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BALKANS

¨         Gunmen in Macedonia (sic)  killed two policemen on Monday and the government blamed ethnic Albanians trying to wreck a peace process and derail general elections due in less than three weeks. "Today's murder of the two interior ministry reservists in Gostivar is a terrorist-extremist act with political goals and represents a challenge to the democratic processes and, with that, to the security of Macedonia (sic)," said a cabinet statement.  At a news conference a spokesman for former rebel leader, Ali Ahmeti, condemned the killing and called for a full investigation. In a letter to Washington and Brussels, Ahmeti said his party was under "pressure, sabotage and threat of arrest", and called on outside powers to intervene.  Macedonian (sic)  President Trajkovski and resident envoys from the EU, NATO and the United States issued appeals for calm.(Reuters 1951 260802 Aug 02 GMT)

¨         In a halfhearted move, the Bosnian presidency on Monday set up a multiethnic council to coordinate the activities of the country' two separate armed forces. But the move may not be considered sufficient by NATO,  which requires Bosnia to have a joint defense ministry and joint command over its armed forces before it will even consider Bosnia' aspirations for membership in NATO's Partnership for Peace Program. Last week, the commander of the NATO-led peacekeepers in Bosnia, Gen. Sylvester, repeated previous statements by NATO General Secretary Robertson that Bosnia can only apply for membership if it creates a single defense ministry, a common security policy and state-level command-and-control of the armed forces. On Monday the Serb member of Bosnia's multiethnic presidency, Zivko Radisic, agreed with his Muslim and Croat colleagues to authorize a Standing Committee for Military Matters to coordinate the two armed forces. "This is a maximum we could have agreed upon that would be in harmony with the Constitution," Radisic said. But he said nevertheless he hoped this measure will bring Bosnia closer to the Partnership for Peace Program.(AP 261532 Aug 02 GMT)

ICC

¨         Denmark's foreign minister said Monday that the EU won't force nations seeking membership to adhere to the bloc's policy on the International Criminal Court. "It's not for us to tell them what to do," Per Stig Moeller. "I hope, of course, they want to have a common position with the EU as members of the EU very soon," he said in Tallinn, Estonia's capital. "But we're not putting pressure. We inform, so everybody knows what's going on." Latvian Foreign Minister Indulis Berzins said he was clear about the U.S. position but was looking forward to knowing the EU's official stand. "It's difficult to say if we're caught in the middle since we still don't know the EU position," he said. "We're candidates to the EU and NATO and we'd be happy to see a common position between the EU and U.S."(AP 261617 Aug 02 GMT)

IRAQ

¨         Vice President Cheney on Monday laid out the White House's case for pre-emptive action against Iraq, citing mortal danger to the United States and labeling critics as guilty of "willful blindness."  Cheney used a gathering of the Veterans of Foreign Wars to reject fears, expressed publicly by some senior members of his own Republican Party and others, that such action would undermine the global U.S. war on terrorism and mark a radical new departure for American foreign policy.  Citing what he said was the danger that Iraqi weapons of mass destruction could fall into the hands of terrorists, Cheney said America could not afford to sit by idly. It would, if necessary, fight a war of liberation, not of conquest.  "The risk of inaction is far greater than the risk of action," he said. "And the entire world must know that we will take whatever action is necessary to defend our freedom and our security."(Reuters 2152 260802 Aug 02 GMT)

OTHER NEWS

¨         Coalition forces in Afghanistan captured 10 suspected al Qaeda members and found a group of women who had concealed grenades under their traditional robes, the Pentagon said on Monday.  The sweep of southeast Afghanistan that ended on Monday also yielded two sets of Taliban documents and weapons including an anti-aircraft gun.  CNN reported the sweep was aimed at a senior al Qaeda financier who managed to evade coalition forces, but a spokesman for U.S. Central Command, which is in charge of the U.S. war in Afghanistan, could not confirm this.(Reuters 1854 260802 Aug 02 GMT)

 FINAL ITEM