Military

SHAPE News Morning Update

23 January 2003

NATO

• NATO Secretary-General Lord Robertson surprised the allies Wednesday by announcing he will step down in December, declining offers to extend his term for another year. Lord Robertson's unexpected decision left no clear successor. However, diplomats said early favorites to take on the top civilian job of the 19-nation alliance included Norway's Defense Minister Defense Minister Kristin Krohn Devold and Polish President Aleksander Kwasniewski. (AP 221750 Jan 03)
  
  
• NATO allies failed Wednesday to back an American request to advance the military planning for a possible alliance role in a war against Iraq after Germany and France sought a delay. Diplomats stressed the 19 allies agreed in principle on NATO providing a support role should war break out, but France, Germany and some other European allies thought the timing was not right to start the military planning. NATO officials said they expected a decision to start the military planning could come next week depending on the content of a report to the Security Council by the UN weapons inspectors scheduled for Jan. 27. (AP 221607 Jan 03)
  
  
• Latvia's Defence Minister Girts Valdis Kristovskis heaped criticism on Russia on Wednesday, saying it wanted to see a "toothless" NATO. Speaking at a security policy conference in Sweden, Kristovskis said: "Russia, today, wishes to minimise the influence of NATO, encouraging it to become a peacekeeping force and thereby reduce its war-fighting capabilities." "NATO membership is equal to territorial homeland security," the Latvian defence minister told the conference in Salen. Russia "has to come to the conclusion that the world is no longer based on large-power bi-polar Cold War relations, but rather on democratic values and international multi-polarity," Kristovskis added. (Reuters 222002 GMT Jan 03)
  

IRAQ

• The head of the British military will meet with Turkish officials just days after a similar visit by the head of the U.S. military in an apparent escalation of pressure on Turkey to extend military support for a possible war on Iraq. The chief of the British defense staff, Adm. Sir Michael Boyce, is scheduled to meet with Gen. Hilmi Ozkok, chief of staff of the Turkish military, on Thursday afternoon, the military said in a statement. Britain was also reportedly lobbying for Turkish permission to use Turkish bases and deploy special forces troops along with U.S. troops in Turkey. (AP 221441 Jan 03)

BALKANS

• An explosive device hit a United Nations police building in Kosovo on Wednesday, causing damage but no casualties, a UN spokesman said. A Western source said the building in the town of Pec may have been hit by a rocket-propelled grenade but UNMIK did not say what kind of device was used. (Reuters 222035 GMT Jan 03)
  
  
• Serbian Prime Minister Zoran Djindjic was quoted on Wednesday as saying he was not optimistic that Belgrade would be able to meet U.S. demands to hand over key suspects to the UN war crimes court by March 31. Washington has called on Serbia to deliver Bosnian Serb general Ratko Mladic and two other suspects by the end of March or risk losing vital economic aid. But Djindjic suggested in comments reported by the Beta news agency it would be difficult to comply in time. (Reuters 221559 GMT Jan 03)
  
  
• Macedonian (sic) police were locked in an armed standoff on Wednesday with members of a controversial police unit (the Lions) protesting at what they called plans to disband them. The Interior Ministry opened talks with the protesters to try to end the standoff that highlights the security problems Macedonia (sic) has grappled with since the insurgency, which brought it to the brink of all-out civil war. The protesters demand that they be integrated into the regular police force and say they will not end the blockade until they meet President Boris Trajkovski. Senior Interior Ministry officials held talks in Skopje with representatives of the protestors. "At the moment we are undertaking measures to solve the situation through dialogue," said a ministry spokeswoman. (Reuters 221946 GMT Jan 03)