Military

SHAPE News Morning Update

17 May 2003

NATO

• Troops from 19 nations began joint exercises Monday in Armenia as part of NATO’s Partnership for Peace program. The exercises, which are to last through June 27, are designed to test the troops' skills in situations that could arise during a peacekeeping mission, officials said. Russia and Armenia, as well as other former Soviet republics and former Eastern bloc countries, are joining eight NATO countries for the exercises. “Confrontation has given way to cooperation, and its nucleus is joint exercises, which allow us to create a joint team that will meet modern challenges,” Armenian Defense Minister Serzh Sarkisian said at the opening ceremony .(AP 161708 jun 03 GMT)

EU-BALKANS

• The EU agreed on Monday to plough an extra 200 million euros ($237 million) of aid into Western Balkan nations to smooth their entry into the EU, but said they must match it with real commitment to reform. “The dual message is -- yes, we do mean it when we say we want you to join but you have to deserve it,” said an official of the European Commission, the bloc’s executive arm. The EU is set to expand to 25 nations from 15 next year by taking in mostly former Soviet bloc nations from eastern Europe. Bulgaria and Romania are due to be next in 2007. EU foreign ministers meeting in Luxembourg, agreeing to the extra aid and technical assistance which will be spread over three years from 2004, said the possibility of further support through the European Investment Bank should also be explored. Although there are some doubts within the bloc about the pace of further enlargement, ministers affirmed in a statement: “he Balkans will be an integral part of a unified Europe”. “The ongoing enlargement...should inspire and encourage the countries of the Western Balkans to follow the same successful road of reforms and increase their efforts in that direction,” they said in the statement.(Reuters 1515 160603 GMT)

IRAQ

• Britain on Monday named its UN ambassador, Jeremy Greenstock, as special representative on Iraq, and associates said he would use the post to press for an expanded United Nations role in post-war Iraq. Greenstock planned to take up the new job, as the British equivalent of U.S. civil administrator Paul Bremer, in September, Prime Minister Tony Blair’s spokesman said. “He will be the prime minister's man in Iraq, working with the Americans but also trying to bring them to accept a greater UN role in Iraqi reconstruction,” said a British diplomat in New York. “He will be playing as an intermediary between the United States and the United Nations, just as he did here,” said the diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity. Greenstock will take over from John Sawers, who has been temporarily filling the role of special representative. Emyr Jones Parry, Britain's current ambassador to NATO, was previously named to succeed Greenstock at the United Nations.(Reuters 1748 160603 GMT)
  
  
• U.S. troops in Iraq have detained 371 people in a new mission to hunt down Saddam Hussein loyalists, the U.S. military said. Central Command said in a statement on Monday U.S. forces had conducted raids in Baghdad and near the cities of Tikrit and Kirkuk and had confiscated weapons and explosives. Operation Desert Scorpion aims to flush out pro-Saddam fighters in the wake of deadly attacks on U.S. forces mainly in Baghdad and hostile towns and villages to the west and north. The mission also aims to distribute humanitarian aid to Iraqis. Reuters 0127 170603 GMT)

OTHER NEWS

• Gen. Richard Myers, the chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, arrived in Romania Monday for two days of talks expected to focus on the Balkan country’s efforts to modernize its military. Myers and his Romanian counterpart, Gen. Mihail Popescu, were set to discuss ways to strengthen military relations between the two countries as well as steps Romania must take before it joins the military alliance next year. Military officials from both countries are also to take up other topics, including Romania’s contribution to the international fight against terrorism and the Romanian army's participation in international peace missions, the Defense Ministry said in a statement.(AP 161756 Jun 03 GMT)