Ministers arrive for second day of talks, comments

(12 Jun 2009) SHOTLIST 1. Wide of flags outside NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organisation) building 2. Security in front of building 3. NATO monument 4. Mid of US flag 5. UK Defence Secretary Bob Ainsworth entering building 6. SOUNDBITE (English) Bob Ainsworth UK Defence Secretary: "I'm very pleased to be here. I think we had some good meetings yesterday. We've moved quickly to put some flesh on the decisions taken at Strasbourg to establish a NATO training mission in Afghanistan, serving both the Afghan National Army and the Afghan National Police and we've also decided to make the NATO maritime standing group available for counter-piracy work to complement the many other assets that are doing this job off the Horn of Africa. So, some decisions, good meetings and I'm enormously pleased to be here." 7. Wide of security, as delegates arrive 8. German Defence Minister Franz Josef Jung entering building 9. Cutaway cameras 10. SOUNDBITE (German) Franz Josef Jung German Defence Minister: ++NON-VERBATIM++ " We of course are keen to see that the presidential elections on 20 August take place under secure conditions. Therefore, we wish to expand our contingent with another 600 troops. Basically we envisage 200 troops to help provide security for the elections, 200 troops for the reinforcement of the rapid deployment force that's security in north Afghanistan and finally another 200 troops to continue the reconstruction achieved so far. That's been our plan for a while and it's been positively welcomed here (at NATO meeting)." 11. Wide of more delegates arriving 12. NATO flag 13. Spanish Defence Minister Carme Charcon Piqueras arriving 14. SOUNDBITE: (Spanish) Carme Carcon Piqueras Spanish Defence Minister: ++NON-VERBATIM++ "We will speak about Afghanistan. As you know Spain is going to discuss within the Royal Council of Ministers and ask permission from the parliament to send a selected battalion of 450 men and women and 12 trainers (instructors) of the National Air Force and another 70 men and women of the army to lead the security operations in the Kabul airport." 15. US Defence Secretary Robert Gates arriving 16. Security outside building 17. Wide of NATO building STORYLINE NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organisation) will retain a long-term naval presence off the Horn of Africa, where its anti-piracy flotilla has been key to the international patrols preventing attacks on merchant shipping in one of the world's busiest sea lanes, ministers said Friday. The alliance flotilla operating in the region will sail home at the end of the month. But ministers said they decided to dispatch a follow-on force known as Standing Maritime Force 2. A NATO flotilla has been stationed off Somalia since last November. It was joined by an EU squadron, a US-led task force, and ships from a number of other nations including China, India, Malaysia and Russia. The two-day meeting of defence ministers of NATO's 28 member states and 22 partner nations has been dominated by the war in Afghanistan, anti-piracy patrols and the situation in the newly independent nation of Kosovo. Ministers are expected to approve a proposal to send three or four AWACS (Airborne Warning and Control System) airborne radar planes to Afghanistan which will provide air traffic control for the increasing numbers of military jets and helicopters arriving in the theatre of operations. Ministers are also expected to finalise a plan to restructure the NATO command in Kabul to cope with the increasing numbers of troops flowing into the region. Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter:   / ap_archive   Facebook:   / aparchives   ​​ Instagram:   / apnews   You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...