The Atlantic alliance sidestepped a dispute between France and the United States about who should command the training mission, leaving this decision until after the advance party reports back in September.

De Hoop Scheffer said a team of 40 officers would be sent very quickly to Iraq, adding "it is the nucleus of the enlarged training mission."

He added, "the mission will get right to work."

"The allies have agreed to establish a Nato training implementation mission in Iraq," the official explanation.

De Hoop Scheffer brokered the compromise Friday that overcame days of deadlock between the United States and France.

A Nato official said earlier the main sticking point in the three days of talks here had been the issue of the unity of command, which France was opposing because of its "political significance", but which the United States wanted for military reasons.