Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Tariq Aziz has warned neighbouring Turkey that Baghdad will no longer consider the country a friend if the United States is allowed to use Turkish bases for a military strike.

Mr Aziz was speaking after a meeting in Turkey with Prime Minster Bulent Ecevit to seek Ankara's support against a possible military attack by the US.

We believe an attack against Iraq... would pave the way for serious harm to Turkey

Tariq Aziz

"We believe an attack against Iraq would not only harm Iraq but would pave the way for serious harm to Turkey," Mr Aziz said.

Mr Ecevit said he welcomed Baghdad's decision to allow the return of arms inspectors but added that they should be given full access in order to avoid giving grounds for military action.

Asked if Iraq would still consider Turkey a friend if it allowed the US to use its military bases for an attack, Mr Aziz replied: "No, absolutely not."

He said such a decision could lead to security and economic problems for Turkey.

Aziz: US attack on Iraq not in Turkey's interests

Turkey's Incirlik air base in the country's south was used as a staging ground for US attacks in the 1991 Gulf War and has been used by aircraft policing the "no-fly" zone over northern Iraq.

But Turkey has publicly opposed any new military action against Iraq.

Ankara, reeling from an economic crisis, is worried about the resulting flood of refugees and the revival of Kurdish separatism that could result from an attack on Iraq.

Turkey fought a war against separatist Kurds on its territory and is worried that Kurds in northern Iraq will push for an independent country if Saddam Hussein were toppled.

Iraq defiant

An Iraqi cabinet meeting chaired by Saddam Hussein has issued a defiant statement against what it called warmongers.

"If they think that the drums of war, which they are beating louder day by day, might push Iraq to relinquish its national rights and what it was guaranteed by the UN Charter and the relevant UN Security Council resolutions, then they are wrong," a statement said.

There was, it added, no need for a new, tougher UN resolution on arms inspections, as pushed for by the United States, because Iraq had already accepted the return of the inspectors.

The cabinet suggested that US and British policy was directed at providing a smokescreen for Israel's "criminal acts" against Palestinians.