Military

NATO-RUSSIA

¨         Moscow's Itar-TASS, Oct. 10, quoted Russian Deputy Defense Minister Kudelina saying in an interview he believes that the reform of the Russian armed forces should capitalize on the experience of the NATO countries.  "In the context of the military reform in Russia, cooperation with our partners in NATO acquires special importance," Kudelina reportedly said in Rome, where he was leading the Russian delegation at a Russia-NATO military reform conference.  According to the dispatch, he said the training of military personnel for civilian jobs was a critically important condition for a successful military reform. The news agency stressed that Russia and NATO have already cooperated along these lines for some time. With assistance from NATO experts,  the Moscow State University of Economics, Statistics and Informatics has created a training center and has been running social adaptation courses and seminars.  There are plans for opening such centers in other regions of the country, added the dispatch.

BALKANS

¨         Skopje's Makedonija Denes, Oct. 10, quoted sources in President Trajkovski's office saying the possible presence of  NATO forces in the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia after Dec. 15 will have to be defined by the end of November.  The sources reportedly explained that some modalities will be required for the "possible regional and integrative mission" of NATO forces in the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia in 2003.  In the future NATO mission, they stressed, the civil component will be predominant.   NATO forces will assist the future border police in securing the borders.  They will organize anti-terrorist training courses, and exchange intelligence information.  According to the report, the sources said the strengthening of the civilian component is necessary because as long as NATO is present in the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia to keep the peace, the country has little chance of joining the organization. 

IRAQ

¨         According to the New York Times, senior administration officials said Thursday the White House is developing a detailed plan, modeled on the post-war occupation of Japan, to install an American-led military government in Iraq if the United States topples Saddam Hussein.  The plan also calls for war-crime trials of Iraqi leaders and a transition to an elected civilian government that could take months or years.  In the initial phase, Iraq would be governed by an American military commander, who would be in charge for a year or more while the United States and its allies searched for weapons and maintained Iraq's oil fields, says the newspaper.  It quotes Administration officials saying they were moving away from the model used in Afghanistan:  establishing a provisional government right away that would be run by Iraqis.  One senior official said the administration was "coalescing around" the concept after discussions of options with President Bush and his top aides.  The officials and others reportedly cautioned, however, that there had not yet been any formal approval of the plan and that it was not clear whether allies had been consulted on it.   A commentary in Die Welt opines meanwhile that Europeans will not be able to evade peace enforcement in Iraq after the regime is toppled, "even if it means a muscular military deployment."

TERRORISM

¨         AP reports French Defense Minister Alliot-Marie said Friday that investigators had found traces of TNT at the site of an explosion aboard a French oil tanker that authorities believe was caused by a terrorist attack.  Earlier, electronic media quoted the French Foreign Ministry announcing in a statement Thursday that the Oct. 6 blaze on the oil tanker Limburg had been caused by an attack.  A French investigator who inspected the holed and gutted vessel was quoted saying debris that may have come from an attacking boat had been discovered.   "The first results of the inquiry by French, Yemeni and American inspectors lead us to think that the explosion on the French tanker Limburg was due to an attack," a Ministry statement said  It added that the continuation of the inquiry would allow a verification of these first results and determine the exact causes of the explosion.  The BBC World Service carried its Middle East affairs analyst saying western experts were now debating whether the explosion-as well as the killing this week of a U.S. marine in Kuwait-was a sign of the resurgence of Al Qaeda.  A related AP dispatch quotes a U.S. intelligence official saying Al Qaeda would consider an oil tanker an economic target.  The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, is further quoted saying the attack bears a number of similarities to the suicide boat strike on the USS Cole in October 2000.