ANKARA, Jan 10 (Reuters) - The leader of one of the two Kurdish factions that control
northern Iraq said on Wednesday tough talk was not the best way for the United States to
push Iraq towards democracy.

Jalal Talabani, leader of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), told Reuters in an
interview that it was too early to judge the incoming U.S. administration of George W. Bush,
but the signs were that it would take a tough stance towards Iraq.

"I cannot say I welcome this tough language," Talabani said during a visit to Ankara. "We
need to have in Iraq democratic change, some steps forward to democratisation, not tough
speeches," he said.

Talabani heads one half of a Kurdish enclave in the mountainous region that the United
States wants to forge into a united bulwark against the Iraqi government, which has not
controlled the north since the end of the 1991 Gulf War.

U.S. Secretary of State-designate Colin Powell, who oversaw the U.S. military during the
1991 Gulf War against Iraq, has said he will work with allies to breath new life into
sanctions against Baghdad. Other Bush advisers openly advocate using air power and
arming the Iraqi opposition.

TALABANI SEEKS NEW CHAPTER IN RELATIONS WITH KDP

Turning to the situation in northern Iraq, Talabani said he was trying to improve relations
with rival Kurdish leader Massoud Barzani of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP).

The PUK and the KDP have controlled the breakaway enclave in the north of the country
since the Gulf War, but thousands of their members were killed in intermittent clashes since
1994.

The United States brokered a ceasefire in 1998.

So far, differences over power sharing and revenues in the region have blocked progress
towards the elections and the local government envisaged under the Washington accord.

Talabani said he would meet Barzani on his return from Ankara, where he sought economic
support from Turkey, and the two would hold detailed discussions about future relations.

"I hope we can both open a new chapter for our relations," he said. "I'm going to ask for
better relations and we will discuss the possibility of reinforcing the administration and also
for new elections."

The deal signed in Washington also stipulates that Turkish Kurd guerrillas of the Kurdistan
Workers Party (PKK) be denied the opportunity to base themselves in northern Iraq -- a key
issue for Ankara.

Talabani said the PKK were clearly getting support from outside Iraq, though he declined to
say from whom. Western diplomats who met him in Ankara said he had discussed Turkey's
concerns that Iran may be supporting the PKK.

The PKK has largely withdrawn from Turkey to northern Iraq and Iran since late 1999
following orders from its imprisoned leader Abdullah Ocalan that the group should abandon
violence.

Turkey allows U.S. and British military aircraft to use an airbase to patrol a no-fly zone in
northern Iraq. Ankara regularly bolsters its troop presence inside northern Iraq to pursue the
PKK with little western opposition.

Talabani estimated there are as many as 7,000 PKK fighters in northern Iraq, but he brushed
off reports that Turkey was reinforcing its troops there in preparation for an offensive.

"There are no plans at this time, this winter. I don't think there are plans or they're even
thinking about sending troops to Iraqi Kurdistan, unless there will be a need," he said.

Turkey has said it was providing technical support to Iraqi Kurds for its own security.
Talabani said that was limited to food and medical help.
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The Kurdistan Observer
www.kurdistanobserver.com