European Union nations agreed this evening to take part in a peacekeeping force in Afghanistan but Belgium backed down from an earlier grand announcement that the EU itself would create the force.
Early on at a two-day EU summit, Belgian Foreign Minister Louis Michel said all 15 EU member states would participate in a multinational force of between 3,000 and 4,000 soldiers, calling the move a turning point in the history of the European Union.
A later statement read by Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt excised all reference to the bloc acting collectively but said member states would make individual contributions - a strong signal of their determination to meet international responsibilities and help with the stabilisation of Afghanistan.
The fumbling highlighted the gap between rhetoric and reality as the EU prepares to declare the first elements of its embryonic rapid reaction force operational tomorrow.
Britain is ready to lead an Afghan force, with troops from other EU states but also Muslim nations such as Turkey and Jordan. It sharply rejected talk of an EU operation, saying that the force would operate under a UN mandate.
"There is no question of the EU having a defence force at the moment still less it deploying one it doesn't have in Afghanistan," Foreign Secretary Jack Straw told reporters.
Discussions were taking place in London today between military officials from Britain, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Turkey and Jordan. The US was also sitting in.
A 12-strong British scoping team will fly to Kabul this weekend to view the lay of the land and make a recommendation on troop numbers. No decision on force size would be made before then, a British official said.
Separately, the European Commission - the union's executive - said it would finance a €4.9 million programme to start reconstruction in Afghanistan and its neighbours now its Taliban rulers had been toppled.
There is little doubt the force, which will aim to keep order in and around Kabul, will be lead by Britain.
"The UN has indicated they would be happy for us to lead this. We have agreed to lead it in principle," British Prime Minister Tony Blair's official spokesman said.
Earlier, riot police fired water cannons at protesters in freezing temperatures today as a street protest against globalisation, coinciding with an EU summit, turned nasty at its conclusion.
Two specialized trucks with high-pressure water jets fitted atop their cabs were seen hosing down several dozen protesters who were hurling objects at police near the Tour et Taxis warehouse complex.
Earlier, masked anarchists were seen breaking windows and spraying anti-euro graffiti on a number of bank branches as well as a police station, during a mid-day march that was otherwise without serious incident.
Police generally kept a low profile as the marchers protested the direction of Europe's political development amid hopes from some of seeing a turning point for the antiglobalisation movement.
Organizers put the turnout at 30,000 people. Police estimated the numbers at 12,500.