Pentagon reveals US nuclear strategy

Defence officials in the United States have been outlining America's revised nuclear defence strategy.

Under the plan, the Nuclear Posture Review, the United States' nuclear arsenal will be reduced over the next 10 years by two-thirds, to around 2,000 warheads.

That reflects the figures discussed by President Bush and his Russian counterpart, President Putin, last year.

Officials said many of the deactivated warheads will not be destroyed, but remain in storage in case of emergency.

The new plan does not rule out the testing of nuclear weapons, but the US Defence Secretary, Donald Rumsfeld, said there was no intention at the moment to break a 10-year suspension of testing.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service