Military

SHAPE News Morning Update

20 October 2003

NATO

• The U.S. Ambassador to NATO said Sunday that the alliance and the United States deserve to be recognized for what they have done to help Muslims. “I think that NATO and the United States have received too little credit for what we have done for the Muslim populations,” Nicholas Burns said. Speaking to reporters in Prague at the end of an international conference on NATO and the Middle East, Ambassador Burns referred to U.S. and NATO involvement in Bosnia, Kosovo and Afghanistan. “Our intervention in Afghanistan was meant to save the Muslim population from cruel dictatorship,” he said. NATO bombing of Bosnia and Kosovo ended attacks by Serbs on local Muslim populations there. “I don’t see any reason why NATO and United States ...cannot be trusted by all sides, because I think we’ve been fair and judicious,” he added. (AP 191604 Oct 03)

IRAQ

• Prime Minister Erdogan said on Saturday that Turkey preferred not to send troops to Iraq if Iraqis did not want them there, but said the decision ultimately rested with the United States. At a news conference during a seminar on the Spanish island of Mallorca, he said Turkey’s offer of troops was simply a response to a U.S. request for help. He said he could not confirm British newspaper reports on Friday that Washington was considering using Turkish troops in a supporting role in Iraq rather than controlling a region in an effort to defuse opposition to their presence. “I haven’t heard of anything of that sort as of now,” he added. (Reuters 181624 GMT Oct 03)

AFGHANISTAN

• Serbian special police whose units saw combat in the Balkan wars are being trained to join the U.S.-led mission in Afghanistan, the interior minister said in remarks published on Sunday. Dusan Mihajlovic told the Sunday edition of the state-run Politika daily that Serbian police had begun training for international military missions, including the one in Afghanistan. Mihajlovic said that he will recommend that the government approve the Afghan mission on condition that the Serb troops be armed and equipped as well as the Americans. He added that only volunteer troops will go. (AP 191108 Oct 03)
  
  
• Germany is to withdraw troops of its elite KSK commando unit from Afghanistan, where they have been engaged in the U.S.-led campaign against remnants of the Taliban regime and al Qaeda forces, the weekly Der Spiegel said. In an extract from an article issued on Saturday, the magazine said the mandate for deployment of the troops, who have been taking part in the “Enduring Freedom” operation for the past two years, would run out on November 15 and could only be extended by parliament. (Reuters 181417 GMT Oct 03)

WAR ON TERRORISM

• Interior ministers from five of Europe’s most populous countries discussed coordinating their efforts against terrorism, drug trafficking and illegal immigration on Sunday to make the fight more effective. Under a heavy police presence, ministers from Britain, Germany, Italy, Spain and France assembled in La Baule, France, for two days of talks on security screening techniques such as retinal scans and fingerprinting and threats as diverse as al-Qaida or Basque rebels. Meeting host Nicolas Sarkozy said the small group of European Union members shares common dilemmas that require them to unite on their own - even without the other states in the 15-country body. (AP 191955 Oct 03)