Turkey sent a vanguard of commando troops into northern Iraq overnight in a move that courts U.S. anger and risks confrontation with local Kurdish authorities. A Turkish military source told Reuters about 1,500 commandos crossed Turkey's southern border at three points late on Friday, aiming to secure access for subsequent, larger deployments.

The United States has told Turkey it would not welcome a unilateral incursion into northern Iraq, where local Kurds are suspicious of Turkish motives and have said such a move could lead to conflict.

Turkey says it needs its troops in Iraq to control refugees and forestall any attempt to create a Kurdish state -- a move it fears could reignite separatism on Turkish soil.

The deployment followed days of wrestling between Turkey and the United States -- allies in NATO -- over U.S. demands that Turkey keep its troops out of Kurdish-controlled northern Iraq.

Turkey agreed on Friday to allow U.S. warplanes to over fly Turkish territory in attacks on Iraq, after failing to link the issue to free access for its troops to Iraq.

The United States insists the two issues should not be linked.

Turkey's parliament approved the over flights on Thursday after the U.S. unleashed its onslaught on Iraq.

The United States sees an attack from the north on Iraqi forces as a way of relieving the burden on an invasion force now pressing northwards to Baghdad.

In Washington, a U.S. official said that the United States had not agreed to a Turkish move into northern Iraq.

British Defense Secretary Geoff Hoon followed a similar line, but suggested limited Turkish deployment might be accepted.

Kurdish groups have said they will resist any Turkish invasion but did not appear to be aware immediately of Friday night's limited incursion along the remote border.

The United States fears a "war within a war" -- clashes between Turkish troops and local Kurds and disruption of the U.S.-led campaign to unseat Saddam. Ankara sees the region as of vital strategic importance and seeks freer action beyond the U.S.-led command.

The dangers are clear for Washington if its troops drive up into the north, where important oilfields are located, and are confronted with Turkish forces, who have not joined the U.S. alliance against Saddam.

PHOTO CAPTION

Turkish army mobile heavy artillery is seen in a camp near the border with Iraq March 21, 2003. Photo by Yannis Behrakis/Reuters