Military

BALKANS

¨         NATO-led peacekeepers in Bosnia fanned out Friday in a surprise inspection of a Bosnian Serb military factory allegedly selling military equipment to Iraq. NATO's spokesman in Bosnia, Lt. Cmdr. Yves Vanier, denied the peacekeepers' unannounced swoop on the facility in Bijeljina, some 105 kilometers (65 miles) northeast of Sarajevo, was a raid but spoke of a "regular inspection." The Bosnian Serb Orao company has for decades built and exported engine parts for military aircraft and also acted as a training center for mechanics and technicians. "We started an inspection of Orao factory in Bijeljina as part of our regular duties," Vanier told The Associated Press. However, it was the first time NATO-led peacekeepers had inspected the compound. The allegations stemmed from information obtained by the U.S. Embassy in Bosnia which had contacted Bosnia's Foreign Minister Zlatko Lagumdzija in the matter. It was not made public what and when Orao allegedly was to have sold equipment to the Iraqis. Vanier said the inspection had "nothing to do" with alleged Iraqi links. Bosnian Serb officials were not available for comment.(AP 111632 Oct 02 GMT)

¨         NATO has agreed in principle to extend its peacekeeping mission in Macedonia (sic) but is waiting for the Netherlands to confirm that it will continue to lead the force, an alliance official said on Friday. "The Dutch decided at the last moment that they would formalize it," said the official. "NATO agreed to extend its mission, subject to the Dutch agreeing to extend."   Diplomats said there was some irritation with the Netherlands for announcing that it needed approval from parliament to extend until mid-December its command of Operation Amber Fox.    Macedonian (sic)  President Boris Trajkovski formally asked NATO this week to keep the operation alive until December 15 even though the security situation had improved dramatically.  A NATO diplomat said the United States wanted to bring a curtain down on the alliance's involvement in Macedonia (sic), but  some countries in the Alliance are keen to keep some NATO presence there after Operation Amber Fox ends. "There's a general sense that NATO needs to stay around in some form," he said.  Macedonia (sic)  is a NATO aspirant so we need a package to ensure stability."(Reuters 1718 111002 Oct 02 GMT)

¨         A Yugoslav military court sentenced four army members to a total of 19 years in jail for war crimes on Friday over the killing of two Kosovo Albanian civilians during NATO's 1999 bombing campaign on Yugoslavia.  Beta news agency said the military court in the town of Nis jailed Lieutenant-Colonel Zlatan Mancic for seven years, Captain Rade Radivojevic for five, and ex-conscripts Danilo Tesic and Misel Seregij for four and three years respectively. (Reuters 1749 111002 Oct 02 GMT)

IRAQ

¨         In moves suggesting new Pentagon preparations for war against Iraq, key Army and Marine Corps battle staffs are being sent to Kuwait and officials said Defense Secretary Rumsfeld is likely to order extra germ warfare protection for hundreds of thousands of troops. Although no final decision has been made, Rumsfeld is expected to give the go-ahead soon for smallpox inoculations, according to a senior defense official who discussed the matter on condition of anonymity. Rumsfeld's spokeswoman, Victoria Clarke, said a vaccination program is under consideration, but she would not discuss details. If it goes ahead, Clarke said, it would reflect Rumsfeld's push to provide every available form of protection for troops who might be exposed to chemical or germ weapons, including those who might fight in Iraq. "The threat to those in the military is very real," she said. The Pentagon has taken numerous steps in recent weeks to position U.S. forces so as to reduce the time required to launch an attack on Iraq, should President Bush decide that force is required to disarm Saddam Hussein. In the latest such move, the Pentagon ordered the battle staffs of the Army's V Corps, with headquarters at Heidelberg, Germany, and the Marine Corps' 1st Marine Expeditionary Force, based at Camp Pendleton, California, to go to Kuwait, according to two officials familiar with the planning. Several thousand U.S. ground forces already are in Kuwait, mostly at Camp Doha.(AP130351 Oct 02 GMT)

¨         A leading Russian political analyst said Saturday that the United States was unlikely to launch a military operation against Iraq without a mandate from the United Nations. Sergei Karaganov, chairman of the Council for Foreign and Defense Policy, a prominent independent think-tank, told the Interfax news agency that the United States would do all it can to obtain the UN mandate. "The administration realizes that most Americans won't back a strike against Iraq without the UN authorization," Karaganov said. He said if Washington resorts to a unilateral action in Iraq, "troops will have to be deployed there for at least a year, maybe for a decade." That, he said, "would be a heavy financial burden to bear unilaterally." Russia is opposed to military action against Iraq, and Karaganov told Interfax that Russia should remain calm and "try to prevent Americans from taking this foolish step." (AP 120947 Oct 02 GMT)

¨         Iraq, responding to harsh criticism, appeared on Saturday to relent on some UN demands on weapons inspections after ignoring a list of ground rules UN officials sent to Baghdad earlier.   But diplomats said a new letter from an Iraqi presidential adviser delivered to weapons inspectors on Saturday, the second this week, still fell short of a total acceptance of conditions for future inspections set down by UN disarmament officials. The Bush administration dismissed the letter as a delaying tactic by Baghdad and repeated its call for a strong UN Security Council resolution "which puts sustained, unambiguous pressure on Iraq to fulfill its obligations."   The letter from Gen. Amir al-Saadi, obtained by Reuters, said Baghdad was ready to remove all obstacles to the return of the inspectors after a four-year break. It was sent to chief UN inspector Hans Blix in New York and Mohamed El Baradei, head of the International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna. A Western UN Security Council diplomat said Iraq was still avoiding a "yes" or "no" reply to the inspectors.(Reuters  2339 121002 Oct 02 GMT)

TERRORISM

¨         Terrified tourists were fleeing the island resort of Bali Monday after a bomb attack that killed 188 people, and the U.S. embassy in Jakarta ordered all nonessential staff and dependents to leave Indonesia. Many of those killed by the two bombs that tore through the Kuta Beach nightclub district on Bali island Saturday were tourists from Australia, as well as from Canada, Britain, Germany and Sweden. Hospital workers said 188 were killed. The Australian government said Monday that 14 Australians were confirmed dead, 110 injured and almost 220 missing. Two Americans were killed, while three were among the more than 300 people injured. No one claimed responsibility for the, but suspicion turned to al-Qaida and an affiliated group, Jemaah Islamiyah, which wants to establish a pan-Islamic state across Malaysia, Indonesia and the southern Philippines. In Washington,  President Bush condemned the attack as "a cowardly act designed to create terror and chaos" and offered U.S. help in finding the perpetrators. "The world must confront this global menace, terrorism," he said.(AP 140404 Oct 02 GMT)