Powell offers to restructure aid in bid for Turkish support

The United States was trying to restructure a $26bn (£16bn) economic aid package to Turkey last night, in effect to buy the right to use its military bases to launch a strike against Iraq.

The US wants to base up to 40,000 troops in Turkey to open a northern front in any invasion. Turkey, while agreeing in principle, is dragging its feet in an effort to get as much as possible from Washington and has asked for a total of $32bn before it grants final approval.

Yesterday Colin Powell, the US Secretary of State, said that while America was not prepared to increase the size of the package, it was looking at ways of making it more attractive to the Turkish government. In particular it could allow Turkey greater flexibility in the way the grants and loans are used.

The State Department spokesman, Richard Boucher, said the money could be used in different ways to produce different economic results.

"What we've tried to do is to work with the Turkish government to show that we can help them in a variety of ways that are not solely limited by the specific amounts," he said.

Abdullah Gul, the Turkish Prime Minister, said he would make a statement on the issue today. Turkey is concerned about the impact a war could have on its economy.

It also wants a written agreement that it will be granted military access to northern Iraq, home of the country's Kurdish population. The military wants to send troops into the Kurdish areas to stem a refugee flow and block any Kurdish drive for independence that could inspire Turkey's own Kurds to revive demands for autonomy.