The meeting, called after NATO Secretary-General George Robertson tabled the compromise proposal Wednesday morning, broke up with France, Germany and Belgium refusing to make concessions.

NATO Spokesman Yves Brodeur told reporters following the emergency meeting that the three holdouts have not changed their position on the issue.

They still think that starting military preparations at the present stage was premature and would send a wrong signal, he said.

He emphasized that NATO's internal row over the issue is on the timing, not on the principle of self-defense.

He said that the ambassadors would continue their intense consultations on the trimmed plan Thursday, but fell short of giving exact time for the meeting.

The scaled-down proposal reportedly dropped the articles concerning the redeployment of NATO forces in Europe and NATO peace-keeping mission in post-war Iraq. But the contents on military support to Turkey remained unchanged, he told reporters Wednesday afternoon.

The ambassadors' meeting was called late in the evening because they should be given more time for contacts with their capitals and for bilateral consultations in the hope that a consensus could be reached.

The NATO row, triggered by the veto of the three holdouts on the original proposal Monday, was widely cited as the most serious crisis the military alliance has ever faced since its founding 54 years ago.

(Xinhua News Agency February 13, 2003)