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June 2, 1999
Web posted at: 11:02 a.m. EDT (1502 GMT)

IMRALI ISLAND, Turkey (CNN) -- Kurdish rebel leader Abdullah Ocalan, on trial for treason, on Wednesday urged the Turkish government to take his peace initiative seriously.

As the trial entered its third day, state-run TRT reported that Ocalan said it would serve the "great state" if authorities gave consideration to his appeals for peace.

Ocalan, who faces the death penalty if he is convicted, shocked the court in Monday's opening session by calling on his rebels to lay down arms and end the their 15-year war for autonomy in Turkey's southeast.

The rebels on Wednesday said they supported the peace call, but stopped short of agreeing to put down their weapons.

"All the party fully backs the historical efforts of our leader with all of its force," said a statement from the Executive Council of Ocalan's Kurdistan Workers Party, or PKK. The council includes the guerrillas' seven top commanders.

At Monday's opening session, Ocalan apologized to the families of Turkish soldiers and accepted overall responsibility for the conflict waged by his guerrillas. The fighting has left 37,000 people dead, mostly Kurds.

But when asked Wednesday by Judge Okyay if he had ordered his rebels to conduct suicide attacks, Ocalan replied: "I have not given a single order for a suicide attack. I did not approve of them. I have worked to prevent their repetition."

As he made the statement, a suspected Kurdish rebel blew himself up near a military garrison in southeastern Sirnak city. No one else was hurt in the attack, the first in more than a month.

Ocalan also denied allegations that the PKK, had links with the terrorist Palestinian group led by the fugitive Abu Nidal, who is held responsible for the deaths of some 300 people.

Ocalan said his group received money from sympathizers abroad as well as from Kurdish prisoners in Turkish prisons.

On Tuesday, Ocalan said Greece provided his fighters with training and arms. He said the guerrillas were also trained in Yugoslavia and were schooled in the Netherlands. He said Iran and Syria also helped his group.

Greece has repeatedly denied supporting the PKK.

In a sign that Ocalan's trial may not be a long one. presiding Judge Turgut Okyay on Wednesday set the next session for Thursday and asked both sides to prepare final arguments, state-run television TRT reported.

The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.

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