No firm decisions will be taken by the ministers, but the informal session in Colorado Springs will tell how far Washington has come to mending relations with key allies as it looks for troops and money for its troublesome occupation of Iraq.

US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, who flew to Colorado Springs Monday, also will meet one-on-one there with some of his counterparts, including Germany's Defense Minister Peter Struck and Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov, who is scheduled to join on Thursday, Pentagon officials said.

Germany and Russia joined France in opposing the invasion of Iraq and have pressed for a rapid return of Iraqi sovereignty, while Washington has insisted on a step-by-step approach with no firm timetable and a limited UN role.

Despite the persistent differences over Iraq, there were signs before the meeting that some help may be on the way for Washington from North Atlantic Treaty Organisation allies.

On Monday, the Turkish government decided to ask its parliment to approve the deployment of troops in Iraq as part of the US-led coalition force.

The parliament sank a deal before the war to let Turkish territory be used for the attack on Iraq, dealing a significant blow to the US-led operation and to Washington-Ankara relations.

Eager to repair the damage and mollified by an 8.5 billion dollar US loan, Turkey, NATO's only Muslim member, Ankara has indicated it will provide 10,000 troops to Iraq.

It would come in the nick of time for Washington, which needs commitments now for at least a third multinational division in Iraq to replace US troops that are scheduled to come out of Iraq early next year.

Another development that could ease the burden on over-stretched US forces is an agreement in principle by the European Union over the weekend to take over peacekeeping duties in Bosnia from a NATO-led force, possibly in the second half of next year. About 1,500 US troops are in Bosnia and another 2,000 in Kosovo.

Similarly, NATO on Monday agreed to expand an alliance-led mission in Afghanistan beyond Kabul. It will assume a wider role in stabilizing a country where US forces are fighting a resurgent Taliban two years after going to war there in retaliation for the September 11, 2001 attacks on New York and Washington.

EU defense ministers meeting in Rome also appeared to have averted another divisive dispute with Washington by backing away from a proposed European military headquarters separate from NATO.

Nevertheless, the NATO meeting will be held against the backdrop of an increasingly acrimonious debate in the United States on Iraq.

The failure to find weapons of mass destruction, questions about the intelligence that supported the US case for war, and dramatically rising costs of the occupation both in lives and money have revived issues that sharply divided the alliance six months ago.

Pentagon officials have said that while they expect intense discussion in Colorado Springs on Iraq, they believe it will be colored more by the high stakes in Iraq than by a replay of the decision to go to war.

"Now that those operations are over and we are trying to work through stabilization issues in Iraq, all the NATO see an important objective is to have a success there," a senior defense official told reporters Friday.

"And it's not just for NATO, it's also obviously for a lasting stability in the Middle East," he said.

Taking a longer term view, NATO defense ministers also will discuss progress toward establishing at NATO Response Force, a brigade size unit that could be deployed on short notice anywhere in the world in a crisis.

First elements of the force of about 15,000-20,000 troops are to be ready next year and it should be fully operational by 2006.

The ministers will take part in a exercise Wednesday at Shriever Air Force base outside Colorado Springs that is designed to dramatize how quickly crisis events can require such a force.

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