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• Greece will not accept NATO involvement in any European Union military operation that does not use alliance facilities, its defense minister said Monday. Yannos Papantoniou told Spanish Defense Minister Federico Trillo-Figueroa that Greece also will not allow its differences with non-EU member Turkey to affect the operations of a nascent European defense force in areas such as the Aegean Sea. "Greece does not accept for the European Union to be placed in the jurisdiction of NATO in relations to operations or exercises that are carried out without NATO facilities," Papantoniou said. He added that Greece’s problems with Turkey must not be allowed to "immobilize" the European defense force in a large part of the region.(AP 251541 Feb 02 GMT)

• The vast majority of Finns want their country to stay out of NATO and are lukewarm to the European Union’s planned expansion into eastern Europe, a new survey showed on Monday. The survey for the Center for Finnish Business and Policy Studies (EVA) found 65 percent of Finns want their country -- the only EU member with a border with Russia -- to remain militarily non-aligned, while just 11 percent believe neutral Finland should join NATO. Support rose to 25 percent, but still below the 30 percent who were against joining the Western alliance, the poll showed.(Reuters 1611 250202 GMT Feb 02)

BALKANS

• President Bush picked diplomat Lawrence Butler as the next ambassador to Macedonia (sic). Butler has been deputy chief of mission in Copenhagen since 1999 and before that was deputy senior director for Europe at the National Security Council. He has also served as an economic officer in Helsinki, Sofia and Brasilia. If confirmed, Butler would replace Michael Einik. White House and State Department officials did not say Monday evening why Einik was being replaced.(AP 252354 Feb 02 GMT)

OTHER NEWS

• A small bomb exploded in central Rome in the early hours of Tuesday, destroying several small vehicles and blowing out windows but causing no injuries, police and firemen said. The blast occurred at about 4:00 a.m. in a side street alongside the Interior Ministry and damaged several cars and motor scooters, according to a Reuters witness at the scene. A member of a police bomb team told the ANSA news agency the explosives appeared to have had a "high destructive capacity", but a senior city official, Prefect Emilio del Mese, said it looked like an "act of show" rather than some highly planned attack. Giovanni Finazzo, a Rome chief inspector, said it appeared that the explosive device may have been placed in a motor scooter which was propped up against a wall forming the outer perimeter of the Interior Ministry building. Rome has been under heightened security alert following the detention of a group of Moroccans found with a cyanide compound and explosive material. The men are suspected of having plotted a possible terror attack against the U.S. embassy in the city.(Reuters 0519 260202 GMT Feb 02)

• CMC Electronics has won a contract to supply an avionics management system for the German Air Force's Tornado, the company announced Monday. CMC, formerly known as Canadian Marconi, said the potential exists to provide the electronic equipment for over 300 of the aircraft, worth about 20 million (Canadian) dollars in revenue for CMC over six to seven years. It involves a mid-life upgrade for the Tornado, a NATO fighter aircraft.(AP 251733 Feb 02 GMT)

 FINAL ITEM