Military

SHAPE News Morning Update

11 July 2003

NATO

• NATO on Thursday hailed the willingness of ex-Soviet Central Asia to take part in “a united front against terrorism,” but said this fight must not be used by local rulers as a pretext to stifle domestic opposition. “Terrorism is a clear threat to people in this region,” Lord Robertson, Secretary General of the defence alliance told a news conference during a brief visit to Kazakhstan. Lord Robertson, who leaves for Kyrgyzstan later on Thursday, said post-Soviet Central Asia and NATO had “a single mission, tackling the new security challenges of the 21st century -- terrorism and the spread of weapons of mass destruction.” “Central Asia is now going to be very much part of NATO’s agenda, since NATO will be taking over the running of the stabilisation force in Kabul in Afghanistan,” he added. (Reuters 101144 GMT Jul 03)
  
  
• The Czech defense minister on Thursday outlined austerity measures for his ministry, including planned staff cuts to the army. The country’s armed forces, facing cuts of US $754 million over the next three years, will be reduced to 30,000 - 23,000 soldiers and about 7,000 civilian employees - said Defense Minister Miroslav Kostelka. Other cost-saving measures include plans to phase out the draft and fully rely on career soldiers by 2006 and to reduce its fleet of Czech-made L-159 fighter jets from 71 to 18, Kostelka said. In the future, a brigade of 3,000 soldiers will be available for NATO missions abroad instead of the previously planned 5,000, he added. (AP 101329 Jul 03)

IRAQ

• American troops could still be in Iraq four years from now, the war’s former commander told members of Congress concerned about persistent, deadly attacks. Gen. Tommy Franks gave the stark assessment on Thursday in Washington as President Bush conceded there is a security problem inside Iraq and the Senate expressed its own uneasiness by unanimously urging the administration to consider seeking outside help from NATO or the United Nations. (AP 110309 Jul 03)
  
  
• The United States said on Thursday it intends to discuss with its NATO partners whether the transatlantic bloc should take a role in post-war Iraq. “Whether there is a specific role for the alliance at some point in the future we’re examining as an alliance,” U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell told reporters covering a visit by U.S. President Bush to Africa. “Right now NATO as an alliance is concentrating on helping the Poles deploy into Iraq. And then, in the course of the summer, we’ll be discussing with NATO whether there is a broader role that the alliance can play,” he added. (Reuters 101942 GMT Jul 03)

BALKANS

• Kosovo’s top political leaders called on the ethnic Albanian majority on Thursday to support the return of ethnic Serbs and other minorities who fled the chaotic aftermath of the province’s war nearly four years ago. Kosovo’s president, Ibrahim Rugova, and his political rival, Hashim Thaci, the former rebel leader who has since become a key politician, came together to ask ethnic Albanians to create security and freedom of movement for those displaced by ethnic conflict in the southern town of Urosevac. Joining the leaders was the head of the U.S. office in Kosovo, Reno Harnish, who also urged leaders in Serbia, where most of province’s displaced now live, to support the return. (AP 101844 Jul 03)

RUSSIA

• Russia expressed concern on Thursday after a NATO AWACS plane made a demonstration flight in Georgia, saying use of such aircraft there could increase tension in the Caucasus region and affect Russian security. Foreign Ministry spokesman Alexander Yakovenko said use of the advanced planes with powerful radar abilities “affects Russia’s national security interests, as it would confront the need to address possible risks prompted by NATO’s reconnaissance activity in the close vicinity of Russia’s borders.” He noted in a statement that the capabilities of the AWACS plane mean they could be used to survey a significant swath of Russia’s territory without actually entering its airspace. Yakovenko said Russia expects further explanation of the AWACS plane’s activity in the NATO-Russia Council, a body set up to foster cooperation between the two sides. (AP 101745 Jul 03)

AFGHANISTAN

• William B. Taylor Jr., a veteran foreign assistance expert, was named on Thursday to oversee U.S. policy toward Afghanistan. He will be based at the State Department in Washington. (AP 102301 Jul 03)