Many nations around the world, including top U.S. allies, were balking yesterday about supporting a possible war on Iraq, after the United States said it had quietly asked 50 countries to chip in troops or military materials.

Australia said it was too soon to talk about committing for-ces. Japan couldn't even con-firm receiving such a request.

South Korea, which hosts about 37,000 U.S. soldiers, said it was undecided.

The tepid response comes a day after a senior aide to U.S. President George W. Bush said the U.S. had contacted dozens of nations, including Canada, Britain and Germany, for military backing if Bush decides to use force in Iraq.

Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein has until December 8 to give the United Nations an accounting of his weapons of mass destruction. Bush has been racing to assemble support for a possible military strike, saying Iraq has only a "short time" to come clean.

Even with many countries playing wait-and-see, the Bush administration has managed to score some early victories in rallying a coalition.

In Prague, the 19 NATO leaders, prodded by Bush, demanded yesterday that Iraq "fully and immediately" comply with a U.N. resolution to disarm. Even staunchly anti-war Germany joined the alliance in threatening "serious consequences" for Iraqi defiance.

Opening a two-day summit of the growing military alliance, the leaders issued a four-paragraph statement saying, "NATO allies stand united in their commitment to take effective action to assist and support the efforts of the U.N. to ensure full and immediate compliance by Iraq, without conditions or restrictions."

The statement does not specifically endorse military action should Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein fail to com-ply, but Bush administration officials said they were pleased nonetheless.

U.S. military forces are already in the Gulf states of Qatar, Bahrain and Kuwait, which have indicated a willingness to serve as staging points for any attack.

Victoria Clarke, a spokes-woman for U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, said she could not discuss specifics of U.S. consultations with potential allies.

The U.S. is still awaiting feedback from some close friends.

Prime Minister John Howard has said Australia is in talks with Washington about "contingency plans" for Iraq. But in an interview yesterday, he said, "It's premature at the moment to be talking about decisions about committing forces to Iraq."

(The Associated Press)