The Commandant of the NATO Defense College, Lieutenant General Wolf-Dieter Loeser, paid an official visit to Bahrain from 15 to 17 March to hold bilateral talks with senior officials from the Kingdom of Bahrain.
During his visit he was received by General Sheikh Khalifa Bin Ahmed Al Khalifa, Commander-in-Chief of the Bahrain Defence Force (BDF). Together they reviewed the already excellent level of bilateral co-operation and agreed to strengthen it further.
The Commandant also had a meeting with Lieutenant General Dr. Sheikh Mohammed Bin Abdullah Al-Khalifa, Minister of State for Defence Affairs, Bahrain Defence Forces (BDF) and thanked him for the strong support of the Kingdom of Bahrain to the NATO Defense College.
On 16 March the Commandant delivered a Speech on "NATO, the Middle East and the new Strategic Concept" at the Royal Command and Staff College (RCSC) of the Bahrain Defence Forces. During his speech he commended the newly established RCSC as a centre of military education of excellence and thanked its leadership for promoting close ties with the NATO Defense College. The event was organized by Brigadier General Youssef Bahzad, Director of the Royal Command and Staff College and presided over by Major General Hassan Abdallah Al-Noaimi, Inspector General of the BDF. After the speech, General Loeser answered questions from officers attending the presentation including representatives from Bahrain, Oman, and Saudi Arabia.
On 17 March 2010, General Loeser met Major General Abdullatif Al-Zayani, Chief of Public Security, Ministry of the Interior of Bahrain. General Loeser thanked General Zayani for his visit and speech at the NATO Defense College last year and invited him to Rome again. This event was followed by a visit to the Special Forces of the Ministry of the Interior, organized by its commander Colonel Zayed, and then by a briefing on the efforts of the Ministry of Interior to protect critical infrastructure.
The visit to Bahrain was concluded with a bilateral meeting between the Commandant with Ambassador Hamad Ahmed Abdulaziz Al-Amer, Under-Secretary for Regional and GCC Affairs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs. They discussed the future participation of Bahraini diplomats in the NATO Regional Cooperation Course (NRCC) and agreed that Ambassador Hamad would visit the College in Rome in the upcoming months in order to explore further bilateral activities.
NDC Public Affairs Office
NATO Defense College 
