Iraqi Kurds have dismissed reports that the United States has started a military buildup in northern Iraq, reported Turkish Daily News on Tuesday.
Barham Saleh, a senior official of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), one of the two major Kurdish groups dominating northern Iraq, made the denial in a telephone interview with the English-language newspaper.
Saleh told the daily that there was no American presence in the region controled by his administration.
Americans have not brought in any military hardware or ground toair missiles as the reports suggested, he added.
Meanwhile, Safeen Dizayee, the Ankara representative of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) which controls the remaining parts of northern Iraq, also denied the reports.
There was no American military hardware or any personnel in the region, Dizayee said, adding that "trucks carrying goods come and go from our region to Turkey but any military equipment has not been shipped to our side."
"There is no such American presence in our region and the reports are not true," he stressed.
The reports first surfaced on the internet when a group called M5 said 40 Mercedes trucks carrying "sophisticated US military hardware" had crossed the Habur border gate into northern Iraq.
Turkish private TV station NTV also reported on Monday that the United States had started a military buildup in northern Iraq.