Imprisoned Kurdish leader Abdullah Ocalan called on his militant group Thursday to lay down its arms and dissolve as part of a new bid to end a four-decade long conflict with Turkey's government that has claimed tens of thousands of lives.

(Reuters) - Abdullah Ocalan, the Kurdish militant leader jailed by Turkey who called on Thursday for his Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) to dissolve and all groups to lay down arms, is an influential figure among the main Kurdish groups in northeastern Syria.