The Iraqi Foreign Ministry on Saturday issued a formal protest to Turkey over cross-border shelling targeting Kurdish separatists in northern Iraq. A rebel representative said the firing had not affected their bases. Saturday's protest followed a warning by U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice that Turkey risked expanding regional tensions with any military incursion into Iraq. A statement said Iraq's Deputy Foreign Minister Mohammed al-Haj Mahmoud had summoned the Turkish charge d'affaires and called for an immediate halt to the shelling, saying such actions «undermine confidence between the two nations and negatively affect their friendship.» The statement, which said Mahmoud had handed over an «official protest note in the name of the foreign ministry,» was the first government confirmation of the reported shelling. Mahmoud said the shelling had started large fires and caused serious damage, but gave no other details, the Associated Press reported. A Turkish Foreign Ministry official, speaking on condition of anonymity because he wasn't authorized to release the information, confirmed the meeting between Mahmoud and Turkish charge d'affaires Ahmet Yazal, but said it was not a «protest.» The Iraqi side told the Turkish diplomat that they were concerned about the people living near the border and offered cooperation, but when the charge d'affaires specifically asked the Iraqi officials if this was a formal protest, the Iraqis told him it was not, the official said.
