Ankara - Turkey was proving a stumbling block on Thursday for US hopes of launching possible strikes on neighbouring Iraq from its territory while Russia raised the prospect of using its UN Security Council veto to thwart the Americans plans for war.
The Russians also expressed concern that UN arms inspectors were under pressure to submit reports favouring the US stand and which could serve as an excuse for the eventual use of force.
Arab leaders set a date for a key summit on the looming conflict and Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein gathered his most senior political and military aides together to discuss army and civilian preparations for an eventual war.
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Turkey dug in its heels, insisting on a guaranteed multi-billion-dollar financial package in return for its support of the US and have rejected an offer of up to $24-billion in financial aid to offset the impact of a war.
| 'Turkey's support would be desirable but not essential' |
White House spokesperson Ari Fleischer gave the impression that Washington was losing patience with Ankara, when he said: "Turkey's support would be desirable but not essential in a US military operation against Iraq."
The standoff between the two Nato allies has complicated military planning in Washington, prompting warnings from US officials that they might consider altering operational plans on Iraq.
"We have found the figures insufficient and we are not looking favorably at the offer," Economy Minister Ali Babacan told the Cumhuriyet daily in an interview published Thursday.
Without giving figures, Babacan said Ankara had sent Washington a counter-proposal, but no progress towards a compromise had been reached so far.
The spat has led the government to hold up a parliamentary vote on allowing the United States to deploy combat troops in Turkey ahead of a possible two-pronged attack on Iraq, from both the north and south.
| 'We are not against a second resolution in principle' |
Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov and his deputy, Yury Fedotov gave the strongest hint yet that US attempts to win UN approval for an attack would be opposed by Moscow.
But Russia also urged Baghdad to comply with UN resolutions to disarm its suspected nuclear, chemical and biological weapons programmes.
Iraq, meanwhile, accused some Arab countries of refusing to help it, and called on all nations in the region to make a strong stand to prevent a US-led war.
Along with France and China, two of the four other veto-wielding powers on the Security Council, the Russians favour weapons inspections continuing and Fedotov was quoted by the ITAR-TASS news agency as saying they would not support a resolution authorising the use of force.
Ivanov, in an interview with the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera, appeared to go even further by actually addressing the question of a veto.
"It's an extreme measure to be used in a reponsible way," the Russian minister said.
"We are not against a second resolution in principle, but we must see what purpose it would serve. To be clear: if the resolution aims to reinforce the mandate of the (UN weapons) inspectors, we will be ready to look at it.
"If it is designed to allow the use of force, we believe it would be detrimental," Ivanov said, adding: "Russia's intention is not to divide the Security Council but, on the contrary, to maintain maximum unity."
Ivanov also claimed in Moscow that Russia had received "alarming information" that weapons inspectors were "under very strong pressure" to produce reports supporting US military strikes against Baghdad.
The earliest date for a Security Council vote on a new resolution drafted by the US and Britain now appears to be early March, once chief weapons inspector Hans Blix has delivered his latest report to the Council.
The annual Arab summit will take place in Cairo on March 1 with Bahrain in the chair and will be devoted to the Iraqi crisis, the Arab League announced.
Arab League spokesperson Hisham Yussef said Arab foreign ministers would meet on February 27 to lay out the summit's agenda.
Bahrain, which hosts the headquarters of the US Fifth Fleet deployed in the region, had originally been selected as the venue for the summit to be held on March 24, but stood aside in favour of Egypt, which hosts the 22-member Arab League, as the Iraqi crisis escalated.
Egypt tried to organise an emergency summit for the end of February but foreign ministers last weekend failed to agree on a date and the initiative was abandoned as deep differences emerged.
In Baghdad, the Babel daily tabloid, run by Saddam Hussein's son Uday, rounded on Arab nations for not doing enough to help the Iraqi cause.
"Some have not only dithered and played the card of regional interests at the expense of brothers in Iraq and Palestine, they have applied pressure and threatened their people to stop them from helping Iraq," the paper said.
"They have blocked all those who have even thought about offering support to Iraq to help it face up to the aggression." - Sapa-AFP
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