Iraq fears action 'may escalate'

Unilateral action by Turkey in Iraq could have "very grave consequences" and set a worrying precedent, Iraq's deputy prime minister has warned.

Barham Saleh told the BBC such action could destabilise the region and prompt other neighbouring states to step in.

Turkey has said its patience has run out over the handling of Kurdish rebels based in northern Iraq.

It is seeking parliamentary permission for a cross-border operation to pursue Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) members.

Ankara argues the group is a terrorist organisation responsible for the deaths of at least 15 Turkish soldiers in the past two weeks, and says the Kurdish separatists enjoy freedom of movement in northern Iraq.

Baghdad has called for "urgent negotiations" over Turkey's threat and has dispatched Iraqi Vice-President Tareq Hashemi to Ankara for talks with Turkish leaders.

Iraq alarmed

Mr Saleh warned that any cross-border operation could have destabilising effects.

"Any unilateral action by the Turkish military in violation of Iraqi border will be a terrible precedent for everybody," he said in the BBC interview.

"If Turkey as a neighbour of Iraq allows itself the right to intervene militarily in Iraq, what is there to prevent other neighbours from intervening?"

Meanwhile, the head of the UN refugee agency said he was deeply concerned that the Turkish action could lead to big displacements of people.

UNHCR chief Antonio Guterres said the "relatively stable" area had until now acted as a haven for Iraqis displaced from other parts of the country.

Mr Erdogan's AK Party, which has a parliamentary majority, is expected to vote in favour of the motion on Wednesday.

If passed, the vote will authorise cross-border operations for one year with the government deciding on the timing, scope and frequency of any incursions.

The Turkish province of Sirnak is at the heart of the 23-year-old conflict between the military and Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) guerrillas.

Turkey hopes it will not be forced to resort to military action, even if its motion gained approval in parliament, Mr Erdogan said on Tuesday.

"I sincerely wish that this motion will never be applied," he said in televised comments.

"Passage of this motion does not mean an immediate incursion will follow."

Mr Erdogan called on Iraq's government and the regional administration in the country's north to crack down on the rebels, saying they should "build a thick wall between themselves and terrorist organisations".

He added that any military operation would respect Iraq's territorial integrity and only target the rebels.

Kurdish protests

Jamal Abdallah, a spokesman for the government of Iraqi Kurdistan, told the BBC there was no co-operation with the PKK.

"We have not helped the PKK and we are not helping it," he said.

"Their bases are not under the control of the Kurdistan regional authorities."

Iraq signed a counter-terrorism pact with Turkey last month, but opposes any military incursion into its territory.

The US has also warned Ankara against ordering any incursions into Iraq.

Nine Iraqi civilians killed in Baghdad bombings

BAGHDAD: At least nine Iraqi civilians were killed in bombings across Baghdad early Sunday, according to police.

About 7 a.m., three people were killed and four others were wounded when a roadside bomb targeting police patrols exploded near a minibus, according to a police official who spoke on condition of anonymity.

The incident took place in the neighborhood of Baladiyat in eastern Baghdad.

A half-hour later, in the neighborhood of Dora in southern Baghdad, a second roadside bomb targeting a U.S. patrol missed its target and killed three Iraqi civilians and wounded three others, police said.

And in the downtown commercial neighborhood of Salihiyah, a bomb planted in the back of the car parked near the Iranian embassy exploded about 8:30 a.m., killing three Iraqi civilians and wounding three others, according to police.

US troops' Iraq leave bid blocked

Senate Republicans have blocked a bid by Democrats to give US troops in Iraq more home leave - a plan strongly opposed by the Bush administration.

The Democrats wanted US troops to have time off between tours in Iraq equal to their 15-month deployments.

The measure needed 60 votes to pass in the Democratic controlled Senate but received only 56 votes with 44 against.

US Defence Secretary Robert Gates called it a backdoor attempt to pull troops off the battlefield.

He warned that he would have recommended US President George W Bush veto the measure had it passed.

The BBC's Rajesh Mirchandani in Washington said the bill had been the Democrats' best chance this year of changing the course of US strategy in the Iraq war.

'Pawns'

Republican Senators who were dubious over the president's policy are now giving him more time after an upbeat assessment last week of progress in Iraq by the top US commander in Iraq, Gen David Petraeus, our correspondent says.

Supporters of the bill, which was also narrowly defeated in July, said opponents were ignoring the troops' interests.

"In blocking this bipartisan bill, Republicans have once again demonstrated that they are more committed to protecting the president than protecting our troops," Senate Majority leader Harry Reid said.

Senator Chuck Hagel, one of six Republicans who backed the bill, said: "We cannot continue to look at war and the people who fight and die in wars as abstractions, as pawns, as objects."

But critics said it would have interfered with Mr Bush's plans to reduce US troop levels in Iraq by around 30,000 to about 130,000 by mid-2008.

'Slow bleed'

US troops currently have about 12 months rest at home between deployments.

Republican Senator John McCain, a presidential candidate next year, branded the bill "dangerous".

And fellow Republican Jim Bunning said of the Democrats' motion: "I will not support this slow bleed strategy in Iraq. It ties the hands of our commanders."

It was the latest defeat over the conflict for Democrats, who grabbed control of Congress last year.

They have at least two more proposals on Iraq to come, including explicit calls for combat troop withdrawals, but analysts say these are also likely to fail.