North Atlantic Treaty Organization

The North Atlantic Treaty Organization granted a Serbian request to extend a deadline for returning weapons, and postponed threatened house searches by peacekeepers and arrests of those who fail to comply in Kosovo. NATO troops had threatened to search the Serbian neighborhood in Orahovac and collect unauthorized weapons before Dutch forces overseeing the Kosovo town are replaced by Russian peacekeepers.

Italy said it had urged NATO to investigate claims that six Italian soldiers who died after serving in the Balkans were killed by exposure to depleted uranium from spent ammunition fired by North Atlantic Treaty Organization forces. Prime Minister Giuliano Amato said alarm over the so-called Balkan syndrome was "more than legitimate." All six victims had leukemia. The latest, a 24-year-old from Sicily, died last fall after serving twice in Bosnia-Herzegovina but never in Kosovo.

U.S.-led coalition soldiers gave NATO troops responsibility for security in much of western Afghanistan, as part of plans for the 8,000-strong NATO force to gradually relieve American soldiers across the country. The International Security Assistance Force, currently under North Atlantic Treaty Organization command, already maintains security in Kabul and some other parts of the nation. The transfer will free up troops in the 18,000-strong U.S.

NATO should ultimately take over anti-terrorism operations in Afghanistan from the U.S.-led coalition, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said, but he refused to set a timetable for drawing down American troops. Speaking to reporters at the beginning of a two-day NATO meeting in Berlin, Rumsfeld said, "Over time it would be nice if NATO would develop counterterrorist capabilities which don't exist at the current time."

The North Atlantic Treaty Organization said it had withdrawn a radio message telling Afghan farmers that its troops would not destroy their opium fields, following complaints that the alliance appeared to condone the illicit crop. The advertisement was paid for by the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force and aired on radio stations in Helmand province, the world's largest opium-producing area.

Poland will send 400 more soldiers to Afghanistan next year, strengthening its commitment to a North Atlantic Treaty Organization-led mission aimed at helping restore order, Poland's foreign and defense ministers said. Poland, the biggest ex-communist member of NATO and the European Union, already has about 1,200 troops in Afghanistan. "We had so far the smallest presence in Afghanistan . . . too little for a serious NATO ally," Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski told TVP3 television.

A British soldier was killed in fighting in Afghanistan's south, and a Danish soldier died of wounds suffered Sunday. The Briton, who was serving with troops led by the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, was killed in Helmand province when his checkpoint came under fire from Taliban militants, Britain's Defense Ministry said. Denmark's military said the death of its soldier, who was shot in Helmand on Sunday, marked its first combat loss in Afghanistan.

Three coalition soldiers died in a battle in northeastern Afghanistan, and a suicide bomber killed a NATO soldier in the south, officials said. Two coalition soldiers were also wounded in the fighting with militants in Nuristan province's Waygal district, U.S. Army Brig. Gen. James Terry said in a statement. The New York Times said the casualties were American troops.

Gun battles killed at least 11 militants and six policemen across southern Afghanistan. Insurgents also targeted NATO patrols in Kabul, the capital, with bicycle-rigged bombs. In Helmand province, a clash left 11 suspected Taliban and two policemen dead, said Deputy Gov. Amir Mohammed Akhundzada. Insurgents killed four more police officers in the southeastern province of Ghazni, a government spokesman said.