Military

SHAPE News Morning Update

28 November 2003

BALKANS

• NATO’s top official reminded Bosnians on Thursday that arresting war criminals is the responsibility of their elected officials and not NATO’s prime task. Lord Robertson said their mandate only requires them to arrest war criminals if they come across them while in the course of their regular duties. “Politicians in this country have the primary responsibility for handing in those people to the Hague,” he added. He also praised Bosnia for its post-war development. (AP 271534 Nov 03)
  
  
• A series of crime-related, violent incidents have occurred in Macedonia (sic) in the past several days, raising fears of renewed instability in the Balkan republic, the police said Thursday in Skopje. “The incidents indicate that someone wants to undermine the stability in Macedonia (sic),” a police spokeswoman said. “There are still groups that want to undermine Macedonia (sic) for political or criminal reasons.” She did not elaborate on the identity or political affiliations of the groups. A NATO spokesman said that the surge in crime-related violence may prompt a “re-evaluation of the overall security in the country.” “NATO repeats that any violent act affects the security situation in Macedonia (sic) and causes concerns,” he added. (AP 271214 Nov 03)
  
• NATO-led peacekeepers’ armoured vehicles were stationed throughout Kosovo’s capital in what officials said was a “routine security operation.” Checkpoints manned by soldiers who searched cars and their occupants clogged traffic. “We are conducting a security operation,” said a spokesman for KFOR. “Since the routine security operation is ongoing I will not comment in any sense.” He added that there was no specific threat that had prompted the operation. But an internal UN letter, circulated on Thursday to employees of UNMIK said the increased security was “precautionary measures due to the information received regarding an unconfirmed potential threat.” “UNMIK and KFOR are constantly reviewing security measures in light of the developments in the world, but these measures are not specifically related to Kosovo,” a UNMIK spokeswoman said. She would not provide any further details. (AP 271551 Nov 03)

TERRORISM

• Turkey’s justice minister was quoted on Thursday in the Milliyet daily as saying Chechens and Turks with links to Osama bin Laden’s al Qaeda network helped prepare suicide bombs that killed dozens of people in Istanbul this month. Cemil Cicek also said that those militants had narrowly evaded a pre-emptive attempt to arrest them. He did not name the suspects or elaborate further. (Reuters 271839 GMT Nov 03)

OTHER NEWS

• The UN nuclear agency is probing a possible link between Iran and Pakistan after Tehran acknowledged using centrifuge designs that appear identical to ones used in Pakistan’s quest for an atom bomb. Diplomats said the agency was trying to determine whether the drawings had come from someone in Pakistan or elsewhere. (Reuters 272136 GMT Nov 03)
  
  
• The defence minister threatened to cancel a deal with a Russian contractor that is repairing and modernizing his country’s small fleet of Soviet-made MiG-29 jet fighters, the state BTA news agency reported. Minister Svinarov said that Bulgaria was “not satisfied with the implementation of the contract.” Bulgaria is among seven East European countries to join NATO next year. But defence officials have said the country won’t be able to afford western-made warplanes until 2010. (AP 271905 Nov 03)
  
  
• World governments are ready to approve a new treaty that would force governments to clean up unexploded cluster bombs and other ordnance at the end of a war, the Indian Ambassador on disarmament issues in Geneva said. It would be the first disarmament treaty to be accepted by the administration of U.S. President Bush, which until now has been criticized for pulling out of a series of international disarmament agreements, he said. (AP 271341 Nov 03)