Kurds deny 'Israeli infiltration'

The Iraqi Kurdish leader is visiting Turkey for talks

Iraqi Kurdish leader Jalal Talabani has denied reports that Israeli military and intelligence teams are at work in the Kurdish zones of northern Iraq.

Mr Talabani is quoted by Turkish news agency Anatolia as saying the reports were "total fabrications".

US journalist Seymour Hersh made the claims in Sunday's New Yorker magazine.

Mr Hersh said Israel's officers were training Kurdish commandos in northern Iraq and its spies had entered parts of Iran to spy on nuclear installations.

The New Yorker article quotes an unnamed US intelligence official confirming the claim, which has been denied by the Israeli embassy in Washington.

Talabani visit

Turkish newspapers closely covered the magazine's claims, which coincide with a visit by Mr Talabani to Ankara, where he is meeting Turkish Foreign Minister, Abdullah Gul.

Turkey is believed to be seeking re-assurances that the growing clout of the Kurds in northern Iraq will not destabilize its own sizeable Kurdish minority.

Kurdish militant groups agitating for an independent state have, in the past, been accused of using bases in northern Iraq to mount attacks on Turkish forces.

Correspondents say Israel has historically cultivated ties with the restive Kurdish minority of the region, regarding them as a potential buffer against the anti-Israeli stance of neighbouring Arab states.

Mr Talabani sought to quell speculation that Israeli and Kurdish forces were acting in tandem in northern Iraq by inviting "those who did this reporting to come and take a look with their own eyes".

'Turkish concerns'

Mr Talabani is the leader of one of the two major Kurdish political parties that control the region.

The article by Seymour Hersh - a veteran journalist credited recently with exposing the abuse of Iraqi prisoners by US soldiers - says Israeli agents are using northern Iraq to monitor developments in the south of the country as well as in Israel's arch-foes Syria and Iran.

It says Israel wants Kurdish troops to be trained to offset the booming influence of Iraq's Shia militia groups.

To back up its claim, the article quotes a newsletter produced by former US intelligence officials which talks of Turkey being "increasingly concerned by the expanding Israeli presence in Kurdistan".

The New Yorker article also claims Israeli spies have used their Kurdish connections to enter Iran and monitor its nuclear facilities.

Israel fears Iran is using its nuclear energy to develop atomic weapons, a charge Iran has denied.