During a meeting with Turkey's envoy to Baghdad, Derya Kanbay, Maliki said Iraq "was concerned about the operations of PKK (Kurdistan Workers Party) that result in the killing of innocent victims."

"We are keen to prevent PKK from carrying out activities in Iraq," a statement from Maliki's office quoted him as saying.

Kanbay met Maliki and delivered a letter from Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan assuring Baghdad of Ankara's support in achieving Iraqi stability and boosting relations.

The letter included an invitation for Maliki to visit Turkey and welcomed the Iraqi premier's proposal to form a high-level committee to develop economic relations, the statement said.

On June 9, Baghdad lodged an official complaint with Ankara charging it had shelled northern Iraq's Kurdish region and warned that the attack against Kurdish rebels could destabilise the region.

Turkey says the PKK, whose two-decade-old insurgency in eastern and southeastern Turkey has claimed more than 37,000 lives, is acting under the protection of Iraqi Kurds who are allied to the United States.

Violence increased in recent months as rebels hiding in the rugged mountains of northern Iraq slipped back across the border to attack Turkish troops, effectively ending a unilateral ceasefire the PKK declared in October 2006.

On Saturday, the PKK however said it will commit to the ceasefire.

"We will commit to the ceasefire, because we do not want to influence on (Turkish) elections especially when the army is trying to influence it," Jameel Baiq, a PKK founder, told AFP from the group's headquarters in Qandil along the Turkish border.

Turkey launched several cross-border operations into Iraq in the 1990s, but failed to dislodge the PKK rear-bases.

It maintains a 1,500-strong troop presence several kilometres (miles) inside Iraq to try to stem the flow of PKK fighters across the mountainous 384-kilometre (240-mile) border.

Turkey has repeatedly demanded tougher action from Iraq and the United States against the rebels and refuses to rule out acting unilaterally if its demands are not heeded.

Under mounting pressure to toughen measures against rebel violence ahead of elections on July 22, Erdogan said late Friday that he was awaiting a response to a letter he has sent to Maliki proposing talks by the end of June.

"This is a diplomacy offensive. The result of this diplomacy offensive could shape certain things," he said.

The influential Turkish army has called for a cross-border operation to destroy PKK bases in northern Iraq, where, Ankara says, the rebels also obtain weapons and explosives for attacks in Turkey.

Erdogan stressed Tuesday military action should be the last resort, saying that Ankara would seek dialogue with Baghdad and focus on fighting the PKK inside Turkey.