Military

SHAPE NEWS MORNING UPDATE 14 AUGUST 2002

WAR ON TERRORISM

¨         Iran is allowing al-Qaida to use its territory, U.S. Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said Tuesday, brushing off reports Tehran captured and deported some terrorists to their native countries. Rumsfeld has on several occasions during the war in Afghanistan charged that Iran is letting al-Qaida members to escape to safety through its territory. And two terrorist suspects captured by naval forces in a U.S.-led ship interdiction last month were coming from Iran, officials said at the time. "They have permitted al-Qaida to enter their country. They are permitting al-Qaida to be present in their country today," Rumsfeld said. "And it may very well be that they, for whatever reason, have turned over some people to other countries, but they've not turned any to us." (AP 131757 Aug 02)

AFGHANISTAN

¨         The U.S. special envoy for Afghanistan, Zalmay Khalilzad, is visiting the country for talks on reconstruction with Afghan President Hamid Karzai and others, the White House said on Tuesday. His stay coincides with a visit by Iranian President Mohammad Khatami, whose government opposes the presence of foreign forces in Afghanistan, especially those of the United States, but has pledged $500 million for Afghan reconstruction. Khatami said after talks with the U.S.-backed Karzai on Tuesday that Iran had no intention of interfering in Afghanistan. U.S. National Security Council spokesman Sean McCormack said the two visits were unrelated and there were no plans for Khalilzad to meet Khatami. (Reuters 132146 GMT Aug 02)

ICC

¨         Secretary of State Colin Powell appealed to foreign governments on Tuesday to promise to protect American peacekeepers from the reach of a new international war crimes court. The appeal comes with a warning that foreign governments could lose U.S. military aid if they declined to cooperate. And that, Kenneth Roth, executive director of Human Rights Watch, said is blackmail. Roth added he was skeptical the Bush administration would jeopardize military relationships while it tries counter terrorism "because of the remote possibility that a U.S. national will be unfairly prosecuted." Powell said the administration simply was having discussions with governments in the European Union as well as with other nations. "We are not bludgeoning or threatening any of our friends," he said at a State Department news conference in Washington. (AP 132230 Aug 02)

¨         A trans-Atlantic tussle over whether Americans should face international justice resurfaced Tuesday as the United States accused Brussels of inappropriately telling European Union hopefuls to follow its lead on the issue and not Washington's. A State Department spokesman said EU advice to would-be members not to exempt Americans from the justice of the International Criminal Court until the 15-nation bloc agreed a position was "inappropriate, in seeking to direct candidate country foreign policy choices in advance of EU accession." The court's supporters see it as a powerful global deterrent against war crimes. Washington seeks exemption from it on grounds it deserves protection as the sole superpower. (Reuters 132209 GMT Aug 02)

¨         Yugoslav President Kostunica has come out against a U.S. request for a bilateral deal to prevent American citizens from being turned over to the new International Criminal Court. He said any agreement to exempt people from prosecution by the ICC would undermine international law. "Those who would enjoy immunity from prosecution would not only sleep soundly, but would also be encouraged to keep committing crimes," state news agency Tanjug quoted Kostunica as saying late on Monday. His remarks reflect a widespread feeling in Serbia that Washington is applying double standards, pressuring Belgrade to cooperate with The Hague tribunal while it seeks to win exemptions for its own citizens from the ICC. (Reuters 131505 GMT Aug 02)

BALKANS

¨         About 3,000 ethnic Albanians took to the streets of Podujevo on Tuesday to protest the weekend arrest of former rebel leader Rustem Mustafa. The protesters dispersed peacefully after an hour. (AP 131612 Aug 02)

¨         Springing a surprise from behind bars, Slobodan Milosevic has backed the leader of Serbia's ultra-nationalist Radicals in presidential elections next month. Milosevic's legal adviser confirmed on Tuesday that a hand-written note from the former Yugoslav president backing Vojislav Seselj's campaign in the Serbian poll was genuine. The letter was published by Belgrade media on Monday evening. Recent opinion polls have predicted Milosevic and Seselj could win up to five percent of votes each in the elections. (Reuters 131602 GMT Aug 02)

IRAQ

¨         U.S. Defense Secretary Rumsfeld said on Tuesday Iraqi opposition leaders visiting Washington seem to agree on the principles of a democratic Iraq to take shape after President Saddam Hussein's downfall. Without mentioning Saddam's ouster, Rumsfeld said there seemed to be no "specific template" for a post-Saddam Iraq, but added, "Clearly one would not want to replace one vicious dictator that represses his people with another one." Iraqi Kurdish leader Jalal Talabani of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan said in an interview on CNN television on Tuesday that he had offered to let the United States use airfields in the northern areas his group controls for any action against Saddam, but Rumsfeld said this subject did not come up at his meeting with opposition leaders. Rumsfeld declined even to say that such an offer might be helpful. The defense secretary also declined to say whether any opposition leaders asked for U.S. military protection in the event of a U.S. attack on Iraq. (Reuters 131934 GMT Aug 02)

¨         The Arab League said on Tuesday that Arab states all opposed any planned U.S. military strike on Iraq, and were working on getting arms inspectors back to the country instead. League Secretary General Amr Moussa Moussa, on a private visit to Morocco, said any military action without the agreement of the UN Security Council would have a negative impact on the stability of the Middle East. "Arab countries are unanimous in not giving any kind of support to a possible military U.S. strike on Iraq," he told the official MAP news agency. (Reuters 131650 GMT Aug 02)

¨         The U.S. Navy confirmed on Tuesday it was seeking a large ship to carry helicopters and arms from the United States to the Red Sea, a day after denying it had placed such an order. The request, following a recent order for a vessel to carry military hardware from Europe to the Middle East, has heightened speculation that the United States is pre-positioning equipment for a possible strike on Iraq. Navy Commander Dan Keesee at U.S. Central Command in Florida did not link the activity to any build-up for U.S. attack on Iraq, and said the chartering of the second ship had been planned for two years. The Pentagon said the ships will be positioned around the Diego Garcia military base in the Indian Ocean but must be deployable worldwide. (Reuters 131821 GMT Aug 02)

OTHER NEWS

¨         U.S.-trained Georgian officers will lead troops into parts of the lawless Pankisi gorge at the centre of a row with Moscow as part of large-scale war games, Defence Minister David Tevzadze said on Tuesday in Tblilisi. Tevzadze said U.S. military instructors, in Georgia since May to train its ragged army to take on Islamic militants believed to be sheltering in Pankisi, would not take part in the manoeuvres but their students would. "The exercises will be conducted by the officers fresh from the U.S. 'Train and Equip' programme," he added. The exercises, apparently aimed at showing Tbilisi is serious about making good on its promises to clean up Pankisi, came against a background of unprecedented Russian pressure for a quick military crackdown on militants there. (Reuters 131711 GMT Aug 02)