Richard Armitage, US deputy secretary of state, yesterday told Nato ambassadors the Bush administration wanted a global campaign to fight terrorism that would be based on diplomatic, economic and military means. Such a "multi-faceted" campaign, he said, was needed because this was a new kind of war.

Mr Armitage did not ask Nato to contribute militarily, although the alliance has agreed Washington can call on members for assistance under Article Five of their treaty, which states that an attack on one member is an attack on the alliance.

However, senior Nato officials said Mr Armitage pulled no punches when he told ambassadors that if any country thought lobbing a few missiles at Afghanistan would complete the job against terrorism, they were mistaken. "This will not stop in Afghanistan," he said, repeating to journalists what he had told the ambassadors.

Nato officials said Mr Armitage's remarks signified the first explicit and official mention of an attack on Afghanistan. But they also believed the Bush administration could be preparing a phase two, possibly in Iraq.

After his 90-minute meeting with ambassadors, Mr Armitage told reporters: "I came here to exchange information, to talk about the grand coalition that President Bush is trying to put in place and to make clear that this is about a global war."

However, another Nato diplomat expressing concern about the direction of the US response said: "If the US bombs bin Laden in Afghanistan, depending on the outcome, it may take it further - into Iraq."

Another Nato diplomat noted that for some in the US administration, "this is still unfinished business 10 years after Bush's father drove Saddam Hussein out of Kuwait".

But other Nato officials said any campaign against Iraq could break the global coalition, since an attack on Baghdad would be deeply unpopular among Arab states and indeed, several European countries.

The diplomatic aspect of the campaign would focus on isolating terrorists, while on the economic front, efforts would centre on identifying how terrorist groups are financed and how to halt the funding flows.

However, Mr Armitage concentrated on the administration's attempts on the military front to form as broad a coalition as possible, spanning moderate Arab states, Asian countries and Russia. Among the foreign envoys visiting the US for talks, the Chinese foreign minister and Japanese prime minister will visit Washington in coming days. But Mr Armitage and other US officials have told Nato diplomats it is Russia which is crucial in this global effort. While Nato diplomats acknowledge it is too early to speak of a new relationship between Nato and Russia - and particularly between the US and Russia - whatever support Vladimir Putin, Russian president, lends to the Bush administration will be critical for Washington.

Mr Armitage said he had "excellent" talks in Moscow on Wednesday with Vyatchelav Troubnikov, Russia's former director of external intelligence. A senior Nato official said: "I think it is fair to say that Russia is very important as part of this emerging coalition because of its experience in Afghanistan and its proximity and Russia's resources to fight terrorism."

* The United Nations General Assembly will meet on October 1 to discuss ways to combat international terrorism, Han Seung-soo, South Korean foreign minister and the assembly's president, announced yesterday, Carola Hoyos reports from New York. The meeting of the 189 member countries will be the first global discussion of terrorism since the attacks on the US.

Back to US response articles index