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NOTE: Due to PIO’s participation in Exercise "Strong Resolve 2002," the SHAPE News Morning Update will not be published for the period March 1-15.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

BALKANS

Reports that SFOR forces conducted an operation to detain former Bosnian Serb leader Karadzic generated extensive media coverage. While stressing that Karadzic was not found, international media highlighted NATO and SFOR’s insistence that the operation demonstrates NATO’s resolve to arrest indicted war criminals. Media also stressed that the SFOR operation had been "massive."

A NATO spokesman said the sweep indicates "the resolve of … NATO to … arrest persons indicted for war crimes, who do not voluntarily surrender," said AP.

In a statement, SFOR stressed that the operation demonstrates SFOR and NATO’s heightened will to use a wide range of capabilities and means against all indicted war criminals that do not voluntarily surrender, wrote AFP.

NATO said on Thursday it had failed to find Karadzic but the operation showed its determination to track him down, said Reuters.

While the BBC noted that NATO troops launched "a major operation" in southern Bosnia but failed to find Karadzic, CNN reported that Karadzic had evaded "a massive NATO operation" to track him down in a remote Bosnian village. In a similar vein, Skynews reported that Karadzic is still on the run after "a major NATO snatch operation" failed to find him.

CNN and AFP observed that NATO’s acknowledgement of the operation was unprecedented.

"It was the first time that NATO has publicly said that its forces sought to arrest (Karadzic)," noted AFP.

"What is extraordinary is that SFOR publicly acknowledged this mission," said CNN’s Christianne Amanpour, speculating that this was apparently the first serious attempt to go after Karadzic. She assumed that similar operations would happen because of the pressure on NATO by the ICTY since Milosevic was in the dock.

Another AFP story quotes French President Chirac saying he was disappointed that the operation to capture Karadzic had failed but vowed he would be seized "next time."

"We are saying to Karadzic, ‘we are on your tail,’" Reuters quotes a NATO spokesman saying, suggesting that the comments, together with other NATO statements, appeared calculated to keep Karadzic and other key suspects apprehensive.

The NATO-led operation prompted negative reactions in Republika Srpska but was welcomed by Yugoslavia’s foreign minister.

According to AFP, Bosnian Prime Minister Ivanic slammed the NATO-led peacekeepers over the way they tried to arrest Karadzic, saying his government should have been told about the operation first. "It is really unacceptable that such an activity is going on that no RS institution knows about it," Ivanic reportedly said. The dispatch noted, however, that earlier, Ivanic told deputies in the RS assembly that he had been told by COMSFOR, Gen. Sylvester, that an operation conducted in the region of Foca had ended.

Another AFP dispatch quotes Yugoslav Foreign Minister Svilanovic saying in Stockholm, that the capture of Karadzic "would be the beginning of a closure process" and "would certainly would be a good development for everyone in the region."

• According to AFP, the UN administrator in Kosovo, Michael Steiner, said Kosovo’s ethnic Albanian leaders signed a long-awaited agreement to share power in the multiethnic assembly Thursday, paving the way for moderate ethnic Albanian leader Rugova to be the president. The dispatch notes that the deal ends three months of political deadlock.

NATO

• According to AP, NATO Secretary General Robertson warned Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein Thursday to brace for international response if he gives shelter to Osama Bin Laden or members of Al Qaeda. However, talking to reporters in Bulgaria, he reportedly declined to say whether all NATO allies would unanimously support a military action against Iraq. "I don’t know of any military action to be planned against Iraq, so there is no point of having some debate on something that is purely hypothetical. But I think that Saddam Hussein should be aware of the international reaction if he is to give shelter to Al Qaeda and Osama Bin Laden," the dispatch quotes Lord Robertson saying.

• Helsinki’s Hufvudstadsbladet, Feb. 27, reported that Finland and Sweden are preparing a joint initiative to enhance the Partnership for Peace and develop the Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council (EAPC). According to the newspaper, the aim appears to be to guarantee the position and influence of the non-aligned countries in the situation that will result from the enlargement of NATO. In practice, stressed the article, the move represents an endeavor to further develop the forms of cooperation with NATO. The background for the initiative is the changes that are expected as a result of NATO’s future enlargement and the current endeavors to develop cooperation structures between NATO and Russia, the newspaper continued. It added that the initiative would be put before the meeting of the NATO nations’ foreign ministers in Reykjavik in May.

EAGLE ASSIST

• La Libre Belgique devotes a full page to an anecdotic article on the mission of NATO AWACS crews in the framework of Operation Eagle Assist. Emphasizing that in the streets of Washington, "life is going on under the protection of European AWACS crews," the newspaper stresses: "The only precedent goes back to La Fayette. Since October 2001, regular European troops are participating to the defense of the United states " The newspaper notes the presence of Belgian military in the AWACS crews.

AFGHANISTAN

• AP reports that in a speech to German lawmakers Thursday, UN Secretary General Annan urged nations to extend ISAF beyond its present mandate. According to the dispatch, Annan warned that withdrawing prematurely from Afghanistan could plunge the country into renewed chaos, as happened when the world neglected the country after the Soviet withdrawal in 1989. The dispatch notes that with Britain seeking release from the leadership role, a key question is who will lead the 18-nation force. "Germany has ruled out replacing Britain, but a Defense Ministry spokesman said Wednesday that the government is considering taking on more responsibility in the force. He stressed that this did not mean that Germany was ready to take on the leadership of the overall mission, which maintains security in Kabul and the surrounding area," adds the dispatch. The Washington Post claims meanwhile that the Bush administration is nearing a decision to endorse a modest increase in the number of international peacekeepers in Afghanistan that would entail the deployment of forces to one or more cities outside Kabul. Administration officials are quoted saying it is increasingly likely that the United States will support dispatching international troops to Mazar-e-Sharif. The newspaper remarks that while U.S. troops will not participate in any expanded mission, the administration would have to assure other countries that the United States will continue to provide air cover for the peacekeepers and remain available to extract them if they become endangered by hostile forces. Rome’s ANSA, Feb. 27, quoted Italian Defense Minister Martino saying Wednesday that Italy’s three-month peacekeeping mission in Afghanistan could be extended if other nations ask it to do so. Martino told reporters that Germany, France and Britain may decide to extend the duration of the British-led International Security and Assistance Force and would probably ask Italy to remain, added the dispatch.

 FINAL ITEM