Bulgaria agreed on Tuesday to a U.S. request to open its airspace to aid Washington's plans to strike back following the September 11 terrorist attacks, announced Foreign Minister Solomon Passi.

The official response to Washington's request, received late Monday, for access to a corridor through Bulgarian airspace for U.S. transport planes was scheduled to be given on Wednesday via diplomatic courier to the U.S. embassy in Sofia. The number of planes, their destination, and the date of their passage were not specified in the U.S. request, Passi said.

Bulgaria said on Friday it was ready to act "as a NATO ally" and had confirmed its commitment to open its territory to NATO forces in a declaration in Parliament. Sofia is hoping to receive an invitation next year to join the transatlantic military alliance. The members of the Consultative Council on National Security (CCNS) and President Petar Stoyanov recommended to the Foreign Ministry to reply in the affirmative to the request.

"The Parliament does not have to be consulted under these circumstances since no combat aircraft are involved," Passi said, describing the decision of the council as a natural progression of the country's foreign policy. "The U.S. operation is planned under utmost secrecy," Passi said, declining to give more details.

"Terrorism is undoubtedly among the latest global threats and, despite the absence, for the moment, of direct threats for the Bulgarian territory or people, we should have a clear vision on risk assessment issues," Stoyanov said. Bulgaria will have to rethink its national security principles, as will all other countries, he said. "They should not be used for partisan purposes but should be shared by all future governments."

"The national security concept and the military doctrine need to be updated and the CCNS will propose to Parliament to form a working group for this purpose," he added.

Kemal Eyup, a National Assembly deputy speaker from the Movement for Rights and Freedoms (MRF), learned over the radio about the request for an air corridor and confirmed that the procedure does not require the approval of the Parliament.

Georgi Purvanov, leader of the Bulgarian Socialist Party, said that he was unhappy with the information that was provided by the foreign minister and demanded more precise details, because he was not certain that the operation would involve only transport planes. Purvanov was also displeased by the fact that the political parties in the National Assembly had been informed about the request by the U.S. on Tuesday afternoon although the request was received late Monday night.

The former foreign minister and floor leader of the United Democratic Forces (UtdDF), Nadezhda Mihailova, also said she found it disturbing that the information had been kept secret for so long. " I myself learned about it at the meeting of the consultative council. I would like to point out that the National Assembly has approved a declaration calling for the government to seek additional guarantees for our security through consultations with our allies."

Mihailova pointed out that parallels have often been drawn to the situation in Kosovo two years ago, when the previous government insisted on additional guarantees for security. "Indeed, the present situation is extreme, but this is nevertheless a matter that involves diplomatic activity and additional consultations with the allies, so that we can really become part of their family," Mihailova said.