Manama, Bahrain - A German official said at a conference in Bahrain Sunday that Europe should be prepared to commit more forces to fighting terrorism and ensuring global security.
'I think Europe is doing enough to combat terrorism, but if the challenges continue to increase we have to add to our efforts,' Parliamentary State Secretary to the Federal Minister of Defence, Christian Schmidt told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa after addressing the third International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) regional security summit.
Schmidt said that Germany was prepared to assist in the outside training of Iraqi forces and to equip them.
'It is clear that the impact of developments in Iraq, particularly in the north, are very linked to Turkey, which is an applicant state for European Union membership,' he said.
'This is why we need to get Iraq out of the situation ... without separating or partitioning the state.'
Earlier on Sunday, Iraqi Interior Minister Jawad al-Bolani had said that he expected the Iraqi security forces to be fully prepared to handle the country's security by June or July of 2007.
Germany has about 9,000 soldiers deployed in Afghanistan, with maritime forces operating in the Middle East off the Gulf and Lebanese coasts.
Schmidt said that Germany's commitment to the maritime operations they are leading off the coast of Lebanon in enforcement of United Nations Security Council Resolution 1701 to stop the flow of arms to the radical Hezbollah movement would continue until the summer of 2007.
Schmidt said the Lebanese military had to get things under control in dealing with issues like rocket launchers that threaten Israel from Lebanese territory.
Schmidt also called for more transparency on Iran's behalf about its nuclear programme.
Turkish Minister of Defence Mehmet Vecdi Gonul said earlier that Turkey had no evidence that Iran's nuclear programme was of a military nature.
The Iranian side has not responded to offers that would open negotiations in exchange for a temporary halt of their programme.
Schmidt said that the international community's concerns revolve around the enrichment and development of nuclear military technology.
He would not give a timeframe for when he expected the Iranians to develop such military technology, but he said that it was a matter of years not decades.
Coming just two days after the Iraq Study Group in the US presented 79 recommendations on improving the Iraq situation and beginning a US withdrawal, the Bahrain meeting was being attended by some 200 delegates from more than 20 countries, including Iran, Iraq, Turkey, India, Japan, China and the US.
The London-based IISS, established in 1958 by individuals interested in maintaining civilized international relations in the nuclear age, is one the world's leading think tanks on political military conflicts.
