Australia says it will only send additional troops to Afghanistan if its Nato allies also increase their contributions.

Australia plans to withdraw 100 troops from East Timor by early 2009 because the security situation has improved since trouble erupted in the tiny Pacific nation two years ago, Australia’s defence minister said today.

An additional 10,000 troops are required to quell a Taliban and al-Qaida insurgency in southern Afghanistan but European Nato partners appear unwilling to deploy more soldiers, Australia’s defence minister said today.

Australia’s defence minister voiced concerns today that the country’s troops could inadvertently breach the international ban on cluster bombs through its military alliance with the United States.

Thousands of people have gathered on the site of former WWI battlefields in Turkey for a ceremony to remember those who died in the devastating Battle of Gallipoli 93 years ago.