Don't wag finger at Italy over Kurds - Kinkel

German Foreign Minister Klaus Kinkel has warned against excessive criticism of Italy over the Kurdish influx and has spoken out against imposing travel restrictions within the EU to stem the problem.

The German news agency ddpADN quoted him as telling a Berlin radio station on Sunday that "it makes little sense to wag a finger at such an important EU partner".

He noted "how difficult it is to patrol Italy's maritime border".

"The main issue now is to find solutions along with EU partners.

Turkey has to be encouraged to change its policy towards the Kurds," he said.

"Kinkel expressly came out against imposing restrictions on travel within the EU in response to the current wave of Kurdish refugees.

The Schengen system, which is creating open borders within the EU, is just at its starting stage and must be given a chance to prove itself, said the Foreign Minister," according to the agency.

BBC Monitoring (http://www.monitor.bbc.co.uk), based in Caversham in southern England, selects and translates information from radio, television, press, news agencies and the Internet from 150 countries in more than 70 languages.