Thursday, 4 October, 2001, 16:53 GMT 17:53 UK
Nato has given the green light to take concrete steps to support the United States in its war against terror.
The decision approves eight measures which will give practical weight to Nato's earlier pledges of solidarity and support.It clears the way for the 18 allies' military hardware to be deployed in support of US retaliation for the 11 September attacks on New York and Washington.
The approval comes after the United States provided "conclusive" evidence that Saudi-born militant Osama Bin Laden was behind the attacks.
Response unknown
The evidence had already convinced Nato formally to invoke Article 5 - the part of its constitution which states that an attack upon one country is an attack on all of them.
Now the members have promised to provide intelligence co-operation, allow over-flights during the campaign.
Other pledges include access to airfields, the deployment of naval forces and the protection of other allies' assets - such as embassies and armed forces - stationed on one country's territory.
Many of the measures had already been agreed between the US and the countries individually.
"The requests that have been made are deliberately vague... because the United States has not decided how it will respond," said Nato Secretary-General George Robertson, indicating the extent of uncertainty about how the US campaign will unfold.
In practice, only a few Nato countries are likely to be asked to provide practical help - and that will be highly specialised.
Britain is expected to provide special
forces to work alongside the US in its action against Afghanistan.
The BBC's defence correspondent, Jonathan
Marcus, says that given the precisely targeted nature of the US military
response and the extraordinary secrecy of this type of warfare, it is not
soliciting widespread military assistance from its Nato allies
Nato has formally invoked its mutual defence clause after the United States produced "conclusive" evidence that Saudi-born militant Osama Bin Laden was behind the 11 September attacks on New York and Washington.
This is an unprecedented moment in Nato's history - a reaffirmation of the alliance's founding principle that an attack upon one is an attack upon all.
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It is clear that all roads lead to al-Qaida and pinpoint Osama
Bin Laden as being involved in [the attacks]
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George Robertson
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Nato Secretary-General George Robertson says the alliance's role will be to anchor the international coalition that is being built to support American military action.
Last month, Nato had already made it clear that it would invoke Article Five of its basic treaty if there was proof that the attacks in New York and Washington were carried out by some foreign threat.
Practical help
The Bush administration has set out at least some of its evidence to its Nato allies - and it is clear that they have collectively been convinced that this evidence points in the direction of Osama Bin Laden's shadowy al-Qaeda network.
Diplomatic support is important, but the question remains what practical assistance Nato countries intend to give to the United States as it prepares its military riposte.
In purely legalistic terms, Nato members are obliged to give whatever assistance the United States requires.
In practice there will be no Nato military response as such.
Some countries have already been helping to facilitate the US military build-up around Afghanistan.
A very few Nato countries may be asked for highly specialised practical help.
It is clear for example that Britain is likely to be involved in any US operation, possibly contributing special forces units.
But given the precisely targeted nature of the US military response and the extraordinary secrecy of this type of warfare, it is not soliciting widespread military assistance from its Nato allies.
Nato says it has seen firm evidence that Osama Bin Laden was involved in last month's devastating suicide attacks in the United States.
A French-Algerian man held in France has also implicated the Saudi-born militant in a plot to attack the US embassy in Paris, judicial sources say.
The UK Prime Minister, Tony Blair, has warned Bin Laden's Taleban protectors in Afghanistan that they have run out of time and must now pay the price for harbouring him.
Nato concluded that the attacks were directed from abroad. Lord Robertson formally invoked Nato's Article Five, which treats an attack on one member as an attack on all.
But the BBC's defence correspondent Jonathan Marcus says that, while legally Nato members are now obliged to give any assistance the United States requests, in practice there will be no Nato military response.