ANKARA, April 5 (Reuters) - Turkish prosecutors decided not to open a case against Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan after investigating claims he praised jailed Kurdish rebel leader Abdullah Ocalan, state-run Anatolian news agency said on Thursday. It said Ankara prosecutor Hikmet Onen ruled there was "no element of criminal offence" in the radio interview which Erdogan gave in 2000 and also decided against opening a case because it exceeded the statute of limitations.

Turkey's main opposition party, which wants to stop Erdogan standing for president in a May election, said Erdogan referred to Ocalan as "Sayin", a term of respect meaning or "esteemed", a claim which Erdogan's allies have denied.

Praising crime or criminals is an offence in Turkey, where guerrilla leader Ocalan is reviled for his role in masterminding a 22-year-old separatist conflict that has claimed more than 30,000 lives. Ocalan was jailed for life in 1999.

A number of officials from the pro-Kurdish Democratic Society Party (DTP) are on trial for referring to Ocalan as "Sayin" and could face several years in prison.

Erdogan has parliamentary immunity from criminal prosecution but the investigation was an unwelcome distraction for him as he weighed whether to run for president in a May election.

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