BAGHDAD - Iraq announced Tuesday that it is to close all offices of the rebel Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), a longstanding demand of neighbouring Turkey, which has been fighting the group since 1984.
"The PKK continues to engage in illegal activities in Iraq and may have offices under various names," government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh told a news conference.
"So for this reason and others, the Iraqi government has decided to close all its offices," he said.
PKK fighters have been active in the Kurdish autonomous region in northern Iraq where Turkey charges they operate rear bases.
Dabbagh said a desire to maintain good relations with Ankara had been a major factor in the decision to close down the movement's offices.
The PKK, blacklisted as a terrorist organisation by Turkey, the European Union and the United States, has fought for self-rule in mainly Kurdish southeastern Turkey since 1984 in a bloody conflict that claimed more than 37,000 lives.
09/19/2006 14:09 GMT