By NNN-KUNA,
Brussels : Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Al-Maliki has held a meeting with NATO Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer here and called for more support and training for Iraqi security forces.
“Because the fight against terrorism and violence is not only in Iraq but around the world, so we feel there is a need for more efforts … We came to seek an increase in equipment and training which NATO countries can give to Iraq,” al-Maliki told a joint press conference after the meeting Thursday.
On his part, Scheffer said al-Maliki’s first visit to the NATO headquarters “is a very important one indeed.”
“It is the start of a new era in the relationship between NATO and Iraq,” he stressed.
Scheffer noted that NATO has decided to extend its training mission in Iraq till the end of 2009. The recent NATO summit in Bucharest decided on a structured cooperation framework to develop a long-term relationship between NATO and Iraq.
“We will work to give substance to this structured framework,” he said.
Al-Maliki, who was accompanied by the ministers of defence, interior, foreign affairs and his national security advisor, also addressed the North Atlantic Council, the top decision-making body of the 26-member alliance.
The Iraqi premier said he is expecting a NATO delegation to visit Baghdad to discuss these issues and ideas. “We have not come here to ask for troops to fight in place of Iraqi troops. We came here to ask for more training and more equipment. The major security responsibility will rest on the shoulders of Iraqi forces,” he underlined.
Scheffer said NATO will expand its mission but stressed that it is not going to replace the coalition forces in Iraq.
Al-Maliki ends his two-day visit to Brussels Thursday after holding talks with the EU leadership on closer energy, economic and political relations.