White House confident NATO will send aid to train Iraqi Forces, U.S. forces targets Zarqawi network, North Korea threatens nuclear testing, Powell to discuss humanitarian issues with Sudan's government, week ahead.

ADMINISTRATION CONFIDENT NATO WILL AID IRAQ

A senior White House official told reporters June 25 that the administration believes that NATO allies, at the upcoming summit, would agree to train Iraqi security forces.

The NATO summit will be held June 28-29 in Istanbul, Turkey.

"The Iraqis have made clear to everybody that they're not capable of performing the functions that are needed to secure the country. They need a robust police force," the official said.

According to news reports, Iraq's Prime Minister Ayad al-Allawi sent a letter June 22 requesting NATO's help in training police officers and army troops.

"I think that a number of our other allies, believe that when you get from Allawi a request for training that NATO needs to be responsive to that, and that Istanbul is the time to be responsive," the White House official said.

When asked whether possible NATO assistance would be placed in Iraq under command of a single member state or through NATO auspices, the official said, "Remember that NATO is made up of member states, and so obviously the training is going to have to be done by member states' trainers. NATO doesn't have a NATO training facility, or a NATO training mechanism."

According to the official, there are 16 members of NATO with troops in Iraq.

The White House official said that some NATO members had reservations about placing troops in Iraq because of domestic political reasons and due to the other defense constrains from current participation in Afghanistan.

"We would certainly hope that NATO is prepared to make a commitment to the training of Iraqi forces in order to answer Allawi," the official said.

U.S. MILITARY TARGETS ZARQAWI NETWORK

The U.S. military launched its third air-strike of the week in Fallujah, aimed at destroying a suspected safe house for Abu Musab al-Zarqawi's terror network, said U.S. officials.

Zarqawi, a high-ranking al Qaeda operative in Iraq, is alleged to have been behind the many terror attacks that hit Iraq June 24, days before the transfer of sovereignty.

The senior White House official said that the United States remains uncertain of how extensive Zarqawi's network is but added, "I suspect that there is some kind of command and control that Zarqawi himself is involved with."

When asked about the Zarqawi network, the official said, " What you really want to do is to be sure that you're going after the safe houses. You want to be sure that you're exploring the intelligence on other potential bad people with whom his people may be cooperating."

According to the official, the U.S. attacks on safe houses in and around Fallujah have resulted in "good hits" and there have been "a number of fighters who were taken down up there, killed in those bombings."

"There's no doubt that any insurgency tries to feed off a sense of disorder, it tries to feed off a sense that politically there's no future, it tries to feed off of misery," the spokesperson said, "But we have to remember that people living in places like Sadr City and parts of the south and Fallujah were living in misery well before the United States got there because of the policies of Saddam Hussein."

Under Prime Minister Alawi, the Iraqi government will have an opportunity to mobilize the Iraqi people behind what will be a "very tough struggle to rid themselves of these terrible elements, and then to start moving forward," said the official.

NORTH KOREA THREATENS NUCLEAR TESTING DURING TALKS

The senior official told reporters that North Korea has threatened to test a nuclear weapon, during the third round of six-party talks in Beijing.

The threat came at an "extremely odd time," but is not the first time that North Korea has mentioned nuclear deterrence, said the official.

According to news reports, North Korea threatened June 25 to continue testing of nuclear weapons unless the United States accepts its conditions for a freeze on its atomic program.

China, Japan, North and South Korea, Russia and the United States began meetings June 23 in Beijing when the U.S. offered a proposal to provide North Korea with non-nuclear energy assistance and security guarantees in exchange for dismantling its nuclear weapons program.

"Anything the North Koreans do to demonstrate that they don't get the message from the other five that they have to de-nuclearize simply serves to isolate them," said the official.

The official explained that North Korea was offered a way to end its isolation, provided they dismantled their nuclear weapons programs.

"It would be a very odd step to go and have a nuclear test when there is a different path," the official said.

POWELL TO DISCUSS HUMANITARIAN CRISIS WITH SUDAN GOVERNMENT

The White House official said that Secretary of State Colin Powell will travel to Sudan June 29 to discuss humanitarian conditions in the western region of Darfur.

According to news reports, At least 10,000 people have been killed and up to a million displaced in Darfur since black African rebels rose up in February 2003, accusing the Khartoum government of discrimination and neglect.

The United States is "working very hard with the United Nations to get humanitarian workers" into Sudan and is working with Libya to improve Sudan's accessibility by opening an extra route, said the White House official.

THE WEEK AHEAD

Saturday, June 26: President Bush will meet with President McAleese of Ireland, followed by a meeting with the Taoiseach, Bertie Ahern. The president will then participate in a U.S.-EU meeting.

Sunday June 27: The president will meet with Turkish Prime Minister
Erdogan, followed by a visit to Ataturk's Mausoleum. Bush will then
meet with President Sezer, who will host a working lunch for him. Following lunch, the president and Mrs. Bush will depart Ankara for Istanbul, and that afternoon, the president will meet with religious leaders, and then with NATO Secretary-General de Hoop Scheffer.

Monday June 28: The president will begin his day with a working session with the North Atlantic Council, followed that afternoon with a Council working lunch and a meeting with Prime Minister Blair of the United Kingdom.

Tuesday, June 29: The president will participate in a working session
of the NATO-Ukraine Commission, and a working session of the Euro-Atlantic
Partnership Council. The president will then deliver remarks at Galatasaray
University. Following those remarks, the President will depart Istanbul for
Washington.

Wednesday, June 30: NO PUBLIC EVENTS SCHEDULED

Thursday July 1: President Bush will make remarks in the State Dining Room at a reception commemorating the 40th anniversary of the Civil Rights Act.

Friday July 2: The president will make remarks on the economy in the East Room.

Saturday July 3: NO PUBLIC EVENTS ANNOUNCED

Sunday July 4: The president will make remarks at a 4th of July celebration in Charleston, West Virginia, and then he will return to the White House, where he will watch the fireworks from the White House balcony.

(Distributed by the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)