Belgium will block NATO’s Turkey protection planning

Turkish troops in Iraq to operate outside US command, report says

A red London double-decker bus carrying anti-war campaigners aiming to form a human shield in Baghdad drives past the New Mosque in Istanbul yesterday. The bus was accompanied by Turkish anti-war protesters in their cars.

Brussels/Ankara (Reuters) - Belgium will block NATO planning for the protection of Turkey in the event of a war in Iraq, Belgian Foreign Minister Louis Michel said yesterday.

Asked if Belgium would break a “silence procedure” called by NATO Secretary-General George Robertson under which each of the 19 allies has until 09.00 GMT today to raise objections, Michel told Belgium’s VRT Dutch-language television:

“Yes, of course. We are now busy with France and I think also with Germany to write this letter to again fully use this veto. We are going to block it between now and Monday — it is settled.”

France, Germany and Belgium, which oppose a rush to war, have argued for three weeks that preparations to defend Turkey could undermine diplomatic efforts to avert a conflict.

Diplomats said Belgium’s confirmation that it would stall the proposals at NATO were a strong indication that France — which it has shadowed on this issue — would do likewise.

Michel’s comments come a day after US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said in Munich that moves by France, Germany and Belgium to stall NATO planning for Turkey’s protection were “inexcusable” and were undermining NATO’s credibility.

Michel said the United States had its own agenda for pressing for a war against Iraq.

Meanwhile, Turkish troops who enter northern Iraq during a possible US-led war on Baghdad would operate outside of the US command, a newspaper said yesterday, quoting top Turkish military sources. Mainstream Milliyet said Turkish commanders had rejected a proposal by US presidential envoy Zalmay Khalilzad that their troops operate under a central US command.

“The proposal that Turkish troops in northern Iraq be tied to the US command is unacceptable,” a military commander was quoted as telling Milliyet.

A Turkish military spokesman was unable to comment on the report and a government official said only: “Consultations are continuing on this issue.”

“The role the Turkish armed forces take in northern Iraq closely involves Turkey’s security... This is not a NATO operation. Therefore, the role Turkish troops take on there will be tied to the Turkish armed forces’ normal command system,” the commander said. The source was not identified by name.