As Nato agreed at a three-day summit in Istanbul to help train Iraqi’s armed forces, Dutch Foreign Affairs Minister Ben Bot backed the earlier- than-planned transfer of power to the Iraqis on Monday. A spokesman for the minister — who was attending the summit with Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende — said the early handover of power was wise given the violence witnessed across Iraq in recent days, news agency ANP reported. He also said the fact that US President George Bush announced the transfer of power at the summit indicated that all Nato member states except the French, of course are united and serious about the transfer of power in the lead up to democratic elections in Iraq, scheduled for January 2005. Dutch MPs approved an eight-month extension of the nation’s peacekeeping mission in Iraq last week and the first deployment of replacement troops was departing from Eindhoven on Monday. |