BERLIN, Sept. 14 (UPI) -- NATO's 26 defense ministers are meeting in Berlin for two days of informal discussions, with NATO's role in Afghanistan topping the agenda.
Deutsche Welle reported that Germany remains opposed to the Bush administration's wish to blend NATO's peacekeepers into the U.S.-led coalition.
The NATO defense ministers are considering a broad range of issues besides Afghanistan during their summit, including NATO's development over the next decade and the deployment of NATO forces in the Balkans as well as possibly Iraq and the Sudan. NATO leads Afghanistan's International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan and has increased troop levels in the run-up to next Sunday's elections, which have been preceded by a surge in violence across the country.
The NATO ministers will discuss the planned extension of ISAF into southern Afghanistan early next year, expanding outwards from its current base of operations in the capital Kabul. Britain, Canada and the Netherlands will spearhead the move into the south, linking up with 18,000 U.S. soldiers who have been fighting al-Qaida and Taliban guerrillas since November 2001, particularly along the eastern border with Pakistan. The Bush administration is anxious to see ISAF forces deployed across the entire country by the end of 2006.
