Alliance to train Iraqi forces

Nato Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer said today that the Nato mission to train Iraqi forces would involve alliance instructors working both inside and outside of the country.

However, de Hoop Scheffer told reporters it was too early to say how many Nato military personnel would be going to Iraq or when they would be deployed.

“I cannot give you details on numbers as yet,” he said. ”Nato is going to do training. Training is essential … It can be both inside and outside the country.”

More details of the mission would become clear after Nato leaders confirmed their approval of the training at the summit in Turkey on Monday, de Hoop Scheffer said.

He said the handover of sovereignty to an Iraqi government scheduled for Wednesday should lead Nato to “change our mindset as far as Iraq is concerned”.

He also expressed the hope that the United States would participate fully in the training programme for Iraqi forces.

Nato leaders reached an initial agreement on plans to help train Iraq’s armed forces following an urgent request from the county’s interim leader.

The allies were responding to a letter from Iraqi interim Prime Minister Iyad Allawi asking Nato for aid in rebuilding Iraq’s armed forces after the United States hands sovereignty to his government.

The Nato offer of training would be a boost for the United States, which has sought a wider role by the alliance in Iraq. However it falls well short of earlier US hopes that Nato would deploy troops to help restore order there.

Opposition led by France and Germany has prevented a Nato military role on the ground in Iraq, although several allies have individually sent troops to help the US-led coalition.

France and Germany have both gone along with the request to help training.

They signed up to a statement released on Saturday at a summit between Bush and EU leaders in Ireland stating the European Union would “support the training and equipping of professional Iraqi security forces, capable of assuming increasing responsibility for the country’s security, as requested by Prime Minister Allawi”.

At the meeting, Bush said the agreement showed last year’s bitter differences over the Iraq war were over.

“There is a common interest and a common goal to help the Iraqi people,” he said.

“Nato has the capability and I believe the responsibility to help the Iraqi people defeat the terrorist threat that’s facing their country,” Bush said.

However, it remained unclear how far some nations would go in contributing to the training effort.

Germany has said it will not send military instructors to Iraq, preferring instead to extend its existing programme training Iraqi police officers outside the country.