The diplomats -- who according to a media report did not include the Iraqi ambassador to Turkey -- have been told to leave the country "in the briefest time possible," said the source, who asked not to be named.

He did not identify the diplomats in question, but the NTV television news channel said earlier that they were were the the embassy's first and second secretaries, respectively Ahmet Matloub and Mouhammed Hikmet, and Sabah Al-Douri, its deputy trade attache.

It was not immediately clear whether the expulsions were being carried out in response to a request from the United States, which last month appealed to all countries to expel Iraqi diplomats, at the same time as sent its military to invade Iraq.

The move also comes three days after US Secretary of State Colin Powell paid a visit to Turkey, which has angered the United States by refusing to allow US forces to invade Iraq from its territory.

NTV said Iraq's diplomatic mission in Ankara was staffed by some 20 diplomats in all before the expulsions.

The TV channel also noted that Turkey had not so far responded to a US request for it to freeze Iraqi assets held by Turkish financial institutions.

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