Turkey could be launchpad for invasion

Turkey paved the way for American and British troops to use the country as a "northern front" against Iraq last night when military and civilian leaders approved the stationing of foreign troops in their country.

The National Security Council called for the activation of "military measures necessary to protect Turkey's national interests". Its decision, after a lengthy meeting, now goes to the government and will require parliamentary approval.

The Americans have been seeking Turkey's approval for its border area and air bases to be used as a possible northern front. Turkish forces are already stationed in the region to counter unrest by separatist Kurds, and plan to deploy in Kurdish-dominated northern Iraq if there is a war, to maintain stability. A military official in the border region said 10,000 soldiers had been deployed near the border.

American and British soldiers are likely to make up most of a force that would cross intoIraq to attack troops loyal to Saddam Hussein and seize strategic oilfields in case of war.

Ahmed Chalabi, exiled leader of the opposition umbrella group the Iraqi National Congress, crossed into the Kurdish region from the Iranian border at Hajj Omran on his first visit to Iraq since 1998. Mr Chalabi and other opposition leaders are in northern Iraq for a meeting of a 65-member committee, due on 5 February, to lay the groundwork for a post-Saddam Hussein government.