NATO Sum
mit in Prague.US appeals for greater assistance in the war in Afghanistan have failed to win much support from Nato allies.
At a two-day meeting of Nato defence ministers in Poland, Robert Gates, the US secretary of defence, said the US was ready to raise its troop levels in the country, but said "there clearly will be expectations that the allies must do more".
But his plea met with a limited response from European allies after only a few announced plans to send hundreds, not thousands, more troops.
France said it had no plans to send additional forces.The UK, which has the second largest force in Afghanistan, said it had made no decision on whether to send mo
re troops.
John Hutton, the British defence secretary, said it was up to other Nato countries to step up their commitments first.
Germany, which confirmed a pledge of 600 more soldiers that it first made earlier in the year, rejected calls by Gates for troops from Nato's Response Force (NRF) to be deployed to Afghanistan.
"The NRF
should not be used as a reserve," Franz Josef Jung, the German defence minister, said. "The NRF has fundamentally different tasks."
Italy has said it will send 500 more troops by April.
"A small number of states - Canada, Australia and the Netherlands - are fighting on their own an increasingly violent battle."
Source: Al Jazeera and World News
At a two-day meeting of Nato defence ministers in Poland, Robert Gates, the US secretary of defence, said the US was ready to raise its troop levels in the country, but said "there clearly will be expectations that the allies must do more".
But his plea met with a limited response from European allies after only a few announced plans to send hundreds, not thousands, more troops.
France said it had no plans to send additional forces.The UK, which has the second largest force in Afghanistan, said it had made no decision on whether to send mo
re troops.John Hutton, the British defence secretary, said it was up to other Nato countries to step up their commitments first.
Germany, which confirmed a pledge of 600 more soldiers that it first made earlier in the year, rejected calls by Gates for troops from Nato's Response Force (NRF) to be deployed to Afghanistan.
"The NRF
should not be used as a reserve," Franz Josef Jung, the German defence minister, said. "The NRF has fundamentally different tasks."Italy has said it will send 500 more troops by April.
"A small number of states - Canada, Australia and the Netherlands - are fighting on their own an increasingly violent battle."
Source: Al Jazeera and World News
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