Brussels - NATO's new secretary general, Anders Fogh Rasmussen, said Monday that he has already called for talks with diplomats from countries in North Africa and the Middle East, amidst lingering concerns over his relations with the Muslim world.

Rasmussen was Denmark's prime minister in 2005 when a series of cartoons in a Copenhagen newspaper with caricatures of the prophet Mohammed outraged Muslim public opinion. Monday was his first day in his new position.

"Let me assure the governments and people (in NATO partner states in the Mediterranean and Middle East) that I am fully committed to building stronger relations with them on the basis of mutual respect, understanding and trust," Rasmussen said.

"I will take concrete steps, starting today, to engage with the countries of the Mediterranean Dialogue ... I will personally engage in dialogue with all of them to hear their views," he said.

At the same time, the cartoons controversy is "an element of the past," Rasmussen stressed, saying that he was looking forward to working with Muslim leaders in Afghanistan, in particular.

Rasmussen said that he had already invited the ambassadors of Mediterranean states including Algeria, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Mauritania, Morocco and Tunisia for one-on-one talks.

Those meetings should focus on "how to take relations forward," he said.

NATO founded its Mediterranean Dialogue in 1994 in a bid to build closer ties and improve security cooperation around its southern borders. (dpa)