CAIRO, Oct 12 (AFP) - 15h10 - Massoud Barzani, a top Kurdish member of Iraq's US-appointed interim Governing Council, asked the Arab League here Sunday to oppose moves by Turkey to send troops to Iraq.

"We have rejected the deployment of troops by Turkey and other countries in the region, and we have asked for Arab League support for this position," Barzani told reporters here after talks with Arab League chief Amr Mussa.

The secretary general of the Cairo-based organisation said "the Arab League will support any position of the interim Governing Council about the deployment of Turkish troops or from other neighboring countries."

He added that "any deployment of troops to Iraq must receive approval from the Governing Council and must take place within the UN resolutions."

Mussa said he had "received an official message from the interim Governing Council about differences between the council on one hand, and the (US-led) occupation authorities on the other hand about certain issues."

The Turkish parliament gave the green light last Tuesday for the deployment of Turkish troops to Iraq for a maximum of one year, a move welcomed by the United States but opposed by several members of the Governing Council.

Mussa added that Arab foreign ministers would hold a meeting Wednesday, on the sidelines of the Islamic summit opening in Malaysia, to discuss the issue of Turkish troops.

He said "all the Iraqis with whom I've had contact within the Governing Council or outside this body, said they were opposed to the deployment of troops from Turkey or from other neighboring countries."

He called for "a clear timetable for withdrawing foreign forces from Iraq."

Barzani said "the deployment of troops from Turkey or neighboring countries would only increase tension in Iraq and would provide protection for no-one.

"Turkey has its own agenda and its intervention in Iraq will cause many problems," said Barzani, head of the Kurdistan Democratic Party which controls a large chunk of northern Iraq.

Iraqi Kurds are wary of Turkey which has fought a long war against ethnic Kurds in eastern Turkey and whose troops have mounted military operations into northern Iraq in the past.

When asked about moves by firebrand Shiite Muslim cleric Moqtada Al-Sadr to set up a shadow government in Iraq, Barzani replied that "this measure can in no case be justified."

Defying the Governing Council set up in July under US auspices, Sadr announced on Friday that he had decided to set up the parallel government.

Barzani meanwhile denounced a wave of bombings and hit-and-run attacks against occupation troops, Iraqi police and other targets in Iraq, shortly before a twin bombing cost seven more lives in Baghdad.

"One cannot end occupation by force," Barzani said. "Many acts are committed not by Iraqis but by terrorist elements which came from outside Iraq."

Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG)
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