The US Defence Secretary, Donald Rumsfeld, has called for a further broadening of the role of NATO in Afghanistan, including counter-terrorism activities and fighting narcotics.
Arriving in Berlin for an informal meeting of NATO defence ministers, Mr Rumsfeld called on alliance allies to drop restrictions on what their troops can do in Afghanistan.
'Over time, it would be nice if NATO developed counter-terrorist capabilities, which don't exist at the present time as a NATO function. They do exist within NATO countries,' Mr Rumsfeld told reporters.
'One of the issues we'll have to wrestle with is the reality that while a number of NATO nations have been reducing the restrictions that they impose on their forces and the caveats they require, some nations have not yet done that,' he added.
NATO currently leads a 10,000-strong International Security and Assistance Force in Afghanistan.
