• Military Menu                       

• Introduction
• Systems
• Facilities
• Agencies
• Industry
• Operations
• Countries
• Hot Documents
• News
• Reports
• Policy
• Budget
• Congress
• Links

• WMD
• Intelligence
• Homeland Security
• Space

NATO: Iraq Training Mission To End on December 31

December 12, 2011

NATO says it will end a police and army training mission in Iraq by the end of the year.

NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said in a statement that the extension of the program "did not prove possible, despite robust negotiations conducted over several weeks."

Rasmussen said that, since its launch in 2004 -- in the wake of the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq -- the NATO mission had trained more than 5,000 Iraqi soldiers and 10,000 police officers and provided more than 115 million euros ($152 million).

On November 29, Iraqi government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh said Iraq was studying a contract to extend NATO's presence in Iraq beyond year-end, but noted that such a deal would not grant its troops immunity from prosecution.

compiled from agency reports

Source: http://www.rferl.org/content/nato_to_close_irai_training_mission/24419602.html

Copyright (c) 2011. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.