WASHINGTON, March 31: The United States is looking to extend to Middle Eastern countries the same kind of cooperation established between Nato and the former Soviet bloc nations under the so-called Partnership for Peace , a senior US official said Tuesday.

The idea is one of several US projects for democratic and social reform in the Arab-Muslim world, said Robert Bradtke, the State Department's deputy assistant secretary of state for Europe.

Tools used in the Partnership for Peace, the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation's operation with central and east European non-member countries, could be used to show "what we can do on areas like counterterrorism, (and) enhancing interoperability," said Bradtke.

Such a move would help Middle Eastern countries reinforce their ties with Nato with a view to peacekeeping operations or joint military exercises, or to obtain Nato support for defense reform and planning, the diplomat said.

Bradtke said Washington also wanted to boost the current dialogue between Nato and seven Mediterranean countries, the so-called Mediterranean Dialogue, "and try to invigorate that."

The policies will be discussed Friday informally in Brussels during a Nato foreign ministers meeting that Secretary of State Colin Powell plans to attend. Washington wants to discuss support for Middle East reform at the G8 and Nato summits in June. -AFP