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IRAQ

¨         Secretary of State Colin Powell is assuring the Arab world that the U.S. demand for regime change in Iraq aims at disarmament, not ousting President Saddam Hussein. "If he cooperates, then the basis of changed-regime policy has shifted because his regime has, in fact, changed its policy to one of cooperation," Powell said in an interview with a London-based Arab newspaper, Al-Quds Al-Arabi, released on Monday by the State Department. (AP 162007 Dec 02)

¨         Britain said on Tuesday that diplomatic efforts were still being pursued on Iraq and denied reports it was asking defence firms to speed up production of military equipment in readiness for war. The Sun newspaper reported on Tuesday that the ministry had begun the build-up for war by issuing Urgent Operational Requirement notices to defence equipment manufacturers and hiring a fleet of cargo ships to transport military equipment to the Gulf. (Reuters 170042 GMT Dec 02)

¨         Iraqi exiles reached agreement on which religious sects and political movements should comprise the leadership committee they hope will become a transitional government if Saddam Hussein is ousted. But they were unable to resolve disagreements over which individuals should fill the seats allocated to each group on the 50-member committee, and extended the conference to Tuesday in London. (AP 170021 Dec 02)

NATO

¨         NATO's top general arrived Monday in Armenia to oversee planning for military exercises next year in the Caucasus country under the alliance's Partnership for Peace program. U.S. Gen. Joseph Ralston, NATO's supreme allied commander for Europe, praised relations between Armenia and NATO, noting that next year's exercises - "Cooperative Best Effort 2003" - will be the first time that NATO conducts such training in the country. Gen. Ralston was also to meet with President Robert Kocharian and other top officials during his visit. (AP 161443 Dec 02)

¨         NATO and the European Union began filling in the details Monday of military cooperation between the two organizations after a breakthrough last week cleared the EU's fledging military force to use alliance backup. "What we've done today is to lay the foundation," said NATO Secretary-General Lord Robertson after the first meeting between the two organizations since Friday's agreement. The agreement came after the EU met Turkey's demands for guarantees that its military arm would not be used against Turkish interests. (AP 161625 Dec 02)

BALKANS

¨         Former Bosnian Serb President Biljana Plavsic on Monday expressed remorse for crimes branded "a betrayal of humanity" at a dramatic hearing to determine a sentence for the "Iron Lady" of the Bosnian war. Former U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright and ex-UN Balkans envoy Carl Bildt are to testify this week. The date on which judges will issue a verdict has not been set. (Reuters 161640 GMT Dec 02)

¨         Two ethnic Albanians were indicted Monday by an international prosecutor for terrorism and inciting racial hatred, a UN official said in Pristina. They were arrested this summer in two separate operations in the eastern U.S. military-controlled zone on suspicion of being members of the so-called Albanian National Army (ANA), an ethnic Albanian splinter group which operated in neighboring Macedonia (sic). (AP 161429 Dec 02)

¨         A media advocacy group demanded on Monday that authorities probe the death of an investigative Serbian journalist whose publication exposed an official cover-up in the killing of dozens of Kosovo Albanians. Dragan Vitomirovic was editor of the little-known Timocka Krimi Revija (Timocka Crime Review) weekly in eastern Serbia. The Association of Independent Electronic Media urged "police and judiciary to fully investigate all details and shed light on this tragic death," said a statement by the media organization known for its past struggle against Milosevic's autocracy. (AP 161851 Dec 02)

¨         Two key European organizations on Monday condemned Yugoslavia's practice of sending journalists to prison for slander. Referring to a recent case when a newspaper editor was sentenced to one month in prison for publishing an article found harmful to the reputation of a top official here, the Vienna-based Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe as well as the Council of Europe demanded a change of jurisdiction affecting freedom of speech. The message was sent to Yugoslavia's Foreign Ministry and, in particular, to the authorities of Montenegro. (AP 161710 Dec 02)

OTHER NEWS

¨         Less than a year after they shut down a propaganda office, defense officials are debating whether the military should engage in such covert operations in allied nations. Officials, some of whom contend the Pentagon's credibility is at stake, are still arguing over whether the military should involve itself in quietly trying to shape opinion in friendly as well as adversarial nations, officials said Monday in Washignton. Operations could include paying European journalists to write favorable stories about American policies or secretly financing books or schools to counter radical Islamic thought being taught at some Pakistani religious schools, defense officials said on condition of anonymity. (AP 170057 Dec 02)

¨         A top Republican on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Monday urged the Bush administration to "ratchet down the rhetoric" on its warnings that it would use all means -- even nuclear weapons - to respond to weapons of mass destruction. Sen. Chuck Hagel of Nebraska, in remarks prepared for a speech to the Chicago Council on Foreign Relations, said the United States risks "playing into the hands of those who wish to keep the world off balance, frightened, and anti-American" by reiterating its policy for possible use of nuclear weapons. Hagel also urged the administration to refrain from rushing to declare that Iraq is in "material breech" of UN arms resolutions, saying, "We cannot be viewed by the world as in a rush to wage war." (Reuters 170004 GMT Dec 02)

¨         The U.S. Army announced on Monday that it will call about 9,000 part-time Reserve and National Guard troops to active duty to help guard 163 Air Force bases and installations in the United States. The call-up is under an agreement reached between the two services to allow large numbers of Air Force reservists to return to private life after more than a year of active duty sparked by the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on America. "The Army will augment security to enhance force protection at stateside Air Force installations for up to two years, while the Air Force phases in permanent solutions to address its long-term protection needs," the Pentagon said in a statement. (Reuters 162246 GMT Dec 02)

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