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AFGHANISTAN

• Turkey, the only Muslim NATO member, took command on Sunday of the strategic Kabul airport, the key lifeline for the Afghan capital and international peacekeepers stationed in this war-ravaged country. Turkish Air Force Col. Kazem Ondul accepted command from Britain of the 2,453-member international force stationed at the airport. Britain is expected to scale back its forces in Afghanistan. (AP 300727 Jun 02)

EU

• Denmark takes the helm of the European Union on Monday. Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen wants to clear the decks of all other business to focus on meeting the 15-nation bloc’s self-imposed December deadline for winding up the enlargement negotiations. (Reuters 301231 GMT Jun 02)

BALKANS

• The United States, just hours after vetoing a resolution extending the UN peacekeeping mission in Bosnia, agreed on Sunday to keep the mission alive for three more days while the UN Security Council scrambles to satisfy Washington’s demand for immunity from a new global war crimes court. Washington agreed to that plan after UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan warned the veto had "severely compromised" plans to turn over the reins of the UN mission to the European Union at the end of the year. (Reuters 302256 GMT Jun 02)

• NATO insisted on Sunday that its peacekeeping mission in Bosnia would not be jeopardized by a possible U.S. vote at the United Nations to block an extension of UN authorization for the force. "It’s not going to affect SFOR," said NATO spokesman Yves Brodeur. "We’re going to maintain our presence and do the job we have to do." Brodeur pointed out that the NATO-led Stabilization Force in Bosnia is not dependent on a UN mandate but was set up under the 1995 peace accords signed in Dayton. SFOR’s mandate is also covered by a separate agreement between NATO and the Bosnian authorities authorizing the operation. (AP 301027 Jun 02)

• Thousands of Macedonian (sic) opposition supporters rallied on Friday evening in the capital Skopje in a show of strength ahead of elections later this year. Opinion polls after last year’s conflict showed the SDSM favourite to emerge as the largest party from elections as Macedonian (sic) voters accused the ruling nationalists of granting too many rights to ethnic Albanians in a peace accord. (Reuters 282146 GMT Jun 02)

• The decision by the world’s wealthiest industrial nations to help Russia dispose of its arsenal of nuclear, biological and chemical weapons won support from some quarters here on Friday, but angered others as a sign of Russia capitulating to the West. Retired Gen. Leonid Ivashov, known for his hawkish statements, warned that Russian President Putin was leading his country into a potentially dangerous relationship with the West, first by agreeing to closer cooperation with NATO and with the full entry of Russia into the Group of Eight. Communist Party leader Gennady Zyuganov criticized the pledge of money as a discreet, backdoor way for the West to further weaken Russian defensively, according to the Interfax news agency. Putin’s increasing cooperation with the West following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in the United States has not been embraced by all Russians. Some fear that the Kremlin has moved too quickly to bind Russia to the international community without receiving any tangible results. Alexei Arbatov, a deputy chief of the Russian parliament’s defense affairs committee, said he feared that Russia was focusing too intently on the United States and not enough on Russia’s more natural partners in Europe. "It is important to remember that the West is not only America," Arbatov added. (AP 281522 Jun 02)

OTHER NEWS

• The world’s first permanent war crimes court comes into force at midnight on Sunday and Dutch administrators overseeing its initial months of operation are ready to register claims of genocide and wartime atrocities. The International Criminal Court will not have the power to try offenses committed before July 1, 2002. (AP 302153 Jun 02)

• If U.S. President Bush ordered airstrikes on Iraq, this vast, remote and little-publicized base in the central Persian Gulf would be a critical hub for U.S. warplanes and their aerial pipeline of bombs and supplies. The government of Qatar is spending millions of dollars to expand al-Udeid. Over the past months, the U.S. military quietly has moved munitions, equipment and communications gear to the base from Saudi Arabia. There has been speculation that al-Udeid is being built up as either an alternative to, or replacement for, the Combined Air Operations Center at Prince Sultan Air Base in Saudi Arabia. (AP 301652 Jun 02)

• At the urging of the Bush administration, military commanders are quietly stocking up on anti-radiation pills and making plans to give them to U.S. troops should they be exposed to radioactive fallout from an attack or accident, according to documents and officials. Suppliers of potassium iodide say shipments to the military have increased in recent months amid fears of war between nuclear-armed rivals India and Pakistan, and new terror threats against American targets including nuclear power plants. A spokesman for U.S. Central Command said it was not distributing potassium iodide tablets to troops in Afghanistan and other South Asian countries, disputing the claims of several suppliers. The Pentagon would not discuss its potassium iodide policy. "The policy memo speaks for itself," said James Turner, a Pentagon spokesman. "The commanders-in-chief, in any given part of the world, will assess the situation and will be responsible for providing appropriate material to their troops." (Reuters 301411 GMT Jun 02)

• President Saddam Hussein has praised Iraqi military scientists for making a "new and important scientific achievement" to upgrade Iraqi defense systems. "We are not surprised when you (the scientists) say you can accomplish any task," Saddam told a group of military commanders and researchers, according to a report in Sunday’s official al-Iraq newspaper. The report did not provide specific details about the "new and important scientific achievement" Saddam referred to, except to say it "would strengthen Iraq’s capabilities in defending its skies and territories." (AP 301809 Jun 02)

 FINAL ITEM