdish rebels on Sunday freed eight Turkish soldiers captured in an ambush last month in northern Iraq, a move which could ease public pressure on Turkey's government to launch a major cross-border incursion.

The release of the soldiers came a day after the Iraqi government vowed to hunt down Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) militants responsible for raids into Turkey.

Washington has urged NATO-ally Turkey to refrain from sending in thousands of troops, saying it could destabilize northern Iraq and cause a bigger regional crisis.

President George W. Bush is due to discuss the situation with Turkey's Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan in Washington on Monday.

"The eight soldiers in question returned (to) the Turkish Armed Forces on November 4," the chief of staff's Web site said. Turkish TV said the soldiers flew home in a military plane and talked to their families by telephone after landing.

"The release of the Turkish soldiers is a significant move in reducing the tension," said Britain's defense secretary, who just returned from a visit to Iraq, including Iraqi Kurdistan.

"This is, though, only a first step. We need to see concrete measures taken by the Iraqi Kurdish officials to curtail the activities of the PKK," Des Browne said.

Turkey wants leaders of the PKK arrested and the closure of camps in Iraq used as bases for cross-border attacks in their 23-year campaign for a homeland in southeastern Turkey.

Fouad Hussain, head of the office of Iraqi Kurdish leader Masoud Barzani, said Iraqi Kurdish leaders helped in releasing the soldiers.

"This issue proved one thing, that the Iraqi Kurds and Iraqi leadership, they are part of the solution. And they want to have a good relationship and they work to have a good relationship with Turkish people," Hussain told reporters in Arbil.

Turkey stepped up pressure on Baghdad to act against the PKK after guerrillas killed at least 12 soldiers and captured eight in an attack on a Turkish army post near the Iraqi border last month.

Clashes between Turkish troops and PKK militants continued near the Iraqi border.

Turkish army said two PKK rebels and a village guard, fighting alongside Turkish troops, were killed in Sirnak province on Sunday.

In response to what it sees as foot-dragging by Iraq and a lack of pressure by the United States, Turkey has deployed 100,000 troops on the border and threatened to go after the PKK if nothing is done to rein them in.

The United States said it applauded the efforts of the Iraqi government to secure the Turkish soldiers' freedom.