Sunday, 5 March, 2006 , 18:26 AFP — At least nine people were killed across strife-torn Iraq as Kurdish leaders on Sunday lobbied reclusive Shiite cleric Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani to stop outgoing Prime Minister Ibrahim Jaafari from heading the next government.

Sunday, 5 March, 2006 , 17:52 AFP — A radical Kurdish group claimed responsibility Sunday for a bomb attack targeting a police building in western Turkey, leaving one person injured.

Saturday, 4 March, 2006 , 14:36 AFP — One person sustained minor injuries and dozens of buildings were damaged Saturday when a homemade bomb exploded near a police building in the western Turkish city of Izmir, the Anatolia news agency said.

Friday, 3 March, 2006 , 17:20 AFP — A prosecutor has asked a Turkish court to hand down life sentences without parole to two soldiers and an auxiliary accused of causing an explosion in the Kurdish area of the country, the Anatolia news agency reported Friday.

Friday, 3 March, 2006 , 09:18 AFP — Iraq's dominant political party, the Shiite-based United Iraqi Alliance, will run into trouble in parliament if it insists on reselecting Ibrahim Jaafari as premier, a Sunni party spokesman warned Friday.

Tuesday, 21 February, 2006 , 15:03 AFP — Two Turkish television stations have been authorized to begin broadcasting in Kurdish beginning next month, television executives said Tuesday, in a move that reflects the country's efforts to grant its minority Kurd community increased rights.

Tuesday, 21 February, 2006 , 11:13 AFP — The outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) called on Turkey Tuesday to agree to dialogue with their group, accusing Ankara of "double standards" since it had engaged in similar talks with the radical Palestinian group Hamas.

Sunday, 19 February, 2006 , 13:49 AFP — The bodies of the six people on board a German business jet that crashed in the Kurdistan region of northern Iraq were found on Sunday, a Kurdish government official said.

Saturday, 18 February, 2006 , 19:52 AFP — Turkish police on Saturday arrested 24 people after clashes with Kurdish demonstrators marking the seventh anniversary of the arrest of Kurdish separatist leader Abdullah Ocalan in the eastern Turkish city of Van, security sources said.

Saturday, 18 February, 2006 , 14:32 AFP — Demonstrators marking the seventh anniversary of the arrest of Kurdish separatist leader Abdullah Ocalan clashed with police Saturday in the eastern Turkish city of Van, security sources said.