Military

SHAPE News Morning Update

1 April 2003

IRAQ

• Secretary of State Colin Powell will travel to Turkey and Brussels, Belgium, for talks on the war with Iraq and postwar reconstruction of that country. He said on Monday it was the first of a number of trips he intends to take in the weeks and months ahead “about our hopes for Iraq in the future.” Touching on a sensitive point, Powell told reporters he would tell Turkish leaders “it is unnecessary for them to consider any incursions in the region.” But, Powell said he was prepared to hear “their point of view and make sure we have a common understanding.” In Brussels, where Powell will meet with NATO allies and members of the European Union on Thursday, the focus will be on postwar reconstruction in Iraq. The composition of a peacekeeping force is among items on Powell’s agenda for the trip that spokesman Richard Boucher said Powell decided to take as late as Sunday. (AP 312223 Mar 03)
  
  
• The U.S. special envoy to Iraqi opposition assured Turkey on Monday that Iraqi Kurds will not seize the oil rich city of Kirkuk unilaterally - a move which could trigger a Turkish incursion into northern Iraq. “Kurdish militias are under the command and control of U.S. forces (and) they will not move anywhere without U.S. coalition leadership,” U.S. envoy Zalmay Khalilzad told reporters after talks at Turkey’s Foreign Ministry in Ankara. (AP 311849 Mar 03)
  
  
• Coalition troops fighting in Iraq are currently “seen as the villains” but Iraqis will eventually welcome living in a liberated country, a British government minister said on the BBC television on Monday. Home Secretary David Blunkett said he was confident Britain and America would win the conflict and free Iraqi people from Saddam Hussein’s regime. According to a Populus poll published in The Times newspaper on Tuesday, 78 percent of respondents think the coalition should “strike only targets where there is little or no risk of Iraqi civilians being killed, even if this means the war lasts longer.” Sixteen percent said the coalition should strike any target that helps to win the war, regardless of the risk to civilians. Sixty-five percent of respondents thought the war was going well, compared with 28 percent who believed it was going badly. According to an ICM poll published in The Guardian newspaper on Tuesday also, 52 percent of respondents support the war, compared with 34 percent who are opposed to the conflict. Fourteen percent were undecided. (AP 010211 Apr 03)
  
  
• The secretary-general of the Arab League said Monday that a spillover of war from Iraq to its neighbors could cause havoc across a region already “engulfed in extreme anger.” Amr Moussa’s remarks follow a stern warning by the United States that Syria is helping Iraq militarily and supporting terrorism. Moussa was in Greece for a one-day visit and meetings with Premier Costas Simitis and Foreign Minister George Papandreou. (AP 311900 Mar 03)
  
  
• Egypt’s president said he could not stop U.S.-led warships from crossing the Suez Canal toward Iraq, and warned a drawn out war would lead to increased Islamic militancy throughout the world. President Mubarak also warned that the war would have “catastrophic” effects on global economic, political and humanitarian conditions and that all Mideast states, including Israel, should be free of weapons of mass destruction. The president’s speech seemed aimed at quelling criticism at home of Egypt allowing U.S. and British ships to sail through the strategic Suez Canal toward Iraq. “Crossing of ships of the Suez Canal is a right for all countries and is an international commitment that cannot be trampled with,” Mubarak said. Protesters have also accused the president of doing too little to stop the war and criticized his close relationship with America. He has condemned the war, but blamed it on what he calls Iraqi counterpart Saddam Hussein’s failure to cooperate with the international community. (AP 311922 Mar 03)
  
  
• Iran is preventing citizens from crossing the border to fight for Iraqi President Saddam Hussein, saying that would violate its neutrality. On Sunday, Iranian Foreign Minister Kamal Kharrazi said Iran was determined not to take sides in the war. Iranian legislator Mohsen Torkashvand, a member of the parliament’s National Security and Foreign Policy Committee, endorsed Kharrazi’s pledge on Monday. (AP 010017 Apr 03)
  

BALKANS

• The chairman of the Bosnian presidency has been found to be directly responsible for a local company’s violation of the UN arms embargo against Iraq, according to the results of an international investigation made available on Monday. Mirko Sarovic, who currently leads Bosnia’s three-member presidency, oversaw the illegal export of refurbished engines for Iraq’s military aircraft. The team’s report was presented last week to Bosnia’s top international official, Paddy Ashdown, who ordered the investigation after finding that a first attempt, carried out by Bosnian Serb authorities, had failed to address the question of which political leaders had approved the deal or had knowledge of it. Ashdown’s office said he would act on the matter by the end of the week, but refused to say what he would do. There has been speculation that Ashdown could fire Sarovic and put the ethnically distinct armies of the two mini-states under the command of the state presidency. (AP 311832 Mar 03)