Military

DATE=12/4/2003

TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT

TITLE=NATO/POWELL (S-ONLY)

NUMBER=2-310510

BYLINE=ROGER WILKISON

DATELINE=BRUSSELS

CONTENT=

VOICED AT:

INTRO: U-S Secretary of State Colin Powell has called on NATO to consider playing a more prominent role in stabilizing post-war Iraq. Mr. Powell made the remarks during a closed-door session of a NATO foreign ministers' meeting. V-O-A correspondent Roger Wilkison reports from Brussels.

TEXT: In a text prepared for delivery to his colleagues, Mr. Powell urges the alliance to examine how it might do more to support peace and stability in Iraq, which he says are critical for the entire alliance.

NATO is already providing logistical support for a Polish-led multinational division in central Iraq, and most of the alliance's 19 members have sent troops or civilian personnel to the country.

NATO Secretary-General George Robertson echoed Mr. Powell's call for a wider alliance role in Iraq, as he opened the meeting.

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The alliance must continue to help NATO countries who take on leadership roles in Iraq and prepare itself to take on new roles and missions where necessary.

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But diplomats at the meeting say France and Germany, which opposed the U-S-led war in Iraq, want the United Nations to play a bigger role in the country before they authorize greater NATO involvement there. (Signed)

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