US ANGER AT TURKEY FEUD

‘No fundamental dissent’
Speaking at the 39th European Security Conference in Munich, Mr Rumsfeld was greeted by hundreds of German anti-war protesters waving placards critical of the Bush administration. German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer said his country stood by its obligations to its NATO partners.
However, Germany did not want to push forward with planning for protecting Turkey before a key UN Security Council meeting.
"We have made clear to the NATO secretary-general what we are prepared to do and that we stand by our alliance obligations," Mr Fischer said.
"We didn’t want an extra build-up to be done, so to speak, before the decisive Security Council meeting."We have absolutely no fundamental dissent."

Oil smuggling
Meanwhile, it has emerged that Germany and France are working on a new initiative to try to avert war in Iraq. The two countries aim to present the plan to the UN Security Council. The Paris-Berlin plans reportedly involve sending UN peace-keeping troops to Iraq to provide military support to UN arms inspectors. They are also said to involve trebling the number of inspectors looking for Saddam Hussein’s alleged weapons of mass destruction. Stricter regulations on exports to Iraq and an international agreement with Iraq’s neighbours to prevent oil smuggling also feature in the plans.