Iraq's Governing Council said today it would not accept troops from any neighbouring state on its soil - hampering US efforts to get Turkish soldiers to share the burden of policing Iraq.
The Governing Council was appointed by the US-led administration in Iraq, and US governor Paul Bremer has the final say on policy, but the Council's position will make it harder for the administration to persuade Iraqis to accept Turkish soldiers.
Turkey's parliament was debating today whether to send troops to Iraq as requested by the United States, with Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan confident deployment would be approved.
Turkey has NATO's second-biggest army after the United States and would be the first mainly Muslim country to commit troops to Iraq if parliament gave the go-ahead to the mission.
Although the Iraqi Governing Council was handpicked by the US-led administration in Iraq, strains between the body and occupying forces have emerged on several issues, including the best way to hand sovereignty back to Iraqis.
In another sign that the Council was trying to assert its independence from its US-led masters, it issued a statement today saying Israel's weekend air raid deep inside Syria was in violation of international law.