(13 Sep 2005) SHOTLIST

1. NATO officials, including French defence minister, talking
1. US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld arriving
2. Rumsfeld takes his seat
3. NATO round table
4. Various of ministers seated around tabke
5. UPSOUND (German) German Defence Minister Peter Struck :
"My colleagues, I would like to welcome you to this informal gathering of NATO defence ministers in Berlin."
7. Wide of Rumsfeld listening

STORYLINE

NATO defence ministers met in Berlin on Tuesday at the start of two day of talks expected to focus on the alliance's widening mission in Afghanistan, as well as efforts to speed up the modernisation of its forces to tackle such far-flung tasks in the future.

US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld was expected to encourage allies to provide greater and more flexible funding to the Afghan mission.

He was also expected to urge nations to shed restrictions that hobble force movements on missions like Afghanistan and Kosovo.

Delegates were to review plans to expand NATO's mission to the whole of Afghanistan, beyond the northern and western parts already patrolled by 11-thousand NATO peacekeepers.

They were also likely to focus on the alliance taking a stronger role helping Afghan security forces combat the burgeoning narcotics trade.

However, any decisions on whether NATO would eventually take full control of all international military operations in the country including the anti-Taliban mission by 20-thousand US-led troops were likely to be put off until after Germany's parliamentary election on Sunday.

The issue is sensitive in Germany, where the Social Democratic government has opposed merging the NATO peacekeeping mission with the combat operation.

NATO commanders are working on a formula that would bring the two operations under a single command, hoping to save costs and make the overall mission more effective.

American officials insist the expanded NATO role will not mean the US is pulling its troops out of Afghanistan, which is also holding parliamentary elections this weekend.

With decisions unlikely on current operations, NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer was expected to present guidelines on how he believes the alliance should modernise over the next decade.

Although the allies have been overhauling their military structures in recent years, NATO officials fear the reform drive may have gone off the boil.

The NATO chief was also expected to propose that allies provide more common funding for military equipment and operations.

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