Nato activates missile shield for Europe

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http://www.straitstimes.com/BreakingNews/World/Story/STIStory_801236.html

Nato leaders launched on Sunday the first phase of a United States-led missile shield for Europe and sought to appease Russian anger over the system by renewing an invitation to cooperate.

US President Barack Obama and his allies declared an 'interim capability' at a Chicago summit, putting a US warship carrying interceptors in the Mediterranean and a Turkey-based radar system under Nato command in a German base.

The alliance insists that the shield is not aimed at Russia and aims to knock out missiles that could be launched by enemies such as Iran, but Moscow fears the system will also serve to neutralise its nuclear deterrent.

'We have invited Russia to cooperate on missile defense and this invitation still stands,' Nato Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen told a news conference.