LATVIA: NATO leaders wary on boosting Afghanistan force

NATO leaders arrived at Wednesday's (November 29) opening session of the Riga summit intending to declare their determination to prevail over Taliban insurgents in Afghanistan while offering only small increases in troop levels and flexibility. Afghanistan was the sole focus of Tuesday's (November 28) working dinner at the NATO leaders' summit in the Latvian capital, and many of the 26 member nations expressed hope the most dangerous ground mission in NATO's 57-year history could yet succeed. "Never before has there been a greater demand for the security and stability that NATO can provide. We are here today to ensure that NATO continues its transformation to deliver 21st century solutions to the 21st century challenges. Yesterday we reviewed our operations and missions, first and foremost in Afghanistan. Contributing to peace and stability in Afghanistan is a just course, vital to our collective security, and to our shared values," NATO Secretary-General Jaap De Hoop Scheffer said at the opening of Wednesday's session. Many of NATO's 26 member nations on Tuesday expressed hope the most dangerous ground mission in the military alliance's 57-year history could yet succeed but several major nations pledged additional help only in cases of emergency. A NATO spokesman said three countries had committed more troops and that a majority had agreed to ease restrictions on where and how their forces could fight in Afghanistan. He declined to name the three countries, but said they were in addition to Canada, Denmark and the Czech Republic, which have already made public pledges to increase troop levels. France, Germany, Italy and Spain, who sparked a row by refusing calls in September to send troops to the Taliban's southern Afghan heartland, promised to send help to trouble zones outside their areas but only in emergencies. Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi said Italy's position on troop locations and numbers had not changed and it would only move forces "in extremis". Germany, France and Spain expressed the same position, he said. French officials said France could "on a case-by-case basis and on request" send troops outside their zone if necessary. Madrid's pledge was yet more guarded, with a Spanish official saying Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero had offered use of Spanish helicopters in exceptional circumstances to help evacuate wounded NATO solders, and not for combat. France has a contingent in the capital Kabul and Spanish troops operate in the relatively calm west. The most urgent need is in southern Afghanistan, where British, Dutch and Canadians have suffered heavy casualties. A Canadian official said Canada had pledged 1,000 more troops without geographical or other restrictions. The official said Canada, which has lost 44 soldiers in the conflict including two this week, would like to see all countries in Afghanistan drop such "bureaucratic restrictions". While Afghanistan dominated the summit's opening session on Tuesday, Wednesday's talks were ranging over NATO enlargement, energy security, political guidelines for the military and modernisation. The organisation expects to issue more invitations to candidate countries to join at its next summit in 2008. The leaders will differentiate subtly among the three current aspirants in NATO's Membership Action Plan -- Croatia, seen as best prepared, Macedonia and Albania. Diplomats said there was a chance NATO might after all invite Bosnia, Serbia and Montenegro to take the first step towards membership by joining its Partnership for Peace. NATO had been reluctant because Serbia and Bosnia are not fully cooperating with the U.N. war crimes tribunal by arresting and handing over top former Bosnian Serb leaders, Radovan Karadzic and Ratko Mladic. But the diplomats said the United States had had a late change of heart, apparently swayed by a letter from reformist Serbian President Boris Tadic appealing to NATO to help the democrats in his country.

ITN Source | November 28, 2006

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