国际英语新闻：NATO countries close to deal on missile defense

LISBON, Nov. 19 (Xinhua) -- NATO nations were close to an agreement Friday on plans to build an anti-missile shield, which it says is intended to protect Europe and North America from ballistic attacks.

The tentative deal seemed likely to clear the way for NATO leaders gathering in Lisbon to adopt a new "Strategic Concept" designed to modernize the 60-year-old Atlantic alliance, which is struggling to define its role and relevance in the face of 21st century security challenges.

After years of procrastination, the missile defense system would link up a network of sensors, radar bases and clusters of interceptor missiles able to shoot down any incoming ballistic missiles fired at allied troops or the territory of the 28 NATO member nations.

Germany, whose Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle wants the United States to withdraw its tactical nuclear weapons from Europe, had hoped an agreement on missile defense could be linked to a commitment for more nuclear disarmament.

France however was wary of any language that would undermine its "force de frappe" nuclear arsenal and is anyway skeptical about the effectiveness of the missile shield.

Diplomats said the compromise language being worked on at the summit would suggest the anti-missile shield would be "complementary" to NATO's nuclear deterrent.

In the wider context, NATO was expected to agree to wording in line with U.S. President Barack Obama's long-term ambition of creating a world without atomic weapons, but affirm that as long as such weapons remain a world reality the alliance will maintain its nuclear deterrent forces.

"We can work to create the conditions for reductions in nuclear arsenals and move toward the vision I outlined in Prague last year - a world without nuclear weapons," Obama wrote in an article published Friday in the New York Times and several European newspapers.

"Yet so long as these weapons exist, NATO should remain a nuclear alliance, and I've made it clear that the United States will maintain a safe, secure and effective nuclear arsenal to deter any adversary and guarantee the defense of our allies," the president added.

The missile defense deal aims to link ongoing work by NATO nations to bring their individual early warning and interceptor systems together into a single network designed to protect troops and military installations against a short- and medium-range ballistic missile attack.

That system would then be integrated with a wider U.S. system against long-range missiles to provide territorial defense for the alliance nations.