Military

WAR ON TERRORISM

¨         NATO Secretary-General George Robertson said on Monday he had raised the security alert status at the alliance's Brussels headquarters following reports of possible terrorist attacks in Europe. Lord Robertson said there were "consistent reports that al Qaeda still plans further atrocities and that would fit into their pattern." "The intelligence sources indicate there are cells and there are ambitions to do something in Europe. There are precautions in place but people should not be complacent." (Reuters 111755 GMT Nov 02)

¨         Russian President Vladimir Putin said Monday his country is fighting international terrorism in Chechnya, not just rebels seeking independence for the Russian province in the northern Caucasus. Speaking after a meeting with European Union officials in Brussels, the Russian leader said Chechens "who want peace ... are entitled to participate" in the government. He urged other nations to adopt Moscow's hardline approach to terrorism. In a joint statement, Putin and the EU said, "We stand united in the fight against terrorism with due regard for the rule of law, for democratic principles and for the territorial integrity of states." (AP 111739 Nov 02)

IRAQ

¨         Next week's NATO summit is expected to produce a substantive debate on what the allies can do to help any U.S.-led attack on Iraq should the planned UN weapons inspection mission fail, alliance Secretary-General George Robertson said Monday. "NATO nations may well assist the United States ... at the end of the day," Lord Robertson told reporters. "If Saddam complies with the new (UN) resolution, there won't be any need for military action, and much of this debate will become academic,"  Lord Robertson said. With many allies opposed or lukewarm to military action, it was unclear how an alliance that operates only by unanimous decisions could act as a whole to support an attack, however Lord Robertson would not rule out the possibility that NATO could "collectively" help the United States. (AP 111523 Nov 02)

¨         Iraqi lawmakers have soundly condemned a UN resolution strengthening the mandate of international arms inspectors, but were giving the matter further consideration before making recommendations to President Saddam Hussein. Lawmakers were expected to vote Tuesday on recommendations to the ruling Revolutionary Command Council, headed by Saddam, as to how Iraq should respond to the United Nations directive. (AP 120301 Nov 02)

¨         The head of Turkey's powerful military said on Sunday that he had told Washington Turkey would need financial compensation for a U.S. attack on Iraq. Returning from a week-long visit to the United States, General Hilmi Ozkok said Turkey supported Friday's UN resolution demanding inspections of Iraq's suspected weapons programmes, but said any military action must conform to international law. "We expect to suffer a great deal of damage in the event of a new (Iraq) operation. I told them these economic losses should be met with some kind of recompense," Gen. Ozkok told reporters at a televised news conference in Ankara. (Reuters 101432 GMT Nov 02)

NATO

¨         Russian President Vladimir Putin told NATO on Monday its next wave of enlargement behind the old Iron Curtain must not threaten Russia's security interests. "We hope...that none of the steps to be taken will undermine stability and security in the common European space and will not damage or prejudice the national security interests of Russia," Putin told reporters in Brussels. "I hope mutual military restraint and confidence will serve as a basis for NATO-Russia relations." Lord Robertson said NATO's enlargement was no threat to Russia. "The decisions taken by the NATO summit next Thursday morning will not be against Russia's security interests," he said. "Indeed, to the contrary, they will be to the advantage of all countries in Europe." Both Putin and Robertson said they were satisfied with the work of the NATO-Russia Council. Asked if Russia could consider joining the U.S.-dominated alliance, Putin was non-committal. "We have never before raised the question of our full-fledged participation in NATO, nor do we raise that matter today," he said. However, he said that if NATO-Russia cooperation was to develop and if NATO implements internal reforms "then our forms of participation could change and we could consider broader participation in that work." (Reuters 112027 GMT Nov 02)

¨         Belarus warned the Czech Republic on Monday not to decline visas for President Alexander Lukashenko and other officials who plan to attend a NATO summit in Prague next week. The Belarusian Foreign Ministry summoned Czech acting charge d'affaires Ales Fojtik and told him visa denials would be seen as "a step aimed at breaking bilateral relations," the ministry said. Czech officials indicated earlier this month that Lukashenko was causing some diplomatic embarrassment by planning to attend the Nov. 21-22 NATO summit. Fojtik said no decision about a visa for Lukashenko has been made. (AP 112121 Nov 02)

BALKANS

¨         UN experts said Monday that they found three radioactive hotspots in Bosnia resulting from ammunition containing depleted uranium used during NATO airstrikes in 1995. The team published preliminary results after investigating 14 sites in Bosnia for a month, using highly sensitive instruments. Two spots in the Sarajevo suburb of Hadzici and one at Han Pijesak in the Bosnian Serb republic showed a presence of radioactivity, a press release from the United Nations Environmental Program (UNEP), said. The expert team advised the Bosnian government to start decontaminating the three sites and educating the population about the hazard. A full report was to be published in a UNEP report in March 2003. (AP 111307 Nov 02)

¨         The Dutch parliament began hearings on Monday to affix political blame for the failed Dutch peacekeeping mission in the Bosnian "safe haven" of Srebrenica in 1995. The commission will meet for three weeks and hear 37 witnesses, including Dutch soldiers, commanders, politicians and several foreign witnesses who were not immediately identified. (AP 111445 Nov 02)

¨         Yugoslavia's pro-Western deputy prime minister said Monday that he would not run in the repeat ballot in December. A disappointed Miroljub Labus told reporters that people in Serbia were "tired of disputes and divisions." "Voters in Serbia evidently do not believe these elections can change anything," Labus said, referring to the Dec. 8 ballot. "Therefore I have no wish to run again." Labus also said he left on Monday the Democratic Party of Serbian Prime Minister Zoran Djindjic, because it had not "fully supported" his presidential campaign. (AP 111542 Nov 02)

OTHER NEWS

¨         The top official in charge of destroying Russia's chemical arsenal said Monday that the biggest threat to the program was a lack of certainty in funding. Speaking to journalists at a conference on Russia's chemical disarmament, Zinovy Pak, head of the Russian Munitions Agency, said the 2002 U.S. budget included aid for Russia's chemical disarmament, but that Congress was allowing this money to be used only for strengthening security around chemical weapons facilities, not for building new ones. (AP 111133 Nov 02)

¨         A 146-nation conference in Geneva, meeting for the first time since the United States scuttled a plan to enforce the global ban on germ warfare, was challenged Monday to reduce the threat of terrorists' using biological weapons. Tibor Toth, chairman of the conference, said the new approach was the least the nations could do to "fight together against this threat of biological weapons." (AP 111741 Nov 02)