U.S. presents NATO with evidence

BRUSSELS, Belgium - The United States gave its NATO allies clear evidence yesterday that "conclusively" links Osama bin Laden and his al-Qaida network to the Sept. 11 terror attacks, NATO's secretary-general said.

In response, the alliance has "fully invoked" Article 5 of its charter, which states that an attack on one member is an attack on all, Secretary-General Lord Robertson said, although he added that the decision did not necessarily mean an armed response was imminent.

"We don't intend at the moment to discuss how NATO will translate this decision into operational action," Robertson said. "The United States are still developing their thinking and they will come back to the alliance in due course when that thinking is crystallized."

NATO allies last month agreed to invoke Article 5 if Washington could show that the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon were directed from abroad. Yesterday's classified briefing demonstrated that, so the "if" was dropped, and Article 5 was now "fully invoked," Robertson said.

"The facts are clear and compelling. The information presented points conclusively to an al-Qaida role," Robertson said of the U.S. briefing.

"The United States of America can rely on the full support of its 18 NATO allies in the campaign against international terrorism," he said.

Officials said Article 5 is morally but not legally binding on the NATO allies, which had already declared their full backing for the United States in its war against terrorism. A country may still decline to take any specific action.

Robertson refused to elaborate on the "additional information" provided by U.S. Ambassador at Large Francis X. Taylor, who is President Bush's coordinator for counterterrorism. The NATO secretary-general said it must remain secret for now "for obvious reasons."