IRAQ CRISIS: NATO ambassadors have failed for a second day to heal a split over sending military equipment to help Turkey to defend its border with Iraq, writes Denis Staunton, in Brussels
A meeting of NATO's decision-making North Atlantic Council broke up last night after 20 minutes when France, Germany and Belgium refused to drop their opposition to the proposal.
The meeting is due to reconvene this morning, but diplomatic sources suggested last night that an agreement was unlikely until after the UN chief weapons inspector, Dr Hans Blix, delivers a report to the Security Council on Friday.
Turkey wants NATO to start planning for the deployment of Patriot air defence missiles, AWACS surveillance aircraft and anti-chemical and anti-biological warfare teams. It is estimated that putting such equipment in place would take 30 days.
France, Germany and Belgium argue that boosting Turkey's defences now would imply that war in Iraq is inevitable, when all peaceful means of making Baghdad disarm have not been exhausted.
The collapse of last night's talks came after a day of intense, behind-the-scenes negotiations at NATO's headquarters in Brussels.
Hopes for an agreement focused for much of the day on a possible compromise that would have allowed the shipment of defensive equipment to Turkey but would have dropped plans to replace soldiers in Balkans peacekeeping operations who may be deployed in Iraq.
Belgian's Foreign Minister, Mr Louis Michel, suggested that his government did not object to boosting Turkey's security but did not want to take any action involving troops.
"That would have meant a direct or indirect military involvement. That is worth a debate. That would mean we would have accepted the logic of war," he said.
The 16 other members refused to accept the compromise unless France, Germany and Belgium agreed to start planning for Turkey's defence immediately.
NATO's secretary-general, Lord Robertson, told the 19 ambassadors last night that more work was needed to reach a compromise.
Some NATO diplomats were last night blaming Lord Robertson for the crisis, described by many as the alliance's worst for two decades.
They suggested that the secretary-general miscalculated last week by invoking NATO's "silent procedure" which effectively gave the three rebels an ultimatum to agree to the plan to help Turkey by Monday morning.
"You don't issue ultimatums unless you know you'll be successful, and certainly not if France is involved," said one senior diplomatic source.
France has said it sees no reason to change its position before Dr Blix makes his report on Friday.
Diplomats are concerned that the rift within NATO could cause lasting damage to the organisation and could even call into question the alliance's future.
The Spanish Defence Minister, Mr Frederico Trillo, said last night that France, Germany and Belgium had thrown NATO into its deepest crisis since France left NATO's integrated military command structure in 1966 and had laid bare the lack of unity among the Europeans and between the two sides of the Atlantic.
The split within NATO reflects deep divisions within the EU over the Iraqi crisis and will cast a shadow over next week's emergency meeting of EU leaders in Brussels.
Some EU diplomats question the wisdom of the Greek Presidency in calling the meeting, and there was confusion last night over its agenda.
France and Germany want more weapons inspectors to be sent to Iraq and the inspections to be given more time. Britain, Spain and Italy are leading the EU countries that support Washington's position that Iraq should be disarmed without delay, by force if necessary.