(Agencies)
Updated: 2007-12-19 10:14

Washington - US military commanders in Iraq didn't know Turkey was sending warplanes to bomb in northern Iraq until the planes had already crossed the border, said defense and diplomatic officials, who were angered about being left in the dark.

Turkish F16 jet fighters fly in formation in Istanbul, October 29, 2007. The United States has given Turkey intelligence to track Kurdish fighters hiding in Iraq, a Pentagon spokesman said on Monday, but he would not say whether Washington gave Ankara precise targets used in weekend raids. [Agencies]

Americans have been providing Turkey with intelligence to go after Kurdish rebels in northern Iraq. And a "coordination center" has been set up in Ankara so Turks, Iraqis and Americans can share information, two officials said Tuesday.

But defense and diplomatic officials in Washington and Baghdad said that US commanders in Iraq knew nothing about Sunday's attack until it was already under way.

They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak on the record.

Their comments follow complaints by Iraqi leaders Monday that Turkey hadn't coordinated with Baghdad before sending bombers to strike targets of the Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK.

It was left to the Americans to inform Iraqi government officials of Sunday's incursion, one US official said.

No problem occurred with a conflict in the air space, but might have as both military and commercial flights go through northern Iraq, the officials said.

US diplomatic officials also expressed irritation that the Turks had not provided them or the Iraqis with advance notice of the operation and said they had made their displeasure clear.

One senior State Department official said the Turks informed the United States of the airstrikes through military channels in Ankara but not until after the first wave of planes was already in the air.

When questioned about the late notification, the Turks replied they were chasing PKK rebels and there had not been time, according to the official.

"They said it was hot pursuit," the official said. "But our message to them was that they need to make sure we're aware of what they're doing and that we find out about it before the guns start firing."

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