Spokeswoman Cecile Pozzo di Borgo said the issue should be examined "on the basis of precise proposals, which have yet to be submitted to the Atlantic Council", a NATO decision-making body.

It would be necessary to look at "the type of mission, the chain of command and the legal basis for the mission", she added, recalling that Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin had already told NATO colleagues in early April that his country would consider an alliance role in Iraq.

The top European commander for NATO, General James L. Jones, said earlier in the day that the alliance would be ready to deploy in postwar Iraq but had not yet been asked to do so.

SPACE.WIRE