A top U.S. defense official says the United States has no immediate plans to widen the war on terrorism beyond those targets linked the September 11th terrorist attacks.

U.S. Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz Saturday said Washington is a long way from making any decisions about what else to do. He spoke in Munich, Germany at a news briefing with Russian Defense Minister Sergey Ivanov during a meeting of defense policymakers and experts from around the world.

Mr. Wolfowitz's comments come amid speculation over President Bush's State of the Union address last Tuesday. The president said Iraq, Iran and North Korea make up what he termed an "axis of evil" and are developing weapons of mass destruction. The Russian defense minister said he disagrees with Washington's view of the three countries.

In a speech earlier Saturday, Mr. Wolfowitz challenged the 19-member NATO alliance to undergo "a military transformation" focused on developing its capacities in counterterrorism.

Analysts say Washington's wants its European allies to shoulder more of the financial burden of post September 11 anti-terrorism activities. The conservative challenger to Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder in this year's German elections, Edmund Stoiber, underscored this concern, calling for a major increase in European defense spending.

During the Munich conference hundreds of participants from several dozen countries will focus on strategies for fighting terrorism, security concerns in Central Asia and the NATO alliance. German authorities have cordoned off the conference site in downtown Munich after clashes Friday between police and thousands of anti-war protesters. Police have imposed a city-wide ban on demonstrations.

Some information for this report provided by AP and DPA.

Email this article to a friend
Printer Friendly Version