Turkey Links War Aid to Inspections

ANKARA, Turkey —  Turkish ruling-party leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Friday that Turkey would make no concrete promise of support for a U.S. war on Iraq until initial results of United Nations weapons inspections were known.

U.N. arms experts said they interviewed a scientist possibly linked to a clandestine Iraqi nuclear program Friday. Baghdad officials said the inspectors also scoured a plant that makes chemical processing equipment and one that produces liquor.

U.N. spokesman Hiro Ueki said inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency had interviewed a metallurgist from a state company, but the scientist, Kathim Jamil, denied any links to a nuclear program.

The Iraqi Foreign Ministry said Jamil was a specialist in the use of aluminum tubes used to produce missiles.

The United States and Britain have raised the alarm over alleged attempts by Iraq to buy aluminum tubes that could be used to process uranium. Iraq denied the charges.

The United States is pressing Turkey, a close NATO ally, for a decision on the extent of its support for any war and Friday sent two senior officials to Ankara, the capital, to discuss the cost of a possible conflict. Washington reportedly has asked for the use of Turkish air bases and ports if it goes to war.