Military

SHAPE News Morning Update

7 May 2004

NATO – MIDDLE EAST

• NATO will hold a brainstorming session with Middle East nations on Friday to shape a cooperation initiative that looks set to fall far short of ambitious U.S. plans to spread reform across the troubled area. “The original ideas that the United States had about an overall Greater Middle East Initiative have been moderated and brought closer to the European vision, to more of a consultation process,” said a NATO diplomat. He was speaking ahead of a conference at NATO’s defence college in Rome, which will bring together Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, ambassadors of alliance members and representatives from a dozen Mediterranean and Gulf states. Diplomats said the meeting in Rome was “the first step in opening the dialogue” but stressed that its main aim was for NATO officials to take home some lessons before Istanbul. (Reuters 061622 GMT May 04)

AFGHANISTAN

• Military chiefs from the 26 NATO allies made little progress in overcoming troop shortfalls, holding back plans to expand the alliance peacekeeping force in Afghanistan, officials said. “We need more, that’s clear, and they will come over time,” said German Gen. Harald Kujat, chairman of NATO’s military committee. He said he was confident the alliance would meet a late June target for widening the force’s reach into five more Afghan cities, despite nations’ reluctance to come forward with the required troops and equipment. However, Gen. Kujat said there was no effort to persuade nations to provide more troops at this week’s meeting. Earlier Thursday, NATO Secretary General de Hoop Scheffer repeated an appeal for nations to come forward and again warned that the Afghan mission is a key test of NATO’s credibility. (AP 061805 May 04)
  
  
• Spain still hasn’t decided whether to send more troops to Afghanistan, Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero said Thursday in Madrid. “The government ... is studying the situation and at the right time will take the opportune decision,” he told a news conference with Belgian Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt. In their meeting, Mr. Zapatero and Mr. Verhofstadt talked about the pending European Union constitution, the Middle East peace process and a common European stance against terrorism, among other issues, the leaders said. (AP 061912 May 04)

BALKANS

• Spending on prostitutes by UN officials and NATO-led peacekeepers has fuelled a growth in the trafficking of women in Kosovo, and the international community is doing little to prosecute traffickers, Amnesty International said. The report, which covers the period between mid-1999 and March 2004, concluded that with the arrival of peacekeepers in mid-1999, the province became “a major destination” for women trafficked to Kosovo and forced into prostitution. UN officials, NATO-led peacekeepers and Kosovo’s local authorities have failed to protect and respect the rights of trafficked women, the report charged. It said its findings were based on testimonies of victims, news reports, conclusions by other non-governmental organizations and sightings of soldiers in bars involved in trafficking. Lt. Col. Jim Moran, a NATO spokesman, suggested the report was outdated because policies had changed, noting peacekeepers were “not allowed” off base in civilian clothing or to go to bars and nightclubs. “Each nation is responsible for the conduct of their soldiers, and if they find a soldier that is breaking the law, it is up to them to bring them to justice,” he added. The organization urged the UN and NATO to bring to justice those among their ranks suspected of criminal offences related to trafficking. (AP 061537 May 04)

IRAQ

• Britain has made no decision yet to send more troops to Iraq, Defence Secretary Hoon said in comments published on Friday. In an interview with the Guardian newspaper, Geoff Hoon rejected media reports that an additional 800 British troops would be sent to Iraq. Most of the 7,500 British soldiers in Iraq are based in Basra and deployment of further soldiers to Najaf and Kerbala would require an extension of the British sphere of command. But he doubted there would be a single British command running from Basra to Najaf, the Guardian reported. (Reuters 070119 GMT May 04)