Military

WAR ON TERRORISM

¨         A top al-Qaida operative was in Baghdad about two months ago, and U.S. officials suspect his presence was known to the government of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein, a defense official said Wednesday in Washington. Abu Musab Zarqawi, a Jordanian, is believed to have left Iraq, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity. His activities and contacts in Iraq are not known, but his presence in Baghdad apparently was a factor in the Bush administration's recent volley of allegations of al-Qaida contacts with the Iraqi government. (AP 022155 Oct 02)

IRAQ

¨         The U.S. Senate opens debate on Thursday on President Bush's call for authority to launch a U.S. strike on Iraq, which Congress is expected to grant overwhelmingly despite some Democrats' misgivings that the war powers are too broad and premature. Many lawmakers said there was little chance the resolution, which the Republican-led House of Representatives is to vote on next week, will be changed significantly. The resolution would allow President Bush to use force "as he determines to be necessary and appropriate" to defend U.S. national security and enforce all relevant UN Security Council resolutions regarding Iraq. (Reuters 030339 GMT Oct 02)

¨         France has threatened to push its own Security Council resolution on Iraq if Washington introduces its current proposals without any compromise, diplomats said on Wednesday. A key council diplomat said France wants some of the "wilder" provisions taken out of the new U.S. text before either the United States or Britain introduce it. Otherwise, France would circulate rival proposals. (Reuters 022324 GMT Oct 02)

¨         Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder stood firm on Germany's outright opposition to military action in Iraq on Wednesday after talks with President Chirac seen as a chance to mend bridges with Washington over his stance. Chirac reaffirmed that France would reject now any resolution seen paving the way for possible military action but kept its options open on its stance if Baghdad ultimately blocked arms inspections. (Reuters 022241 GMT Oct 02)

¨         The United States plans to send a team of experts to Ukraine to investigate whether the former Soviet republic sold a radar system to Iraq and will consider punitive measures beyond the halt of US $54 million in aid, the U.S. ambassador said Wednesday in Kiev. The agreement on the arrival of a U.S. team with military and technical expertise came during a two-day visit by Assistant Secretary of State Elizabeth Jones, who pressed President Kuchma on evidence that he personally approved the sale of a Kolchuha radar system to Iraq. Jones gave Ukrainian officials a list of questions that they promised to answer quickly, Ambassador Carlos Pascual said. He said no specific date was set for the visit by U.S. experts, but the Interfax news agency quoted Kuchma's chief of staff as saying they would arrive Oct. 13. (AP 021517 Oct 02)

¨         The once-rival leaders of the two main Kurdish factions that control northern Iraq met Wednesday in a show of unity amid U.S. efforts to forge a common front against Saddam Hussein. Massoud Barzani, leader of Kurdistan Democratic Party, and Jalal Talabani, head of Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, held talks in northern Iraq just two days before a regional Kurdish assembly is scheduled to meet for the first time in eight years. (AP 021355 Oct 02)

¨         If Canada joins a war in Iraq, it could send a similar military contingent to the forces provided for the war in Afghanistan, a Canadian defense official said Wednesday in Toronto. Shane Diaczuk, a spokesman for Defense Minister John McCallum, said that no decision has been made on whether Canada would take part in any military action against Saddam Hussein. (AP 021844 Oct 02)

¨         Allied aircraft launched an air-strike in the southern no-fly zone over Iraq after Iraqi aircraft penetrated the restricted area, defense officials said on Wednesday. "They placed a mobile radar south of the 33rd parallel," the boundary for the southern zone, said Navy Commander Frank Merriman, spokesman for Central Command in Tampa. "And they flew military aircraft into the zone." He declined to say how many Iraqi aircraft. Coalition planes responded, targeting precision-guided weapons at the radar at Al Kut. (AP 021222 Oct 02)

BALKANS

¨         NATO berated Croatia on Wednesday for defying the UN war crimes tribunal, branding its refusal to hand over a former army chief of staff as unacceptable. Alliance spokesman Yves Brodeur said that by challenging the indictment against General Janko Bobetko, Zagreb could hinder its own integration into Europe and undermine the international community's drive to establish peace in the western Balkans. "Cooperation with the tribunal is an obligation for all countries of the region," Brodeur told a news conference in Brussels. Brodeur also suggested that Croatia's bid for membership of the defence alliance could be damaged by its refusal to cooperate with the International Criminal Tribunal for former Yugoslavia. (Reuters 021750 GMT Oct 02)

¨         Former Bosnian Serb president Biljana Plavsic, indicted for crimes including genocide, changed her plea on Wednesday to guilty on one count and judges said other charges would be dropped. Plavsic admitted persecutions on political or religious grounds, a crime against humanity, one of eight counts against the former hardline Serb nationalist. "We acknowledge this as an unprecedented and courageous decision," prosecution spokeswoman Florence Hartmann said. "It's a very important step in the process of reconciliation." Muslims in Sarajevo reacted with surprise to the guilty plea and welcomed it as a positive move. (Reuters 021716 GMT Oct 02)

¨         Slobodan Milosevic turned the tables on Croatia's president in court on Wednesday, answering his testimony by accusing Stjepan Mesic of himself ordering villages torched and Serbs driven from their homes. Milosevic accused Mesic of betraying the old Yugoslavia and planning mass expulsions of Serbs from Croatia. (Reuters 021619 GMT Oct 02)

OTHER NEWS

¨         Russian space forces on Wednesday successfully test-fired an anti-missile missile from a testing ground in the former Soviet republic of Kazakhstan, Interfax news agency reported. The missile was fired from the Sary-Shagan testing ground to test its reliability, Russian Space Forces said. Interfax news agency said they had no more details about the type of missile. (AP 021846 Oct 02)

¨         The French contingent of the U.S.-led coalition air force deployed in Kyrgyzstan is leaving after completing its mission in nearby Afghanistan, French military officials said on Wednesday. France sent aircraft in March to the ex-Soviet state, which offered support to the anti-terror coalition. (Reuters 021144 GMT Oct 02)

¨         Israeli troops on Wednesday arrested the head of a small Palestinian faction that has funneled money from Iraq to relatives of Palestinian militants and others killed fighting Israel, Palestinians said. Rakad Salem, head of the Arab Liberation Front, was arrested during a raid of his house in the Ramallah, members of the group said. Troops searched the house and seized documents, they said. The Israeli military had no comment. (AP 021439 Oct 02)