"Any kind of attack against the PKK inside northern Iraq will have to wait until we are able to get the security situation throughout Iraq to a level at which the Iraqi government can function," Peter Pace, the chairman of the US joint chiefs of staff, said in an interview with the NTV news channel.

He added that possible action against rebels from the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), blacklisted as a terrorist group by Turkey, the United States and the European Union, would also require an Iraqi government that can "stand up".

"We should understand that the best way to deal with the PKK is from a position of strength," said Pace, who was in Turkey to attend a conference on global terrorism.

"Your country is strong... We need to strengthen Iraq so it too can deal with (the PKK) from a position of strength," Pace added.

Turkey has long been frustrated by Washington's reluctance to act against PKK rebels who have found refuge in northern Iraq after declaring a unilateral ceasefire in 1999.

PKK violence in Turkey's mainly Kurdish southeast, which borders northern Iraq, has markedly increased since last year after the group called off the truce in June 2004 and its militants began infiltrating back into Turkey.

Washington has been leery of committing itself to military action, arguing instead for means to dry up the group's financial resources.

Some 37,000 people have been killed since 1984 when the PKK picked up arms for self-rule in southeastern Turkey.