NATO ready for "new era" in Iraq ties

By Mark John

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - NATO is ready to expand assistance to Iraq with military training and equipment as part of a "new era" of relations, but ruled out any role in combat operations, the alliance's secretary-general said on Thursday.

The 26-member military pact was torn in two over the 2003 U.S.-led invasion to oust Saddam Hussein, and its subsequent presence has been limited to small missions to train Iraqi security forces.

Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki formally requested more assistance during a visit to the alliance headquarters in Brussels and Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer said NATO was in principle ready to give more help.

"It is the start of a new era. ... All NATO allies would like to see a stable, secure, prosperous Iraq, where we all have a lot at stake," de Hoop Scheffer told a news conference with al-Maliki after their talks.

"NATO will not take the place of coalition forces in Iraq, but it will enhance its training," he added.

Maliki did not specify in what areas Iraq was seeking NATO help, but said it could include training in anti-terrorist activities for general infantry troops.

"We did not come here today to request extra troops. We came here for more training and equipping," said Maliki, who was capping a two-day visit to the European Union and NATO.

Iraq suffered new violence on Thursday when a suicide bomber struck a funeral in northern Iraq, killing 49 mourners and wounding 50.

NATO allies France and Germany led a bloc of opposition within the alliance to the 2003 war in what became one of the deepest rifts suffered in its 59-year history.

As part of efforts to overcome the split, the alliance agreed in 2004 to train Iraqi military personnel from an abandoned academy just outside Baghdad.

Since then it has trained more than 4,000 officers in the country and more than 930 at NATO and national facilities, according to the latest data on the NATO website. It has also delivered equipment, including ammunition, light vehicles, armored infantry fighting vehicles and battle tanks.

In October it launched a gendarme training course. Some 850 officers have already graduated, with a further 450 due this month.

(Reporting by Mark John, editing by David Brunnstrom and Mary Gabriel)