Schily to Assess Iraqi Police Training

German Interior Minister Otto Schily will travel to the Gulf region this weekend to review progress being made in training Iraqi police, his office said in a statement Tuesday. Schily's trip, from Feb. 12-15, will take in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Qatar, Bahrain, Oman and Yemen. It comes just days after US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice urged Germany to offer proof of improved relations between Washington and Berlin by playing a greater role in Iraq. Germany was one of the main opponents to the US-led war to topple Saddam Hussein in 2003 and refused to contribute to any peacekeeping efforts there. However it has been training Iraqi police and military officers outside of Iraq, much of it in the UAE.