Estonia welcomes first US visit

Mr Bush is the first US president to visit Estonia

US President George W Bush has arrived in Estonia, the first visit by a US leader to the former Soviet republic.

Mr Bush will hold talks with Estonia's president and prime minister ahead of a Nato summit in neighbouring Latvia.

The Baltic nations of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania are strong allies of the US, a legacy of US support during their years under Soviet rule.

After the summit Mr Bush heads to Jordan to meet Middle East leaders to discuss the situation in Iraq.

Correspondents say the US president's brief stopover in Tallinn is being seen as a public display of thanks for Estonia's strong support in the conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq.

The Nato meeting in Riga, the capital of Latvia, is expected to focus on the alliance's role in Afghanistan.

The Baltic states all joined Nato in 2004.

Troop call

Mr Bush is likely to ask Nato members to contribute more funds to the Nato-led military campaign against the Taleban.

Commanders have struggled to attract cash and troops to bolster the current force fighting in Afghanistan's southern regions.

Nato Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer has called on members to contribute 2,500 more troops to bolster the 32,000 currently in the country.

"There is a recognition on the part of Nato that this is a terribly important mission, not only from the standpoint of Afghanistan but what it represents in terms of the struggle against al-Qaeda and [the] Taleban in the war on terror," US national security adviser Stephen Hadley said.

The summit is also expected to debate Nato's continuing role as a military alliance in the 21st Century.

In a week dominated by foreign affairs, Mr Bush will head to Jordan at the end of the Nato meeting.

He will meet Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki in Jordan amid increasing sectarian violence and fears the country is slipping into civil war.