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.
| I'd be happy to see the Turks in Falluja, though I can understand the Kurdish concerns... |
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. |