STRASBOURG, France: NATO named Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen as its next leader yesterday, averting a damaging split with Turkey at a 60th anniversary summit marred by rioting protesters.
US President Barack Obama prodded European allies to do more in Afghanistan, but received pledges for only 5,000 extra troops, the majority of whom will go on a temporary basis to provide security during August elections.
The meeting of the 28-nation military alliance, created after World War II to defend Europe’s borders, exposed trans-Atlantic divisions despite a new US strategy for Afghanistan that Obama’s European allies broadly welcomed.
The summit was also plagued by unusually destructive protests, with masked youths burning down a seven-story hotel and riot police unleashing volleys of tear gas and shock grenades to try to contain the violence.
Obama played a key role in brokering a deal with Turkey on the North Atlantic Treaty Organization’s next leader. Ankara had opposed Rasmussen’s bid because of his handling of a 2006 crisis over cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) in a Danish newspaper.
When Turkey threatened to torpedo his candidacy, US officials said Obama pulled Rasmussen and Turkish President Abdullah Gul together, helping avert a damaging row that could have derailed the summit and hurt all three leaders.
Gul later told reporters that Rasmussen, who will travel to Istanbul next week, had pledged to make an “extraordinary effort” to overcome concerns over his image. It also received assurances one of Rasmussen’s deputies would be a Turk.
