Military

SHAPE News Morning Update

10 February 2003

AFGHANISTAN

• German Defence Minister Peter Struck said on Saturday that he would discuss with his Spanish counterpart the possibility of Spain taking over the command of peacekeeping in Afghanistan after Germany and the Netherlands. Speaking at a security conference in Munich attended by defence ministers from around the world, Peter Struck also said he would discuss with U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld his idea of getting NATO to eventually take command in Afghanistan. Minister Struck said if President Karzai expressed no objections to NATO commanding the force, he believed French opposition to the idea of NATO troops operating “out of area,” and its concerns NATO command might provoke Afghan resentment, could be overcome. (Reuters 081853 GMT Feb 03)

IRAQ

• NATO appeared headed toward more divisive debate on Monday as France and Belgium indicated they would further delay preparations to defend Turkey against the threat of Iraqi missile attack. The position of the third holdout - Germany - was less clear. At a stormy weekend meeting in Munich, U.S. Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld warned continued delays in responding to Turkey’s request were “inexcusable” and risked undermining the credibility of the alliance. Rumsfeld intensified his criticism in an interview on Sunday with Italy’s La Republica newspaper. “Shameful, for me it’s truly shameful,” Rumsfeld was quoted as saying. “Turkey is an ally. An ally that is risking everything ... How can you refuse it help?” (AP 100050 Feb 03)
  
  
• Belgian Foreign Minister Louis Michel said Sunday that his country will continue to block a NATO’s effort to plan for the defense of Turkey against potential attacks from Iraq. Michel urged the U.S. to give UN weapons inspectors more time and resources to carry out more inspections and backed a reported Franco-German plan to send UN peacekeepers to Iraq. “There are 16 (NATO) countries willing to back the United States, and follow the case for war. We are not there yet,” Michel said on a Sunday talk show on VRT television. “We are now busy with France and Germany to write a letter to state out our veto right,” he added. (AP 091052 Feb 03)
  
  
• Turkish troops who enter northern Iraq during a possible U.S.-led war on Baghdad would operate outside of the U.S. command, a newspaper said on Sunday, quoting top Turkish military sources. Main-stream Milliyet said Turkish commanders had rejected a proposal by U.S. presidential envoy Zalmay Khalilzad that their troops operate under a central U.S. command. (Reuters 091444 GMT Feb 03)
  
  
• Russian President Vladimir Putin warned the United States against a unilateral attack on Iraq in an interview aired Sunday, saying there are no grounds for military action and calling for UN inspectors to continue their work. In an interview with France-3 television that was published on the Kremlin Web site, Putin also said that the world’s goal must be to ensure Iraq has no weapons of mass destruction, not remove Saddam Hussein from power. (AP 091944 Feb 03)
  
  
• U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said in an interview published on Sunday that he would prefer to see Saddam Hussein flee Iraq than for the West to go to war. In an interview with The Times newspaper, Rumsfeld said it was his “first choice” for Saddam to leave Iraq, and added there were plenty of countries who would take in the Iraqi leader and promise not to extradite him. (AP 092333 Feb 03)
  

NATO

• NATO and Russia signed an agreement on Saturday to cooperate on future submarine rescue operations to prevent another Kursk-style disaster. The framework agreement on “submarine crew escape and rescue” was signed in Munich by NATO Secretary-General George Robertson and Russian Defence Minister Sergei Ivanov. The two sides agreed to standardise search and rescue procedures, work together on the equipment needed to help distressed submarines, exchange information and conduct exercises to train personnel. (Reuters 082059 GMT Feb 03)

BALKANS

• Montenegro’s second attempt in two months to elect a president failed Sunday with voter turnout falling short of a minimum requirement, according to unofficial results. “The presidential elections have failed. The required 50 percent minimum turnout has not been met,” said the Podgorica-based Center for Election Monitoring, a non-governmental organization whose previous election results have proved reliable. (AP 092327 Feb 03)