More NATO troops needed in Afghanistan - PM

2 April 2008

Gordon Brown will urge more countries to send troops and resources to Afghanistan at NATO's biggest ever summit this week.

Mr Brown will arrive in Bucharest this afternoon in time for a series of key bilateral meetings ahead of the formal start of the talks. Harriet Harman MP will take PMQs in her role as Leader of the House of Commons.

Speaking at his regular press briefing yesterday, Gordon Brown said that "burden sharing" among the 40 Allies in Afghanistan would be high on the agenda. He said members will discuss the possibility of sending more combat troops or providing more equipment.

The Prime Minister added that it was in the "rest of the world's" interests to make sure that Afghanistan doesn't fall again to the Taliban. "I believe that at the NATO meeting, when we discuss Afghanistan, all voices - voices of small countries and large - will be heard," he said.

Today's gathering of 3,000 delegates from both NATO member states and partnership countries represents the alliance's biggest gathering since its formation in 1949.

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