Military

SHAPE News Morning Update

22 December 2003

ESDP

• Lord Robertson said on Sunday that European countries must change their approach to defence if they expect to undertake anything more than low level military action without the help of the United States. A reliance on U.S. military might could put Europe in a vulnerable position and there was not enough political will in Europe to change that scenario, he said. “There are some things that the British and the French and the Germans and the Italians and the Spanish could probably do collectively, but it would be low-level and until they get the right military capabilities and enough usable troops and the right equipment, they can’t do anything beyond these low-level areas,” he told Sky News. (AP 211758 Dec 03)

WMD

• Libya said on Friday it would abandon its weapons of mass destruction programs and allow unconditional inspections, drawing praise from Washington and London for its move toward rejoining the international community. Tony Britain said Libya had been close to making a nuclear bomb and U.S. officials said Libya’s nuclear program was “much further advanced” than believed, and it had acknowledged cooperating with North Korea to develop Scud missiles. Libyan leader Colonel Muammar Gaddafi said the “wise decision” showed Libya was committed to “building a world free of weapons of mass destruction and all sorts of terrorism.” A U.S. official said Libya had acknowledged a chemical weapons program and an interest in acquiring biological weapons equipment. (Reuters 200151 GMT Dec 03)
  
  
• France said on Sunday that the U.S. told it months ago it was talking with Libya about giving up banned weapons, dismissing talk that Paris was frozen out because of its opposition to the U.S.-led war in Iraq. “France was perfectly aware of these negotiations. We are happy they succeeded,” Defence Minister Michele Alliot-Marie told French television station LCI. “France was informed by the Americans several months ago.” Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin hailed the emergence of a multilateral approach to preventing weapons proliferation, saying the Libyan example showed diplomacy could work. In an interview with the French daily newspaper Le Figaro, due to be published on Monday, he compared the agreement with a deal signed by Iran on Thursday allowing the UN nuclear watchdog to conduct snap inspections across its territory. (Reuters 212023 GMT Dec 03)

AFGHANISTAN

• The U.S. military is to step up security and reconstruction efforts in the lawless south and east of Afghanistan, its commander said on Sunday. Lieutenant-General David Barno, the U.S. commander in the country, told reporters military-civilian teams would be deployed in more volatile areas such as these to complement those already operating in relatively safe parts of the country. A U.S. military spokesman said 12 PRTs would be operational across the country by the end of February 2004. (Reuters 211539 GMT Dec 03)

MIDDLE EAST

• The Iraqis fighting the U.S.-led forces of occupation are an inspiration to the Palestinians, a leader of the militant Palestinian group Hamas said Sunday in Beirut. Speaking in the Lebanese capital to mark the anniversary of Hamas’ founding in 1987, Khaled Mashaal said that the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in March and the early stages of the occupation that began in April constituted a “point of weakness and a threat to the (Islamic) nation.” Mashaal is head of the Hamas political bureau and is based in Damascus, Syria. (AP 212214 Dec 03)
  
  
• Gulf states must engage in “regional and international” measures to fight terrorism, the Kuwaiti prime minister said at the opening of a summit of the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council on Sunday in Kuwait City. The two-day summit will focus on terrorism and reform of education syllabuses to counter Islamic militancy. (AP 211728 Dec 03)
  
  
• An Arab League delegation arrived in Baghdad on Saturday to discuss the situation in Iraq with Iraqi officials and tribal leaders, a league official said. Headed by Assistant Secretary-General Ahmed Bin Heli, the delegation is also expected to meet prominent politicians and trade union representatives. (AP 202022 Dec 03)

BALKANS

• Prosecutors hope to shed light on the assassination of Serbia’s first pro-democratic prime minister in 50 years as three dozen gangsters and elite police officers go on trial Monday for the murder of Zoran Djindjic. Observers say the trial will be a test for Serbia’s judiciary. (AP 220222 Dec 03)