Military

SHAPE News Morning Update

19 May 2003

TERRORISM

• Italy’s interior minister said on Sunday that illegal immigrants complicated the task of fighting terrorism in Europe and that dormant Islamist terrorist cells could strike at any time. European interior ministers, meeting in Spain, expressed concerns about the terrorist threat to Europe two days after five suicide blasts ripped through a Moroccan city on the continent’s doorstep. The meeting had been called before suicide bombers launched five almost simultaneous attacks in Casablanca on Friday. Authorities suspect a radical Moroccan Islamist group sympathetic to al-Qaeda was behind the attacks. Earlier, Spain said it had reinforced the borders of its two North African enclaves Ceuta and Melilla, and an interior ministry source said security had also been beefed up in the Strait of Gibraltar and in the sea between Morocco and Spain’s Canary Islands. (Reuters 182118 GMT May 03)

NATO

• Last month, two Russian navy anti-submarine aircraft flew into the air space of unarmed NATO-member Iceland and were intercepted by two U.S. fighters from the air base at Keflavik airport. This prompted a complaint from Russian Navy chief Admiral Viktor Kravchenko, news agency ITAR-TASS reported this week, and Russia’s ambassador to Iceland said in a statement that Moscow planned to increase military exercises in the North Atlantic. (Reuters 161435 GMT May 03)

IRAQ

• NATO looked set for a behind-the-scenes role in postwar Iraq on Friday after Poland formally asked the alliance for help in setting up and running the troops in its “stabilisation zone,” diplomats said in Brussels. Poland sought only an “analysis of options” and suggested back-up roles for the defence alliance rather than a conspicuous presence. (AP 161506 May 03)

BALKANS

• U.S. Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz said Saturday that Washington intends to keep its troops in the Balkans until stability has been achieved in the region. In a brief visit to Kosovo, Paul Wolfowitz said that the NATO-led peacekeeping mission, which includes U.S. troops, continues to be “a very important mission” in Washington’s ongoing effort to bring peace to the region. (AP 171221 May 03)
  
  
• Army and police generals commenting on the joint exercise of their forces said the maneuvers, dubbed Integration 2003, was an attempt to test the ability of their forces to participate in NATO-led peacekeeping and humanitarian missions. “This exercise was also aimed at checking whether we are ready to enter integration processes with Western Allies,” said army Gen. Vladimir Lazarevic. Speaking at the military training facility of Pasuljanske Livade, Gen. Lazarevic said that additionally, the exercise allowed the army to test various changes in the control and command system introduced after recent reforms of the military. (AP 181638 May 03)
  
  
• U.S. Marines began arriving in Albania on Saturday to conduct two weeks of joint military exercises with soldiers from this Balkan country, the U.S. Embassy said in Tirana. The U.S. troops are to conduct the exercises over the next two weeks with Albanian military forces near Tirana and the port town of Durres, the statement said. No more details were available. (AP 171851 May 03)

RUSSIA

• In their largest deployment since the 1991 breakup of the Soviet Union, Russian warships are set to begin long-planned naval exercises with India this week in the Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal, Russia’s Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov said on Sunday, according to the Interfax News Agency. Minister Ivanov, speaking during a visit to the Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur, said the exercises would begin on Tuesday and Wednesday. (AP 181846 May 03)

BELGIUM

• Belgian Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt claimed victory on Sunday after the ruling Liberals and Socialists won a parliamentary majority in a general election that also produced big gains for a far-right party. The Liberals and Socialists registered gains in both parts of the linguistically divided country of 10 million people, despite the collapse of their Greens coalition partners. The VRT broadcasting network forecast the Liberals and Socialists would hold 93 of the 150 seats in the lower house. (Reuters 182100 GMT May 03)
  
  
• Belgium’s Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt said on Saturday that he would send a war crimes lawsuit filed in Belgium against the commander of U.S.-led forces in Iraq to the United States next week. “The law leaves open the possibility of sending back the complaint to the United States and that is what I...aim to do,” he said in an interview with local VTM television. “Next week, I will call for a cabinet meeting and...undo this abuse.” (Reuters 171435 May 03)