Budapest  - NATO chief Jaap de Hoop Scheffer welcomed Friday's news that Russian troops had completed their withdrawal from Georgia's buffer zone, in accordance with an international deal.

But the secretary general also said it was still too early for NATO to normalize its relations with Russia in the aftermath of the August conflict.

"It is encouraging that Russia seems to be withdrawing its forces back to the pre-conflict lines," de Hoop Scheffer said at a NATO defence ministers' meeting in Budapest.

Brussels - The North Atlantic Treaty Organization on Sunday condemned the bomb attack that killed more than 50 people in a hotel in Islamabad, calling the act "grotesque."

Speaking for the military alliance, NATO General Secretary Jaap de Hoop Scheffer said: "I condemn in the strongest possible terms the terrorist bombing of the Marriott Hotel in Islamabad."

London  - The conflict over Georgia should not stop NATO from continuing its policy of constructive engagement with Russia, NATO chief Jaap de Hoop Scheffer said in London Thursday.

"I do not foresee a U-turn in NATO's policy vis-a-vis Russia," Scheffer told military and security experts at the Royal United Service Institute (RUS) in London.

A U-turn was only required when wrong decisisons had been made, "and we have not gone wrong," explained Scheffer.

Brussels  - NATO needs to forge closer ties with the European U

Brus