U.S. steps up pressure on allies over Afghanistan

By Mark John

VILNIUS (Reuters) - Germany, France and other NATO allies will face a concerted U.S.-led call on Thursday to send troops to Afghanistan's violent south.

Washington is heading the campaign for what it calls a fairer burden-sharing in the fight against Taliban insurgents, with Britain, Canada, Poland and others adding their voices to the appeal before NATO talks in the Lithuanian capital Vilnius.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice reinforced the message on Wednesday, noting that only a small number of NATO nations had troops in the areas where the insurgents are most active.

"We believe very strongly that there ought to be a sharing of that burden throughout the (NATO) alliance," she said after talks on Afghan strategy with British leaders.

Few alliance officials expect major new contributions to be announced during the two-day meeting but the United States is determined over the coming weeks to extract promises for reinforcements in the south later this year.

Pentagon chief Robert Gates last week raised hackles by sending letters to European capitals pressing them to send troops south. He said he would again "become a nag" on the issue at the NATO defence ministers meeting in Lithuania.

"I worry a great deal about the alliance evolving into a two-tiered alliance in which you have some allies willing to fight and die to protect people's security and others who are not," Gates told a congressional committee on Wednesday.

Germany rejected Gates' appeal last week, insisting it is already close to the limit of its parliamentary mandate to supply up to 3,500 troops in the relatively calm north.