ROME, Aug. 7 (Xinhuanet) -- NATO sent a group of officers to Iraq on Saturday to begin its training mission for Iraqi forces.

    The first four officers left Saturday from a command center in the southern Italian city of Naples, NATO said in a statement fromNaples, calling it the official start of the mission in Iraq.

    The main part of the NATO training mission group, initially consisting of 45 members, will deploy next week, said the statement.

    The NATO trainers are due to report back by early September so that a decision can be made on the scope and content of any NATO training mission.

    The 26-nation alliance agreed on July 30 to send the team aftersidestepping a dispute between the US and France over command of the alliance operation.

    The mission's tasks include liaising with the Iraqi interim government and US-led coalition forces, helping Iraq establish defense and military headquarters and identifying Iraqi personnel for training outside the country.

    NATO leaders decided at their summit in Istanbul, Turkey, in June to train Iraqi security forces.

    At present, NATO's role in Iraq has been limited to providing logistical backup to a Polish-led division working with the American troops. Although 16 NATO members already have some troopsthere, they are not under the NATO flag. Enditem