Military

SHAPE News Morning Update

17 February 2003

AFGHANISTAN

• An unsigned message purportedly from the leader of Afghanistan’s ousted Taliban, Mullah Mohammad Omar, has urged Afghans to wage a holy war against Washington and the Kabul government, an Afghan news service reported on Monday. The Pakistan-based Afghan Islamic Press quoted a statement from Omar as saying that Afghans who could not participate directly in a jihad, or holy war, should distance themselves from the government of President Hamid Karzai and the United States. The Pashtu-language statement was sent to newspapers in Peshawar. The statement was the first directly attributed to the reclusive, one-eyed Taliban leader made public since his government was ousted from power in late 2001. (Reuters 170522 GMT Feb 03)

IRAQ

• Turkey may delay a vote to allow in tens of thousands of U.S. troops to open a northern front against Iraq, the foreign minister said on Sunday, a move that could hamper U.S. war plans. Parliament had been expected to meet on Tuesday to vote to allow in U.S. combat soldiers but Foreign Minister Yasar Yakis said that a vote that early “would be very difficult.” (AP 170017 Feb 03)
  
  
• Arab foreign ministers failed to agree on holding an emergency summit on the Iraqi crisis after spending most of Sunday in dispute over whether Washington or Baghdad should be doing more to avert war. An Arab diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the ministers meeting at the Cairo headquarters of the 22-member Arab League could not reach accord on holding the summit. In a draft resolution, Syria proposed that Arab states “should refrain from offering any assistance or facilities to any military operation that might threaten the security, safety and territorial integrity of Iraq.” The draft, obtained by the AP, said the ministers “asserted that resorting to the option of war is evidence ... of the impotence of the (United Nations) Security Council from carrying its mission and its inability to carry out its duties in maintaining international peace and security.” Following the meeting, Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa told a press conference that both he and Egyptian officials would form a committee to contact Arab states about staging an emergency summit at a later date. (AP 162056 Feb 03)
  

NATO

• NATO agreed to begin planning defense measures to aid Turkey in the event of a U.S.-led war in Iraq, breaking a month-long stalemate that had opened the biggest rift in the West since the Cold War. “Alliance solidarity has prevailed,” NATO Secretary-General Lord Robertson said. “We have been able collectively to overcome the impasse.” The United States called the decision a “very big step forward” for the alliance. But European Union leaders faced a bruising summit, with France showing no sign of backing down in its opposition to U.S. plans to force Iraq to disarm. The summit is seen as a crucial test of the EU’s drive to forge a united front on foreign policy and security issues. (AP 170405 Feb 03)

BALKANS

• A shadowy ethnic Albanian group claimed responsibility on its Web site on Sunday for a powerful blast in Macedonia (sic) on Friday that destroyed a local court building. The statement said a unit of the so-called Albanian National Army attacked the local court in the Albanian-dominated town of Struga for “conducting political trials against innocent Albanians.” The statement warned of more attacks against the courts. The group has taken responsibility for several attacks in Macedonia (sic), but the claims have not been proven. (AP 161738 Feb 03)
  
  
• An ultra-nationalist Serbian leader indicted for his role in the Croatian and Bosnian wars dismissed all charges brought against him by the UN war crimes tribunal as ludicrous in remarks published on Sunday. Vojislav Seselj, known for his belligerent rhetoric and radical pro-Serb stance, told Belgrade’s Vecernje Novosti daily that the indictment against him was based on “pure fabrications.” (AP 161411 Feb 03)