In visit to Turkey, Maliki agrees to security agreement, but defers signing until parliament's approval

Above: PKK fighters in Iraq.

Turkey and Iraq agreed to try to root out a Kurdish rebel group from northern Iraq, but Iraq's prime minister said he would not sign an agreement implementing the promise until it was put to his parliament.

"We have reached an agreement to spend all efforts to end the presence of the Kurdistan Workers Party or PKK in Iraq," Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan told a news conference with his Iraqi counterpart, Nouri al-Maliki.

Erdogan said the leaders signed a memorandum of understanding and agreed to speed up work to finalize a counterterrorism agreement to combat the Kurdish guerrillas who have escalated their attacks on Turkey from bases in northern Iraq.

"Within a short period of time, a large delegation under the leadership of the (Iraqi) interior minister will visit. Security officials will come together and seal an agreement," Erdogan said.

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