Iraq's acting president on Tuesday called for Turkey to send up to 10,000 peacekeeping troops under a U.N. mandate, providing they deploy far from Kurdish territory. The invitation contradicts the foreign minister.

Violence hit the Kurdish area of northern Iraq late Tuesday night when a car bomb exploded, killing an Iraqi and wounding dozens of other people, including six Americans.

Staff Sgt. Shane Slaughter, U.S. military spokesman in Baghdad, described the injured Americans as Department of Defense personnel. He did not say if they were military or civilian.

He said that the military was investigating the bombing in Irbil. There were no claims of responsibility.

Entifadh Kanbar, spokesman for Ahmad Chalabi, the member of the Governing Council's nine-member presidency who is serving for the month of September, also said Chalabi had been invited by the Turkish government to pay "a very important visit."

"We are welcoming the participation of Turkish forces under the United Nations  resolution ... in the western area in Iraq under the condition that this force should not exceed 10,000," Kanbar said, referring to a resolution proposed by the United States.

A Turkish force in Iraq is an extremely sensitive issue because of the large Kurdish population near the Turkish border, where some Kurdish rebels took refuge in the mountains after fighting a 15-year rebellion in Turkey.

An estimated 37,000 people died in that fighting, and Turkey is concerned that instability in Iraq could re-ignite the war. Turks and Kurds have a centuries-old animosity.

Turkey also worries the Iraqi Kurds may be trying to carve out a separate homeland in northern Iraq that could inspire Turkish Kurds.

Turks overwhelmingly opposed the U.S.-led war in Iraq, and many question whether their soldiers should risk dying for a mission they largely don't support. The Turkish government is weighing a request to parliament to send troops, under pressure from the United States, but is keenly aware such a move could divide the ruling party and threaten the government's stability.

Yet the influential Turkish military supports sending a force.

"The legitimacy (of the war) can be debated, but that's in the past now," said Turkish Gen. Hilmi Ozkok. "If the United States is unsuccessful and there is instability there, this will concern Turkey."

Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul said he expects his government to decide this month whether to send in peacekeepers. Parliament would also have to approve the deployment.

"I believe that when the government makes a decision, our party, and our (parliamentary) group will back it," Gul said Tuesday, emphasizing no decision had yet been made.

Also on Tuesday, the Arab League granted the Iraqi Governing Council the Baghdad seat on the 22-member body after initially shunning the American-picked interim government.

The Iraqi seat was occupied by new Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari, a member of the Kurdish minority who has said he opposes neighboring countries contributing to a peacekeeping force in Iraq.

"The new Iraq will be different from that of Saddam Hussein," Zebari said in his first remarks to the Arab League. "The new Iraq will be based on diversity, democracy, constitution, law and respect for human rights."

Zebari stressed the multiethnic nature of Iraq, but pledged to work with "Arab brethren," earning applause from his fellow foreign ministers.

After hours of closed door talks, the foreign ministers issued a communique saying the Governing Council had been granted Iraq's seat until a legitimate Iraqi government is formed and a new constitution drawn up.

In other developments, three U.S. soldiers were injured Tuesday when their Humvee hit a mine on the road near Fallujah, west of the capital, witnesses said. The military confirmed the incident but said it had no details.

Fallujah, 35 miles west of Baghdad, is one of the most dangerous places for the occupation force. It sits in the so-called "Sunni Triangle," the area north and west of Baghdad where support for Saddam remains strong.

The 4th Infantry Division, meanwhile, reported a soldier was seriously injured in a mortar attack Monday near Balad, 50 miles north of Baghdad. Division spokeswoman Maj. Josslyn Aberle said she had no other details.

Firefighters on Tuesday put out a pipeline fire in northern Iraq that had been set by saboteurs a day earlier. It was the fifth such attack on the oil delivery system in less than a month. The acts of sabotage have shut the export pipeline to Turkey and are costing the country an estimated $7 million a day.

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