TURKEY/IRAQ: Turkey yesterday reversed its decision to deploy troops in Iraq after meeting strong opposition from the US-appointed Iraqi Governing Council.
The decision came on a bad day for the US-led occupation of Iraq. A Black Hawk helicopter was shot down near Tikrit, killing six US soldiers. And in Mosul, two more US soldiers died in a separate attack.
American political and military leaders had been hoping that a strong deployment of Turkish forces would ease considerably the strain on US and British forces in Iraq. US forces in particular are under pressure in central Iraq where they are taking casualties almost daily.
Turkey took its decision after US Secretary of State Mr Colin Powell rang Turkish Foreign Minister Mr Abdullah Gul on Thursday evening to discuss Iraq, the foreign ministry said in a statement.
"After reviewing the situation Foreign Minister Gul informed Secretary Powell that the Turkish government would reconsider its offer to send troops."
It said Mr Powell thanked Washington's strategic ally for its offer and vowed US forces would crack down on Turkish Kurdish rebels hiding in northern Iraq - a key demand of Turkey, which fears renewed separatist violence on its own territory.
In Tikrit where the helicopter came down killing all six people on board, US soldiers said it had probably been shot down by a rocket-propelled grenade. If confirmed to have been attacked by insurgents, it would be the third US helicopter shot down in two weeks.
A column of smoke rose from the crash site, and US troops sealed off the area. Soldiers at the base said they heard two explosions and ran outside to see the destroyed helicopter.
The army said it had burst into flames after crashing on the banks of the Tigris river.
According to the US military, of the two US soldiers who died in the northern city of Mosul, one was killed in a bomb attack on Thursday morning and the other in an ambush on Friday.
Sgt Kelly Tyler of the 101st Airborne Division said gunmen had fired rocket-propelled grenades in the ambush, killing the soldier and wounding six others in a convoy.
The soldier killed in the roadside bomb blast on a highway near Mosul was from the same division, the army said.
Major Josslyn Aberle of the 4th Infantry Division said the US military was considering reimposing a night-time curfew around Tikrit as a result of the helicopter incident. The curfew had been lifted for the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.
The attacks brought to at least 141 the number of US soldiers killed in action since Washington declared major combat over on May 1st - more than the 114 killed in the March and April war to topple Saddam. - (Reuters)