Jailed Kurdish rebel leader proposes peace plan

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — The imprisoned leader of Kurdish rebels has outlined a peace plan in which his fighters would declare a cease-fire by March and lay down arms and begin retreating from Turkey in the summer, officials said Wednesday.

Turkey’s government said in December that it is engaged in talks with Abdullah Ocalan, who has been held in a prison island off Istanbul since 1999, with the aim of convincing his autonomy-seeking rebel group to disarm and end the 28-year-old conflict that has killed tens of thousands of people since 1984.