ISTANBUL, 28 June 2004 — NATO agreed yesterday to help Iraq train its new army on the eve of a summit in Istanbul, but emotions were high amid street protests against visiting US President George W. Bush and tight security.
“We have decided today to offer NATO’s assistance to the government of Iraq with the training of its security forces,” said a draft declaration urging alliance “nations to contribute to the training of the Iraqi armed forces.”
“We have asked the North Atlantic Council to develop on an urgent basis the modalities to implement this decision with the Iraqi interim government,” said the draft, seen by AFP.
Iraq is set to dominate the summit agenda with members keen to present a united front after divisions last year over the war there provoked the worst crisis in NATO’s 55-year history.
The draft suggests the 26-strong military alliance will formalize an accord to train the Iraqi Army, struck in Brussels on Saturday.
However, it was still unclear if the training would take place inside or outside Iraq — a key issue since critics of the war, France and Germany, have said they are unwilling to send troops into the violence-stricken country.
German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder reiterated that position yesterday, saying that Berlin was willing to train Iraqi soldiers but not inside Iraq.
But Iraq’s interim Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari insisted that any training should take place on his country’s soil.
“We want that, in order to build a viable security force, we need actually that training to take place inside Iraq and to be adaptable to Iraqi conditions,” he told reporters.
Earlier, Zebari and Hazem Al-Shalan — the defense minister in the interim government which formally assumes sovereignty in Iraq on June 30 — held talks with US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld about what their training needs would be.
“The important thing is that NATO is fulfilling a responsibility to assist in the training and equipping of the Iraqi forces,” Rumsfeld told reporters.
