Military

SHAPE News Morning Update

17 July 2003

NATO

• NATO said on Wednesday it would be able to deploy the first elements of a new strike force for high-intensity combat in mid-October, a year ahead of the deadline set by leaders of the 19-nation alliance. Officials said the elite force, proposed by the United States last year to adapt the Cold War alliance for new security threats, could grow to 25,000 troops but its “initial entry brigade” is expected to be no more than 6,000-strong. “We can’t talk about definite numbers and figures at this point, but with the great enthusiasm of NATO nations we will be able to meet the challenging deadline to stand up an initial credible force...with air and maritime components by 15 October 2003,” Deputy Supreme Allied Commander Europe Admiral Rainer Feist said in a statement. The NATO Response Force (NRF) formal initial operating capability is not scheduled until mid-October 2004. The full force is due to be operational two years after that. (Reuters 161547 GMT Jul 03)

AFGHANISTAN

• Secretary-General George Robertson said on Wednesday that the alliance was facing a tough mission in Afghanistan, where military commanders believe anti-government forces could step up attacks on peacekeepers. “We’ve already been involved in Bosnia and Kosovo and Macedonia (sic), we’re now taking on a role in Afghanistan,” Lord Robertson told a news conference after a meeting between Afghan Foreign Minister Abdullah Abdullah and NATO ambassadors in Brussels. (Reuters 161423 GMT Jul 03)

BALKANS

• The European Union agreed on Wednesday to extend its peacekeeping mission in Macedonia (sic) for a further 11 weeks until mid-December, but hit a snag as France announced that it no longer wanted to lead the operation. Diplomats said representatives of the 15-nation bloc would meet again on Friday to work out who would take command of the force of 300 lightly armed troops in the former Yugoslav republic. “There was a suggestion that if another country could not be found it could be handed to EUROFOR,” said one diplomat. He was referring to the European Operational Rapid Force based in Florence, Italy, which was born in 1995 for humanitarian and peacekeeping duties in the Mediterranean area. (Reuters 161843 GMT Jul 03)
  
  
• NATO agreed on Wednesday to continue its support for the European Union’s peacekeeping mission in Macedonia (sic). “It was completely uncontroversial,” an official said after a meeting of NATO ambassadors in Brussels. “They agreed to continue the support until December 15...if the EU decides to go on until then.” Diplomats said EU foreign ministers meeting in Brussels next week were expected to approve a call from Macedonian (sic) President Trajkovski for the mission’s mandate to be extended. (Reuters 161706 GMT Jul 03)
  
  
• A court in Kosovo on Wednesday jailed a prominent ethnic Albanian ex-rebel chief for war crimes during the 1998-99 conflict in the most sensitive trial to date in the UN-run province. In the first war crimes conviction against former members of the now disbanded Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA), international judges appointed by the United Nations handed down a 17-year jail term to ex-commander Rrustem Mustafa, known by his nom-de-guerre “Remi.” About 2,000 people marched through the northern town of Podujevo to voice anger at the verdict and the UN mission. Some branded UN officials as occupiers. (Reuters 161518 GMT Jul 03)

IRAQ

• The U.S. said on Wednesday it had started discussions with other governments on the possibility of a new UN mandate for Iraq. Colin Powell, speaking after talks with German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer, said the talks were preliminary and that the U.S. continues to believe the current mandate is enough for other countries to contribute troops. Fischer said that Germany was ready to help improve the humanitarian situation in Iraq and help with reconstruction, but not send troops. A senior German official said Germany was worried about pressures to persuade European countries to send troops to Iraq even at the cost of reducing the military presence in Afghanistan. (Reuters 161924 GMT Jul 03)