Danish Prime Minister elected secretary-general

Anders Fogh Rasmussen (pictured) was heavily backed by the biggest European powers, but his campaign to succeed Jaap de Hoop Scheffer was threatened when Turkey objected over his failure to ban Denmark-based Roj-TV, seen as the mouthpiece of the Kurdistan Workers' Party.

The Turkish Prime Minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, also complained that Mr Rasmussen had failed to sanction those responsible for a Danish newspaper's publication of caricatures of the Prophet Mohamed in 2005.

However, Turkish officials said Ankara dropped its objection after the US President Barack Obama answered Mr Erdogan's "objections" during a private meeting.

Mr Erdogan told Turkish television that he had received "guarantees" from Mr Obama that one of Mr Rasmussen's deputies would be a Turk – and that Turkish commanders would be present at the alliance's command.

Mr Rasmussen's unanimous election was confirmed yesterday by Mr Scheffer, who steps down at the end of July. He told Mr Rasmussen, who was also on the podium: "You know that there has been discussion over the past 36 hours, but the fact that we are standing here means a solution has been found. We all very much agree and are unanimous."