Military

SHAPE News Morning Update

17 February 2004

IRAQ

• Iraq's U.S. administrator suggested he would block any move by Iraqi leaders to make Islamic law the backbone of an interim constitution, which women's groups fear could threaten their rights. During a visit to a women's center in Karbala, administrator L. Paul Bremer said the current draft of the interim constitution, due to take effect at the end of this month, would make Islam the state religion and "a source of inspiration for the law", but not the main source for that law. However, Mohsen Abdel-Hamid, the current president of the Iraqi Governing Council and a Sunni Muslim hard-liner, has proposed making Islamic law the "principal basis" of legislation. Bremer was asked what would happen if Iraqi leaders wrote into the interim charter that Islamic Shariah law is the principal basis of legislation. "Our position is clear," Bremer replied. "It can't be law until I sign it." Under U.S. plans, a permanent constitution would not be drawn up and voted on by the Iraqi people until 2005. The United States also hopes to hand over more responsibility for internal security to U.S.-trained Iraqi forces, which could reduce American casualties as the November U.S. presidential election approaches. (AP 170512 Feb 04)

AFGHANISTAN

• Despite growing security worries and doubts by the U.S. administration, the Afghan government is determined to hold the country's first ever democratic elections in June, presidential spokesman Jawed Ludin said on Monday. A surge in violent attacks blamed on remnants of the ousted Taliban has raised doubts about the June date, with a huge voter drive still unable to move outside of the major cities. There are also questions about electoral boundaries and the registering parties if a parliamentary poll is to be held at the same time, as recommended in a constitution passed last month. "Our position still is that the election as planned is our goal. We are working towards meeting that goal," said Ludin, spokesman to President Hamid Karzai, the overwhelming favourite to win the presidential poll. European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana, speaking to reporters in Brussels, raised the prospect of splitting parliamentary and presidential polls. Afghanistan's new constitution states "every effort shall be made" to hold them simultaneously. "We would prefer in principle to have both together, but it may be impossible to do in the time that's left. Maybe it's possible to have the presidential elections," said Solana. "In any case, we have to work very hard to get a climate of security that will allow to hold presidential elections." NATO Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, who met Solana on Monday, said the lack of resources would limit the alliance's presence across Afghanistan. "ISAF of course is not able, because of the levels, to go everywhere to support the electoral process," he said. "But we'll certainly have a discussion in the NATO council about what ISAF could do." (Reuters 161423 GMT Feb 04)

TERRORISM

• A clear terrorist threat still exists in East Africa and greater military cooperation is needed to defeat it, a top U.S. general warned on Monday during a visit to Ethiopia. Gen. John Abizaid, whose Central Command is responsible for Afghanistan, Iraq and East Africa, said closer "military and intelligence cooperation" was needed between East African governments to prevent extremists like Osama bin Laden's al-Qaida network from gaining an "ideological foothold" in the region. "The threat is clear, but the threat can be deterred and can be defeated," he told journalists in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa. "This terrorist threat knows no boundary, and when we operate only on a nation-state basis we will be unable to really get at the heart of the terrorist problem which is transnational." Abizaid pointed out Somalia _ which has had no central government since 1990 _ as a potential trouble spot in the region. "We know the terrorists gravitate toward ungoverned spaces and these are areas where they look for the opportunities to gain recruits, establish safe-havens and move money," he said. "We certainly have indications to believe that people associated with these groups operate in and around areas such as Somalia." Abizaid met with the Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi and said his visit was to assess the capabilities of the region's forces for combating terrorism. Abizaid said the military situation in Iraq was "still difficult," especially in the Iraqi town of Fallujah. But he added that most of the country was stable enough for political activity to take place. (AP 161727 Feb 04)

BALKANS

• European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana said Monday he predicted "a lot of difficulties" for any future government in Serbia-Montenegro which included the ultranationalist socialist party of former leader Slobodan Milosevic. Solana said the 15-nation EU was "following very closely" political efforts to form a new government in Belgrade and warned that any inclusion of Milosevic's socialist party could lead to problems. "We don't think this is a decision that goes in the right direction," Solana told reporters. "I don't think it will help very much the political and economic relationship with the international community. There will be a lot of difficulties." "We would prefer very much that the government in Serbia-Montenegro has the same values and same direction as the government before," said Solana. Solana made the comment after co-chairing an EU-NATO meeting with NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, where they discussed how the EU would take over NATO's 7,000-strong troop deployment in Bosnia-Herzegovina. NATO leaders are expected to decide on handing over their peacekeeping mission to the EU at a summit in Turkey on June 28-29, after which the EU could take over operations in Bosnia at the end of the year. "It is important that we do our homework quickly," de Hoop Scheffer said. EU officials said the European-led force would maintain the same level of troops with the same mandate of continuing to provide security and stability. De Hoop Scheffer also said NATO "would do everything to achieve" the arrest of indicted war criminals and said the alliance's mission and the EU mission that follows would continue to see rounding up suspects as a top priority. (AP 161354 Feb 04)