Military

SHAPE News Morning Update

3 June 2003

NATO

• NATO foreign ministers will try and put Iraq war divisions behind them on Tuesday with talks to focus on the alliance’s role in fighting international terrorism. The two-day meeting will review plans for the alliance to take charge of peacekeeping in Kabul, Afghanistan, and offer backup to Polish peacekeepers in south central Iraq. NATO officials see both missions as signs the alliance is making good on pledges to move beyond its frontiers to confront worldwide security threats. The Madrid meeting will likely continue the trans-Atlantic bridge building. (AP 030423 Jun 03)

IRAQ

• UN inspectors had many questions and leads to pursue on chemical and biological weapons in Iraq when their searches were suspended just before the U.S.-led invasion, chief inspector Hans Blix said in a new report on Monday. But the United States and Britain have barred UN inspectors from returning, deployed their own search teams and not requested any assistance, he said. In his final report to the Security Council, Blix said UN inspectors found no evidence that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction but still had many questions about its chemical and biological programs when they left. He said his inspectors didn’t have time to follow up on some late information provided by the Iraqi government. (AP 021920 Jun 03)
  
  
• Hungary’s parliament on Monday unanimously approved the deployment of 300 soldiers to Iraq to be part of the international stabilization force. The Hungarian unit will specialize in transportation tasks and the distribution of humanitarian aid, the Defense Ministry said in Budapest. (AP 021731 Jun 03)
  
  
• U.S. occupying authorities will begin recruiting later this month to form the New Iraqi Corps, the country’s U.S. civilian administrator said on Monday. Paul Bremer also said that, as part of measures to revive the economy, thousands of demobilized enlisted men from Saddam’s army would be hired next week to clean up sites to be used for the training of the new military. (AP 021642 Jun 03)

BALKANS

• EU hopeful Croatia is drafting a law to make it easier to prosecute those responsible for war crimes committed during its 1991-1995 war for independence, the Justice Minister said on Monday. Prosecution of war crimes, especially those committed by government troops against ethnic Serbs, is among key requirements for Zagreb’s smooth accession to the European Union. Justice Minister Ingrid Anticevic-Marinovic said the new law based on international guidelines would soon be discussed by the cabinet and then pushed through parliament as a matter of urgency. (Reuters 021528 GMT Jun 03)

OTHER NEWS

• The European Union is considering drawing up a new Middle East “road map” for peace between Israel and its neighbours Syria and Lebanon, French President Jacques Chirac said on Monday in Evian. President Chirac told journalists that EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana thought that such a move could complement the road map for Israel and the Palestinians set out by the “Quartet” of the United States, United Nations, European Union and Russia. “The Quartet’s road map hardly mentions this problem,” he said. “If there is a war between Israel and the Palestinians, there is also a war between Israel and Syria and Lebanon,” he added. President Chirac stressed at a news conference that Solana was still considering the idea, which was not a French initiative but one to be proposed by the European Union if he goes through with it. (Reuters 021806 GMT Jun 03)
  
  
• The head of the U.S. ballistic missile defence office will visit Tokyo next week for technical talks amid growing signs that Tokyo plans to deploy missile defence systems, U.S. Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz said on Tuesday. He said that Japanese officials he had met late on Monday had shown much greater interest in such systems than in the past. As a result, Ron Kadish, head of the Pentagon’s ballistic missile defence office, will travel to Tokyo at the weekend for talks starting next week. Japanese media said this weekend that Japan aimed to deploy a new U.S.-made missile defence system as early as 2006 in response to rising tension over North Korea. (Reuters 030211 GMT Jun 03)