NATO Chief May Resign Over Scandal

NATO Secretary General Willy Claes said Saturday that he is considering resigning, hours after a special Belgian parliamentary commission recommended he face trial on charges of corruption.

Reached by Belgian radio at his home in the eastern city of Hasselt and asked if he planned to resign, Claes said, “I want to examine the text [of the commission recommendation] and then think about it before making a decision.”

He also said he wants to discuss his position with ambassadors from the North Atlantic Treaty Organization’s 16 member states.

It marked the first time Claes has hinted he might step down because of the scandal, which has hung over him for much of the past year.

Claes’ comments came after the commission ended a marathon session early Saturday with a vote to recommend lifting the immunity he enjoys for actions taken while a Belgian government minister.

If, as expected, the full Parliament accepts the commission’s recommendation, Claes will probably face immediate indictment and be sent to trial. He is accused of being part of a kickback scandal in which the Italian aircraft producer Agusta allegedly gave illegal contributions totaling $2 million to a Belgian political party in the late 1980s shortly after winning a major defense contract.

The contributions were reportedly made to Claes’ Socialist Party-Flemish. Claes was economics minister at the time and helped negotiate the contract. He has consistently maintained his innocence.

Sources close to Claes said he was stunned by the commission vote.

“He was like a boxer who’d been knocked down,” said one NATO official who declined to be identified. “He left the commission thinking he’d cleared his case.”

But if Claes was shocked, so too were officials at NATO headquarters here.

Although a White House official said Saturday that the United States continues to have confidence in Claes, observers both inside and outside the alliance said they find it difficult to see how he can remain effective in his job and prepare a court defense at the same time.

“Especially now, the alliance needs strong leadership,” summed up a NATO official who declined to be identified. “It’s very difficult.”

NATO ambassadors only this month approved the first stage of a plan that would commit the alliance to deploying its first-ever peacekeeping force--a contingent of at least 50,000 troops to enforce a possible Balkan peace settlement.