Italian ministers talk about Kurdish influx

The Italian Prime Minister, Romano Prodi, has met his senior ministers to discuss the influx of illegal immigrants into Italy.

More than twelve hundred migrants -- many of them Kurds from Turkey and Iraq - have arrived in the past few days and reports speak of further large groups on their way.

Mr Prodi told reporters that dealing with the refugee issue required a coordinated European policy: he said the problem of Kurdish civil rights was a real one.

Turkey has warned Italy that granting asylum would encourage organised smuggling of illegal immigrants.

Police chiefs from France, Germany, Greece, Holland, Italy and Turkey are expected to meet in Rome on Wednesday to discuss the influx.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service