Security tight for NATO meeting

An Italian paramilitary police officer patrols the area outside the building where the NATO-Russia summit is to meet

ROME, Italy -- Italy is preparing for any possible terror attack on Rome as world leaders gather for a NATO summit which will cement Russia's role in the military group.

Rome is guarding against electronic, chemical or biological attacks as 20 of the world's most senior leaders, including U.S. President George W. Bush and Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, prepare to meet.

All Italian airliners and Greece's Olympic Airways have cancelled flights around Rome during the meeting on Tuesday to counter any possible suicide hijackings.

The NATO meeting is being staged at a military airbase less than two minutes flying time from Rome's Fiumicino airport.

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Italian authorities, concerned that militants may try to overpower a commercial jet and target the summit centre, have ordered all companies using Fiumicino to put security staff on their flights.

Italian carriers have decided instead to ground their planes between 10 a.m-3 p.m. (0800-1300 GMT), saying they did not have enough security staff trained in airline safety to meet government requirements.

Rome's second largest airport, Ciampino, will be closed to all but VIP flights for the next two days.

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The Italian government is to deploy fighter jets to patrol the skies in case of possible airborne attack while anti-air missiles and helicopter gunships will be used.

About 15,000 soldiers, police and firemen will be on guard duty at the Pratica di Mare military airbase, Europe's second biggest.

The Italian government says it has no knowledge of a specific threat to the meeting, but it is taking no chances.

Italy had been criticised for its alleged heavy-handed approach to security at a G8 summit meeting in Genoa last July in which a demonstrator died, but it was later revealed by the government that it had been alerted to a possible terror attack.

Italian President Silvio Berlusconi, was quoted by Reuters news agency as saying on the weekend: "Every type of threat, including electronic, chemical and biological has been taken into account.

"I imagine that Pratica di Mare will be the safest place in the world during this summit."

A 60-kilometre (37-mile) stretch of coastline from Anzio to Ostia, which includes a nudist beach, has been sealed off for two days as part of the precautions.

Bush will fly into Rome on Monday afternoon for talks with Berlusconi as part of the U.S. president's European tour, while other leaders including French President Jacques Chirac and British Prime Minister Tony Blair will arrive on Tuesday morning.

NATO is set to sign a partnership deal with the Russians at Tuesday's meeting, giving the former Cold War enemy a greater say in areas such as counter terrorism, regional emergencies, arms control and maritime safety. (Does NATO have a purpose?)

Berlusconi added: "It is an historic meeting of global significance."

CNN's European Political Editor Robin Oakley said NATO is expecting to be told it has to modernise.

Its Secretary-General George Robertson recognises the need for change inorder to keep the U.S. on board.

Oakley added: "For the moment a United States which these days fights its wars with coalitions of the willing still welcomes NATO's pool of experience and training to help put those coalitions together.

"But if European governments don't come up with hard cash soon to hike their defence spending, some defence experts wonder how long it will be before the United States loses patience with the alliance altogether."

One of the ways NATO is looking to adapt is to accept more members from the former Warsaw Pact -- against the wishes of Moscow.

The latest former communist country looking to gain entry is the Ukraine, though President Leonid Kuchma acknowledged this would be a lengthy process.

Russian foreign ministry spokesman Alexander Yakovenko told RIA Novosti news agency in comments later attributed to a Kremlin source: "From our point of view, enlargement provides nobody -- not NATO itself and not its new members -- with additional security.

"From whom is NATO preparing to defend its new members? And why is such a defence needed if we are no longer enemies and the period of confrontation is over?"

In addition to the tight security measures Pratica di Mare has also undergone a massive spruce up.

The rather run-down airbase has been re-painted and a huge reception area constructed.

Local museums have donated ancient Roman statues in an effort to smarten the site up.