Military

BALKANS

¨     Peacekeepers in Kosovo said on Tuesday they had uncovered a massive arms cache including more than 800 hand grenades buried in a field.  U.S. military spokesman Mark Ballesteros told Reuters that explosives specialists had unearthed wooden crates on Monday containing the grenades along with a dozen mortar rounds and 10 rocket propelled grenades.  The origin of the cache, found near the border with Macedonia (sic), was not immediately clear.(Reuters 2002 270802 Aug 02 GMT)

¨     Greece said Tuesday it may seek a temporary solution for deployment of EU peacekeepers in Macedonia (sic) if Greek leaders fail to resolve a dispute with Turkey over the proposed force. Plans to create an EU defense force, which is to initially replace NATO peacekeepers in Macedonia (sic), have been stalled due to Greek objections to a proposal giving Turkey rights to veto any EU military deployment in its region. "Greece will struggle to create and operate the European rapid reaction force in 2002," Defense Minister Papantoniou said.  Papantoniou said that a solution may be complicated by Turkish elections on Nov. 3. "We can't predetermine the final outcome with certainty over the next one or two months because of the uncertainty that surround the Turkish elections," Papantoniou said.  If Athens fails to find a solution to the problem, Papantoniou said:  "Greece will find an ad hoc solution measure which will allow the creation and deployment of a European peacekeeping force."(AP 271655 Aug 02 GMT)

¨     The HZDS party of Slovakia's autocratic ex-prime minister Vladimir Meciar, the country's main obstacle to EU and NATO entry, has fallen from first place in an opinion poll for the first time ever, a poll showed on Tuesday.  The survey, conducted by the independent FOCUS polling agency from August 13-20, showed the leftist-populist SMER party of Robert Fico unseating HZDS from the top spot in the poll with 18.7 percent support, up from 16.3 percent one week earlier. "The proportion of eligible voters who have decided to vote is increasing -- it is now at 77 percent -- which hurts the HZDS... There is also still an outflow from HZDS in favour of HZD or to the group of undecided voters," said Ivan Dianiska, the director of FOCUS.(Reuters 1442 270802 Aug 02 GMT)

IRAQ

¨     British Prime Minister Blair is facing a major revolt within his ruling Labour Party over his support for President Bush's threats of action against Iraq, according to a new opinion poll.  The ICM poll published in Wednesday's Guardian newspaper showed that 52 percent of Labour supporters believed Britain did not support any military action against Iraq -- one of three nations branded the "axis of evil" by Bush. "If Mr Blair stands shoulder-to-shoulder with the U.S. over Iraq, he will be putting his government and all his political aspirations at risk," the Guardian said in an editorial.   "It is time to stop fudging, time to enter the debate, time to speak for Britain's true interests, and time to openly oppose a pre-emptive strike on Iraq. On this issue it is time for Britain to break publicly with the U.S.," it said.(Reuters 0004 280802 Aug 02 GMT)

¨     Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld said on Tuesday that the United States would find international support should it decide to take military action against Iraq.   But he added that President Bush would make the decision on whether to launch an invasion based on what is best for America. "I don't know how many countries will participate in the event the president does decide that the risks of not acting are greater than the risks of acting," Rumsfeld said at a "town hall" meeting with about 3,000 U.S. Marines and their families at Camp Pendleton military base near San Diego.  He said it was important to make the right decisions for the United States and that "when our country does make the right judgements, the right decisions, then other countries do cooperate and participate." "Leadership in the right direction finds followers and supporters just as the leadership in the global war on terrorism has found some 90 nations to assist and cooperate," the secretary said.(Reuters 2338 270802 Aug 02 GMT)