NICE, France, Feb. 9 (Xinhuanet) -- French authorities have beefedup security in the coastal city of Nice Wednesday in preparations for the informal meeting of defense ministers of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).

    Police cars are patrolling the busy streets which used to be crowed with foreign tourists and fully-armed soldiers, in small groups, check suspicious vehicles and passers-by.

    On the world-famous blue coast, the military has deployed radarcars and navy ships are close to the shore to be used in case of emergencies.

    One official from the Ministry of Defense, who declined to be named, told Xinhua in the press center that the government has ordered police forces from neighboring cities to come to help.

    He said that it is very understandable for the government to take so many strict security measures because security, in a worldof uncertainty, is the top priority.

    The ministerial meeting, first of its kind in Nice, is to address such issues as extension of NATO mission in both Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as the strategic defense reforms of the 26-member military alliance.

    France, together with some other European countries, has on many occasions made clear its opposition to the Iraq war. This ministerial meeting is likely to make some progress on the issue of Iraq, but not any big breakthrough, some analysts said here.

    The ministers' meeting is so eye-catching since it is held justdays before the transatlantic leaders are to meet in Brussels to bridge their gorging gap on many important issues. Enditem