Nato adds weight to words

Lord Robertson said it was a sign of the allies' resolve

Nato has given the green light to take concrete steps to support the United States in its war against terror.

The requests that have been made are deliberately vague ... because the United States has not decided how it will respond

Nato Secretary-General George Robertson

The decision approves eight measures which will give practical weight to Nato's earlier pledges of solidarity and support.

It clears the way for the 18 allies' military hardware to be deployed in support of US retaliation for the 11 September attacks on New York and Washington.

The approval comes after the United States provided "conclusive" evidence that Saudi-born militant Osama Bin Laden was behind the attacks.

Response unknown

The evidence had already convinced Nato formally to invoke Article 5 - the part of its constitution which states that an attack upon one country is an attack on all of them.

Nato's 8 measures

Blanket over-flight clearance

Access to ports and airfields

Increased intelligence sharing

Help for nations facing increased threats

Increased security for US embassies and other facilities

Fill any gaps in defence of Nato territory caused by war

Readiness to deploy war ships in the eastern Mediterranean

Readiness to use radar planes to support operations

Now the members have promised to provide intelligence co-operation, allow over-flights during the campaign.

Other pledges include access to airfields, the deployment of naval forces and the protection of other allies' assets - such as embassies and armed forces - stationed on one country's territory.

Many of the measures had already been agreed between the US and the countries individually.

"The requests that have been made are deliberately vague... because the United States has not decided how it will respond," said Nato Secretary-General George Robertson, indicating the extent of uncertainty about how the US campaign will unfold.

In practice, only a few Nato countries are likely to be asked to provide practical help - and that will be highly specialised.

Britain is expected to provide special forces to work alongside the US in its action against Afghanistan.

The BBC's defence correspondent, Jonathan Marcus, says that given the precisely targeted nature of the US military response and the extraordinary secrecy of this type of warfare, it is not soliciting widespread military assistance from its Nato allies