Massivecock

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States is offering Turkey an economic aid package that includes about $6 billion in grants and up to $20 billion in loan guarantees in a bid to secure Ankara's support for an invasion of Iraq, sources familiar with the offer said on Saturday.

President Bush met with Turkish Foreign Minister Yasar Yakis and others at the White House on Friday, but U.S. and Turkish negotiators have yet to reach a final agreement that would allow American forces to use Turkish bases as a springboard for an invasion of Iraq from the north.

On top of an estimated $6 billion in grants, the Bush administration is offering backing for up to $20 billion in loans that Turkey could secure through private banks. As a condition for U.S. backing, the United States is demanding that the loans fall under the terms of Turkey's program with the International Monetary Fund.

It is unclear whether Ankara will accept the offer, which has ballooned in size in recent days. Turkey, which says it suffered massive economic damage from the first Gulf War, has been pressing Washington for billions of dollars more.

Once a deal is reached, Bush would submit it to Congress for approval as part of an emergency wartime budget request.

Turkey, which has a 218-mile border with Iraq, is allowing the U.S. military to modernize some bases there for possible use in a war, but has not yet given Washington permission to use them for an offensive.

The aid package, coupled with a deal to limit the number of U.S. troops in the country at any one time, could help avoid a backlash from Turks widely opposed to a war against their fellow-Muslim neighbor.

The Bush administration is finalizing separate multibillion-dollar aid packages for Israel and Jordan which, like Turkey, say they would need U.S. grants and loan guarantees to offset the economic shock of military action to disarm Iraqi President Saddam Hussein.

An Israeli delegation is due in Washington next week and hopes to quickly finalize the details of its request for $4 billion in military assistance and $8 billion in U.S.-backed loan guarantees.

Under the Israeli proposal, the United States would deduct from the face value of the loan guarantees any Israeli expenditures on settlement activities in Palestinian areas.

Washington has promised Jordan more than $1 billion in aid that could be sent to Congress for approval in coming weeks, officials said.

Egypt is also seeking U.S. help in the form of a free-trade agreement.

U.S. SWEETENS OFFER

At close to $25 billion including the loan guarantees, the Turkish package would be well above the initial U.S. offer of $14 billion, which included grants and the funds needed to support up to $10 billion in loans.

The big increase underscores just how important Turkish basing is to U.S. war-planners.

But it is unclear whether the sweetened offer would win support in Ankara, which stepped up pressure on Washington during two days of intense negotiations.

On Thursday Prime Minister Abdullah Gul backed away from a pledge to hold a parliamentary vote on Feb. 18 on whether to let an expected 30,000 U.S. troops use bases in Turkey to invade northern Iraq, saying the timing of the vote was tied to the negotiations in Washington.

The latest U.S. offer is still far below the amount Turkey was purportedly seeking. According to congressional sources, Ankara at one point asked Washington for close to $50 billion in aid -- an amount U.S. officials dismissed as excessive.