ANKARA, Turkey — Iraq's Vice President Tareq al-Hashemi arrived in Ankara today in an apparent attempt to convince Turkey not to stage a cross-border offensive to fight separatist Kurdish rebels based in Iraq.

Al-Hashemi, a Sunni Arab, was scheduled to meet with Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and other senior officials. The Turkish Parliament was expected to approve a motion Wednesday allowing the government to order a cross-border attack over the next year.

Erdogan called on Iraq and Iraqi Kurds to crack down on separatist rebels. He said the regional administration in northern Iraq should "build a thick wall between itself and terrorist organizations."

PKK rebels have demanded autonomy in Turkey's Kurdish-dominated southeast since 1984 in a conflict that has claimed tens of thousands of lives.

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — Angry pet owners and protesters demonstrated outside a town hall in a northern Puerto Rico city on Monday, as outrage grew over the killing of dozens of animals seized from residents of housing projects.The crowd tried unsuccessfully to meet with Barceloneta Mayor Sol Luis Fontanez, who ordered last week's seizure of the cats and dogs that were apparently later thrown from a 50-foot-high bridge. Some protesters yelled "murderer."Fontanez, who pledged to resign if his government is found responsible, blamed a contractor hired to collect and euthanize the pets."My government acted according to the law," he told The Associated Press.With the help of television news broadcasts, a few animals rescued with broken bones and other injuries were reunited with their owners. Dozens more were buried in a mass grave.On Monday, the contractor denied responsibility and accused residents of the housing projects of lying to get revenge for repeated raids to clear stray animals.Puerto Rico police Chief Pedro Toledo said anyone found responsible could face cruelty charges that carry six-month to three-year prison terms."Depending on the evidence, charges could be filed for each dead animal," he said.

MEXICO CITY — Forensics experts said Monday that chunks of flesh found in the apartment of an aspiring horror novelist were human, and that DNA tests were planned to confirm whether it came from the body of his girlfriend.Dr. Rodolfo Rojo, chief medical examiner for Mexico City's prosecutor's office, said flesh found on the plate and frying pan in suspect Jose Luis Calva's apartment corresponded to parts missing from the corpse of his 32-year-old girlfriend, Alejandra Galeana.Police found Galeana's body in a closet in the suspect's apartment last week after her family led police to the building. Prosecutors said she had been strangled and partially dismembered.Police said a search uncovered an unfinished novel by Calva titled "Cannibalistic Instincts."Prosecutors said Calva may have killed two other women whose dismembered bodies were found in Mexico City in 2004 and 2007. Like Galeana, both were strangled.