Powell Calls on Nato to Send Troops to Iraq

The US has asked Nato to take a formal role in Iraq for the first time, probably next summer, the target date for handover to Iraqi sovereignty.

Colin Powell, the US secretary of state, made the proposal at yesterday's meeting of alliance foreign ministers in Brussels, a regular gathering that was dominated by furious disputes in the run-up to the war.

He said no one - including France and Germany, the leaders of the opposition to the US-British strategy for bringing down Saddam Hussein - had objected to the plan.

Nato is unlikely to go in without explicit UN authority and a sovereign government in Baghdad. Next summer's Istanbul summit could be the moment to decide.

"We urge the alliance to examine how it might do more to support peace and stability in Iraq, which every leader has acknowledged is critical to all of us," Mr Powell told his colleagues.

"What strikes me today is that, as we discussed the possibility of Nato taking an enhanced role in Iraq, not a single member spoke against it or talked about reasons not to do it."

However, Dominique de Villepin, the French foreign minister, left the talks early, and Joschka Fischer, his German counterpart, repeated that Germany would not send its troops.

Lord Robertson, Nato's secretary general, insisted that the alliance's emphasis was still firmly on Afghanistan, where it runs the 5,700-strong Isaf security force in Kabul and is planning to expand into rural regions.

But he made clear that Iraq was firmly on the agenda. Such a sentiment was unthinkable a few months ago, when Nato suffered what the US ambassador called "a near death experience" during the biggest crisis in its 54-year history.

Transatlantic tensions were still evident yesterday in exchanges over the vexed question of European defence. Tony Blair is trying to implement a deal for a "planning cell", or headquarters, agreed with Paris and Berlin.

The prime minister was due to speak to President George Bush to try to calm US opposition before this weekend's EU summit, which is expected to finalise its constitution.

"The United States cannot accept independent EU structures that duplicate Nato capabilities," Mr Powell said. But he used the same emollient tone adopted by the more hawkish Donald Rumsfeld, the US defence secretary, earlier this week.

"Discussions will continue, and I'm sure we'll find a satisfactory solution in the not- too-distant future."

Analysts see a trade-off between Nato's readiness to help in Iraq and US understanding of the need for autonomous EU defence, however limited.

Tackling Iraq, however sensitive an issue, would also answer the alliance's almost neurotic need for "relevance".

Eighteen of its 26 current and incoming members have contingents there - from Italy's 2,500 to Estonia's 55 troops. Nato helps with planning, logistics and communications for the Polish-run sector in the centre of the country, but has no formal role.

Pressure for Nato involvement is coming from Poland, Spain and Italy, which have all suffered casualties.

"Iraq is not for now," said one diplomat. "The Americans are planting the seed and will wait for it to germinate. They are thinking about the future, and are being very careful not to lead the way. They are leaving that to the Poles and Spanish.

"Afghanistan is the here and now. That's where our credibility is on the line. In Iraq, it's a question of who takes over from the troops who are there now. And it becomes easier politically next summer too."

Nato involvement will require an Iraqi government and a UN commissioner to replace the US-led coalition provisional authority, which is running the civilian side of the occupation.

Mr Powell paid warm tribute to Lord Robertson, who leaves Nato after four years at the end of the month. He praised the former UK defence secretary's Scottish sense of humour, exemplified by his comment that chairing an alliance meeting was like "transporting frogs in a wheelbarrow".

· The total cost to Britain of the war on terrorism so far was put at £5.5bn by the chancellor, Gordon Brown. In a Commons debate on the Queen's Speech, he said the figure included operations in Afghanistan and Iraq. His announcement came ahead of next Wednesday's pre-budget report.