Turkish military, government officials discuss northern Iraq

Iraqi Kurdish fighters on Friday entered the commercial hub of Mosul, a day after seizing the key oil city of Kirkuk.

Secretary of State Colin Powell assured Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul Thursday that U.S. forces would replace the Kurdish fighters in Kirkuk and invited Turkey to send military observers to monitor the situation. The observers were expected to reach Kirkuk late Friday, two Turkish television outlets reported.

The Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, a key Iraqi Kurdish group, promised Thursday that its forces would leave Kirkuk by Friday.

"We’re waiting for the arrival of U.S. paratroopers," PUK representative Bahros Galali told private NTV television Friday. "We will then gradually leave."

Turkey has stressed it would not accept Iraqi Kurdish control of Kirkuk or Mosul, fearing the Kurds might try to form a separate state. That, Ankara says, might inspire Kurdish rebels in southeastern Turkey, who fought for autonomy for 15 years in a conflict that claimed 37,000 lives.

Turkey’s top generals met with Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Gul and senior intelligence officers to discuss the situation. There were no immediate reports on what happened in the meeting.

Kirkuk is one of Iraq’s leading oil producing centers and historically has had a large Kurdish population.