Iraq gives Turkey deadline to withdraw troops

Istanbul (dpa) - Iraq has given Turkey until Tuesday night to withdraw its troops from the north of the country or Baghdad would turn to the UN Security Council, while a top Shiite militia leader threatened actions against Turks in the country.Turkey sent 150 soldiers and about 25 tanks into northern Iraq on Friday night. Ankara says this was a routine rotation of its trainers in northern Iraq, who are working with troops there as part of the fight against Islamic State.Iraqi Prime Minister Hadi al-Abadi says the Turkish troops entered the country without permission and his office issued a 48-hour deadline to Turkey on Sunday night.Hadi al-Amiri, a key leader of Shiite militias who generally support efforts of the Shiite-led government in Baghdad, was quoted Monday by Sharq al-Awsat newspaper as saying he would kidnap Turkish citizens if Ankara did not reverse its troop movement.Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu has written a letter to al-Abadi trying to calm tensions, saying further troops deployments would be delayed "until the sensitivities of the Iraqi government are resolved," the state-run Anadolu news agency reported.The Iraqi premier is facing pressure from Shiite militias angry over foreign troop deployments in the country.The tensions were raised this week after US Republican leaders called for Washington to send more soldiers and this was followed by the Turkish troop movement, which are aimed at training Kurdish Peshmerga fighters and Sunni Arab troops from Mosul.The Iraqi city of Mosul was overrun last year by Islamic State in a major victory for the extremist group as it seized vast swathes of territory in Iraq and Syria.According to reports in the Turkish media, Iraqi Kurdish leader Masoud Barzani will visit Ankara on Wednesday.Turkey is a supporter of the autonomous Kurdish government in northern Iraq, despite tensions with its own Kurdish minority.