NATO chief says peace in Afghanistan top priority for alliance

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Friday, February 13, 2004

NATO chief says peace in Afghanistan top priority for alliance

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The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) should first guarantee peace and stability in Afghanistan before it discusses its role in Iraq following the establishment of an Iraqi government, visiting NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer said in London on Feb. 12.

"Priority number one at the moment is Afghanistan. What kind of role NATO can play and will play in Iraq is very much dependent on the political developments there," de Hoop Scheffer told reporters, calling for countries to support the NATO peacekeeping efforts in the Afghanistan.

"If we have seen the transfer of sovereignty, if we see a legitimate Iraqi government supported by the United Nations, if that legitimate Iraqi government ...asks NATO to take on a more special role, then I think the allies would be in a position to constructively discuss that option," said the NATO chief.

In an Inaugural Policy Address at the London-based International Institute of Strategic Studies on Thursday, de Hoop Scheffer also called on NATO allies to throw away disagreements over the Iraq war and to do important work together.

On EU common defense, the NATO chief welcomed EU efforts to strengthen its military ability, claiming that it did not do harm to NATO.

It was right for the European Union to "continue to develop as a security actor," although NATO remains the foundation of the transatlantic collective defense, De Hoop Scheffer said.

De Hoop Scheffer, who earlier in the day held talks with British Prime Minister Tony Blair, Foreign Secretary Jack Straw and Defense Secretary Geoff Hoon, was in London for his first trip to Britain since he took office last month.

Source: Xinhua

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