U.S. pledges help to Turkey for sanctions losses

ANKARA — The United States has pledged to help Turkey offset billions of dollars in losses from United Nations sanctions on Iraq, a key trading partner of Ankara.

Turkish officials said this was the message of U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Edward Walker, who ended a weekend visit to Ankara. Walker focused his talks on Turkish participation in enforcing so-called smart sanctions on the regime of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein.

Ankara has complained that Turkey has been the main victim of UN sanctions. Until the Gulf war, Iraq was a major trading partner of Turkey.

Walker toured the Middle East to obtain commitments from Iraq's neighbors to allow increased UN supervision over Iraqi imports. This would include the deployment of UN inspectors along the borders with Iraq to ensure that components do not benefit Saddam's missile of weapons of mass destruction programs.

"We would expect all the countries, both supplier states and border states to ensure that no items would go across into Iraq that would assist Saddam Hussein in building a nuclear weapon, for example, or rebuilding his army so that it can threaten others in the region," Walker said. "He certainly has made no secret of his intentions. And so I think it's in everyone's interest to ensure that that kind of product doesn't go in there."

Officials said Walker appeared to obtain agreement from Jordan and Syria to cooperate in stopping Saddam from selling oil outside of the framework of the UN oil-for-food program. Saddam is said to have obtained more than $600 million in revenues last year from the export of smuggled oil.