BBC Monitoring

Excerpt from report by Sbay media website on 26 November

Kurdistan Regional Government [KRG] will deport the correspondent of Turkish Ikhlas News Agency to Turkey following the publication of a report in which it claimed that the Kurdistan Region president, Mas'ud Barzani, was accompanied - on his trip to Italy - by [senior Kurdistan Workers' Party [PKK] members] Cemil Bayik and Murat Karayilan.

A party official has denied any connection between the deportation and the publication of the report.

[Passage omitted: Firat News Agency published the above mentioned report]

The head of Kurdistan Democratic Party's Foreign Affairs [office], Safin Dizayee, has denied the reports saying: "The decision on deporting the correspondent was due to the sensitive juncture." He added: "The decision was not taken because the correspondent was working for the agency. Arbil security forces have decided to deport [the correspondent of Ikhlas News Agency] Sadiq Qahraman and he will be sent back to Turkey so! on."

Source: Sbay media website, in Sorani Kurdish 26 Nov 07