(http://news.excite.com/news/r/001116/10/news-nato-arms-dc)

BERLIN (Reuters) - European parliamentarians will voice concerns over a proposed U.S. national missile shield at a meeting of NATO deputies this weekend, their leader said on Thursday.

Washington says it needs a limited National Missile Defense system to shoot down missiles it fears could be launched by hostile states developing nuclear missile technology.

But the plan worries the United States' European allies and is opposed by Russia which says it could trigger a new arms race and violate the Anti-Ballistic Missile treaty, the cornerstone of international arms control for 30 years.

Simon Lunn, secretary general of the NATO parliamentary assembly which brings together deputies from the 19 alliance member states, said European members would seek to highlight their position on NMD at a four-day meeting starting in Berlin on Saturday.

"It is a question of reminding the Americans that their decision on National Missile Defense could have implications for the whole Alliance and we are hoping that the concerns of the Europeans will be taken into account," Lunn said.

"Our concern is this project could lead to the abrogation of the ABM treaty," he told a news conference in Berlin.

"Other concerns are to do with feasibility and cost," he said. "But the Europeans acknowledge the U.S. has rights to take decisions to protect its own people."

The assembly, which culminates in a plenary session on Tuesday to be addressed by NATO Secretary-General George Robertson, German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder and Montenegro President Milo Djukanovic, is likely to recommend a broad review of strategic missile threats to all Alliance members.

The proposal is contained in a resolution drafted by Dutch parliamentarian Jan Hoekema which also recommends that NATO considers appropriate responses to any threat while working to retain the AMB treaty in a form that enhances Alliance security.

Karl Lamers, a conservative member of Germany's Bundestag, noted that European members of NATO had not given as much consideration to the threat of ballistic missiles as the U.S., but said the time was ripe for them to do so.

"The Europeans did not concern themselves with this question for a long time, but they have been coming closer together with the Americans over how to develop a joint way forward," Lamers told Reuters. "There is no dispute over our threat analysis."

But Lamers said the NMD plan could weaken the security of the transatlantic Alliance if it undermined current arms control mechanisms.

"NMD should not be achieved at the expense of the achievements in international arms control and proliferation," he said in a report due to be discussed at the assembly.

Democrat presidential candidate Al Gore has pledged to negotiate with Russia over a limited NMD system. His Republican challenger George W. Bush favors a more comprehensive system.

A disputed vote count in Florida means either Gore, currently vice president, or Bush, could clinch the cliffhanger U.S. presidential election.