(Agencies)
Updated: 2007-09-26 18:57

ANKARA, Turkey - Turkey and Iraq have agreed to sign a counterterrorism agreement to crack down on separatist Kurdish rebels that are holed up in bases in northern Iraq, a Turkish official said Wednesday.

The deal would allow Turkish forces to seek Iraqi authorization to cross into Iraq for small-scale operations to chase separatist Kurdish rebels, NTV television reported, citing Iraqi and Turkish sources.

The agreement was reached during a visit by Iraqi Interior Minister Jawad al-Bolani, who arrived in Ankara on Tuesday for talks on Turkish concerns over rebels of the Kurdistan Workers Party, or PKK, who are holed up in bases in northern Iraq.

Turkey has long been pressing Iraq for a counterterrorism agreement to crack down on the PKK and has threatened to stage a military incursion into northern Iraq to eradicate rebel bases there if US or Iraqi forces failed to take action against the group.

Turkish Interior Minister Aydin Halit said the sides had reached an agreement on Wednesday and a deal would be signed on Thursday. Officials were working on Turkish, Arabic and English versions of the text, he said.

NTV television, citing Iraqi sources, said that under the agreement, Turkey would seek Iraqi authorization for future "hot pursuit" operations - cross border military offensives aimed at tracking down and eliminating rebel armed groups that are limited in scale and in scope.