Military

WAR ON TERRORISM

¨         "NORAD is now linked up telephonically 24 hours a day, seven days a week, so anything that's an anomaly or a suspected anomaly that's found in the system, NORAD knows about it as quickly as we do," said David Canoles, FAA's manager of air traffic evaluations and investigations. Before Sept. 11, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) had to telephone NORAD about any possible hijackings. (AP 122319 Aug 02)

¨         A senior U.S. Navy commander held talks with Yemeni officials on the war against terrorism and plans to form a Yemeni coast guard, a U.S. Embassy statement said on Monday. Vice Adm. Timothy J. Keating, commander of the U.S. Naval Forces for the Central Command, arrived in Yemen on Sunday for talks on issues including forming a Yemeni coast guard. Keating reiterated American's commitment to supporting the Yemeni coast guard through training and providing equipment, a senior Yemeni official said, speaking on condition of anonymity. The coast guard is a product of February talks between the head of the U.S. military's Central Command, Gen. Tommy Franks, and Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh. (AP 121945 Aug 02)

BALKANS

¨         An international prosecutor has charged a Kosovo Albanian party leader who was a guerrilla commander during the 1998-99 war with endangering the safety of others, a UN official said on Monday in Pristina. The indictment against Ramush Haradinaj, leader of the Alliance for the Future of Kosovo (AAK), concerned an incident in mid-2000, UN spokeswoman Susan Manuel said. She described it as a minor offence charge and made clear that Haradinaj would not be taken into custody. Manuel also said six other Kosovo Albanians arrested about two months ago had been indicted for serious crimes committed in June 1999, including one for murder and unlawful detention. A panel of international judges in the UN-administered Yugoslav province will set a trial date if it confirms the indictments, she added. (Reuters 122135 GMT Aug 02)

¨         UN forensic experts will arrive in Croatia next month to determine whether the case of the 1991 killing of 18 Serb civilians, in the village of Paulin Dvor, should be handled by the UN war crimes tribunal or local judiciary, state media said on Monday in Zagreb. The Hague-based tribunal will take over the trial if there is evidence to indict senior Croatian officials. (Reuters 121506 GMT Aug 02)

¨         Serbian and Montenegrin experts said Monday they had failed to write a draft constitution, another step toward transforming the existing Yugoslav federation. Dragoljub Micunovic, the speaker of Yugoslav parliament, said Monday: "The commission (of legal experts) was unable to overcome their differences" over the future shape of the new joint state. He also said that the parliamentary commission comprised of legal experts from both Yugoslav republics would send a letter "explaining the reasons for such a failure to all signatories of the Belgrade agreement." (AP 121832 Aug 02)

IRAQ

¨         Public opinion in Europe has not been prepared for possible military action against Iraq because of conflicting messages from Washington and the warnings of "armchair generals" in Britain, a close political adviser of Prime Minister Tony Blair says. "Public opinion is being wound up by a mixture of partisan figures, armchair generals focusing on the risks of action rather than the consequences of failing to do anything, the lack of an international language from the White House and the mixed messages from the administration," former Cabinet minister Peter Mandelson said in an interview published in Monday's editions of The Times. Mandelson said Bush's rhetoric aimed at an American audience had unsettled Europeans. "He doesn't use the language that might appeal to a wider international audience," Mandelson added. He also criticized "mixed messages" from Washington, an apparent reference to the perception that the U.S. Defense Department is more hawkish than the State Department. (AP 121616 Aug 02)

¨         Iraq's information minister said on Monday that UN arms inspectors had finished their work when they left Iraq four years ago, but the United Nations said it was still awaiting an official response from Baghdad on the issue. In Baghdad, Foreign Minister Naji Sabri said Iraq was preparing a reply for the United Nations. Earlier, Information Minister Mohammed Saeed al-Sahaf told Arabic al-Jazeera satellite television: "Work under the framework of the United Nations regarding...resolution 687, i.e. what is called prohibited weapons in Iraq, had been concluded." At UN headquarters in New York, spokesman Fred Eckhard said there would be no comment on Sahaf's statement. It was not clear whether Sahaf's comments indicated a final rejection of the return of arms inspectors. (Reuters 122152 GMT Aug 02)

¨         The Danish government said on Monday that it won't interfere with a company's contract to operate eight freight ships that could play a part in a possible U.S. military action against Iraq. Last week, Maersk Line, a Virginia-based ship operating unit of Danish A.P. Moller Group, renewed a contract with the Pentagon to maintain and run the ships that transport military equipment for U.S. armed forces in the Indian Ocean. "This is a commercial matter that the government neither can nor will interfere in," Foreign minister Per Stig Moeller was quoted as saying by Danish media. "There is nothing curious in military authorities cooperating with private businesses in transportation tasks." Left-wing lawmakers in Denmark have criticized the contract, saying it doesn't mix well with a stance against a possible military operation in Iraq. (AP 122206 Aug 02)

OTHER NEWS

¨         Workers on Monday started demolishing dismantled components of SS-23, Scud and Frog missiles at a military compound in central Bulgaria, media reported in Sofia. Bulgaria, which hopes to join NATO, agreed earlier this year to scrap more than 100 Soviet-made medium and short-range missiles. The United States will pay for the destruction, likely costing several million dollars, according to U.S. Ambassador James Pardew. The destruction of the missiles is expected to be completed by November 2002. (AP 121543 Aug 02)