NATO Secretary General visits Iraq
Multi-National Force-Iraq
Friday, 10 April 2009
NATO TRAINING MISSION – IRAQ
Public Affairs Office, Cultural Centre, Baghdad
APO AE 09316
PRESS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Release No. 090410-01
April 09, 2009
Contact: ulo.isberg@ntmi-hq.nato.intThis e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
DSN: 239 7798
ASIA CELL: 0770-444 3671
NATO Secretary General visits Iraq
BAGHDAD – NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer arrived in Baghdad April 8, for meetings with Iraq’s President Jalal Al-Talibani, Prime Minister Nouri Al- Maliki, Minister of Defence Abd Al-Qadir, Minister of the Interior Jawad Al-Bolani and many other dignitaries.
The day’s events culminated at the Ministry of Defence with the formal signing an interim agreement between Iraq and NATO that continues the training and mentoring of the Iraqi Security Forces by the NATO Training Mission-Iraq.
Al-Qadir was pleased with the agreement. “Since the beginning, when NATO entered Iraq, they have cooperated with us. NATO offered a lot of training for the Military Academy; we are now performing at 90 percent ourselves. Our ambition is to keep the relationship with NATO for the long term,” he said.
Scheffer noted NATO’s history in Iraq, with an eye towards the future. "The relationship between Iraq and NATO has been a great success. But looking back is not enough. We must look ahead. Twenty eight NATO allies are ready to engage with Iraq for the long term. We're doing this in the interest of Iraqi and the people of Iraq. A country we want to have a long term relationship with."
NTM–I trains, mentors and advises officers in the Iraqi Security Forces and provides mentoring and advice to the Prime Minister’s National Operations Centre, the Iraqi Ministry of Interior Command Centre and the Iraqi Ministry of Defence Joint Operations Centre.
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FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT NATO TRAINING MISSION – IRAQ, PLEASE CONTACT pio@ntmi-hq.nato.int OR VISIT OUR WEBPAGE www.jfcnaples.nato.int/NTM-I/
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