Military

SHAPE News Morning Update

02 October 2003

IRAQ

• The United States circulated a new Iraq resolution calling for a strengthened U.N. role in rebuilding the country and the step-by-step handover of authority to Iraqis but it gives no timetable. The new draft, obtained Wednesday by The Associated Press, stresses that the U.S.-led occupation is "temporary" and urges the Iraqis to determine a date for the transfer of power. "As far as time is concerned, we would like to move expeditiously on it," U.S. Ambassador John Negroponte said Wednesday. "We'd also like to see the resolution in place, if possible, well in advance of the upcoming donors conference in Madrid on Oct. 24" for Iraq. The new draft - like the previous draft - would transform the U.S.-led coalition force into a multinational force under a unified command to provide security and stability as Iraq's democratic institutions are being built. On U.N. involvement, the draft calls for the world body to "strengthen its vital role in Iraq" in providing humanitarian relief, promoting economic reconstruction and rebuilding institutions for representative government. It encourages Secretary-General Kofi Annan to consider providing assistance to help draft the constitution, conduct elections, reform the judiciary and civil service, and train an Iraqi police force. (AP 020254 Oct 03)

AFGHANISTAN

• An ambitious plan to disarm about 100,000 fighters from Afghanistan's unruly regional militias is likely to start this month, but could take up to two years, the U.N.-backed body responsible said on Wednesday. The Afghan New Beginnings Programme (ANBP) said the plan, which has suffered repeated delays, would be far from complete by elections due next June, with only a few pilot areas covered. The International Crisis Group, a Brussels-based think-tank, said disarmament was critical to the success of the whole process of political reform, and the elections. Cruickshank said the ANBP expected to complete a pilot phase including Kabul, Bamiyan and Kandahar by next spring then launch the main phase involving a further 94,000 fighters next summer. The initial phase will not cover areas where U.S.-led forces, helped by local militia forces, are most active pursuing remnants of the former Taliban regime and allied Islamic militants. (Reuters 011225 GMT Oct 03)
  
  
• Danish, Dutch and New Zealand troops ended their stint at the U.S.-led anti-terror coalition base in Kyrgyzstan, taking with them the only attack aircraft that had been deployed there, officials said Wednesday. The Danish and Dutch troops had been deployed at the base at Manas airport near the capital Bishkek for about a year, flying F-16 fighters to support combat operations in nearby Afghanistan, the base said in a statement. The troops from New Zealand provided C-130 cargo aircraft. Their departures leave only C-130 cargo aircraft and KC-135 refueling planes at the base, said spokesman U.S. Air Force Capt. Allen Herritage. Last month, Russia and Kyrgyzstan agreed on terms for use of another air base near Bishkek by a rapid-reaction force under the Collective Security Treaty, which also includes the former Soviet republics of Belarus, Armenia, Kazakhstan and Tajikistan. (AP 011100 Oct 03)

TERRORISM

• U.S. officials believe they have identified a young former bodyguard of Osama bin Laden as al-Qaida's new chief of terror operations in the Gulf. Abu Hazim al-Sha'ir, a 29-year-old Yemeni now believed to be living in Saudi Arabia, is one of a new crop of al-Qaida operatives who are trying fill the roles of senior bin Laden lieutenants who have been captured or killed since Sept. 11, according to U.S. officials. Abu Hazim is on Saudi Arabia's list of 19 most-wanted al-Qaida operatives, listed under his real name of Khalid Ali Bin Ali Al-Hajj. The U.S. intelligence report also notes the Saudi kingdom's importance to al-Qaida. "Saudi Arabia has always been al-Qaida's primary base of popular and religious support and funding," the report says. (AP 020018 Oct 03)
  
  
• The United States will take a good look at removing Sudan from its list of "state sponsors of terrorism" if the government reaches a peace agreement with southern rebels, a senior U.S. official said on Wednesday. Washington is pleased with Khartoum's cooperation against extremist groups but a peace agreement would greatly improve the prospects for good bilateral relations, added the State Department official. Sudanese Foreign Minister Mustafa Osman Ismail told the pan-Arab daily al-Hayat in New York this week that U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell had promised to remove Sudan from the list once Khartoum signs the peace deal. (Reuters 012209 GMT Oct 03)