Iraqi misgivings force Turkish troops to mark time

BAGHDAD (Reuters) – Plans for Turkish troops to join a U.S.-led multinational force in Iraq have stalled in the teeth of Iraqi objections, maybe for good.

If any Turkish troops do deploy, they may take on a low-key role such as securing arms dumps, rather than patrolling flashpoint towns in the "Sunni triangle" north and west of Baghdad, a Western diplomat said.

"The reaction in Turkey and Iraq has been very negative," Mohammed Taufiq, an adviser to Kurdish leader Jalal Talabani, who is soon to take over the rotating presidency of Iraq’s U.S.-appointed Governing Council, told Reuters.