France and Germany held fast yesterday to their opposition to military action against Iraq but Turkey signalled that it might, after all, allow US troops to use its territory for an attack.
Turkey's new Prime Minister, Mr Tayyip Erdogan, its president and military chief met for talks last night, which the Defence Minister had hinted might satisfy urgent US demands to use Turkish airspace and ground bases.
"Turkey has decided to take urgent steps to preserve its national interests," presidential spokesman Mr Tacan Ildem said after the meeting.
He gave no details but the steps would be in accordance with recommendations of the influential National Security Council, a part military body which in January urged the government to take military measures to safeguard Turkey's interests.
Two weeks ago, parliament unexpectedly rejected a government proposal to allow 62,000 troops to deploy in Turkey for an attack. But US forces are still working on Turkey's south coast, preparing the groundwork for a possible deployment.
France, meanwhile, criticised UN Security Council members Britain, Spain and the United States.
"France regrets a decision which is not justified today and which runs the risk of having serious consequences for the region and the world," said Foreign Minister Mr Dominique de Villepin, referring to a joint American-British-Spanish decision to withdraw a UN resolution seeking to disarm Iraq by force.
He stressed that a "large majority of (UN Security Council) members continue today to favour, along with France, the disarmament of Iraq through the system of inspections".
Germany called for a last-ditch push for peace, even as military action appeared inevitable.
Chancellor Gerhard Schröder said at a meeting of his Social Democrats that Germany "cannot and will not support any resolution legitimising war".
"Of course there are doubts whether Iraq can be peacefully disarmed. These doubts must not prevent us from doing whatever is possible to avoid war," said Mr Schröder.
Two NATO states, Canada and Belgium, have moved to distance themselves from the imminent US-UK action. Canada, which has two warships in the Gulf region, would not take part in an invasion of Iraq, the Prime Minister Mr Jean Chretien told parliament to loud cheers.
And Belgium has said that it will forbid US forces to travel through its territory if Washington attacks Iraq without an explicit UN resolution.
The Defence Minister, Mr Andre Flahaut, said that US forces would no longer be allowed to use the port of Antwerp or to fly through Belgian air space. His government would not assist a military operation it saw as illegal under international law.