Special report: Tension escalates in Iraq 
    CAIRO, Nov. 12 (Xinhua) -- Visiting Iraqi President Jalal Talabani Monday vowed to make full efforts to stop attacks against Turkey by the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), pointing out that terrorism poses a threat to both countries.

    At a joint press conference with Arab League (AL) Secretary General Amr Moussa, Talabani said any PKK military action against Turkey would also be considered "hostile" against the Iraqi people, including the country's Kurdish minority.

    Talabani said no Kurds in Iraq support the outlawed PKK, while the country's Kurdish authorities are helping the Turkish forces monitor PKK activities in northern Iraq.

    Calling on the PKK fighters to lay down arms and follow a peaceful path, the Iraqi president pointed out that the constitution prohibits the existence of any non-Iraqi militias on Iraqi soil.

    Talabani dismissed the possibility of using the Iraqi army against the PKK, as the situation in the country requires the army to protect Baghdad and other major cities. The PKK militants are hiding in the remote border regions and mountainous areas.

    Moreover, Talabani told Egyptian TV that Iraq is committed to defusing any crisis with Turkey via peaceful means and the government has stepped up its pressure on the PKK.

    Turkey has massed up to 100,000 troops near the Turkish border with Iraq in preparation for a cross-border operation to crush the 3,000-strong PKK rebels.

    Ankara has been urging Iraq and the United States to take swift and concrete steps to strike PKK rebels who have been launching attacks against Turkish targets over the last two decades.

    The PKK, listed by the United States and Turkey as a terrorist group, took up arms against Turkey in 1984 with the aim of creating an ethnic homeland in the southeast. More than 30,000 people have been killed in the conflict that has lasted more than two decades.