Iraq has urged NATO to make good on its offer as a matter of urgency given the daily bombings and shootings that continued to plague the country four weeks since the new interim government took over from the US-led occupation.

The North Atlantic Treaty Organization agreed at its summit in Istanbul last month to train Iraqi forces but was vague on the exact nature of the promised assistance or how and where it would be delivered.

"I strongly hope for (a decision) this week," de Hoop Scheffer told reporters in Brussels, confirming that proposals were being discussed ahead of a final choice by the North Atlantic Council, NATO's top decision-making body.

The United States is pressing for major NATO participation in Iraq but France is opposed to any NATO presence on the ground inside the country, and Germany also has made it clear it will not send troops into the country.

US ambassador to NATO Nicholas Burns echoed de Hoop Scheffer's aims.

"I agree wholeheartedly with the ... (secretary general) that the alliance should decide this week to establish a NATO training mission in Iraq," he told reporters.

"That is what our leaders decided in Istanbul ... NATO needs to act quickly to give the Iraqi government and people the support they so desperately need," he added.

WAR.WIRE