Iraq:Eight Turkish soldiers captured last month by Kurdish guerrillas were released in northern Iraq yesterday, a move that 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 Turkey to refrain from sending in thousands of troops, saying it could destabilise northern Iraq and cause a bigger regional crisis.
President George Bush is due to discuss the situation with Turkey's prime minister Tayyip Erdogan in Washington today.
Turkish TV said the soldiers flew home in a military plane and talked to their families by phone.
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," Mr Hussain said.
- (Reuters)