Call for unity among Nato in Afghanistan

Nato nations have dropped some of the restrictions on the use of their troops in Afghanistan after the alliance set a deadline of 2008 for handing over elements of security work to local forces.

Urged on by President George Bush, Nato countries set aside around 15 per cent of their "caveats" which restrict the deployment of soldiers. Officials at Nato's heads of government summit in Riga said that the concession was the equivalent of making available an additional 2,000 troops.

Seeking to reinforce the alliance's commitment to Afghanistan, the Nato secretary general, Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, also pressed leaders for a firm commitment that, whatever restrictions are in place, their soldiers would go to the aid of other Nato forces in an emergency.

However Mr De Hoop Scheffer also sent out a strong signal that the load on the alliance would lighten over time.

He said that the alliance's "exit strategy will depend on Afghanistan having its own security forces". By 2008, he added, Nato would have made "considerable progress" with "trusted Afghan security forces gradually taking control". While that may have reassured nations like France and Belgium, which are nervous about the Nato mission, leaders were left in no doubt that, until local security forces have been trained, Nato nations would have to rally around. Mr Bush argued that, "for Nato to succeed, its commanders on the ground must have the resources and flexibility to do their job". The Nato secretary general said it was unacceptable that allied forces in south Afghanistan were 20 per cent below the required strength.

Despite the show of unity, Nato's first summit on former Soviet territory was marred by a diplomat fracas over an invitation to President Vladimir Putin to Riga. Not invited to the summit, the Russian leader had threatened to upstage the alliance's meeting by making his first visit to Latvia since its independence tonight.

Ties with Moscow have been scarred by Russia's increasingly assertive foreign policy, buoyed by its new economic power as an energy giant. Western governments are also alarmed by the apparent slide from human rights under Mr Putin and incidents such as the poisoning of the former Russian spy Alexander Litvinenko, in London.

Such worries were swept aside by Jacques Chirac, celebrating his 74th birthday today, who has made a point of cultivating the Russian leader and of keeping President Bush at arm's length.

In a statement, the Elysée said: "The President of Latvia, Mrs Vaira Vike-Freiberga, let us know that she would take the opportunity of the Riga summit to wish, along with the other heads of state and government present, a happy birthday to the President of the Republic.

"In addition, President Putin wanted to come to meet the President of the Republic to present his good wishes, as he has done with other heads of state or government. As the President of the Republic was in Riga for the Nato summit, the idea was put forward by Russia of a dinner for three following the summit, at which Mrs Vaira Vike-Freiberga would be the host." However the Kremlin later made it clear that the meeting would not go ahead.

Earlier Mr Bush had sent an uncompromising message of encouragement to nations such as Georgia and Ukraine to join Nato. The Kremlin resents the expansion of Nato into what it considers to be its sphere of influence. Praising the government in Georgia, Mr Bush also sought to encourage pro-Western forces in Ukraine, arguing: "As democracy takes hold in Ukraine and leaders pursue vital reform, Nato membership will be open to the people if they choose it."