France

ANALYSIS: NATO avoids image blow by sealing Rasmussen deal

NATO avoids image blow by sealing Rasmussen dealStrasbourg, France  - Hours of wrangling, and the crucial mediation of US President Barack Obama, allowed NATO to pick a new secretary general and prevent the alliance from suffering an embarassing blow to its image on its 60th birthday.

In the end, the summit's 28 heads of state and government agreed that Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen was the right man to replace Jaap de Hoop Scheffer when he steps down at the end of July.

LEADALL: NATO turns 60 and tackles Afghanistan with new chief

NATO turns 60 and tackles Afghanistan with new chiefStrasbourg, France - At its 60th birthday celebration in France and Germany, which ended Saturday, NATO welcomed US President Barack Obama, seated two new members and took strides toward sharing the load in its war against the Taliban insurgency in Afghanistan.

The alliance also narrowly avoided a major embarrassment when Turkey agreed, at the last moment, to the appointment of Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen as its new secretary general.

NEWS FEATURE: Obama sees bright side of allies' Afghan aid

Barack ObamaStrasbourg, France  - US President Barack Obama travelled to Europe for a NATO summit with a rather long wish list of contributions he would like to see Washington's allies make in their faltering war against the Taliban insurgency in Afghanistan.

He left the two-day meeting celebrating the alliance's 60th birthday trying to convince others - and perhaps himself - that he got what he wished for.

"This was not a pledging conference," he told journalists in Strasbourg on Saturday after the summit ended, "and yet we received the kind of commitments that you usually don't get at meetings like this."

ROUNDUP: Obama brokers deal on Rasmussen as new NATO chief

Obama brokers deal on Rasmussen as new NATO chiefStrasbourg, France  - United States President Barack Obama on Saturday brokered a deal with Turkey, which assured the appointment of Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen as NATO's next secretary general.

"Rasmussen is an outstanding public servant, somebody with an extraordinary reputation," Obama said at the end of a two-day summit of alliance leaders in France and Germany.

ROUNDUP: Strasbourg buildings burn, anti-NATO protesters riot

Strasbourg buildings burn, anti-NATO protesters riotStrasbourg, France  - Rioters set fire to a five-storey hotel and two low-rise buildings in Strasbourg Saturday as left-wing protests against a NATO summit in the French city turned violent.

French security sources said some of the rioters, believed to be mainly anarchists dedicated to bringing down the western system, had been carrying loaded guns when police arrested them.

EXTRA: French police find anti-NATO demonstrators have guns

French police find anti-NATO demonstrators have guns Stras

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