Brussels - NATO and its Russian-dominated counterpart, the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), should work together to form a new security system in Europe, the head of the CSTO said in Brussels on Wednesday.

"Nowadays, the system of the balance of power in Europe is failing. The security architecture has to be re-made," CSTO Secretary General Nikolai Bordyuzha told journalists in Brussels.

Brussels - Bosnia-Herzegovina on Wednesday became the 42nd nation to join NATO's counter-insurgency operations in Afghanistan, alliance officials said.

NATO spokesman James Appathurai said a document "formally recognizing Bosnia-Herzegovina as a non-NATO ISAF contributing nation" was signed at the alliance's headquarters in Brussels by NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer and Bosnia's defence minister, Selmo Cikotic.

Islamabad, Jan. 22 : NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer held talks with Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari in Islamabad on Thursday on regional issues such as security along the Afghan border.

De Hoop Scheffer is also expected to meet Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani, Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi and Defence Minister Ahmed Mukhtar, the Dawn quoted official sources as saying here.

NATO leads the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), made up of more than 51,000 troops from nearly 40 countries, which is assisting Afghan government forces in the fight against the Taliban.

Kabul- NATO-led forces "reluctantly" shot dead an Afghan civilian in southern Afghanistan after the man approached an alliance foot patrol on Saturday, the military said.

The incident began when a civilian approached a NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) patrol in Sangin district of southern Helmand province and failed to stop despite verbal warnings by the forces, ISAF said in a statement.

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.

London  - This summer's conflict between Russia and Georgia should lead to a "more considered analysis" of NATO enlargement to avoid eastward expansion becoming a "game of Russian roulette," a leading defence research institute warned Thursday.

The London-based International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) said the conflict had marked the "distinct end of the romantic phase of the post-Cold War order" and cast doubt on whether Georgia would be a "responsible member" of the NATO alliance.