ANKARA, July 17: A top US defence official asserted on Wednesday Washington’s determination to oust Iraqi President Saddam Hussein as he sought support from key NATO ally Turkey, while Iraq’s neighbour demanded consultations before any strike.

“As President (George W.) Bush emphasized, the Iraqi regime, hostile to the United States and supporting terrorism, is a danger that we cannot afford to live with indefinitely,” Deputy Defence Secretary Paul Wolfowitz told reporters after two days of talks with Turkish leaders.

He said Washington had not yet made definite demands of support to Turkey, which fears the political and economic impacts of regional turmoil.

But engulfed in a severe government crisis and battling economic woes with IMF loans that Washington had encouraged, the country hardly has any room to manoeuvre in the face of US plans against Turkey’s southern neighbour, commentators said.

Nonetheless, Turkey said it wants to be closely consulted over any planned US action against Iraq and informed of military strikes before they happen, a top Turkish official said.

He said Ankara had conveyed its demand to the visiting delegation, headed by Wolfowitz.

“We told them to keep consulting with us at every step as they take decisions on Iraq and not to inform us simply in the wake of the military operation,” the official said.

The Turkish leadership also renewed its reservations against military moves, the official added.

During the talks, Turkey reaffirmed its cautious stance over any military operation against its neighbour, reiterating its concern that it could have “unfavourable” repercussions on the country already in its worst economic crisis in years.

Turkey is home to an American base, from where US jets launched strikes against Baghdad in 1991 and which they still use to enforce a no-fly zone over northern Iraq.

“We did not come here with any idea about what Turkey’s role should be or with a decision about an operation, because we did not make our own decision ourselves,” Wolfowitz said.

“We did not come here asking for any decision from the Turkish government. We came here to gain the benefit of Turkey’s perspective,” he added.

Observers said Ankara’s own troubles were weakening its hand in possible attempts to dissuade Washington from striking Iraq.

Ankara’s position now focuses “more on demanding economic and political guarantees from the United States rather than opposing an operation”, analyst Cengiz Candar wrote in the Yeni Safak daily.

He even suggested that embattled Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit’s decision on Tuesday to call early polls in November aimed to ensure that Ankara has a stable government before the United States launches its operation against Iraq in January or February next year.

Since Sept 11, Turkey has stiffly opposed military moves against Iraq, arguing that a war in the region will further damage its ailing economy, just as the 1991 bombings did.

Turkey puts at about 40 billion dollars the losses it has suffered since sanctions were imposed on Iraq after the Gulf war.

And Wolfowitz acknowledged that “Turkey’s economic health is hugely important”.

However, he said: “When there is a democratic Iraq it will not be only the people of Iraq that will benefit from that, it will benefit the whole world and very much this region.”

Ankara is wary that an operation against Baghdad may help the Kurds in northern Iraq to set up an independent state, which could have a domino effect on its own Kurds at a time when a bloody Kurdish rebellion in the southeast of the country has subdued.—AFP