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No deal as NATO meeting breaks up
BRUSSELS, Belgium (CNN) -- An emergency NATO session has ended abruptly without any resolution on the issue of defending Turkey in the event of war with Iraq. There were few details about what transpired Tuesday, but the session got off to a shaky start, with officials twice delaying the meeting to allow the 19-member military alliance more time to continue behind-the-scenes talks. The meeting finally began around 6 p.m., but finished just 30 minutes later. The emergency session was scheduled to reconvene Wednesday morning. NATO was plunged into a crisis Monday after France, Germany and Belgium blocked U.S.-led efforts to dispatch military hardware to Turkey, NATO's only Muslim nation and the only NATO member that borders Iraq. After the three nations barred the military hardware bid -- believed to be the first time a NATO member has done so since the alliance was formed in 1949 -- Turkey requested the emergency meeting. President Bush said he was "disappointed" in the three nations, a sentiment that was echoed by the U.S. ambassador to NATO, Nicholas Burns. (Full story) Burns told CNN the three nations have created "a crisis of credibility" with the world's most powerful military alliance. "We think that the decision by our three allies -- France, Germany and Belgium -- to not go along with the rest of NATO is most unfortunate," Burns told CNN. British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw called it a "serious issue" that "risks eroding the solemn commitment" of the alliance to protect a member state. "I am very concerned that three NATO allies prevented the council from reaching consensus on the most basic defensive measures in respect of Turkey," Straw said. NATO held two emergency sessions Monday but failed to break any ground in the impasse. One NATO official described Monday's sessions as a "very angry" atmosphere, with the majority of the NATO members expressing frustration at France, Germany and Belgium. The session was to reconvene early Tuesday, but the start of the meeting was delayed and then was pushed back again several hours later. That meeting then broke up 30 minutes after it began. NATO officials had downplayed the significance of the delay, saying they wanted informal talks to press on before sitting down for the formal session. Turkish Foreign Minister Yasar Yakis said he was confident that the NATO members would come to an agreement. "This is not a question of whether or not NATO will support Turkey in a war," Yakis told reporters. France, Germany and Belgium said they felt sending military equipment to Turkey would negatively impact peace efforts. The United States wants to send AWACS surveillance planes, Patriot missiles and chemical and biological detection teams to Turkey to protect it from Iraq. A German government source said his country was "in no way alone" in its desire to have U.N. weapons inspections continue their work and avert a possible war between the United States, its supporters and Iraq. In Paris, French President Jacques Chirac announced a joint Franco-German-Russian declaration, calling for more arms inspections in Iraq, more diplomacy and more time. All three are members of the U.N. Security Council, and France and Russia have veto powers that could kill any new U.N. resolution authorizing war. "Russia, Germany and France are determined to ensure that everything possible is done to disarm Iraq peacefully," said the declaration, which was read by Chirac after a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Chirac added: "Nothing today justifies a war." In Beijing Tuesday, China chimed in on the matter, saying it too believes the inspections should continue. "Since the two chief weapons inspectors say they need more time for the weapons inspections, I think that's reasonable," Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Zhang Qiyue said. "All members of the international community should make due efforts in accordance with that. China will make its own utmost effort to help promote the inspection process in accordance with the U.N. Security Resolution 1441." The diplomatic activity comes as the two chief U.N. weapons inspectors are preparing to report back to the Security Council later this week. Chief U.N. weapons inspector Hans Blix and his fellow inspection chief Mohamed ElBaradei will deliver their report to the council on Friday. Blix told CNN that "hundreds of questions" remain about Iraq's cooperation in the search for possible banned weapons. (Full story) Copyright 2003 CNN. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Associated Press contributed to this report.
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