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SHAPE
News Summary & Analysis
25
April 2003
SACEUR
- More
on Gen. Jones’ press conference at SHAPE Thursday
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IRAQ
- Government
with an “Iraqi face” will start next week,
says Garner¨ U.S to offer resolution to end sanctions
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EU
- British,
French, German foreign ministers meet on Iraq with EU’s
Solana
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SACEUR
Media
continue to report Gen. Jones’ remarks during the press
conference held at SHAPE yesterday. In
a contribution to the Financial Times, Judy Dempsey writes that
Gen. Jones, in his dual role as commander of NATO and U.S. Forces
in Europe, intends to launch a NATO Response Force by October
as part of a radical shake-up of an Alliance seeking a new role
in the 21st century. Underlining
that Gen. Jones was appointed during a major crisis in NATO
caused by profound disagreements over Iraq, the journalist says
he seems to be determined to put those disputes behind the members
of the Alliance. Although he has not been asked to draw up any
military plans for a NATO role in Iraq, Gen. Jones reportedly
declared that NATO has the operational capacity to undertake
other missions, if asked. But before considering Iraq,
continues the journalist, Gen. Jones wants the NATO Response
Force to become a “vehicle for the transformation of NATO.”
The first occasion to test NATO’s new role will be in
Afghanistan when next summer it takes over the ISAF mission
now led by the joint Dutch-German leadership, she also observes.
By taking over this mission, Gen. Jones furthermore
is reported to say, NATO is sending a “clear signal”
to the member states that the Alliance is getting ready for
the 21st century and becoming “truly global in character.”
In a related dispatch, the Italian news agency ANSA
centers likewise on the new NATO Response Force, which will
have a self-sustainability of 15 to 30 days. According
to the dispatch, Gen. Jones also stated that, even if no political
order has been received, NATO is able to perform any kind of
missions in Iraq.
IRAQ
- According
to The Times, Gen. (R) Jay Garner announced yesterday that
Iraqi government ministries will reopen next week.
He also reportedly promised to set in motion the economy by
making an emergency payment to civil servants who return to
work, and paying salaries within a month. “I think we
will begin to see the governmental process start by the end
of next week and it will have Iraqi faces on it. It will be
government by Iraqis,” he was also quoted saying. Bush
administration is hoping to establish an interim Iraqi authority
by June 3, when the current Oil-for-Food program is due to
end. The next meeting with selected Iraqi leaders is due to
take place on Monday but the White House, Pentagon and State
Department are all concerned about the credibility of the
authority not only in Iraq but the rest of the world if the
Shias, who represent 60 percent of the population, fail to
take part. Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld is ruling
out an Iran-style religious government in Iraq as well as
any attempt by Syria and others in the region to influence
Iraq’s future, writes AP. “If you’re
suggesting, how would we feel about an Iranian-type government
with a few clerics running everything in the country, the
answer is: that isn’t going to happen,” he was
quoted saying. He also reportedly added that U.S.
forces in the Gulf region will be rearranged depending in
part on the degree of anti-Americanism in host nations:
“We don’t want to be places that we’re not
wanted. We simply don’t.” Moreover, Secretary
of State Powell was reported saying that religious Muslims
should not be precluded from governing Iraq: “There
are Islamic countries that are having elections, Pakistan,
Turkey. It’s happening.” In a recent interview
with a Dubai-based television, he also reportedly said: “Why
can an Islamic form of government that has as its basis the
faith of Islam not be democratic?” In conclusion, Secretary
of Defense Rumsfeld was also reported saying that U.S. and
British forces are were searching for more former members
of the Saddam’s government than the 55 on a “most
wanted” list. U.S. forces, concludes the dispatch,
have taken custody of Tariq Aziz, the former Iraqi deputy
prime minister and maybe, the report speculates,
he can provide the best information on the fate of Saddam.
- The
Washington Times cites administration officials stating that
the Bush administration plans to introduce next week a UN
Security Council resolution that would lift more than a decade
of international sanctions on Iraq, while limiting UN involvement
in Iraq’s foreseeable future to a consultative role.
The resolution would direct UN Secretary General to name a
special representative who can work with U.S. officials in
Baghdad on humanitarian and reconstruction programs, and on
the formation of an Iraqi Interim Authority.
EU
- AFP was
reportedly told by diplomatic sources that the foreign ministers
of Britain, France and Germany held a private meeting in Brussels
with EU foreign policy chief Solana on Thursday evening to
discuss Iraq and the Middle East. “It was a
dinner between friends,” Solana told reporters, but
the three ministers declined to comment.
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