NATO Prepares for Afghan Deployment of UK Troops

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Nato prepares for Afghan deployment of UK troops

Richard Norton-Taylor
Monday September 12, 2005
The Guardian


John Reid will tomorrow meet his fellow Nato defence ministers in a Berlin hotel to prepare the ground for the biggest deployment of British troops since the invasion of Iraq.

In public, the ministers are likely to play down the significance of their meeting; but privately, defence officials say it will be important in paving the way for the deployment of some 4,000 British troops in Afghanistan in May next year.

Britain, which will also deploy Apache helicopters for the first time, has agreed to take charge of Nato's expanding role in a country facing more attacks from Taliban recruits.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/nato/story/0,12667,1567971,00.html