Erdogan called an unscheduled meeting of his senior advisers on Wednesday to discuss the potential deployment

LONDON, August 7 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) - Kurdish leaders turned down a U.S. request to allow 12,000 Turkish troops through northern Iraq for a possible peacekeeping role in the city of Fallujah, a leading British newspaper reported Thursday, August 7.

The British Business Daily Financial Times quoted Adel Murad, head of the political office of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), as saying the request came at the weekend from General John Abizaid, head of U.S. central command, in a meeting in the northern city of Mosul with the leaders of the PUK and the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP).

Any introduction of Turkish troops into Iraq would damage Kurdish support for the U.S.-led effort to form a new Iraqi government and could trigger violence between Turkish forces and Kurdish fighters, Murad said.

The paper said that the Kurdish refusal threw up another hurdle to American efforts to get more foreign troops to help ease the burden on its forces that are coming under resistance attacks at a rate of 15 to 21 a day.

As the Bush administration officials have acknowledged approaching Ankara about taking part, Abizaid’s request was the most concrete example that Washington and Ankara have found a common ground for cooperation after strained relations during the Iraq invasion.

Central Command made no comment on the report.

Ankara has yet to make an official decision on a possible Turkish role in stabilizing postwar Iraq. The idea has drawn opposition from parliament and public opinion in Turkey.

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan called for an unscheduled meeting with his senior advisers on Wednesday to discuss the potential deployment.

Any decision requires the approval of the Turkish parliament, which will be in recess until October 2003.

British forces are 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, said the Times.

Relations between Washington and Ankara witnessed new tension after American forces in northern Iraq arrested 11 Turkish soldiers last month, sparking off warnings from Ankara that the arrests could lead to a “crisis of confidence” between the two NATO allies.

In May 2003, Ankara rejected a call from Washington to admit it made a mistake by denying the United States support in the invasion of Iraq.

Washington also accused Turkey of trying to smuggle grenades, night-vision goggles and dozens of rifles into the oil-producing city of Kirkuk in northern Iraq this week to fuel unrest and pave the way for a Turkish peacekeeping mission.

Turkey's plans to send troops to Kurdish-held northern Iraq during the U.S.-led offensive also strained transatlantic ties. Ankara refrained from intervening only after strong pressure from Washington.

Many analysts believe Turkey's military did not feel Washington was taking its security concerns into account, including fears that the strengthening of Iraqi Kurdish groups could inspire Turkey's Kurds.

NATO member Turkey, a key Muslim ally of the United States, dealt a major blow to U.S. war plans in Iraq when its parliament refused to allow U.S. troops to deploy in the country to invade neighboring Iraq from the north.