Iraq says tackling Kurdish rebels

By Waleed Ibrahim

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraq said on Wednesday it had set up more checkpoints to restrict the movement of Kurdish guerrillas and cut supply lines to their mountain hideouts following Turkey's demands for firm action against the rebels.

Turkey has massed up to 100,000 troops along its rugged border with Iraq, backed up by tanks, artillery, warplanes and helicopters, in preparation for a possible incursion to crush militants of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) there.

Baghdad and Washington have urged Ankara to refrain from any major cross-border operation, fearing this could destabilise the whole region, though the Pentagon said on Wednesday it was giving intelligence to Turkey on the PKK needed for military strikes.

Turkey's cabinet met in Ankara on Wednesday to discuss the latest clashes between its troops and the PKK along the border. The cabinet agreed to impose targeted economic sanctions against groups supporting the rebels, a senior government official told Reuters.

Details of the measures were not revealed.

"I cannot discuss the measures we are thinking of," said government spokesman Cemil Cicek. "The measures are directed against the PKK and those that directly support them," he said.

The measures could target Masoud Barzani's autonomous Kurdish administration in northern Iraq, which has infuriated Ankara by refusing to crack down on the PKK.

An estimated 3,000 PKK rebels are holed up in northern Iraq.