Former PKK commander who defected speaks out

A top commander of the Turkish Kurdish separatist group, the PKK, who defected to the Iraqi Kurdish group, the KDP, last month, has said that the PKK has no future under the current leadership.

The former PKK commander, Semdin Sakik, told the BBC that as a successful commander he was seen as a threat to the PKK leader, Abdullah Ocalan.

Mr Sakik said he was not under detention and that the KDP would not hand him over to Turkey or to the PKK.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service