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Operations
Defense Policy / Programs
Defense Industry
Other Conflicts
News Reports

Current Operations

• Sheik Seized in Iraq Raid; U.S. Soldier Killed in Mortar Attack AFPS 27 Nov 2003 -- U.S. and coalition troops in Iraq continued the offensive against insurgents today, seizing an Iraqi leader accused of inciting unrest and financing anti-coalition activities.
• IRAQ / SYRIA BORDER VOA 28 Nov 2003 -- U-S forces have launched a fresh campaign to root out anti-coalition insurgents in Iraq by encircling three important towns on the country's border with Syria, and searching from house to house. The forces have already rounded up hundreds of suspects. Philip Smucker reports from the Iraqi town of Husaybah that some U-S soldiers are giving money to households that comply with a rule that allows them to have just one weapon.
• V CORPS' 77TH MAINTENANCE COMPANY RETURNS FROM DEPLOYMENT IN SUPPORT OF OPERATION IRAQI FREEDOM V Corps Release 28 Nov 2003-- More than 100 Soldiers from VCorps' 77th Maintenance Company, 3rd Corps Support Command, were welcomed home here Nov. 26 after being deployed for eight months in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom.
• Afghanistan: U.S. Says Poppy Production Growing RFE/RL 28 Nov 2003 -- Statistics released by the White House today show that poppy cultivation in Afghanistan doubled between the year 2002 and 2003, rising to a level 36 times higher than during the last year of the Taliban's rule.

Defense Policy / Programs

• USS Vandegrift visits Himeji 7th Fleet Release 28 Nov 2003-- USS Vandegrift (FFG 48), arrived here Nov. 28 for a regularly scheduled port visit.

Defense Industry

• Armaris, Kongsberg Defence & Aerospace, UMOE Mandal prime consortium for 'Skjold' Thales 28 Nov 2003 -- As part of the Skjold Prime Consortium, Armaris, and two Norwegian companies, Kongsberg Defence & Aerospace and UMOE Mandal Umoe Mandal naval shipyard, will upgrade the prototype and build five new Skjold-Class Fast-Patrol Boats for the Royal Norwegian Navy.
• Commonwealth Awards BAE SYSTEMS Australia A$75 Million Astis Contract BAE Systems 28 Nov 2003 -- BAE Systems Australia has been awarded a contract to provide strategically important elements of the Advanced Satellite Communications Terrestrial Infrastructure within the ADFs Military Satellite Communications Programme JP2008.

Other Conflicts

• DAILY PRESS BRIEFING BY THE OFFICES OF THE SPOKESMAN FOR THE SECRETARY-GENERAL AND THE SPOKESWOMAN FOR THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY PRESIDENT United Nations 28 Nov 2003
• U.S. Strongly Committed to Middle East Roadmap, Says Powell Washington File 28 Nov 2003 -- Secretary of State Colin Powell said the United States continues to strongly support the roadmap for peace between Israel and the Palestinians, and expressed his hope that the plan could be furthered once the Israeli and Palestinian prime ministers have their first meeting.
• Israel and Palestinians cannot afford to wait for the other to move first, says Annan UN News Centre 28 Nov 2003 -- Recent moves by Palestinian and Israeli civil society to promote peace show a settlement can be achieved, but the Israeli Government and the Palestinian Authority must act now instead of waiting for the other side to move first, according to United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan.
• Illegal Israeli actions in Occupied East Jerusalem and the rest of the Occupied Palestinian Territory - Report of the Secretary-General prepared pursuant to General Assembly resolution ES-10/13 United Nations 24 Nov 2003 -- A/ES-10/248 - Israel is not in compliance with the Assembly's demand that it "stop and reverse the construction of the wall in the Occupied Palestinian Territory". [PDF]
• Israel not complying with General Assembly demand to halt barrier - Annan UN News Centre 28 Nov 2003 -- Israel is not in compliance with a demand by the United Nations General Assembly to halt and take down a barrier on occupied Palestinian land, and the construction in present circumstances cannot be seen "as anything but a deeply counterproductive act," Secretary-General Kofi Annan says in a report released today.
• U-N / ISRAEL / BARRIER VOA 28 Nov 2003 -- U-N Secretary General Kofi Annan says in a report (released Friday) that Israel is in violation of a General Assembly resolution demanding that it halt construction on and remove a barrier that extends into the West Bank.
• ISRAEL / PALESTINIANS DIPLOMACY VOA 28 Nov 2003 -- Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has spoken again of painful concessions his country must make for peace. But he has yet to provide details of what those concessions might include. His latest remarks on Thursday came amid a flurry of renewed diplomatic activity and growing domestic and international pressure on him to end more than three years of violence and bring about peace between Israel and the Palestinians
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• SUDAN / CEASE-FIRE VOA 28 Nov 2003 -- The government of Sudan and the country's main rebel group have agreed to extend their cease-fire for another two months, pending the negotiation of a peace agreement.
• SUDAN: Heavy fighting reported in west Darfur IRIN 28 Nov 2003 -- Over the last five days, 210 people have been killed in fighting between militias and a rebel group on the outskirts of Junaynah, western Darfur, according to a local rebel group.
• IVORY COAST / DISARMAMENT VOA 28 Nov 2003 -- Rebel leaders in Ivory Coast Friday rejected President Laurent Gbagbo's call to lay down their arms, and accused him of hoarding arms.
• COTE D'IVOIRE: Gbagbo flies to Mali as ethnic clash reported IRIN 28 Nov 2003 -- President Laurent Gbagbo flew to Bamako on Friday for talks on the deadlocked peace process in Cote d'Ivoire as reports emerged of further clashes between farmers of Gbagbo's Bete tribe and immigrant farmers in the south of the country.
• CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC: France seeking EC aid to reinforce peace force IRIN 28 Nov 2003 -- France is in consultation with the EC on aid to equip and increase the size of the Economic and Monetary Community of Central African States (CEMAC) peacekeeping force in the Central African Republic (CAR), French Cooperation Minister Pierre Andre Wiltzer said on Friday.
• CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC-SOUTH AFRICA: South Africa to help in reconciliation process, says minister IRIN 28 Nov 2003 -- South Africa will assist the Central African Republic in its reconciliation efforts after seven years of civil strife, visiting South African Foreign Minister Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma said on Thursday in the capital, Bangui.
• Chinese peacekeepers to start for Liberia on Nov. 30 PLA Daily 28 Nov 2003 -- China's first team of peacekeepers to the west African nation of Liberia, composed of five policemen, will set off on Nov. 30, according to sources from the Ministry of Public Security (MPS).
• LIBERIA: US envoy asked to intervene in disarmament dispute IRIN 28 Nov 2003 -- Gyude Bryant, the leader of Liberia's transitional government, has asked US ambassador John Blaney to persuade the former warring parties in the country to allow a UN-supervised process of disarmament to start as planned next week, a senior government source said on Friday.
• DRC-RWANDA: Kigali, Kinshasa recommit to repatriation deal IRIN 28 Nov 2003 -- The governments of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Rwanda recommitted themselves on Thursday to complete the repatriation of Rwandan Interahamwe militia and former soldiers in the Congo within a year, according to a communique issued in Pretoria at the end of a Great Lakes summit.
• BURUNDI: Agencies bring aid to Bujumbura's war-displaced IRIN 28 Nov 2003 -- The UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) and partner NGOs have mounted relief operations to respond to the needs of increasing numbers of war-displaced in the Burundian capital, Bujumbura, following two weeks of fighting between government forces and rebel elements of the Forces nationales de liberation.
• ANGOLA: Cabinda separatists outflanked IRIN 28 Nov 2003 -- The ongoing struggle between separatists and government troops in Cabinda took a new turn this week after neighbouring countries pledged to help Angola end years of secessionist strife in the northern enclave.

News Reports

• SHAPE News Morning Update SHAPE 28 Nov 2003 -- Outgoing NATO official visits Bosnia / Violent incidents raise fears of instability in Macedonia (sic) / NATO conducts a security operation in Kosovo, internal UN letter warns of unconfirmed potential threat / Minister links Istanbul bombers with al Qaeda / UN probes possible Iran-Pakistan nuclear link / Bulgarian defence minister threatens to scrap deal with Russian contractor / Governments ready to approve treaty to clean up unexploded bombs after war
• SHAPE News Summary & Analysis SHAPE 28 Nov 2003 -- Allied Response 03-continued / U.S. to brief NATO allies on worldwide troop levels / Meeting of Iraqi Leaders gives lift to U.S. plan on power shift
• GUINEA: Dozens of soldiers arrested ahead of presidential election IRIN 28 Nov 2003 -- Dozens of junior army officers and soldiers have been arrested in Conakry, the capital of Guinea, in a series of swoops on army barracks and private homes, relatives of the detainees said on Friday.
• ZIMBABWE: Foreign ministers call for "constructive engagement" IRIN 28 Nov 2003 -- President Robert Mugabe warned on Friday that Zimbabwe could leave the Commonwealth if it was not treated as an equal, but failed to win the backing of a troika of Southern African countries meeting in South Africa, a diplomatic source told IRIN.
• CENTRAL ASIA: Weekly news wrap IRIN 28 Nov 2003 -- The Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) and the World Health Organisation (WHO) launched their "AIDS epidemic update 2003" report this week, in which they warned of the rapid expansion of the disease in Central Asia. "The AIDS epidemic in Eastern Europe and Central Asia shows no signs of abating. Some 230,000 people were infected with HIV in 2003, bringing the total number of people living with the virus to 1.5 million," the report said, adding that HIV continued to spread in Kazakhstan, while more recent epidemics were now evident in Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan.
• World: International Charities Face Danger When Seen As Partisan RFE/RL 28 Nov 2003 -- The deadly bombing of the International Committee of the Red Cross in Iraq in October again underlined the dangers humanitarian organizations face of being seen as allied with one side or another in a conflict. The image problem persists even as the largest humanitarian organizations have long since evolved from their origins as national groups into worldwide alliances of charities that freely share resources across political borders.
• Berlin confirms cancellation of Sharon`s visit to Germany IRNA 28 Nov 2003 -- The German government Friday confirmed foreign press reports that Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon had cancelled his upcoming trip to Germany.