Military

SHAPE News Morning Update

2 April 2004

IRAQ

• U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell said on Thursday, in Berlin, he expected a new UN resolution before the American-led occupation ends in Iraq, which many hope will defuse Spain's threat to pull out its troops. Powell confirmed publicly for the first time that the United States would back a UN resolution, which has been discussed among U.S. and British officials for weeks. The main object of the measure, according to UN diplomats, is to put a UN stamp of approval on the handover of power to Iraqis on June 30. "I think there will be a new resolution as we move closer to the first of July," Powell said. The resolution takes on more urgency because of Spain's threat to withdraw its troops from Iraq unless the UN assumes a central role. The planned UN Security Council resolution, according to diplomats in New York, was not expected to be drafted until late April or May. UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan has made clear that there would be no UN command or "blue helmets" involved in any military operation in Iraq. (Reuters 012303 GMT Apr 04)

NATO

• NATO foreign ministers are expected Friday, in Brussels, to flesh out plans for an outreach program for North African and Middle Eastern nations, including help to reform their militaries and to improve cooperation against terrorism. Diplomats said the initiative is on the agenda for the meeting at alliance headquarters, which will be the first since NATO took in seven new members from Eastern Europe. The ministers are scheduled to release a statement committing the allies to work closely in the fight against terrorism in the wake of the Madrid bombings and to reaffirm NATO’s willingness to help protect the Olympic Games in Athens, Greece. NATO has been considering proposals to deepen its decade old "Mediterranean Dialogue" program with Israel and six Arab nations as part of a U.S. initiative to promote reform in the "greater Middle East." Ministers will also review efforts to muster extra troops for Afghanistan. At the Afghan aid conference in Berlin this week, de Hoop Scheffer renewed an appeal for more support. "Our security depends on Afghanistan’s security. If we want to win the war against terrorism, we must first win the peace in Afghanistan," he said. (AP 011551 Apr 04)

TERRORISM

• This week's suicide bombings and other attacks in Uzbekistan and a corresponding police crackdown on militants has killed at least 44 people in violence the government is linking to the international al-Qaida terror network. Although Uzbekistan is a key ally in the U.S.-led war on terror, some observers say the violence is not likely related to that. In the latest violence, police said a woman detonated a bomb in a two-story apartment building Thursday in the central Bukhara region, killing one person and wounding herself. Many of the week's victims have died in confrontations with government forces. Ilya Pyagay, the Interior Ministry's deputy anti-terrorism chief, told AP that those behind the turmoil, including some fugitives, were followers of the strict Wahhabi strain of Islam believed to have inspired Osama bin Laden. These are Wahhabis who belong to one of the branches of the international al-Qaida terror group," he said. Attacks this week that the government alleged were carried out by female suicide bombers aren't typical for extremist Wahhabis, Ahmed Rashid, an expert on the region said, noting women haven't been directly involved in al-Qaida attacks. (AP 020110 Apr 04)