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Turkey pre-warned US of raids on Kurd rebels: Pentagon

WASHINGTON, Dec 19, 2007 (AFP) - Turkey informed the United States well in advance before launching weekend air raids into northern Iraq against Kurdish rebel bases, the Pentagon said Wednesday.

"We had ample notification of the air strikes by the Turkish Air Force against PKK (Kurdish separatist group) positions in northern Iraq," spokesman Geoff Morrell said, confirming for the first time that Washington knew of Ankara's plans.

"It was communicated to us through the Ankara coordination center, this has been opened for some months now, in which you have Turkish personnel along with US military personnel working to share intelligence."

He told reporters the coordination had been "adequate" and said the Pentagon had nothing to complain about.

Sunday's strikes were followed Tuesday by a small-scale ground operation in which Turkish troops penetrated "several kilometers" into northern Iraq from the southeast Turkish province of Hakkari, the Turkish military said on its website.

Turkish chief of staff General Yasar Buyukanit had said earlier in the week that the United States gave the green light for Sunday's air raids by providing "intelligence" and opening Iraqi airspace.

The PKK (Kurdistan Workers' Party) has said five of its members and two civilians died in the bombing. Local officials said a woman was killed.

"We continue to be of course concerned by any potential loss of innocent lives during these military operations and the potential impact it could have on Iraq in terms of having a destabilizing influence but ... we all have concerns by the terrorist threat posed by the PKK," Morrell added.