BRUSSELS, Jan 23 (AFP) - NATO, nearly ripped apart by the Iraq war, hopes this month's elections there can mark a fresh step in the healing process -- but the wounds are still sore and few expect an overnight recovery.
The United States has pressed hard for the 26-member alliance to play a greater role in the country, which goes to the polls on January 30 allowing Iraqis to choose their own leaders for the first time in decades.
To that end US President George W. Bush -- who will attend a NATO summit here next month in his first foreign trip since his reinauguration -- persuaded allies last year to send a modest NATO training mission to Iraq.
But continuing strains have been all too evident even in the process of putting together the 300-strong North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) mission in Baghdad.
In particular the US wanted anti-war states like France and Germany to rethink their refusal to deploy troops in Iraq.
"Training the Iraqi military force... is one of the very most important priorities for that country. It has to be because that's the future, said US ambassador to NATO Nicholas Burns in a recent speech.
The Iraq challenge comes after a rollercoaster few years for NATO. It was widely seen as being sidelined in the initial US response to the September 11, 2001 attacks.
But it has since become far more central to Washington's plans, taking command in 2003 of a major peacekeeping operation in Afghanistan, Washington's first target in the war against terrorism after 9/11.
Now President Bush, who critics say could be ready to move on to his next target, Iran, wants his NATO allies to help shoulder more responsibility in Iraq.
"We hope that those countries that elect to train outside Iraq would get involved in that in 2005," said Burns.
There have been conciliatory signs, notably from France, whose President Jacques Chirac spearheaded the anti-war movement.
French Defence Minister Michele Alliot-Marie this month welcomed positive remarks by incoming US secretary of state Condoleezza Rice about NATO and the European Union.
"It's interesting to note that Ms Rice so clearly stresses the merits of collective action and that she cites the European Union and NATO. That has always been our approach," she said.
But that has not so far changed the refusal of France, Germany and a group of other anti-war countries to let their officers be deployed on Iraq soil.
"Obviously that makes it more difficult," said NATO's top military commander General James Jones this month. "As a concept for the alliance, I hope that this is an aberration," he said.
As well as the training mission, NATO is also helping to ship equipment to Iraq, including thousands of AK47 guns and rocket-propelled grenade launchers, and possibly large numbers of tanks if logistics can be arranged.
It is also providing logistical support for Polish forces commanding a division of the multinational force in Iraq.
The February 22 NATO summit in Brussels -- when Bush will also meet EU leaders -- may shed light on what more the United States wants from the alliance.
NATO chief Jaap de Hoop Scheffer said that a further NATO role in Iraq could not be ruled out if the new Iraqi government asked for it.
"If the Iraqi government, after the elections, would come to NATO and make other requests to NATO, the allies would certainly discuss those requests. But it's too early for me to say" what their answer would be, he said.
Another senior NATO source said the alliance was awaiting the outcome of the Iraq ballots keenly, including for signs as to whether it could trigger a rethink in some capitals.
"We'll see if the result changes things," he said.

01/23/2005 12:56 GMT - AFP