The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) started its anti-terror maneuvers with live ammunitions in Spain on Friday amid protests from environmentalists.

The eight-day drills, code named "Noble Javelin 05," aim to practice NATO's capability of counterattack once a member state is under attack, said a NATO spokesman.

The maneuvers are directed by a US general with the participation of British aircraft carrier Invincible and about 20 Dutch F-16 and Spanish F-18 fighters in the air and sea of Spain's Canary Islands.

The maneuvers have aroused environmentalists' opposition as the use of sonar in previous drills killed sea mammals.

The council of Fuerteventura town, which is within the scope of exercises, held an urgent plenary session on Friday and unanimously adopted a decision rejecting the drills off the Fuerteventura Island.

However, British Rear Admiral Charles Style told the local press that "all sorts of precautions have been taken to avoid the death of animals."

"Should we learn that there is a high concentration of cetaceans, we will keep off," he said.

(Xinhua News Agency April 9, 2005)