BRUSSELS – Nato’s Brussels headquarters contains the killer substance asbestos, it was revealed on Tuesday.

An inquiry has been opened to determine the quantity of the substance and the level of contamination in the building, NATO sources have confirmed.

The situation is even more alarming as the planned new headquarters will not be completed before 2012.

NATO spokesman James Appathurai said the asbestos had been found in certain parts of the building after recent investigations.

He said a full inquiry had begun on the express orders of NATO Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer.

The Brussels headquarters of the Transatlantic Alliance was constructed in haste when it moved to Belgium in 1967 after France withdrew from NATO’s military structure.

The discovery comes shortly after the headquarters of the European Commission reopened after years of reconstruction when its Berlaymont building was found to be riddled with asbestos.

[Copyright Expatica 2005]

Subject: Belgian news