Stoltenberg: NATO training centre in Kuwait important platform for Gulf cooperation

BRUSSELS, July 4 (KUNA) -- NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said here Monday that the Alliance is working with several Gulf countries in the fight against terrorism and in particular against the so-called Islamic States (IS) and to project stability in the region.
"One of the main messages at the Warsaw summit will be that NATO will work to fight terrorism and fight Islamic state (IS) by working with partner countries in the wider Middle East region and North Africa to enable them to fight terrorism," he told a press conference ahead of the NATO summit in Warsaw, Poland, on Friday and Saturday.
In reply to a question by the Kuwait news agency, KUNA at the press conference, the NATO chief said "we are also working with several countries in the Gulf region and we will soon inaugurate a NATO training Centre in Kuwait." "I visited Kuwait recently, saw the construction at the centre and this centre will be an important platform for regional cooperation between Gulf countries and NATO, addressing for instance what we can do to project stability," he added.
NATO is now training Iraqi forces inside Jordan but they will take a decision at Warsaw to expand that training of Iraqi forces inside Iraq. NATO is also working with Tunisia to develop their intelligence capacities but also their security forces, he noted.
He said that this week's NATO Summit in Warsaw comes "at a defining time for our security. With threats and challenges from many directions." "So at our Summit in Warsaw, we will agree to further enhance our military presence in the eastern part of the Alliance," Stoltenberg said.
Another major theme of the Summit will be projecting stability beyond NATO borders, he said adding that "when our neighbours are more stable, we are more secure. NATO can, and will do more to support them. We will decide that NATO AWACS aircraft will provide information to the Global Coalition to counter ISIL." The NATO leaders will agree on a role for NATO in the Central Mediterranean, complementing the European Union's Operation Sophia. And building on our effective cooperation in the Aegean to cut lines of human trafficking, he added.
"Afghanistan remains our largest operation. President Ghani and Chief Executive Abdullah will join us in Warsaw," he said.
In an exclusive interview with KUNA yesterday, Stoltenberg said that King of Jordan Abdullah II has been invited to the summit together with the Presidents of the EU Council and the EU Commission among others to participate in a meeting on NATO efforts to project stability to NATO's Southern neighbourhood.
He stressed that "Jordan is one of NATO's most active and effective partners and a valuable partner for NATO in projecting international security." "I would like to take this opportunity to convey my deepest condolences to His Majesty King Abdullah II and to the Jordanian people for the tragic terrorist attack that took place at the Syrian border on 21 June. My thoughts are with those who have lost their loved ones and with those who have been wounded. More than ever, we need to stand united against the scourge of terrorism," he told KUNA.
"We will continue to support Jordan in the fight against terrorism," he stressed.
There will also be at the sidelines of the Warsaw summit a Defence Ministers meeting with partner countries taking part in NATO's Interoperability Platform initiative, which will include Bahrain, Jordan, Morocco, Tunisia and the United Arab Emirates, he said. (end).
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