Dutchman Jaap de Hoop Scheffer took over as NATO's top official yesterday pledging to unite the alliance as it prepares for a wider military role in Afghanistan and, perhaps, Iraq.
Arriving for his first day as secretary general, De Hoop Scheffer said Afghanistan was the immediate priority for the 19-member military alliance, which is planning to extend its peacekeeping mission beyond the capital, Kabul.
PHOTO: AFP
"The primary focus at the moment should be on Afghanistan," he told reporters. "The world community and NATO cannot afford to lose there."
Any decision on a US proposal for NATO to take on a military role on the ground in Iraq will have to wait, he said.
"It is certainly not be excluded of course ... that will depend on the political developments as they take place and as they take shape in Iraq over the coming months," De Hoop Scheffer said.
The former Dutch foreign minister, who replaces Britain's Lord Robertson in NATO's top job, said a priority would be to ensure unity in an alliance which was deeply split last year over the war in Iraq.
"I'll try to build bridges," he said, stressing the need for teamwork among the 19 allied governments.
NATO's peacekeeping mission in Afghanistan is currently limited to around 5,500 troops in Kabul and the northern city of Kunduz.
In response to appeals from the United Nations and the Afghan government, NATO is drawing up plans to expand its force to other provincial cities.
De Hoop Scheffer said Sunday's agreement on a new constitution for Afghanistan underlined the importance of helping build stability.
However, he faces a difficult task persuading allied governments to commit manpower for the wider mission, which may entail several thousand extra soldiers.
In apparent reference to his predecessor's struggle to put together the right mix of specialist troops and equipment for the Kabul operation, De Hoop Scheffer reminded allies they must match political decisions with "the need to meet requirements on the ground."
Securing allied governments' agreement for a NATO military role in Iraq may prove an even tougher test for De Hoop Scheffer.
A long-serving diplomat and center-right politician, De Hoop Scheffer, 55, is the third Dutchman to hold NATO's top job since the alliance was founded in 1949.
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