In a statement, NATO foreign ministers including US Secretary of State Colin Powell said the alliance "provides an essential transatlantic dimension to the response against terrorism".

They agreed to improve the sharing of intelligence, to give enhanced support if a NATO member suffers a terror attack, and to reinforce security for this summer's Athens Olympics and European football championships in Portugal.

NATO had already promised to look into providing AWACS surveillance plans and logistical support for the August Olympics and the June football tournament.

Among other measures agreed by the foreign ministers, which go forward for debate by NATO leaders at a summit in Istanbul at the end of June:

-- coordination of NATO assets to deal with nuclear, chemical and biological attacks

-- further developing Mediterranean sea patrols under the banner of "Operation Active Endeavour"

-- supporting member states' ability to prevent hijackings of civilian aircraft

-- deepening cooperation with the European Union, which has embarked on its own anti-terrorism steps in the wake of the March 11 attacks on the Spanish capital.

"We categorically reject terrorism, whatever its motivations, forms or manifestations," the NATO ministers said in their statement.

"We are resolved to fight together, for as long as necessary, this scourge, which challenges the values that unite us, most particularly freedom founded on the principles of democracy, individual liberty and the rule of law."

The ministers' declaration recalled action pledged by NATO after the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States, which prompted the alliance to invoke an "all-for-one" solidarity clause for the first time in its history.

The declaration came after the first talks joined by seven ex-communist countries that entered NATO this week -- Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia.

The Madrid attacks have also galvanized the EU into action, notably through the appointment of a new anti-terrorism coordinator -- former Dutch deputy interior minister Gijs de Vries.

Powell welcomed the appointment of de Vries, and said Europe and the United States could work much more in jointly combating terrorism.

""We need to do more in terms of tracking terrorists across borders from one country to another," he said in an interview with reporters from the seven new NATO members published Friday.

"We need to do more with respect to tracking their financial activities and how their funds flow," Powell also said.

"We need to do more with respect to exchanging intelligence information, law enforcement information, expanding the work of Interpol and similar organizations."

NATO Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer also said that the alliance was keen to bolster its anti-terrorism cooperation with the EU.

"The ministers agreed that much more should be done," he told reporters.

All rights reserved. Copyright 2003 Agence France-Presse. Sections of the information displayed on this page (dispatches, photographs, logos) are protected by intellectual property rights owned by Agence France-Presse. As a consequence, you may not copy, reproduce, modify, transmit, publish, display or in any way commercially exploit any of the content of this section without the prior written consent of Agence France-Presse.

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