In their latest desperate move to throw a monkey wrench into the effort to disarm Saddam Hussein, France has vetoed NATO plans to protect Turkey.
BRUSSELS, Belgium -- France has blocked military planning to protect Turkey in the event of a war against Iraq, triggering an emergency meeting at NATO headquarters.
The issue of how best to protect Turkey -- NATO's only Muslim member and the likely launch pad for any U.S.-led attack because of its shared border with Iraq -- has threatened to split the alliance.
France, Germany and Belgium all wanted to delay a decision on sending hardware for self-defense into Turkey, fearing such a move could undermine efforts to avoid war while the United States is leading the case to authorize giving Turkey the equipment as soon as possible.
NATO Secretary-General George Robertson set Monday as a deadline for NATO's 19 allies to formally hand military planners a list of defensive tasks.
In doing so he also laid down the gauntlet to Germany, France and Belgium, saying they had until Monday to veto the military planning, which includes how to defend Turkey and when to authorize the transport of the necessary equipment.
On Monday, France implemented their veto about one hour before the 0900 GMT deadline. Belgium backed the French move.
Should Turkey receive defensive help it is likely to get AWACS planes, Patriot anti-missile batteries and units specializing in tackling germ warfare of poison gas attacks.
The United States wanted to deploy the equipment and argued NATO should protect a fellow member.
U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld told a weekend security conference: "Those preventing the alliance from taking even minimum measures to prepare to do so risk undermining the credibility of the NATO alliance."
