Military

SHAPE News Morning Update

26 September 2003

NATO

• NATO Secretary-General Lord Robertson pledged Thursday to boost cooperation with Uzbekistan as the alliance takes over leadership of peacekeeping troops in neighboring Afghanistan, where continued violence threatens Central Asia's stability. "If there is failure in Afghanistan, then the region will be thrown into turmoil and the shockwaves will be felt at the edge of the Euro-Atlantic region," Robertson told journalists after meeting Uzbek President Islam Karimov. To boost cooperation with this Central Asian nation, Robertson said NATO plans to open a training center under its Partnership for Peace program that includes many former Communist bloc nations. He said Karimov had given his support to the idea during their talks. Robertson said human rights wouldn't go ignored as NATO strengthened its ties with Uzbekistan. "The war on terrorism must not be used to devalue and diminish human rights," he said. (AP 251653 Sep 03)
  
  
• Rear Adm. Hans-Jochen Whitthauer of Germany Thursday took command of NATO naval forces in the Mediterranean Sea in a ceremony at the Souda Bay naval base on the island of Crete, base officials said. Whitthauer replaces outgoing Commodore Philip Wirth of the Netherlands, who during his one-year command he oversaw the deployment of the force to the eastern Mediterranean for anti-terrorism missions. The Standing Naval Force Mediterranean was formed in Naples, Italy, to provide maritime patrols throughout the NATO area and stand ready for any other operations. Nations normally contributing to the force are Germany, Greece, Italy, Netherlands, Spain, Turkey, Britain and the United States. (AP 251245 Sep 03)

IRAQ

• Secretary of State Colin Powell said U.S. officials had begun to close ranks with critics at the United Nations on a resolution to govern nation-building in Iraq. "We are seeing some convergence of views," he said after a five-power meeting. In the days ahead, Powell said, the administration of President George W. Bush will work to modify a proposed resolution that has been slowed by objections that the United States was not willing to yield sufficient authority to the United Nations. In an interview with The New York Times being published Friday, Powell said the United States would set a deadline of six months for Iraqi leaders to produce a new constitution for their country. Powell also met with members of the Iraq Governing Council. He said they did not settle on a timetable for an end to the U.S. occupation and transfer to civilian rule, but the anti-Saddam Hussein Iraqis "are working on it." (AP 260307 Sep 03)
  
  
• Bowing to pressure from the United States, the Japanese government has decided to send troops to help rebuild Iraq by the end of the year, several months earlier than previously planned, the daily Asahi Shimbun said on Friday. Japan's foreign minister, Yoriko Kawaguchi, denied that a decision had been made, Kyodo news agency said. She said the timing of the dispatch would depend on the results of a fact-finding mission now in Iraq. The Japanese contribution could involve five planes for transporting food and water, plus 50-100 ground troops being sent to towns in northern Iraq that are heavily policed by the U.S. military and are considered relatively safe, the report said. (Reuters 260337 GMT Sep 03)
  
  
• Signaling its long-term commitment to peacekeeping in Iraq, the Polish Defense Ministry announced Thursday it had chosen a new force commander and the military units that will take over next year when its first troops rotate out. Gen. Mieczyslaw Bieniek, 52, will take over from Gen. Andrzej Tyszkiewicz as commander of the multinational force in January, said Defense Ministry spokesman Col. Eugeniusz Mleczak. The month after, Poland will bring home its initial 2,400 soldiers and replace them with fresh troops. (AP 251417 Sep 03)

LIBERIA

• The Philippines will send up to 500 peace-keeping troops to Liberia to help rebuild the strife-torn West African nation in response to a request from the United Nations, President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo said. "We will help in Liberia. We'll be sending peace-keeping forces," Arroyo told Philippine media on Thursday in New York, where she is attending the U.N. General Assembly. (Reuters 260352 GMT Sep 03)