The Council of Europe yesterday urged Turkey to "completely review" the conditions in which Abdullah Ocalan, leader of the PKK Kurdish separatist group, is being held because of a deterioration in his mental and emotional state.

The council's committee on the prevention of torture and inhumane treatment said the conditions of extreme isolation in which Mr Ocalan was being held could no longer be justified. He has been serving a life term as the only prisoner at a maximum-security jail since 1999.