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NOTE: Due to PIO’s participation in Exercise "Strong Resolve 2002," the SHAPE News Morning Update will not be published for the period March 1-15. Significant news items will be incorporated in the SHAPE News Summary and Analysis.  

• The United States sent one of its clearest messages yet to Slovakia on Wednesday that it could miss out again on membership of NATO if a September election returns former prime minister Vladimir Meciar to power. The U.S. ambassador to NATO, Nicholas Burns, said Washington was not convinced that Meciar was sincere in saying he had changed and now favored joining the Western alliance. Meciar’s HZDS party tops opinion polls. "The former government, we believe, did not demonstrate a commitment to democracy and the rule of law. The United States was therefore unable to support Slovakia’s candidacy to NATO in 1997 for that reason," Burns told a news conference. "There is no evidence that the leadership of that party has changed and that remains a fundamental concern of our government." Other NATO officials have also indicated that formerly Communist Slovakia could jeopardize its otherwise strong bid for membership if voters return Meciar to power. Opinion polls indicate the HZDS will win the most votes -- it has some 30 percent support -- but it is not clear whether it will be able to find coalition partners to form a government. (Reuters 2146 270202 Feb 02 GMT)

ISAF

• Britain’s Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said on Wednesday there was no decision yet on expanding the presence of British-led international peacekeepers in Afghanistan. Straw, on a day-long visit to New Delhi, said he discussed the issue with Afghanistan’s interim leader Hamid Karzai who was also in the Indian capital for his first state visit. "We talked about the question of the geographical extension of ISAF or an equivalent elsewhere within Afghanistan on which decisions are much less advanced," Straw told a joint news conference with Indian foreign minister Jaswant Singh. Straw said he also held talks about the "overall security position" within Afghanistan and about Turkey taking over the leadership of the peacekeeping force from Britain. But he did not give details.(Reuters 1954 270202 GMT Feb 02)

TERRORISM

• Three French Mirage fighter aircraft flew into Kyrgyzstan’s Manas airport on Wednesday, the first fighters to land in former Soviet Central Asia to join the anti-terror coalition’s campaign in nearby Afghanistan. The three Mirage 2000-D jets, accompanied by a single refueling aircraft which had flown with them from France were immediately placed under guard in a remote area of Kyrgyzstan’s main civil airport. "We have deployed these aircraft for some operations before, in particular in Bosnia and Kosovo during the Balkan war," Lt. Col. Bertrand Bon of the French contingent told reporters. Manas airport will be the biggest single base, with 3,500 troops due in the next few weeks. There are now around 1,000 there, mostly American and French.(Reuters 1325 270202 GMT Feb 02)

• President Bush on Wednesday defended U.S. military plans to train and equip forces in the former Soviet republic of Georgia to help it expel guerrillas with ties to al Qaeda. He was speaking to reporters during a visit to Charlotte, North Carolina, as Pentagon officials said any final plan to send up to 200 Army Special Forces troops to train Georgian forces would have to be approved by Washington and Tbilisi. Asked by reporters if he thought guerrillas in the rugged Pankisi Gorge region of Georgia were influenced by fugitive Osama bin Laden’s al Qaeda network of Islamic extremists, Bush said: "I do." He added: "As long as there is al Qaeda influence anywhere we will help the host countries rout ‘em out and bring ‘em to justice." Any military aid to Georgia would have to be formally requested and would be limited to equipment and advice, Bush added. Other U.S. officials stressed that any trainers sent to Georgia there would not be directly involved in fighting.(Reuters 0035 280202 GMT Feb 02)

  FINAL ITEM