SULAIMANIYAH, Iraq (AFP) -- A top Iraqi Kurdish official on Friday warned rebels from the separatist Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) against waging a war on Turkey or Iran from Iraqi territory.

The warning comes amid rising tensions between Iraqi Kurds and Iran and Turkey, both of which have Kurdish minorities and have been battling separatist militants from the PKK and its offshoots.

"They (PKK) are in our land. We want them to respect the law and not use our territory to stage attacks" against Iran or Turkey, said Imad Ahmed, deputy prime minister of northern Kurdistan's Sulaimaniyah Province.

"We want them to leave our country but in peace, not in war. If they want to stay they have to use politics not weapons."

Ahmed, a member of President Jalal Talabani's Patriotic Union of Kurdistan party, said the region hoped to have good relations with neighboring Turkey and Iran.

"We do not want any problems with Iran or Turkey and I condemn any attacks on the two from Iraqi territory," Ahmed told AFP in an interview.

Iran, which has its own Kurdish minority, has been battling infiltrations by Pejak, a Kurdish group linked to the PKK.

Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul on Thursday praised neighboring Iran's "serious" efforts to curb Kurdish separatists, while warning Iraqi Kurds that the rebels will one day threaten their stability if they continue to find refuge in northern Iraq.

"The terrorist organization is a threat not only to Turkey, but also to Iran," Gul said in an interview with NTV television.

"The Iranians have understood this and that is why they give great importance to this issue and are engaged in a very serious effort."