Military

SHAPE News Morning Update

9 June 2004

NATO

• Challenging nations opposed to a role for NATO in Iraq, Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer said on Tuesday that the alliance could not afford to turn its back if a sovereign Baghdad government called for support. De Hoop Scheffer denied he was keeping the door open to a NATO operation under pressure from Washington, and noted that the U.N. Security Council resolution on Iraq's future now set to be passed calls on security organisations to play a role. "The international community simply cannot afford to let Iraq fail," he told a conference in Brussels. "I believe that if both the United Nations and the Iraqi people call on NATO for help, the Atlantic alliance cannot turn a blind eye." But the only thing decided for the summit is that NATO will rally behind the new UN resolution and pledge continued indirect support for the Polish-led multinational force. "The possibility of anything under a NATO flag in Iraq is remote and will be for the next six months," said one diplomat at the alliance's headquarters. (Reuters 081917 Jun 04)

IRAQ

• The UN Security Council voted unanimously on Tuesday to adopt a U.S.-British resolution that formally ends the occupation of Iraq on June 30. The resolution paves the way for elections by giving a timetable of no later than Jan. 2005 for a poll on a transitional government. After a constitution is written, a permanent government is to take office by Jan. 31, 2006. The measure puts Iraq in charge of its oil proceeds and calls for the UN to help with elections, writing of a constitution and many other tasks. It also gives the Iraqi interim government the right to order U.S. troops to leave at any time and makes clear the mandate of the international force will expire by the end of January 2006. Control of the 160,000 U.S.-led troops was the most contentious issue in the resolution, which authorizes a multinational force under American command to "use all necessary measures" to prevent violence. Iraq was represented at the meeting by Feisel Istrabadi, a constitutional lawyer in the Foreign Ministry, who told reporters, "We need the help of the international community to rebuild this country. This is a country which has been cut off ...for too long." (Reuters 090113 GMT Jun 04)

TERRORISM

• Italy arrested an Egyptian alleged to have plotted the Madrid train bombings and Belgium held 15 people for preparing a "terrorist attack" as police across Europe swooped on suspected Islamic militants. Belgian police, acting on information from Italy, arrested 15 people they said had been gearing up for an attack. Further raids took place in France and Spain. Those arrested in Belgium included Jordanians, Palestinians, Egyptians and Moroccans. "We know them to be part of a terrorist group," said Glenn Audenaert, director of the federal police bureau of Brussels. "About a fortnight ago, information came from the Italian authorities that people were becoming more active. We corroborated that intelligence and came to the conclusion that a group of people were preparing a terrorist attack," he said. "Whether that attack should take place on our territory or in another country, we don't know." (Reuters 081721 GMT Jun 04)

OTHER NEWS

• The Pentagon plans withdraw its two Army divisions from Germany and replace them with fewer, lighter, more mobile troops as part of a global shifting of U.S. military forces, U.S. officials said. The move would represent a significant change in the U.S. military presence in Europe. Defense Undersecretary Douglas J. Feith stressed in an interview with AP Tuesday that there's been no decision on U.S. troops in Germany. He said, however, that planning was "very far along," and "we are going to share our analysis" with the Germans. The two divisions in Germany are the 1st Armored and the 1st Infantry. They would be returned to the United States under the Pentagon plan although it was unclear where. German Foreign Ministry spokesman Walter Lindner told reporters Friday that it was too early to publicly discuss timetables and numbers. "I stressed to them that what we are doing here is increasing our capability to fulfill (NATO) alliance commitments well into the future," Feith said. "They understood if you don't modernize and update your capability, you wind up with a problem." (AP 090249 Jun 04)