The impasse preventing a NATO plan to provide extra armaments to Turkey ahead of a likely US-led attack on Iraq will be resolved by Saturday, German defence minister Mr Peter Struck said today.
"We will reach a decision in the NATO council at the latest on Saturday after the sitting of the Security Council which absolutely corresponds to the interests of Turkey," Mr Struck told the German parliament in a debate on Iraq.
NATO is in one of the most severe diplomatic crises in its 54-year history after Germany, Belgium and France blocked a plan for NATO to send Patriot missiles, AWACS surveillance aircraft and anti-chemical and anti-biological warfare kits to Turkey.
The United States said the plan was necessary for Turkey's protection because of its common border with Iraq to the south. The veto took the United States by surprise and provoked a furious reaction from the White House and the US media.
The European trio insist the movement of arms to the Iraqi border would be provocative and would imply diplomatic efforts to get Iraq to comply with UN Resolution 1441 had ended.
But Mr Struck today said once UN inspectors Dr Hans Blix and Dr Mohamed El Baradei brief the Security Council on Friday, then the process of solving the standoff could begin.
German Chancellor Mr Gerhard Schroeder said earlier it was not appropriate for NATO to decide on military planning to protect Turkey ahead of Friday's UN Security Council meeting.
AFP