EU agrees to training program for Iraqis

BRUSSELS, Feb 21 (AFP) - EU foreign ministers agreed Monday to launch a training program for about 770 Iraqi judges, investigating magistrates, senior police officers and prison staff, a diplomat said.
The agreement is seen as a gesture of goodwill a day before a summit between EU leaders and US President George W. Bush, in Brussels at the start of a three-country fence-mending visit to Europe two years after the Iraq war.
The training program, which is expected to begin this summer and will last for a year, would take place in EU states or in the region but not in Iraq, the source said.
It aims to train 520 judges, investigating magistrates, police and prison officers as well as 250 investigating magistrates and senior police in criminal investigation, he added.