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• AFP quotes a NATO official saying Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Gusarov visited NATO headquarters Friday for talks on improving cooperation between Moscow and the Alliance. Backed by a team of Kremlin experts, Gusarov discussed preparations for a new NATO body that would enable Russia and the Alliance to take decisions together, the spokesman reportedly said. He added that both sides had agreed in advance not to make any public statements on the negotiations. Die Welt claims meanwhile that cooperation plans with Russia in the Alliance have come to a standstill. The article also quotes a U.S. officer serving at SACLANT describing the negotiations as "blind actions" by which NATO hopes to hide its current lack of orientation. "The idea is a good one, but it will thwarted by its implementation," the officer reportedly stressed.

In a contribution to the Wall Street Journal, March 22-24, Vladimir Socor, senior analyst for the Jamestown Foundation’s Monitor, looks at the "post-Sept. 11 impetus for NATO enlargement." Noting that the Black Sea area now shares the spotlight of international politics with the Caspian basin and Central Asia, Socor underscores the security linkages between the Black Sea’s western rim countries and the region to their east.

He writes: "That unstable, resource-rich Eurasian heartland now looms large in U.S. and allied planning. When Romania and Bulgaria join NATO, the Alliance will be better positioned to enhance its partnerships with Ukraine and Georgia, to promote strategic stability and development in the South Caucasus-Caspian area, and to connect with Central Asia…. NATO policy-makers stand before an opportunity without precedent in history to bring the Baltic-Black Sea region permanently within the western world. The basic prerequisites already exist, and are being reinforced daily by the aspirant countries themselves, through their homework on economic and political reforms and the membership action plans. Progress is often uneven from country to country; but each of the seven countries seeking a membership invitation this year would bring with it a net advantage to the Alliance in terms of location, political resolve, allied discipline and willingness to bear their share of military burdens. This they are already demonstrating through their participation in NATO exercises and allied operations … from the Balkans to Afghanistan." Socor expresses the hope that a summit of countries aspiring to join NATO in Bucharest next week will help balance NATO’s enlargement agenda, bringing its Baltic and Black Sea directions in harmony with each other and with the requirements of the post-Sept. 11^th world.

AFGHANISTAN

• ISAF: The Guardian quotes British government sources saying Turkey will take over command of the international security force in Kabul from Britain, but only after the April 30 deadline set by Defense Secretary Hoon. According to the newspaper, the sources said that although the agreement has yet to be officially announced, Turkey had agreed to command the force after Washington offered an aid package. The article stresses, however that the future of ISAF remains unclear. Turkey is thought to have demanded a definite exit strategy, leaving another question mark over who would lead the international force in Kabul if its international mandate is prolonged by the UN into July.

The deployment of 1,700 British Marines to supplement U.S. forces fighting Al Qaeda in Afghanistan continues to be a dominant theme in British media. In what it sees as remarks which will stoke the concern of those in Britain who fear the deployment will be the first step in an entanglement that will end in disaster, The Daily Telegraph reports that in an interview, former SACEUR, retired Gen. Clark warned of an "unwinnable guerrilla war." According to the newspaper, Gen. Clark said there were "worrisome signs" that the allies were drifting into a position similar to that which assailed Soviet forces after their invasion in 1979. He also insisted that America must resist taking the Al Qaeda and Taliban on in guerrilla warfare and stressed the need for reliable intelligence.

BALKANS

• According to AFP, an Embassy official said the U.S. Embassy in Bosnia was forced to close its offices in Sarajevo and Mostar this week due to security threats. The Embassy decided on Wednesday to reduce its operations and close its offices to the general public due to what it called an "unverified threat," the official reportedly said. Late Wednesday, the Embassy received "additional information" on the threat and decided to close its offices Thursday, the official added, without elaborating. The dispatch remarks that late Thursday Moslem-Croat television reported that local police had arrested one person on suspicion of plotting an attack against U.S. Embassy building and personnel. Quoting an anonymous source close to police, the station reportedly said an attack was planned for Thursday. The dispatch adds that Bosnian police and government officials would not confirm the report.

 FINAL ITEM