Military

SHAPE News Summary & Analysis

14 April 2004

IRAQ

• “UN Secretary General Kofi Annan said yesterday the violence and anarchy sweeping Iraq will prevent the United Nations from re-establishing a major presence in the country anytime in the near future,” writes the Washington Times. “I think it’s unacceptable that these civilians should be mistreated in the way that they are now. I would want to see all of them released and allowed to go about, return to their countries or go about their business,” he reportedly said. The daily reports that Mr. Annan also said that the small UN team in Iraq led by Mr. Brahimi had been hampered in advising Iraqis on forming an interim government and planning for elections early next year. “Given the deteriorating situation and the violence on the ground, even that task has been rather difficult,” Mr. Annan allegedly said, adding: “For the foreseeable future, insecurity is going to be a major constraint for us. And so I cannot say right now that I am going to be sending in a large UN team.” A U.S. official, noting that the UN Secretary General had voiced concern about the security situation before, purportedly stressed that “It’s not a deal killer … a lot of work can be done in small teams” in Iraq and outside the country. Mr. Annan, according to the daily, asked whether the turnover of power should still take place by June 30, answered there was little choice: “The date has been set out there for some time. It has been embraced by the Iraqis themselves, who are anxious to see the end of occupation as soon as possible, and I believe it is going to be difficult to pull it back.” An AP dispatch reports that Pakistani Foreign Ministry is considering to send troops to Iraq to protect a UN mission after President Bush said he hoped to broaden international participation in Iraq. Foreign Ministry spokesman Masood Khan was quoted as saying: “Unlike in the past, the request this time is quite specific and it is for the protection of a future United Nations mission which would be established in Iraq.”

BALKANS

• Macedonians were voting on Wednesday for a successor to the late President Boris Trajkovski, killed in a plane crash two months ago, reports a Reuters dispatch. Four candidates were competing for this title and among them center-left Prime Minister Crvenkovski, considered the favorite by some opinion polls, explains the report. A runoff will be held on April 28 if, as expected, Wednesday produces no outright winner. The presidency, observes the agency, is largely ceremonial, although the head of state is also commander-in-chief of the armed forces and can temporarily block legislation.

ISAF

• Reuters agency, echoed by AFP, says that a top commander of a militant group fighting foreign forces in Afghanistan has been arrested in Kabul. The commander from the Hezb-I-Islami faction of former Prime Minister and Mujahideen leader Gulbuddin Hekmatyar was reportedly arrested in Charasyab, on the outskirts of the capital, in a joint operation by peacekeepers ad Afghan security forces. ISAF’s spokesman Commander Chris Henderson did not identify the man but allegedly termed him an “imminent threat” to citizens of Kabul, the United Nations, foreign aid workers and the NATO-led peacekeepers.