US to Help to Evict PKK from Iraq

Talking at a press briefing held for foreign reporters in Washington, Smith recorded that the US was clearly aware of the situation with the PKK. Smith said: "We share all the information we get. The Iraqi government accepts that the PKK is a terrorist organization and claims not to support it. We support Iraq in this. We will support the work of Iraqi Prime Minister Iyad Allawi and his government to ensure the PKK is taken under control." Smith pointed out that the Iraqi Kurdistan Democratic Party and Iraqi Kurdistan Patriotic Union also want the PKK to leave Iraqi lands and he added, "These groups are against the PKK. We will help the PKK to be sent away from Iraqi lands by working together." To a question about where the PKK supporters would go when they are expelled, Smith replied, "PKK supporters always use those borders. They have been doing smuggling and similar crimes for a long time. Also they have integrated into society. For us it is very hard to say who is PKK supporter." Smith concluded that when the action was started against the PKK, terrorists would escape to other parts of the world or anywhere they could take refuge.