Makeshift Turkish deal may help strategic US moves

TURKEY’S government worked yesterday to cobble together a deal to help the United States in a war against Iraq, but diplomatic sources said that its NATO ally might not end up with everything it wanted.

With US troops making final preparations to invade Iraq, a top-level Monday night meeting in Ankara revived flagging hopes in Washington of using Turkey as a launch pad to open a northern front that could accelerate a victory over Baghdad.

But diplomatic sources said parliament might only be asked to open air corridors and allow transit of special forces rather than the passage of 62,000 troops it rejected on March 1.