NATO ministers to meet on Afghan trainers

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton arrived here Thursday for talks with her NATO counterparts about the alliance's role in nuclear defence and ways to drum up more trainers for the Afghan army.

The gathering in the Estonian capital Tallinn will first focus on plans to reform NATO to deal with modern security threats, followed by a working dinner on nuclear and missile defence policy.

"If we look at today's world, then there is no alternative to nuclear arms in NATO's deterrent capability," NATO chief Anders Fogh Rasmussen told Estonian public television.

"My personal opinion is that the stationing of US nuclear weapons in Europe is part of deterrence to be taken seriously," he said.

A senior State Department official told reporters traveling with Clinton that at the dinner with her counterparts, she would build on US-sponsored efforts to reduce nuclear arms as well as tackle "the question of non-strategic nuclear weapons in NATO."

He did not elaborate.

But Germany, Belgium and several other countries appear intent on calling for the United States to remove its tactical nuclear weapons, something Washington is reluctant to do without Russia cutting its tactical arsenal.

There are no official figures published but there are thought to be some 240 US nuclear weapons scattered around Europe in five NATO nations; Belgium, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and Turkey.

Another senior US official said earlier it would be NATO's first real talks on nuclear policy since the early 1990s.

"Our principle, and most important guide-post for moving into this discussion is that we don't want to divide the alliance on this issue," he said.

Friday's morning session will include talks about cooperation with Russia -- although no Russian officials are due to attend -- and talks among NATO nations and partners fighting the Taliban, Al-Qaeda and their backers in Afghanistan.

Clinton is scheduled to have talks with Zalmai Rassoul, the new Afghan foreign minister.

Rasmussen urged the allies to help find 450 new trainers to help build up the Afghan army and police to take responsibility for national security on their own.

"For transition to take place, we need Afghan forces to play their part. Which means we need trainers," he told reporters in Brussels before leaving for Tallinn.

"We are still short about 450 trainers. It's a relatively small number. But those trainers have a big effect," he said, and urged the ministers "to see what they can do to free up these mission-critical resources."

Rasmussen said the ministers would also seek to agree "on the principles and decision-making framework" for security duties to be handed from NATO and US-led forces to the Afghans.

NATO leads a force of some 90,000 troops drawn from more than 40 nations and whose aim is to restore stability and democracy to Afghanistan in the face of a virulent insurgency.

A senior US official told reporters on the plane from Washington to Tallinn that Clinton also wanted to discuss with allies a long-term NATO commitment to a civilian presence in Afghanistan.

US officials said US plans for deploying a shield against missiles from rogue states such as Iran would also be discussed, despite lingering concerns in Moscow that missile defense posed a threat to Russia.

"People agree missile defense is necessary and people agree we have a good plan for moving forward," a Clinton aide told reporters on the plane.

But the allies must decide "who does what," the command and control structure and how to share costs, the official said.

NATO has grown to 28 members after three waves of expansion in ex-communist eastern Europe that began in 1999. Estonia was admitted in 2004, 13 years after breaking free from the crumbling Soviet Union.

Washington "wants to see a more efficient and streamlined alliance," a US official said.