Al Kubeysi: Turkey's Sending Soldiers To Iraq Can Be Discussed If U.S. Decides To Withdraw From Iraq

ISTANBUL - Prof. Dr. Mohammad Al Kubaysi, the Chairman of the Iraqi Ulama Delegation, the authority organ of Iraqi Sunnis, said on Sunday that ''if the U.S. decides to withdraw from Iraq and if Iraq can't ensure its inner security, then Turkey's sending soldiers within a multinational force under the auspices of the U.N. can be discussed.''
Speaking in the news conference held by Humanitarian Aid Foundation of Human Rights and Freedoms, Al Kubaysi said that the U.S. could not ensure security in Iraq and it searched for other ways due to that reason.
Al Kubaysi said that the security issue of Iraq was a problem that needed to be sorted out by the Iraqi people first of all, adding that the U.S. forces didn't have the right to ask for troops from other countries.
''If the U.S. decides to withdraw from Iraq and if Iraq can't ensure its inner security, then Turkey's sending soldiers within a multinational force under the auspices of the U.N. can be discussed. But if this is not the case, we can't accept coming of Turkish soldiers to Iraq and their being a shelter for occupier forces,'' said Al Kubaysi.
When asked what would happen if Turkish soldiers were sent to Iraq although those conditions were not met, Al Kubaysi said that ''they will be in the position of the U.S. They can be the target of Iraqi resistants, because the U.S. soldiers want to drive Turkish soldiers forward.''
Upon a question about the incidents in Kirkuk, Al Kubaysi claimed that the U.S. forces started those incidents, adding that ''the U.S. wants Iraqi people or sects to fight between them.''
(Öª) 24.08.2003