NATO Chief in New Bout With Scandal

In a development that could distract, even weaken, NATO’s leadership, the alliance’s most senior official, Secretary General Willy Claes, has once again become embroiled in a domestic political scandal in his native Belgium.

With Claes protesting his innocence, a special Belgian parliamentary investigative commission met for the first time Tuesday to weigh more than 700 pages of evidence gathered by state prosecutors that allegedly link him to illegal contributions made to his Socialist Party-Flemish six years ago.

About $2 million in so-called gifts came to the party from the Italian defense contractor Agusta shortly after the company won a major contract to supply helicopters to the Belgian army. Claes was economics minister at the time and helped negotiate the Agusta contract.

Claes is scheduled to appear before the commission Friday; next week, the panel is expected to recommend to the full Parliament whether to lift his immunity from prosecution.

A parliamentary decision to lift the immunity would almost certainly be followed by an indictment.

It remains unclear whether Claes would then resign from the North Atlantic Treaty Organization or ask to step aside temporarily to fight the court case against him.

The re-emergence of the scandal, which dogged Claes for several weeks earlier this year, is a serious blow to the alliance and comes at a time when it desperately needs strong, dedicated leadership.

“The timing really couldn’t be worse from the alliance’s point of view,” said analyst Don M. Snider, a professor at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. “The impact would be to leave a void in leadership just at a time when NATO is about to begin a major peace-enforcement operation.”

The alliance is putting together its first-ever peacekeeping operation in order to enforce a cease-fire in Bosnia-Herzegovina and, it is hoped, a subsequent peace settlement. That deployment could include up to 25,000 Americans.

Others, however, believe that diminished alliance leadership is far more worrisome in dealing with issues more fundamental to NATO’s existence, including its post-Cold War role and its planned expansion to include former East Bloc states.

The very nature of NATO’s top job means that even the whiff of scandal weakens Claes’ effectiveness.

Chosen by agreement among the alliance’s 16 member states, the secretary general exerts influence far more from personal stature and an ability to shape debate and persuade doubters than from statutory power.

Claes’ predecessor, Manfred Woerner, for example, brought NATO into the Balkan conflict more than two years ago using mainly his high personal standing among alliance ambassadors.

Times staff writer Art Pine in Washington contributed to this report.