ISTANBUL – NATO countries will set aside their objections and agree today to provide emergency military training for the new government of Iraq, White House officials said Sunday.
Two weeks ago, French President Jacques Chirac warned against “any meddling by NATO in this region.”
But responding to a request from Ayad Allawi, prime minister of the interim Iraqi government that will assume limited authority Wednesday, negotiators for the 26 NATO countries have agreed to give the alliance a direct role in providing military training and said they would call on members to step up their support for the new government.
Details of the agreement, including who will be trained, where and when, still have to be worked out, officials said.
Bush and the other NATO presidents and prime ministers are scheduled to finalize the tentative training agreement today at the start of a two-day summit in the largest city in Turkey, which borders Iraq.
Faced with a wave of bombings and more than 40,000 anti-Bush demonstrators, Turkish officials deployed warships outside waterfront hotels and 23,000 police to protect the 3,000 government officials and more than 20,000 journalists attending the summit.
Bush, appearing with NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, said the United States was “hoping to change the mission of NATO so it meets the threats of the 21st century, and we’re going to work together to help make sure NATO is configured militarily to meet the threats of the 21st century as well.”
Diplomats said that to win the endorsement of Germany and France, the agreement allows for the possibility that some of the training will take place outside Iraq. At the insistence of the Bush administration, the operation will be a formal NATO mission rather than a project of individual countries.
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