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Defense Policy / Programs

• TCN's easing Marine retrograde back home Marine Corps News 26 May 2003-- Third World Country Nationalists, or TCN, transport gear within Kuwait, which eases the transition of 1st Marine Division from the Middle East back to Camp Pendleton.
• 26th MEU (SOC) hones convoy ops in Albania Marine Corps News 26 May 2003-- For the Marines and Sailors of the 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit (Special Operations Capable), training in Albania offers a wealth of opportunities. With extensive MEU-wide live-fire training, explosive ordnance disposal operations, integrated air traffic control, military police training, convoy and combat sustenance operations - all woven into a two-week bilateral training exercise with the Albanian military forces - this exercise affords the 26th MEU (SOC) critical combat skills training alongside a key U.S. ally in the region.
• VMGR-252 and 26th MEU (SOC) team up again in Albania Marine Corps News 26 May 2003-- The Marines and Sailors of Marine Aerial Refueler and Transport Squadron 252 have had a remarkable and challenging 2003 so far. From supporting the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit (Special Operations Capable) in Bahrain in March to the 26th MEU (SOC) in northern Iraq in April and again now in Albania, VMGR-252 has continued to answer the call for fuel and cargo support throughout the world.
• 113th Light Infantry Battalion ready to train Marine Corps News 26 May 2003-- Over the next 100 days, the men of the 113th Light Infantry Battalion/11th Motorized Rifle Brigade will learn patrol base operations, ambush procedures, urban terrain operations, long-range patrols, platoon level raids, daylight company-level attacks and night defensive operations.
• NATO: Parliamentary Assembly Discusses Iraq War And Its Consequences RFE/L 26 May 2003 -- The NATO parliamentary assembly is conducting its spring session in the Czech capital Prague this week. The meeting is bringing together hundreds of legislators from the 19 NATO member states and some 20 other countries -- mainly in Eastern Europe. The Iraq war and its consequences are high on the agenda.
• NATO: Assembly Attempts To Learn Lessons From Rift Over Iraq War RFE/L 26 May 2003 -- The U.S.-led war in Iraq exposed deep divisions within NATO and put a heavy strain on trans-Atlantic ties. What are the lessons to be learned for NATO? Parliamentarians from NATO countries and their neighbors have been discussing this issue at their spring assembly in Prague

Defense Industry

• New EADS Defence & Security Systems Division fully operational as of 1 July 2003 EADS 26 May 2003 -- The new EADS Defence & Security Systems Division will start its operational business as of 1 July 2003. The Board of Directors of EADS, the second-largest global aerospace and defence company, has approved the new organizational structure of the enlarged Defence Division.
• EADS completes full acquisition of Astrium EADS 26 May 2003 -- On Monday, the European Commission formally approved the acquisition by EADS (stock exchange symbol EAD) of the 25 percent stake (27.5 percent economic share) in Astrium, Europe’s leading space company, formerly held by BAE SYSTEMS plc.

Other Conflicts

• ISRAEL/PALESTINIANS/ROADMAP VOA 26 May 2003 -- Israeli and Palestinian sources say Prime Minister Ariel Sharon could meet with his Palestinian counterpart, Mahmoud Abbas, as early as Tuesday. It would be the second meeting between the two leaders in just more than a week, this time following Israel's endorsement of the, so-called, Roadmap peace plan.

• BURUNDI: African peace mission commanders in place IRIN 26 May 2003 -- The high command of the African peace mission in Burundi is now complete, with the arrival in the capital, Bujumbura, on Monday of 11 officers from Mozambique. They join officers from Ethiopia and South Africa already in Burundi.
• BURUNDI: Rights groups urge respect for ceasefire IRIN 26 May 2003 -- Local and international human rights campaigners on Sunday denounced violence which they said was "blindly directed at the civilian population" in Burundi, and urged the army and rebels to respect a ceasefire agreement reached on 2 December 2002.
• IVORY COAST / WILD WEST VOA 26 May 2003 -- Hundreds of French troops in Ivory Coast have begun enforcing a no-weapons zone in the country's western region, along the border with Liberia.
• JAPAN DIPLOMACY VOA 26 May 2003 -- Japan has been the scene of a flurry of peace conferences and mediation meetings in recent weeks - attempting to tackle long conflicts in the Middle East and Asia.
• LIBERIA: US urges nationals to leave as fighting intensifies IRIN 26 May 2003 -- The United States government has urged its citizens to leave Liberia in view of escalating fighting between the government and rebels, the US Charge d'Affairs in Monrovia, Christopher Datta, said on Monday.
• SENEGAL: Hardline leader of Casamance rebellion dies IRIN 26 May 2003 -- Separatist rebels in Senegal's southern province of Casamance announced on Monday the death of Sidi Badji, a hardline leader who had held out against any compromise with the government on Dakar.
• DRC: Top UN official calls for "firm intervention" in Bunia IRIN 26 May 2003 -- The UN Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations, Jean-Marie Guehenno, on Sunday visited Bunia, in northeastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), to assess the situation following the fighting between Lendu and Hema militias in which more than 300 people died.
• CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC: Joint military operation launched to restore security in Bangui IRIN 26 May 2003 -- A joint operation, launched by the Central African Republic (CAR) military, police and gendarmerie and the Economic and Monetary Community of Central African States (CEMAC) peacekeeping force in the country, began on Friday to restore security in the capital, Bangui.
• NIGERIA: Navy says suspected militants blast pipeline IRIN 26 May 2003 -- The main pipeline supplying natural gas to Nigeria's biggest power station has been ruptured by explosives planted by suspected ethnic Ijaw militants, the navy said on Monday.
• SOMALIA: Premier says rift over as he heads to Mogadishu IRIN 26 May 2003 -- The prime minister of the Transitional National Government (TNG) of Somalia, Hasan Abshir Farah, is expected to leave for the capital, Mogadishu, on Monday, from Nairobi, where he is attending the Somali peace talks.

News Reports

• SHAPE News Morning Update SHAPE 26 May 2003
• Ukraine: Plane Carrying Spanish Military Personnel Crashes In Turkey RFE/L 26 May 2003 -- A Ukrainian transport plane carrying Spanish military personnel returning from a mission in Afghanistan crashed in northwest Turkey today.
• Armenia: OSCE Says Ballot Marred By Violence And Vote-Rigging RFE/L 26 May 2003 -- European monitors gave Armenia low marks in March when President Robert Kocharian was reelected amid allegations of widespread vote-tampering. Observers say yesterday's parliamentary elections were not much better.
• RWANDA/REFERENDUM VOA 26 May 2003 -- Voters in Rwanda went to the polls to decide on a draft constitution that supporters say promotes democracy and will help curb the ethnic extremism that sparked the 1994 genocide. But the proposed constitution has its share of critics.
• ARMENIA/ELECTION VOA 26 May 2003 -- Preliminary results from Sunday's Armenia elections indicate parties loyal to President Robert Kocharian will end up with a comfortable parliament majority. With one-third of all votes counted, the ruling Republican Party of Armenia is leading with 22-percent of the vote. But as in past elections, the opposition and western election monitors are charging fraud.
• TURKEY/CRASH VOA 26 May 2003 -- More than 70 people, 62 of them Spanish peacekeeping troops returning from duty in Afghanistan, were killed Monday when their airplane crashed and exploded in flames in northeast Turkey.
• JAPAN/EARTHQUAKE VOA 26 May 2003 -- A powerful earthquake in northern Japan has disrupted power, communications, and transportation. But despite the severity of the quake, initial assessments of damage and injuries are remarkably limited.
• ALGERIA/QUAKE RELIEF VOA 26 May 2003 -- International rescue workers are leaving earthquake-torn Algeria as hope is lost of finding more survivors. More than 22-hundred people died and nine-thousand were injured in the powerful quake, and the numbers continue to rise. The focus has shifted to aiding 15-thousand people left homeless, who are facing a lack of basic supplies and the threat of disease.
• CHINA/TIBET VOA 26 May 2003 -- Two envoys of the Dalai Lama are headed for China to expand contacts between Beijing and the Tibetan government-in-exile. They hope to make some progress in resolving the half-century-long dispute over how Tibet should be ruled.
• ASIA SARS VOA 26 May 2003 -- Hong Kong has promised to compensate families of public health workers who lost their lives to Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome. And another Taiwan health official has resigned over shortcomings in infection control procedures.
• ZIMBABWE: Opposition prepares for "final push" IRIN 26 May 2003 -- Zimbabwe's opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) has set 2 June as the date when it will begin the "final push" against the government of President Robert Mugabe.
• CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC: Bangui officials to meet EC team in Brussels IRIN 26 May 2003 -- Central African Republic (CAR) officials will meet an EC team on 12 June in Brussels, Belgium, "to help find solutions to the country's problems," Prime Minister Abel Goumba told a news conference on Saturday.
• ERITREA: Nation at a crossroads, says president IRIN 26 May 2003 -- Eritrean President Isayas Afewerki marked the country's 12th independence anniversary on Saturday with a warning that the nation had now reached a crossroads which could go either way.
• SOMALIA: Opposition party rejects Kahin as Somaliland president IRIN 26 May 2003 -- The main opposition party in the self-declared republic of Somaliland says it does not recognise the legitimacy of President Dahir Riyale Kahin, according to a statement issued by the party on Sunday.
• RWANDA: Rwandans vote on draft constitution IRIN 26 May 2003 -- Rwanda's 3.8 million registered voters were to decide on Monday whether to accept a draft constitution which it is hoped will prevent a repeat of the 1994 genocide, news agencies reported.