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An emergency NATO meeting called after France, Germany and Belgium again blocked a U.S. request to start planning Turkey's defense in the event of war in Iraq ended today with no breakthrough, diplomats said. The unscheduled consultations-- convened after Turkey invoked NATO's mutual defense treaty-- were to resume on Tuesday, diplomats and NATO sources said on condition of anonymity.

"The majority of the NATO countries reiterated the urgency for NATO to take a decision," Secretary-General Lord Robertson said. "Unfortunately we're not yet at the stage where we can achieve consensus." He said negotiations were continuing informally and the North Atlantic Council, NATO's political body, would resume on Tuesday. "It is a matter of enormous consequence for this alliance and therefore people are taking it very seriously," he said.

Ambassadors were briefed on Turkey's situation by NATO's senior military officer, German Gen. Harald Kujat, Robertson said at a news conference. "After that it was clear that Turkey has legitimate concerns and the threat is real," he said. "I think it's pretty sobering advice that they got." The continued veto by France, Germany and Belgium has deepened divisions in the 19-member alliance over the Iraq crisis, with American ambassador Nicholas Burns accusing the three of plunging NATO into crisis.

In Washington, U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld stressed the United States and willing allies would go ahead with planning to help Turkey "outside of NATO if necessary. "We are already going about that task," he said at a news conference at the Pentagon.

Turkey's request marked the first time in NATO's 53-year history that a member has been forced to publicly invoke Article 4 of the treaty, which binds the 19 allies to talks when one perceives a threat to its "territorial integrity, political independence or security." Diplomats said failure to respond would strike a blow to NATO's core commitment for all allies to rally to the defense of any one of them threatened with attack. "The longer this dispute goes on, the worse it is going to be for the alliance," Robertson said.

However, a French official at NATO headquarters said Paris saw no reason to change its position until at least Friday, when the U.N. weapons inspectors are due to report to the Security Council in New York. For over three weeks, the three have successfully vetoed preparations to send Turkey AWACS early warning planes, Patriot missile interceptor batteries and units specialized in counter-germ warfare and anti-poison gas operations.

Just an hour before the order to start the military planning was scheduled to be given this morning, France, Germany and Belgium intervened, saying it risked undermining efforts to end the Iraq crisis peacefully.

"It would signify that we have already entered into the logic of war, that ... any chance, any initiative to still resolve the conflict in a peaceful way was gone," Belgian Foreign Minister Louis Michel said. Their move denounced by the United States, which has lobbied hard for the alliance to start the military planning, backed by 16 of the 19 NATO allies.

"This is a most unfortunate decision," said Burns, the U.S. ambassador. "Because of their actions, NATO is now facing a crisis of credibility." In Washington, Secretary of State Colin Powell said the treaty bound all allies to defend Turkey. "I hope that NATO will now realize that they have an obligation to assist a NATO member," he said.

Officials had said they expected France and the other holdouts to drop their objections when faced with a direct request from the Turks under the treaty. The senior French official insisted, however, that any NATO move had to be linked to Friday's report by the U.N. weapons inspectors. "We don't want to send the wrong message at the wrong time," he said on condition of anonymity. The country at the heart of the dispute sought to soothe tempers. "They did not veto the protection of Turkey," Foreign Minister Yasar Yakis said in Ankara. "These countries have problems with the timing," he said, adding that the "problem can be overcome because there is no disagreement on principle."

The damage to alliance unity however was unavoidable. At a stormy weekend meeting in Munich, Germany, Rumsfeld warned continued delays in responding to Turkey's request were "inexcusable" and risked undermining the credibility of the alliance. Rumsfeld intensified his criticism in an interview Sunday with Italy's La Repubblica newspaper. "Shameful, for me it's truly shameful," Rumsfeld was quoted as saying. "Turkey is an ally. An ally that is risking everything ... How can you refuse it help?"

NATO's military commanders say the planning for the limited support for Turkey can be wrapped up within a few days once they get the go-ahead, but actual deployment of the NATO units will need further approval from the 19 allies. All NATO decisions require unanimous support from the allies. Turkey is the only NATO member that borders Iraq is expected to be a base for U.S. troops opening up a northern front in Iraq should war break out.

The predominantly Muslim country was disappointed in December not get a firm date to start negotiations to join the European Union, which includes France, Germany and Belgium, as well as nations such as Britain, Spain and Italy which have strongly supported the call for NATO to start military planning. Turkish officials have not linked the two issues. The EU has said it will start membership negotiations with Turkey "without delay" if it meets the bloc's standards of human rights and democracy in December 2004.

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