7 states of ex-Soviet bloc join Nato

President Bush welcomed seven former Soviet-dominated nations into Nato Monday, saying the 55-year old Western alliance would be strengthened because "tyranny for them is still a fresh memory."

The expansion of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation to 26 members was celebrated as Nato signaled a willingness to play a military role in Iraq if authorised by a new UN Security Council resolution.

Standing with prime ministers in a ceremony on the South Lawn of the White House, Bush said the new members "earned their freedom through courage and perseverance and today they stand with us as full and equal partners in this great alliance."

Joining Bush under bright sunshine were the leaders of Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia.

Three of the new members the Baltic states of Lithuania, Estonia and Latvia are former Soviet republics. As recently as 15 years ago more than 100,000 Red Army soldiers were stationed there.

"As witness to some of the great crimes of the last century, our new members bring moral clarity to the purposes of our alliance. They understand our cause in Afghanistan and in Iraq," the president said, "because tyranny for them is still a fresh memory."

Meanwhile, Nato Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer said the alliance might be willing to play a role in Iraq if the UN Security Council authorised an international security force to serve there. It might even be willing to take command of part of that force, De Hoop Scheffer told reporters.

That would be a major step, since the alliance has been divided by the war in Iraq. France and Germany, two of Nato's key European members, opposed the war. And public opinion in other member countries, including Spain, is against sending troops.

De Hoop Scheffer said Nato might get involved if the Security Council passed a resolution and if the governing body that takes political control in Iraq on June 30 asked for troops.

"I think that the Nato allies would enter that discussion with a positive attitude, which could mean that Nato, as far as command is concerned, could participate or could take over a certain part of the stabilization force," he said in an interview with a group of reporters ahead of the White House ceremony.

De Hoop Scheffer said he hoped the 18 Nato countries that presently have forces in Iraq under US command will keep them there.

Bush praised those Nato countries for their help in Iraq, and also those playing a peacekeeping role in Afghanistan.