Strasbourg, France  - NATO leaders meeting in Strasbourg on Saturday resolved a potentially embarrassing rift by picking Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen as the alliance's new secretary general, outgoing NATO head Jaap de Hoop Scheffer said.

"Every state and government believed that Anders Fogh Rasmussen was the man to lead NATO and the 28 members through the 21st century," said de Hoop Scheffer, who is to step down on July 31.

Turkish opposition to Rasmussen had threatened to overshadow a summit celebrating the 60th anniversary of NATO's founding.

Beginning late Friday, US President Barack Obama, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi applied strong pressure on Turkish leaders to lift their objections to Rasmussen's candidacy. A last-gasp deal was worked out on Saturday afternoon, just moments before the summit was to end.

"This is indeed a historic day, and not only because a Dane assumes the post of secretary general for the first time," a delighted Rasmussen said.

The Turks had strongly objected to Rasmussen because of his handling of the 2005 and 2006 row over caricatures of the Prophet Mohammed that appeared in Danish media and angered large sectors of the Muslim world.

The controversy had also caused a stir early Saturday during the ceremonial crossing of the Rhine River from Germany to France, when Berlusconi called Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan while other leaders strolled across the Passerelles des Deux Rives bridge.

Describing the summit as "a success", de Hoop Scheffer later said NATO allies had also agreed to beef up the training programs for Afghanistan's police and armed forces, and that more soldiers would be deployed in the strife-torn country to secure the August elections.

"When it comes to Afghanistan, this summit and this alliance has delivered," de Hoop Scheffer said.

During the two-day gathering, Merkel described Afghanistan as "a litmus test for us all," and praised Obama over his new strategy for the country.

The German chancellor, who co-hosted the summit with French President Nicolas Sarkozy, said her country was ready to contribute more soldiers, trainers and money towards "the Afghanistanization" of the country.

Sarkozy also lauded Obama's new approach to the conflict, which involves speeding up Afghan reconstruction and involving other regional players such as Pakistan and Iran.

Obama and de Hoop Scheffer then formally welcomed Albania and Croatia into the alliance, with the US president offering leaders of the two countries a copy of NATO's 1949 founding treaty. (dpa)