US President arrives in Prague for NATO summit

The US President George Bush arrives in Prague this evening ahead of this week's historic NATO summit. Mr. Bush told newsmen, prior to departure, that his priorities were to ready the alliance for its new mission in combating international terrorism and to line up European support for a looming confrontation with Iraq. Seven east European nations will be invited to join the 19 member security alliance and President Bush emphasized that this was not a move directed against Russia. "Today we face a new threat, and the alliance must be restructured to meet it," the US president told reporters. In the course of the two day summit alliance leaders are expected to give the green light to a strike force for high intensity warfare and to revamping NATO's increasingly obsolete military command structure.