J-10
06-08-2004, 10:11 AM
June 8, 2004 — BRUSSELS (*******) - The possibility that NATO will take a role in Iraq is "remote," a senior alliance diplomat said Tuesday after Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi raised the prospect of a decision to send troops there this month.
Leaders of the 26-nation alliance, meeting in Istanbul on June 28-29, will rally behind the new U.N. resolution on Iraq's future and offer to continue indirect support for a Polish-led multinational force in the country's south-central region.
"Apart from that...in all the papers that we are preparing for Istanbul there is a blank space for Iraq, which means that there is nothing," said the senior diplomat, who said France and Germany were firmly opposed to a direct role for the alliance.
The Financial Times reported Tuesday that Poland, backed by other countries which belong to the U.S.-led multinational force in Iraq, was pressing for NATO take over its command role.
But Warsaw's ambassador to NATO denied the report and said allies were discussing -- but only tentatively -- much more modest roles such as training Iraqi forces and protecting airports, borders and communication lines.
"Poland...is not pressing at the moment for any solution," Jerzy M. Nowak told *******.
In a draft U.N. resolution, the United States and Britain call for a multinational force, which could include international security organizations such as NATO, to support a provisional Iraqi government.
Berlusconi, asked on a morning radio show if the Istanbul summit could bring a decision to send troops from the alliance to Iraq, replied: "That is one of the possibilities."
Italy is one of the United States' staunchest allies in Iraq with 2,700 troops in the southern town of Nassiriya, but Berlusconi is under pressure at home over the deployment.
"The possibility of anything under a NATO flag in Iraq is remote and will be for the next six months," said one diplomat at the alliance's headquarters. "There is no chance of a NATO role any time soon and no one is pressing for it."
He noted that the United States, which earlier this year had encouraged allies to consider taking command of the Polish-led division, had lowered its expectations.
Secretary of State Colin Powell made it clear recently that NATO would not be the short-cut to burden-sharing some critics of the U.S. administration's huge military engagement believe, saying in one interview: "Let's not think there is a huge body of troops waiting in NATO just to be asked to come to Iraq."
Diplomats said the focus at Istanbul would be on Afghanistan, where NATO has struggled to expand its peacekeeping operation into unruly provinces because of allies' reluctance to commit costly military equipment such as helicopters and planes.
"It would be politically difficult to come to a decision on an Iraq role at Istanbul and, because we are all so overstretched, militarily impossible," said one.
He and others said a statement may be issued at the NATO summit leaving the door open to a role in Iraq in the future if the alliance was invited by the government in Baghdad.
From (http://abcnews.go.com/wire/World/*******20040608_209.html)
Leaders of the 26-nation alliance, meeting in Istanbul on June 28-29, will rally behind the new U.N. resolution on Iraq's future and offer to continue indirect support for a Polish-led multinational force in the country's south-central region.
"Apart from that...in all the papers that we are preparing for Istanbul there is a blank space for Iraq, which means that there is nothing," said the senior diplomat, who said France and Germany were firmly opposed to a direct role for the alliance.
The Financial Times reported Tuesday that Poland, backed by other countries which belong to the U.S.-led multinational force in Iraq, was pressing for NATO take over its command role.
But Warsaw's ambassador to NATO denied the report and said allies were discussing -- but only tentatively -- much more modest roles such as training Iraqi forces and protecting airports, borders and communication lines.
"Poland...is not pressing at the moment for any solution," Jerzy M. Nowak told *******.
In a draft U.N. resolution, the United States and Britain call for a multinational force, which could include international security organizations such as NATO, to support a provisional Iraqi government.
Berlusconi, asked on a morning radio show if the Istanbul summit could bring a decision to send troops from the alliance to Iraq, replied: "That is one of the possibilities."
Italy is one of the United States' staunchest allies in Iraq with 2,700 troops in the southern town of Nassiriya, but Berlusconi is under pressure at home over the deployment.
"The possibility of anything under a NATO flag in Iraq is remote and will be for the next six months," said one diplomat at the alliance's headquarters. "There is no chance of a NATO role any time soon and no one is pressing for it."
He noted that the United States, which earlier this year had encouraged allies to consider taking command of the Polish-led division, had lowered its expectations.
Secretary of State Colin Powell made it clear recently that NATO would not be the short-cut to burden-sharing some critics of the U.S. administration's huge military engagement believe, saying in one interview: "Let's not think there is a huge body of troops waiting in NATO just to be asked to come to Iraq."
Diplomats said the focus at Istanbul would be on Afghanistan, where NATO has struggled to expand its peacekeeping operation into unruly provinces because of allies' reluctance to commit costly military equipment such as helicopters and planes.
"It would be politically difficult to come to a decision on an Iraq role at Istanbul and, because we are all so overstretched, militarily impossible," said one.
He and others said a statement may be issued at the NATO summit leaving the door open to a role in Iraq in the future if the alliance was invited by the government in Baghdad.
From (http://abcnews.go.com/wire/World/*******20040608_209.html)