Military

SHAPE News Morning Update

06 August 2004

NATO

• Turkey named General Yasar Buyukanit on Thursday as head of the country’s land forces, paving the way for him to replace Gen. Ozkok as chief of the powerful military General Staff in two years’ time. Gen. Buyukanit is seen as close to Gen. Hilmi Ozkok, a moderate who has quietly accepted Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan’s political reforms, including new curbs on the military, which are aimed at preparing Turkey for eventual European Union membership. Gen. Buyukanit himself has spoken up in favour of EU membership. “The Turkish Armed Forces cannot be against the European Union because the EU is a geopolitical and geo-strategic necessity (for Turkey’s modernisation),” he said in May. Like Gen. Ozkok, who retires in 2006, Gen. Buyukanit has spent time working at NATO’s headquarters in Belgium. (Reuters 051454 GMT Aug 04)

IRAQ

• Key members of the multinational force in Iraq on Thursday endorsed the United States’ refusal to bow to the demands of kidnappers after the Philippines pulled its troops out of Iraq to secure the release of a hostage. Britain, Italy, Poland and Bulgaria all voiced their support for Wednesday’s U.S. statement vowing a firm stance against the recent wave of kidnappings. “As members of the Multi-National Force in Iraq operating under UN Security Council resolution 1546, we are united in our resolve to make no concessions to terrorists nor succumb to terrorist threats,” the British Foreign Office said. “We are committed to making sure that the perpetrators of terrorist acts against our citizens and soldiers are brought to justice,” it added in a statement. It said conceding to the demands of kidnappers would not only put all troops in Iraq in danger, but would risk the lives of people involved in humanitarian missions and rebuilding. (Reuters 051916 GMT Aug 04)
  
  
• The United States hopes nations will contribute troops by next month to a new force to guard UN staff in Iraq but U.S. Ambassador John Danforth acknowledged on Thursday volunteers were scarce. Potential troop contributors only wanted to go if “there is sufficient security,” Mr. Danforth, the new U.S. envoy to the United Nations, told reporters. Kofi Annan’s new special representative for Iraq, Pakistani diplomat Ashraf Jehangir Qazi, is expected to go to Baghdad with a small UN team in time for an Aug. 15 national political conference. (Reuters 060319 GMT Aug 04)

BALKANS

• Kosovo’s minority Serbs should shun the province’s October elections until their safety can be assured, a Serb official said on Thursday, dismissing U.S. and European Union warnings against a boycott. Until Kosovo’s local authorities can ensure the safe return home of Serb refugees, “the state authorities of Serbia are not in a position to call upon (Kosovo) Serbs to take part in the forthcoming parliamentary elections,” Zoran Loncar, Serbia’s minister for local government, told the UN Security Council. Participation in the vote on Oct. 23 “is in the interests of the Kosovo Serbs themselves. They should be strongly encouraged to do so,” said Netherlands Ambassador Dirk Jan van den Berg, speaking for the bloc of 25 EU nations. “A boycott by any community would be a mistake,” U.S. envoy Stuart Holliday told the council. “Participation in elections and acting within institutions of representative government are the best way for a community to defend its interests.” (Reuters 052227 GMT Aug 04)

CAUCASUS

• The United States offered to help defuse an increasingly shrill dispute between Russia and Georgia over breakaway regions of the small but key U.S. ally, despite Moscow’s warning to Washington not to get involved. Russia and Georgia are at odds over the fate of South Ossetia and Abkhazia, parts of Georgia that won autonomy in separatist wars in 1992 and 1993. Georgian President Saakashvili, who aims to regain control over the regions against Russian wishes, said with U.S. help Georgia could ease tensions. “We want to keep a dialogue, including dialogue with the Russians,” he said standing alongside Colin Powell in Washington. “The last thing we want is some kind of confrontation,” he added. (Reuters 052350 GMT Aug 04)

UKRAINE

• The United States has sent high-level envoys to Ukraine in what has been an unsuccessful attempt thus far to promote a free and fair presidential election this fall, a senior official said Thursday in Washington. Mr. Richard Armitage has visited Ukraine recently. A number of other prominent personalities will follow as the country prepares for the Oct. 31 balloting. The senior official, asking not to be identified, told reporters that the Kiev government, led by President Leonid Kuchma, has subjected opposition leaders to continuing harassment. The official said Ukrainian leaders are mistaken if they believe the United States will ease pressure on the country because of the more than 1,500 Ukrainian troops participating in the multinational force in Iraq. According to the official, the United States will not support any bid by Ukraine to join NATO if the election is not free and fair. (AP 052308 Aug 04)

WAR ON TERRORISM

• Thailand will join three other Southeast Asian navies in patrolling the vital Strait of Malacca shipping lane to combat piracy and terrorism, Indonesia’s military chief said. General Endriartono Sutarto also said Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore, which launched joint patrols in July, were open to offers of help from other countries. “We are open to any intelligence on terrorism from other countries that can help us because we know terrorism must be fought together,” said Indonesian Navy spokesman First Admiral Adiyaman Saputra. Britain’s top navy officer said in an interview published on Thursday that intelligence shows al Qaeda has plans to target merchant shipping in a bid to disrupt world trade. “We have got an underlying level of intelligence which shows there is a threat,” the Royal Navy’s First Sea Lord and Chief of the Naval Staff, Admiral Sir Alan West, was quoted as saying by Lloyd’s List maritime newspaper. He added that ports and strategic sea lanes like the Malacca Straits posed the biggest risks as ships stack up in numbers. (Reuters 060407 GMT Aug 04)