NATO defence ministers will hear a plea on Thursday to take new steps to crack down on the opium trade in Afghanistan as the illicit business generates vital funds for the Taliban-led insurgency.

NATO's top commander and Afghanistan's defence minister are expected to urge the allies to tackle drug runners and laboratories head-on in an effort to stop the trade fuelling an enemy the alliance is struggling to contain.

Over two days of informal talks, the 26 allies will also hold a first-ever NATO-Georgia Commission meeting at ministerial level, as Russia appeared to make good on its vow to pull troops out of Georgia before the weekend.

At talks in the Hungarian capital Budapest starting at 1100 GMT, NATO's commander, US General John Craddock, will appeal to ministers to lift restrictions on the way the fight against opium production is waged, and focus on "high end" targets.

"There is a lethal nexus of insurgency and poppy," NATO spokesperson James Appathurai said ahead of the informal meeting. "We all have an interest in solving this."

But the move has met resistance from a bloc of states led by Germany, Italy and Spain, who fear such work could antagonise Afghan farmers or put their troops in more danger.

Government to lead battle?

Above all, they want the Afghan government to lead the drug battle.

Officials say the solution could well come from Afghan Defence Minister Mohammad Rahim Wardak himself, and a "flexible approach" that would not oblige any country to take part against its will.

"We will have Wardak saying publicly — here is what we Afghans need," a NATO official said, in essence making the call come from President Hamid Karzai's government.

Craddock will also use the meeting to call for more troops and equipment to fight the Taliban, whose insurgent activities — like the opium crops — are strong in the south.

NATO has almost 51 000 troops in the International Security Assistance Force (Isaf), which is trying to spread Karzai's rule and foster reconstruction, but still needs more soldiers and helicopters to help suppress the Taliban.

The alliance also needs trainers and funds — Japan has surfaced as a potential source of money — to develop the Afghan army, which Kabul wants to grow to some 132 000 troops from around 80 000 presently.

Support for Georgia

On Friday, the ministers will focus on Georgia, and assess at a first meeting at this level how to support Tbilisi's efforts to rebuild and reform its military to meet NATO membership requirements.

The commission was formed after Russia's massive strike on Georgia in early August, amid a dispute over the rebel Georgian region of South Ossetia which, along with Abkhazia, Moscow has since recognised as independent.

NATO has halted all high-level meetings with Russia and is unlikely to resume them at least until Moscow fully complies with the peace agreement brokered by French President Nicolas Sarkozy.

Russia has long been angered that NATO is considering Georgia as a serious candidate for membership at some time in the future.

The ministers will also discuss the future of the world's biggest military alliance ahead of its 60th anniversary summit in April, as the global financial crisis threatens to cut defence spending and dilute NATO's ambitions.

AFP