Rumsfeld discusses terror war with Nato

US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, fresh from a visit to Afghanistan, was joining Nato allies today to look at ways the 19-nation alliance can contribute more to the war against international terrorism.

The defence ministers, at their two-day winter meeting in Brussels, Belgium, are expected to call for studies on how Nato can better fight terrorism and curb weapons of mass destruction, a senior alliance official said.

The meeting is Rumsfeld’s first at Nato since the September 11 attacks in New York in Washington, and fellow defence ministers were eager to hear his views on the next step in the fight against terrorism.

It is also the first chance for allied defence ministers to talk with a top American official since the United States announced its intention to abandon its 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile treaty with Russia, a subject that worries many of Washington’s friends.

Nato has invoked Article 5 of its founding treaty, declaring that the attacks on the United States in September should be treated as an attack on all 19. But the alliance has had no frontline role in the war in Afghanistan and none is envisaged.

Although Nato’s 1999 strategic concept points to terrorism and the spread of weapons of mass destruction among the major threats facing Nato in the future, the alliance is still heavily geared toward fighting wars of territorial defence and not the shadowy forces of terror.

The defence ministers were expected to task the alliance with developing Nato’s effectiveness in this fight, as well as ways to stop the proliferation of chemical, biological and nuclear weapons, a senior Nato official said.

Russian defence minister Sergei Ivanov, also in Brussels, will be talking to Nato about plans for closer relations between the former adversaries.

Rumsfeld met Ivanov separately last night.

Earlier this month, Nato foreign ministers instructed alliance officials to begin setting up a new council where Russia could join the allies in discussion, planning and even decision-making.

The council is expected to be set up by next spring. This week, the defence ministers were to begin considering what subjects the new Nato-Russia council might cover, the senior official said.

Also on the ministerial agenda is the Balkans, where the alliance is leading about 60,000 troops in three separate military operations, in Bosnia, Kosovo and Macedonia.

The ministers will be looking at ways to make the Balkans operations more efficient to reduce their size.