Turkey is allowing "Zionist spies" to enter the Kurdish areas of northern Iraq, which lie out of the control of Baghdad, an official Iraqi newspaper reported Thursday.
"Turkey is facilitating the task of Zionism by allowing its spies to enter the north of Iraq," charged Ath-Thawra, official mouthpiece of the ruling Baath party, without elaborating on the spying missions.
"Turkey is committing an error by ignoring Iraq's right to its own security and sovereignty. Iraq is capable of defending its territory and its people however difficult the circumstances may be," the paper said.
The paper's statements follow claims by the official Iraqi news agency INA Tuesday that Turkish troops have massed on the border in preparation for a new incursion against Kurdish rebels in northern Iraq.
The Turkish army carries out regular incursions into Iraqi Kurdistan, which has been under the control of rival Kurdish factions since 1991, in pursuit of the separatist Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).
Meanwhile, Babel newspaper criticized Arab and Islamic countries respecting the international embargo imposed on Iraq after its 1990 invasion of Kuwait.
"The unjust embargo is an American and Zionist decision, that's well known, but it is sad that it is carried out by Arab and Islamic hands," Babel said.
"Arab and Muslim countries who call for the lifting of the sanctions must translate their stances into facts, as the United States, which takes pleasure from the death of Iraqi children, pays no attention to words," it said - BAGHDAD (AFP)
© 2000 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
