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AFGHANISTAN

• Deposed Afghan king Mohammad Zaher Shah said he was struck by the suffering he found in Kabul, but was hopeful the country would be able to rebuild quickly after more than two decades of fighting. He said that "as soon as possible" after the transitional government is selected, he expects international aid to flow "to rebuild the country and achieve progress for Afghanistan." He also said that the presence of international peacekeepers in the capital was necessary and that most Afghans were supportive of U.S. soldiers here. (AP 140005 May 02)

• U.S. troops killed five enemy fighters and captured 32 during a raid on a suspected al-Qaida or Taliban compound, the first gunbattle in weeks to involve American forces, a U.S. military spokesman said on Monday. A top British commander, meanwhile, said the British-led "Operation Snipe" in the southeast was finished and succeeded in delivering a "significant blow" to the enemy. He said his forces destroyed "a vast arsenal of weaponry," as well as caves and bunkers used by remnants of Osama bin Laden’s organization and the Taliban. "It is true to say that we did not encounter the enemy during this operation," Brig. Roger Lane, the top British commander in the coalition operation, told reporters at Bagram. But "from a strategic perspective, this is an encouraging sign." "The fact that al-Qaida had been forced to abandon one of the most strategically well-placed and easily defended locations in Afghanistan speaks volumes for the military and psychological impact of the coalition’s operations," Brig. Lane added. (AP 132147 May 02)

NATO

• A day after Russia and the United States announced a breakthrough in nuclear arms cuts, NATO aims to strike its own landmark agreement to take cooperation with Moscow to a new level. Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov is scheduled to meet his NATO counterparts in the Icelandic capital of Reykjavik on Tuesday. The two-day NATO meeting is also scheduled to review the alliance’s plans to invite new members from eastern Europe later this year and examine how to close the gap between U.S. military might and Europe’s outdated armed forces. Under the expected agreement with Moscow, a new NATO-Russia Council would deal with a fixed range of issues likely to include counter-terrorism, arms proliferation, missile defense, peacekeeping, management of regional crises, search-and-rescue and arms control. (AP 140005 May 02)

• Balkan neighbours Bulgaria and Romania approved on Monday an unprecedented joint declaration to unite efforts to join NATO this year, saying their membership would boost security in the turbulent region. "We reiterate our commitment to...further expand our bilateral cooperation on the way to NATO membership," said the document adopted by the two countries’ parliamentary foreign policy committees at a session in the northern Bulgarian town of Rousse. (Reuters 131711 GMT May 02)

EU

• Greece affirmed on Monday its objections to a plan to let the European Union use NATO military hardware to stage its own peacekeeping operations, Spanish Defense Minister Frederico Trillo said. Rooted in Greece’s rivalry with Turkey, the Greek threat to veto the proposal could prevent the EU from taking over a peacekeeping operation from NATO in September. Mr. Trillo said that a joint EU foreign and defense ministers meeting in Brussels on Monday failed to remove Greek objections to the deal. "We hope very much to get an overall agreement" with NATO before an EU summit meeting next month in Seville, Spain, Mr. Trillo added. Without such a deal "it would be very difficult for the Europeans to carry out peacekeeping operations," he told reporters. In Athens, Greek government spokesman Christos Protopappas said "there are difficulties." He said Greek opposition to giving Turkey effectively a say in EU defense went against "the true interests of Greece." (AP 131515 May 02)

• The European Union criticized the United States on Monday for renouncing a treaty creating the world’s first permanent international war crimes tribunal. The Bush administration’s decision "could have negative consequences for the application of multilateral treaties and, in a more general sense, for the rule of law in international relations," the 15-member bloc said in a statement issued by Spain, which currently holds its rotating presidency. The European Union said Monday that U.S. worries that the court would be used against the United States for political reasons were unfounded. (AP 132001 May 02)

NMD

• The Pentagon’s missile defense agency on Monday said it remained on track to conduct two missile intercept tests this summer as Senate Democrats pressed a bid to slash funding for the controversial program. Lt. Col. Rick Lehner, spokesman for the Missile Defense Agency, said officials were closely tracking the Senate Armed Forces Committee’s bid to cut funding for missile defense by US $812 million for fiscal 2003. He said agency Director Lt. Gen. Ronald Kadish had not scheduled any meetings with senators to lobby for the program. Lt. Col. Lehner said the agency still planned to test sea-based and ground-based technologies designed to intercept ballistic missiles, as well as break ground on a new testing facility in Alaska that is due to be operational by 2004. (Reuters 132223 GMT May 02)

BALKANS

• A NATO delegation and top Yugoslav officials discussed this Balkan country’s chances of becoming a member of a military cooperation program at a secret meeting last week, a senior government official said Monday in Belgrade. Yugoslav Foreign Minister Goran Svilanovic confirmed the meeting, saying it "was very productive ... as it built confidence between NATO and our country." Media were barred from the event at the Yugoslav army hunting lodge in Morovic, 100 kilometers northwest of Belgrade. NATO officials were not immediately available for comment. It was the first in a series of talks meant to bring Yugoslavia closer to membership in NATO’s Partnership for Peace Program. (AP 131619 May 02)

• Iraq has proposed to the United Nations that the third round of talks on the return of weapons inspectors to Baghdad be held in Vienna rather than New York to avoid U.S. visa delays, Iraqi diplomats said on Monday. The United Nations is willing to move the discussions to the Austrian capital providing dates for the talks are compatible with UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan’s schedule, Western diplomats said. No dates have been agreed yet. (Reuters 132254 GMT May 02)

• U.S. President George W. Bush will keep pushing for the creation of a Palestinian state despite a vote by Israel’s ruling right-wing Likud party never to accept one, the White House said on Monday. Secretary of State Colin Powell reinforced that position, saying he had spoken to Likud leader Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon earlier on Monday. National security adviser Condoleezza Rice said President Bush believed the creation of a Palestinian state was needed to bring peace to the Middle East. (Reuters 132324 GMT May 02)

• U.S. and Indian defense officials hope to accelerate efforts to expand bilateral ties and pave the way to more arms sales at meetings in Washington next week, a top Pentagon official said on Monday. Defense Undersecretary Douglas Feith, leading the U.S. delegation, said the United States and India already had signed an agreement on securing shared defense information, and were cooperating on naval operations. Feith spoke on the eve of a trip to the region by Christine Rocca, assistant U.S. secretary of state for South Asian affairs, signaling growing U.S. concern over tensions between India and Pakistan. (Reuters 132036 GMT May 02)

 FINAL ITEM