NATO Secretary General Calls for Coordination in Response to Terrorism

George Robertson, the Secretary General of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), stated that 19 member countries and 27 non-member European and Asian countries should coordinate and expedite their responses to terrorism. Mr. Robertson, at the conclusion of the NATO Defense Ministers meeting in Brussels, mentioned that plans for enabling quicker and more flexible responses from member countries in combating terrorism will be discussed at the upcoming NATO summit in Prague in November. On Thursday, Donald Rumsfeld, the U.S. Secretary of Defense, warned NATO defense ministers at the Brussels conference that the threat of terrorist attacks using weapons of mass destruction is greater than previously thought. He stated that any moment, one of the NATO member countries could be attacked by terrorists and urged America's European allies to take measures to protect against nuclear, biological, and chemical attacks from terrorist networks. The U.S. Secretary of Defense continues his ten-day trip to Estonia, where he will consult with defense ministers from Northern European countries, and then next week he will visit the Persian Gulf and South Asia.