Nato unveils strike force

A cutting-edge force of warships, fighter planes and 9,000 troops was born yesterday, the product of Nato's drive to provide the answer to post-September 11 security threats wherever they blow up.

It was a rare moment of glory for the Cold War alliance, which was plunged into self-doubt when Washington sidelined it after the 2001 hijacked airliner attacks on the United States and was then roiled by transatlantic divisions over Iraq.

The alliance's top soldier, US Marines General James Jones, said the birth of the Nato Response Force (NRF) was "one of the most important changes" in the organisation since its founding Washington Treaty was signed 54 years ago.

"The NRF will give the alliance the military capability to do what it could not before: insert military forces into a deteriorating situation earlier in a crisis, with more speed, at greater ranges and with more sustainability than ever before."

Jones handed the new force's flag to its commander, General Jack Deverell, during a ceremony at the 19-nation alliance's northern headquarters in Brunssum, the Netherlands.

The NRF - lethal, agile and ready to be deployed to hotspots within five days - is expected to grow to some 20,000 troops and become fully operational by October 2006.

Jones said some countries with cumbersome and time-consuming parliamentary procedures for authorising military action abroad, such as Germany, Hungary, the Netherlands and Turkey, had agreed to consider making exceptions for the NRF.

He told a news conference that if these countries could not smooth the way to rapid deployment, their forces would have to be excluded.

The "prototype" of the expeditionary force unveiled yesterday is not ready for high-intensity combat. But officials say that, even in its infancy, it could be deployed for non-combat rescue operations and humanitarian crises, or as a show of force to deter aggression.

Of the 14 nations in the start-up force, Spain will make the biggest contribution with 2,200 troops as well as ships and aircraft, and France will be next with 1,700 personnel. Spain will command the maritime component and Turkey the land forces.