UPDATE 1-U.S. says open to NATO solution for missile shield

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By Louis Charbonneau

BERLIN, March 15 (Reuters) - The United States is open to European demands that a missile shield system it plans to deploy in Poland and the Czech Republic be brought under NATO, the top U.S. missile defence official said on Thursday.

"I wouldn't be averse to that," U.S. Lieutenant General Henry Obering, director of the Missile Defense Agency, told reporters in Berlin when asked whether Washington could integrate the shield into NATO's defensive capabilities.

"We will continue to consult with our NATO allies," he said.

His comments appeared aimed at reassuring European countries like Germany, who have expressed concern the plan could splinter NATO states and urged more consultations with Moscow, who sees the shield as an encroachment on its former sphere of influence.

Obering said such talks could help convince the Russians to accept the plan, which the U.S. says is meant to protect Europe and U.S. forces here from missiles fired by what Washington calls "rogue states", such Iran and North Korea.

It would be a mistake for European states to underestimate the threat posed by Iran's missile programmes, Obering said.

Senior European officials, including German Chancellor Angela Merkel and NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, have called for the missile defence issue to be debated within the Alliance rather than on a bilateral basis.

Merkel has vowed to make this point to Polish leaders when she visits Warsaw on Friday.

Last week Polish officials said Warsaw needed a bilateral security pact with the United States because it was concerned NATO lacked the resolve to counter any serious threats.

European diplomats say Merkel, who is presiding over Germany's European Union presidency, is also eager to keep the debate from becoming an EU issue, which could interfere with her plans to revive the bloc's constitution.

Obering said Washington was perplexed by the negative reaction from Moscow, which views the shield as an attempt to shift the post-Cold War balance of power.

He said discussions with Russia and NATO on the shield have been under way for over a year.

"The difficulties with the Russians primarily centre around the locations," he said, adding that Moscow found the idea of Czech and Polish sites too close for comfort.

ARMS RACE WITH IRAN

Obering is in Berlin to explain the plan to install a missile battery in Poland and radar in the Czech Republic to German officials and lawmakers. On Wednesday Obering was in Ukraine and he heads to Paris next.

German Deputy Foreign Minister Gernot Erler, in an interview on German radio on Thursday, suggested the missile shield could spark a new arms race -- an idea Obering rejected.

"That's not the arms race we're worried about," he said. "The arms race we're worried about is the one in Iran."

Erler also criticised decisions by nuclear powers Britain, France and the United States to modernise their atomic arsenals, which he said would complicate non-proliferation efforts.

(Additional reporting by Dave Graham)

Keywords: SHIELD/GERMANY