Blair calls on Nato to realign itself against terrorism

Nato must reform and develop new links with Russia and other countries outside the alliance to combat the threat of international terrorism, Tony Blair said yesterday.

He used a joint letter with his Spanish counterpart, Jose Maria Aznar, to call for the reshaping of the north Atlantic alliance ahead of a meeting of Nato defence ministers on Thursday.

The letter, sent to the Nato Secretary General, Lord Robertson of Port Ellen, said Nato leaders had a "unique opportunity" to reform the alliance when they meet in Prague in November. It calls for greater "flexibility and deployability" in Nato forces and urges leaders to improve co-operation between Europe and America.

Nato leaders are anxious to reshape the alliance in the wake of new threats exposed by the attacks on America on 11 September.

Donald Rumsfeld, the US Defence Secretary, is expected to meet Mr Blair and Geoff Hoon, the Secretary of State for Defence, for talks in London tomorrow amid reports that the Americans would like to establish a rapid-reaction force within Nato. He is likely to press for increased European commitment to defence, with concern increasing in Washington at the growing gulf between American and European expenditure.

Mr Rumsfeld will attend Thursday's meeting before flying to the Indian subcontinent in an attempt to ease tensions over Kashmir. He is also expected to meet the Russian Defence Minister, Sergei Ivanov, in Brussels. Russia has offered to mediate between India and Pakistan.

Mr Blair's joint letter, which follows talks with Mr Aznar last month, echoes his call for reform made at last week's joint Russia-Nato summit in Italy. It also underlines the close relationship between Mr Blair and Mr Aznar.

The letter said: "The attacks of 11 September demonstrated the new threats posed to our societies by terrorism and weapons of mass destruction.

"These and other possible threats pose now for all of us the challenge of adapting our institutions in response, preserving their values while keeping them effective in a radically different world.

"The Prague summit – now less than six months away – presents us as allied leaders with a unique opportunity to transform Nato to make it as firm a guarantee of our security in the opening decade of the 21st century as it was through the second half of the 20th. The British and Spanish governments have a shared vision of Nato revitalised at Prague to face threats, with new roles, new capabilities, new members and new relationships with Russia and with other partners to our east and south."