Baden-Baden, Germany  - German Chancellor Angela Merkel said she expected NATO to choose a new secretary general as early as Friday evening.

"We want to establish the succession this evening," Merkel told journalists in Baden-Baden ahead of a meeting in the German city with US President Barack Obama.

Like most other NATO leaders, Merkel supports Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen to succeed Jaap de Hoop Scheffer as NATO chief. The Dutchman has said he will leave his post at the end of July.

Turkey is so far the only NATO country to have voiced opposition at Rasmussen's appointment. dpa