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Barzani suggests talks with Turkey over PKK

ARBIL, Iraq, Oct 28, 2007 (AFP) - Iraqi Kurd leader Massud Barzani called on Sunday for direct talks with Turkey to break the deadlock over the problem of rebel fighters hiding out in northern Iraq.

"Let us sit down together to resolve the Kurdish question," he said during an interview with AFP in the northern regional capital of Arbil.

The call came as pressure mounted for Baghdad and Ankara to find a solution to the problem of Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) fighters launching assaults against Turkish positions from bases in Iraq's Kurdish-controlled north.

A high-level Iraqi delegation travelled to Ankara on Friday to try to dissuade Turkish leaders from launching an incursion but failed to satisfy their concerns.

Barzani said the regional Kurdish administration "should be consulted by the federal government.

"I am not an enemy of Turkey, but I do not accept the language of force," said Barzani, the president of the region since 2005.