Military

SHAPE News Morning Update

16 June 2004

IRAQ

• Gen. George Casey, the No. 2 officer in the Army, has been nominated to become the top U.S. commander in Iraq, replacing Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez. Lt. Gen. Richard Cody was nominated to replace Gen. Casey as Army vice chief of staff. (Reuters 152107 GMT Jun 04)

BALKANS

• A team delegated by UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan arrived in Kosovo to assess the political situation in the province following the worst outbreak of ethnic violence since the end of the war. The group, headed by Kai Eide, a Norwegian diplomat, will hold talks with officials in Kosovo through the week. The riots raised questions why UN and NATO failed to predict, prevent or stop the riots fast. Authorities maintained that the unrest caught them by surprise. (AP 151516 Jun 04)

ISLAMIC CONFERENCE

• The world’s largest Muslim body on Tuesday elected a Turkish academic as its new secretary-general after he pledged to promote greater dialogue between Islam and the West. Foreign ministers from the 57-nation Organisation of the Islamic Conference chose Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, a Turk born in Egypt, after two rounds of voting. Despite its size and high profile in the Muslim world, the OIC lacks the means and the institutional framework to put its resolutions into effect - something Turkey aims to change. (Reuters 152150 GMT Jun 04)

TERRORISM

• Stung by EU criticism, Greece announced on Tuesday it was introducing legislation before the end of the week to implement Europe-wide anti-terrorism measures before the Athens Olympics. Justice Minister Papaligouras said Greece was 18 months behind on its European Union counter-terror commitments and needed to catch up before the August 13-29 Games. (Reuters 151629 GMT Jun 04)

OTHER NEWS

• The U.S. Senate backed the Bush administration’s plan to study a new generation of low-yield and earth-penetrating nuclear weapons, rejecting concerns that the research could spur an arms race. The Senate defeated an amendment pushed by Democrats to slash US $36.6 million to study so-called bunker-busting nuclear weapons that would be used to destroy underground facilities as well as smaller nuclear arms with half the yield of the bomb dropped on Hiroshima. (Reuters 151742 GMT Jun 04)
  
  
• Ukraine will destroy thousands of tons of rocket fuel from nuclear missiles that were voluntarily decommissioned by the former Soviet republic. Some 5,000 tons of solid fuel stored at a chemical plant in Pavlohrad will be destroyed within six years, the ITAR-Tass news agency quoted plant director Yevhen Ustimenko as saying. “Ukraine has decided to complete this program on its own,” he said. Mr. Ustimenko said that “Pavlograd alone could handle fuel from 20,000 missiles” currently scattered in depots all over the country. (AP 151442 Jun 04)
  
  
• Iran threatened to review its cooperation with the United Nations nuclear watchdog as France, Britain and Germany refused to soften a resolution that sharply rebukes Tehran for dragging its feet. In a letter to the leaders of France, Britain and Germany, Iranian President Khatami accused Europe’s three big powers of working with Tehran’s arch-foe Washington to pile pressure on the Islamic Republic, which the United States says is trying to develop nuclear weapons. Extracts of the letter appeared in the Sharq newspaper. (Reuters 152030 GMT Jun 04)