Kurds block Turkish mission into Iraq

Kurdish leaders have refused a US request to allow 12,000 Turkish troops through northern Iraq for a possible peacekeeping assignment in the city of Falluja, a Kurdish official said on Wednesday.

Adel Murad, head of the political office of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), said the request came at the weekend from General John Abizaid, head of US central command, in a meeting in the northern city of Mosul with the leaders of PUK and its occasional rival, the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP).

Mr Murad said any introduction of Turkish troops into Iraq would damage Kurdish support for the US-led effort to form a new Iraqi government and could spark violence between Turkish forces and Kurdish fighters.

The Kurdish refusal throws up another hurdle to the US's efforts to get a third division of foreign troops to help ease the burden on its 146,000 forces in Iraq. The UK is already manning a southern peacekeeping headquarters in Basra, and a Polish-led coalition is expected to take over security operations in five provinces south of Baghdad next month.

Turkish peacekeepers could be airlifted into central Iraq, where they could patrol areas dominated by fellow Sunni Muslims, but it would be expensive.

Bush administration officials have acknowledged approaching Ankara about taking part, but Gen Abizaid's request - made to Jalal Talabani, PUK leader, and Masoud Barzani, KDP chief - is the most concrete sign that Turkey and the US have agreed on co-operation. Central command declined to comment.

Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkey's prime minister, called an unscheduled meeting of his senior advisers on Wednesday to discuss the potential deployment.

Pressure mounts for new UN resolution on Iraq

By Semih Idiz in Ankara, Charles Clover in Baghdad and Mark Turner at the United Nations

US hopes of further internationalising the stabilisation effort in Iraq may still depend on United Nations endorsement, despite signs that agreement is close on deployment of a large Turkish peacekeeping force there.

Abdullah Gul, Turkey's foreign minister, signalled on Monday, following talks in Ankara with Sergio de Mello, UN representative for Iraq, that Ankara was willing to assist in efforts to secure law and order.

But Mr Gul said: "Turkey's participation must be considered as being part of a broad based political vision, where she has a role in Iraq's reconstruction also."

Senior officials are expected to meet again on Thursday in Ankara to discuss the issue. But even if a decision to send troops is reached at that meeting, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, prime minister, must seek parliamentary approval for a move that remains highly unpopular among voters - and some members of his own Justice and Development party (AKP).

Turkish officials have been trying to convince their US counterparts that a new UN resolution authorising the sending of troops to Iraq, or in the absence of that a joint Nato operation in the region, would ease the pressure on the government by giving it the international legitimacy many seek.

Such calls have been echoed by other potential contributors being courted by the US, facing domestic pressure to bring its troops home. Pakistan says it could send troops if it had the "legitimate cover" of the UN or other groups like the Organisation of the Islamic Conference, as well as an invitation from genuine Iraqi representatives.

India also called in mid-July for explicit UN cover before contributing troops, wary of being seen to join an illegal occupation. Vijay Nambiar, its UN ambassador, this week said that meant a more explicit transfer of powers to the United Nations - beyond the current resolution 1483 - and an invitation from Iraqis.

"The question is whether the US will allow a situation to develop which would bring in the UN a little more," said Mr Nambiar. "I would not be driven by an excessive sense of legalism, but there will have to be a certain sort of intermediate movement (between the occupation and restoration of Iraqi sovereignty) into the greater involvement of the UN."

The pressure on the Bush administration to seek a further UN resolution has not only come from overseas. Congressional leaders, including influential Senator Richard Lugar, the Republican chairman of the Senate foreign relations committee, have called on the president to get a UN imprimatur to more rapidly reduce the number of US troops in Iraq.

"We need to call on the strength of our diplomacy to overcome pre-war disagreements with allies and reach a new consensus on how to ensure Iraq emerges as a peaceful and stable nation," Mr Lugar said last week.

The US nevertheless remains very wary of ceding further control.

"I'd be very enthusiastic about the right kind of resolution and very concerned about the wrong kind. Speed is of the essence here, and the UN isn't always speedy," said Paul Wolfowitz, US deputy defence secretary.

Even with UN endorsement, some remain wary of a large scale Turkish military presence in Iraq.

Kurdish groups accuse Turkey of interfering politically in the Kurdish areas, where US forces last month, arrested 11 Turkish commandos who diplomatic sources said appeared to planning to assassinate the governor of Kirkuk province, who is Kurdish.

The Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), one of two main Kurdish groups, on Wednesday underlined its opposition to a large Turkish troop deployment.

Analysts also fear Turkey could try and use forces on the ground as a lever of influence in Iraq, potentially spurring other countries in the region to interfere to check Turkish aims.

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