PRESIDENT Clinton and the British Prime Minister, Mr John Major, held a 20 minute telephone conversation yesterday on the crisis in northern Iraq. "They are working closely together on how they should respond," a spokesman for Mr Major said.
In Paris, the Foreign Ministry expressed concern at Baghdad's offensive on Arbil. But it said France respected Iraqi sovereignty and territorial integrity, and referred to the appeal made to Baghdad by Mr Massoud Barzani of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), "because of the presence of foreign forces on the ground".
The KDP claimed Iranian troops entered Kurdish controlled northern Iraq on Saturday in the wake of an assault backed by Baghdad. The presence of Iranian troops in Iraq, if confirmed, would put the two oil states on opposite sides in yet another bloody conflict.
In Tehran, the Speaker of the Majlis (parliament), Mr Ali Akbar Nateq Nouria, ignored charges of Iranian intervention, and yesterday accused the US of complicity, saying the Iraqi attack on Arbil could not have taken place without Washington's consent.
The Iraqi foray will encourage Gulf Arab states haunted by memories of Iraq's invasion of Kuwait to maintain a hard line on Baghdad. Since the 1991 Gulf War, some Gulf Arab states have adopted a softer line on Iraq, opening up political differences in the Gulf Co operation Council. Kuwait and Saudi Arabia refuse any direct contact with the Iraqi leader, while Qatar and Oman both have resident Iraqi ambassadors and have received senior Iraqi ministers.
Turkey, troubled by mounting instability in neighbour and trade partner Iraq, demanded yesterday that Baghdad troops leave Arbil and pursue peaceful solutions for its problems.
President Saddam Hussein "must withdraw immediately", the Turkish Foreign Minister, Ms Tansu Ciller, said. "It is imperative for peace that Saddam ends the attack it has mounted with the (Massoud) Barzani forces around Arbil."
Turkey sided with the allies in the 1991 Gulf War against Iraq, then its third biggest trade partner. But it is also wary of Kurdish autonomy in northern Iraq and fears the authority void there enables Turkey's own Kurdish separatist rebels to operate in the region and launch attacks on south east Turkey.
The Israeli Prime Minister, Mr Benjamin Netanyahu, said Israel was closely watching the situation in northern Iraq. "We must be alert and prepared," he said.
The Israeli newspaper, Ma'ariv, reported yesterday the US had promised Israel early warning of any US military action against Iraq to allow Israel "to prepare adequately for any possible development".