Military

WAR ON TERRORISM

• U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell wants an anti-terrorist treaty with Southeast Asian nations to lead to a substantial upgrading of security in the region, a senior U.S. official said Thursday. Powell would like to see "a regional coming together" to make the area more responsive to future threats, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity. (AP 010231 Aug 02)

• The European Union is considering rules that could force telecoms operators to store huge amount of electronic data to help police authorities fight organised crime, documents showed on Wednesday in Brussels. Governments believe greater access to electronic data such as e-mails, records of phone calls, or faxes could help them fight crime and terrorism, an issue that has come to the fore in the wake of the September 11 attacks. (Reuters 311729 GMT Jul 02)

AFGHANISTAN

• A failed suicide bomber had taken delivery of his explosives-loaded Toyota in a town near the Pakistan border and then headed into Kabul bent on blowing up President Hamid Karzai or some foreign "infidels," an Afghan intelligence chief said Wednesday. "He has admitted he worked for al-Qaida," Amrullah Saleh said of the suspect. The suspect is not Afghan, but his nationality and identity have not been established, said Saleh, national intelligence service director for Kabul. (AP 311509 Jul 02)

NATO

• Hungary said on Wednesday it would miss a deadline to supply NATO with a declaration of its military strength, postponing it until it had carried out a major review of its armed forces and how to pay for them. Spokesman Istvan Bocskai said he expected Hungary to complete the survey in time for the November summit. There is concern in NATO that the three newest members, Hungary, Poland and the Czech Republic, have failed to live up to promises to increase military spending once in the alliance. This disappointment could affect the next round of NATO enlargement. (Reuters 311305 GMT Jul 02)

• Britain is to use two of its warships for target practice after failing to find a foreign buyer for them, the Defence Ministry said on Thursday in London. The frigates, worth a reported US $623.5 million, will be towed into the Atlantic next year to be used for Royal Navy missile and torpedo training. The Defence Ministry refused to confirm a report in Thursday’s mass-circulation Sun newspaper that the warships are Boxer, which entered service in 1983, and Brave, launched two years later. "It was scandalous these frigates were discarded halfway through their useful life," Mike Critchley, editor of Warship World magazine, was quoted as saying by the paper. But the Defence Ministry said the warships had been superseded by "more relevant" destroyers and Type-23 frigates. (Reuters 010128 GMT Aug 02)

• Yugoslavia’s president declared Wednesday to the Beta news agency that his ties with the prime minister of Serbia were broken beyond mending. President Kostunica also indicated that - with his present post likely to be abolished as the country is reconfigured - he could run for the presidency of Serbia in September elections. (AP 311324 Jul 02)

• Attackers killed a former ethnic Albanian rebel commander in a drive-by shooting in Macedonia (sic) on Wednesday, police said. Jusuf Ilazi, also known as Qufa, was shot in the tense northwestern city of Tetovo. Illazi commanded ethnic Albanian insurgents in the region and was known as a staunch ally of rebel leader Ali Ahmeti. An ethnic Albanian from the village of Poroj, which is just outside of Tetovo, was arrested in connection with the attack, Macedonian (sic) police said in a statement. A ranking Macedonian (sic) police official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said that "political motives are not excluded" in the slaying. Ahmeti’s headquarters was not immediately available for comment. (AP 311936 Jul 02)

• Croatia’s supreme court ordered police on Wednesday to re-arrest seven war crimes suspects who were released by a local court last week, saying they should have been kept behind bars pending trial. State television reported that the court had upheld an appeal by the prosecution against the release. (Reuters 311808 GMT Jul 02)

IRAQ

• In an increasingly anxious chorus, the United States’ closest allies are urging President Bush against early military action to oust Iraqi President Saddam Hussein. The warnings came from key European and Middle East allies - except Britain. Turkish Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit, whose country would be a vital base for any U.S. strike on Iraq, said on Wednesday he was trying to dissuade Washington from a military operation. Diplomats say the sudden hardening of the allies’ public tone may have been prompted by media reports that one option under consideration in Washington may envisage a quick strike before the U.S. mid-term elections in November. British officials acknowledge that a U.S. decision to attack Iraq without a UN mandate could put Blair in an acute dilemma, tearing him between instinctive loyalty to Bush and solidarity with his European partners. U.S. allies question Washington’s long-term thinking. "What we are saying to the Americans is, ‘What plans do you have for holding Iraq together and rebuilding the country after Saddam? Are you prepared to keep troops there for five, 10, 15 years if necessary?’," a senior European official said. Given the Bush administration’s aversion to long-term "nation-building," some European policymakers fear Europe could be landed with the brunt of the reconstruction and peacekeeping burden, while U.S. oil companies take the contracts. Arab officials say a U.S. strike on Iraq at a time of seething public anger in the Muslim world over Washington’s support for Israel’s actions against Palestinians could only fuel anti-Western violence and spawn new recruits for terrorism. (Reuters 311436 GMT Jul 02)

• Turkey’s parliament voted on Wednesday to hold an early general election on November 3 that should end months of political turmoil threatening the country’s US $16 billion International Monetary Fund rescue programme. Ailing Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit fought a losing battle against his coalition allies. (Reuters 311703 GMT Jul 02)

• China told the United States on Wednesday it was "seriously concerned" about the U.S. warming to its rival Taiwan and called on Washington to halt military contacts and arms sales to the island. Foreign Minister Tang Jiaxuan also told U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell in talks in Brunei that China was improving export controls in response to U.S. charges that Beijing was not doing enough to stem the flow of weapons of mass destruction. (Reuters 311350 GMT Jul 02)

FINAL ITEM