45 nations join 'coalition of willing'

In an effort to counter criticism that an invasion of Iraq represents a largely unilateral decision by the U.S., the State Department yesterday released a list of 30 countries that have agreed to be named publicly as members of a ''coalition of the willing'' in support of the U.S. plan, while identifying about 15 others that have given their backing privately.

Australia, Denmark and Poland have agreed to commit troops, and many other countries have offered overflight rights, logistical support or help with post-war reconstruction.

Turkey's government said today it would ask Parliament to grant the U.S. Air Force the right to use Turkish airspace in an Iraq war, but would not immediately ask lawmakers to allow in U.S. troops.

''The overwhelming amount of combat will be provided by a small number of countries,'' White House spokesman Ari Fleischer told reporters. ''Other nations are free to contribute as they see fit.''

The 30 publicly-named governments, together with the United States, represent some 1.1 billion people, about one sixth of the total population of the world.

Aside from Britain, Australia, Denmark, and Poland, the others are: Afghanistan, Albania, Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Colombia, the Czech Republic, El Salvador, Eritrea, Estonia, Ethiopia, Georgia, Hungary, Italy, Japan, South Korea, Latvia, Lithuania, Macedonia, the Netherlands, Nicaragua, the Philippines, Romania, Slovakia, Spain, Turkey and Uzbekistan.

State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said the basic criterion for inclusion on the published list was that the countries wanted to be publicly associated with the idea that Iraq has to be disarmed now but are not necessarily providing any assistance to the U.S. war effort.

Asked what countries like Ethiopia and Afghanistan could contribute in practice, Boucher said: ''They may just be allowing access, overflight or other participation in that way, or they may
have just decided they want to be publicly associated with the effort to disarm Iraq.

''That's the fundamental of this, that these are countries who have all stood up and said it's time to disarm Iraq, and if Iraq doesn't do that peacefully, we need to be prepared to do it by whatever means are necessary,'' he added.

Poland will deploy up to 200 non-combat troops, and John Howard, the Australian prime minister, offered 2,000 troops after receiving a pre-dawn telephone call from President Bush. Australia also closed the Iraqi embassy and expelled all diplomatic staff, according to a report in the London Telgraph.

''The government strongly believes the decision it has taken is right, it is legal, it is directed towards the protection of the Australian national interest, and I ask the Australian community to
support it,'' Howard said.

Spain, a leading political backer of the diplomatic campaign for a United Nations resolution authorizing war, said it would not be contributing forces, and Japan qualified its support by saying it
was willing to help only with post-conflict peacekeeping and reconstruction.

Despite fierce opposition to war in Iraq, France has flip-flopped and may join the military coalition if Saddam Hussein
unleashes chemical or biological weapons.

French ambassador Jean-David Levitte told CNN the use of weapons of mass destruction would "change completely the perception and the situation for us." He said the French military had equipment to fight "under these circumstances" and could join
the coalition if forces came under such attack.

One appears likely as U.S. intelligence reports indicate Saddam Hussein's troops are armed with chemical munitions.

"The information is raw … and hard to confirm ... but we are seeing – using different methods – that Saddam Hussein has armed troops south of Baghdad with chemical weapons," Fox News quotes a senior Defense official as saying.

When asked to explain France's apparent turnaround on the issue, Levitte offered international policy.

"No army is allowed by treaties to use chemical and biological weapons. This is absolutely forbidden and if Saddam Hussein were to use these weapons then he would create a completely new situation for the whole world," he said.

New Zealand also is among the countries to vote against signing up in support of U.S. war plans.

Prime Minister Helen Clark said the U.S. decision to act against Iraq without a specific U.N. mandate was a matter of
''profound regret.''

''It is a matter of profound regret to us that some of our closest friends have chosen to stand outside the Security Council at this point,'' she said. ''A new and dangerous precedent is being
set. It may be possible to justify one's friends taking such action, but where is our moral authority when other nations use the precedent which is being set?''

Israel, Washington's closest ally in the Middle East, is assumed to be cooperating, but it, too, is not on the list.

The list includes no governments in the Arab world, although states in the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council are giving logistical support to the U.S. forces expected to invade. The only mainly
Muslim countries are Albania, Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Turkey and Uzbekistan.

The State Department says some Arab governments, sensitive to public opinion, have done more behind the scenes than they have discussed in public.

Saudi Arabia said Tuesday it would ''under no circumstances'' take part in a U.S.-led war on Iraq, for which ''the countdown has started,'' according to a report by Agence France-Presse.

''The kingdom will under no circumstances take part in the war
against brotherly Iraq, and its armed forces will not enter an inch
of Iraqi territory,'' Crown Prince Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz said in a televised address.

Saudi Arabia's de facto ruler warned that if the war goes beyond its declared objectives, the kingdom will adopt a different position.

''The exceptional circumstances surrounding this crisis during the past 12 years require us not to enter into an uncalculated adventure that could endanger the safety of our country and
people.

"But if events take a course different from what we explained, or the war goes beyond its declared objectives, we will then take a different position,'' said Prince Abdullah.