NATO, deeply divided, meets again over Iraq

Brussels - NATO states meet on Tuesday in the hope of healing an angry rift over preparations for war in Iraq that has rocked the foundations of the world's most powerful and durable military alliance. International fault lines over Iraq yawned wide on Monday as NATO doves France, Belgium and Germany held up military deployments for NATO member Turkey intended to protect it from Iraqi retaliation if U.S. troops attack Iraq from Turkish soil.

The three European states argued that to send Turkey AWACS surveillance planes, Patriot missiles and anti-chemical and biological warfare teams would be a premature signal that war had begun and diplomatic efforts to solve the crisis were over.

Separately, France, Russia and Germany jointly set out in Paris their alternative to U.S. war plans; more arms inspections in Iraq, more diplomacy and more time. All three are members of the U.N. Security Council and France and Russia have veto powers that could kill any new U.N. resolution authorizing war.

After two deadlocked sessions on Monday over the Turkish aid, NATO's North Atlantic Council convenes again in Brussels at 5 a.m. EST on Tuesday amid alarm about the gravest row in the alliance since cruise missile deployment in Europe in the 1980s.

Laying bare a split with France, President Bush said he was disappointed with its role over Turkey, calling the move "shortsighted."

"I am disappointed that France would block NATO from helping a country like Turkey prepare. I don't understand that decision. It affects the alliance in a negative way," Bush told reporters as he met Australian Prime Minister John Howard, a staunch ally in Bush's disarmament campaign against Iraq.

Although Bush's top security aides have criticized France and Germany for leading efforts to delay a U.N. decision on whether to go to war with Iraq, the president had previously confined his remarks to urging unity and continued diplomacy.

The U.S. ambassador to NATO accused the doves of plunging NATO into a "crisis of credibility" and Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld called their stalling action a "disgrace." He said however it would not delay any attack on Iraq.

Diplomats in Brussels said the initiative had come from French President Jacques Chirac and German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, but that others around them had serious doubts about appearing to shy away from assisting an ally.

One senior NATO official said the majority of the 19 allies were determined not to allow Turkey go defenseless.

"NATO does not have the luxury of another three weeks of debate," he said. "The shame of this is that the victim will be NATO. Its basic credibility, that's what is on the line."

Chirac read out a joint communique on Monday after talks in Paris with Russian President Vladimir Putin, who held talks on Sunday with Schroeder.

"Russia, Germany and France are determined to ensure that everything possible is done to disarm Iraq peacefully," it said, adding that war should be only a last resort.

Chirac said there was no "undisputed proof" Iraq had weapons of mass destruction. "Nothing today justifies a war," he said.

In the Gulf, preparations for war by tens of thousands of Western troops, mostly American, continued apace.

U.S. and British planes patrolling southern Iraq attacked a mobile air-defense unit, the second such incident in three days, the U.S. military said. Iraq said two civilians had been killed.

Iraq's U.N. ambassador Mohammed Aldouri made clear Baghdad was willing to give ground in the hope of averting attack, dropping its opposition to flights over Iraq of U.S. spy planes on loan to the U.N. for weapons inspections.

An Iraqi source at the U.N. said Iraq delivered to weapons inspectors a letter making the concession, with no conditions.

Iraqi television quoted Saddam as saying: "If the world, besides America, finds that the U-2 plane is important to carry out more aerial surveillance, it should tell America and Britain not to open fire at us. Otherwise, this demand would be a call for the surrender of Iraq to the American military force."

He added: "What are the pretexts that we have to defuse so that we convince America not to launch war?"

The White House said the U-2 offer did not alter the "bottom line"; Iraq must disarm. "What we've seen in the past is what is unconditional today is conditional tomorrow," said a spokesman.

Most Americans back the use of force to oust Saddam even without U.N. support, according to two polls released on Monday. A majority of respondents, 57 percent, said they would support an allied attack against Iraq even over objections by the U.N., a Washington Post/ABC News poll found.

The survey found that 63 percent of Americans believe the administration has made a strong enough case to justify force. That is a new high, up from 48 percent, in a mid-January poll.

On Friday chief U.N. weapons inspector Hans Blix and his fellow inspection chief Mohamed ElBaradei report to the U.N. Security Council on Iraq's cooperation with arms inspectors.

Blix has gathered a panel of rocket scientists to determine if Iraq's missile programs violate U.N. resolutions ahead of his crucial report. He also scheduled a meeting for Wednesday of his advisory board to review Iraq's cooperation. -- Reuters

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