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Mon, 22 Feb 04
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NE-@latvia-usa.org
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Feb 22, 2004 22:44 PST
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NATO ENLARGEMENT DAILY BRIEF (NEDB)
Monday, 22 February 2004, 01:29 EDT
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* DRIFTING NATO FINDS NEW PURPOSE WITH AFGHANISTAN AND IRAQ
? NYT / Elaine Sciolino
* GREECE MAY SEEK NATO GUARD AT OLYMPICS ? IHT / Thomas
Fuller
* BULGARIAN DEFMIN SAYS NATO SHOULD BE IN IRAQ ? AFP
* ESTONIA TO SEND FOUR MILITARY UNITS TO HOTSPOTS IN 2004 -
BBC Monitoring / Eesti Paevaleht
* BRITISH PM TO SEEK THIRD TERM ? AP
* LATVIAN TO BECOME EUROPE'S FIRST GREEN PM ? AFP / Aija
Lulle
* PAKSAS FACES ALMOST CERTAIN REMOVAL OVER CORRUPTION
SCANDAL ? AFP / Arturas Racas
* ALBANIANS DEMAND PM?S RESIGNATION OVER CORRUPTION
ALLEGATIONS - AP
* BULGARIA MODERNISES ITS ARMY AHEAD OF JOINING NATO ? AFP
/ Vessela Sergueva
* U.S. REALIGNING FOOTPRINT OF MILITARY FORCES WORLDWIDE ?
DPA / Mike McCarthy
* UZBEK OFFICIAL WELCOMES U.S. FORCES: FORMIN ? AP
* PUTIN URGES STRONGER RUSSIAN MILITARY ? AP
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DRIFTING NATO FINDS NEW PURPOSE WITH AFGHANISTAN AND IRAQ
New York Times, 23 Feb 04, by Elaine Sciolino
The much maligned cold war military alliance lost its
mission when its primordial enemy, the Soviet Union,
collapsed, was ridiculed by this Bush administration and
was rendered impotent by its own divisions over the
American-led war on Iraq.
Only 17 months ago, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld
lectured NATO defense ministers in Warsaw that if NATO did
not transform itself, "it will not have much to offer the
world in the 21st century."
Now, the Bush administration is desperate to reduce its
military presence and vulnerability in Afghanistan and
Iraq. It is turning to NATO to expand the alliance's
mandate in Afghanistan and play a substantive role in Iraq.
"I believe in NATO," President Bush told Jaap de Hoop
Scheffer, the new NATO secretary general, when the two met
in the Oval Office last month, according to senior NATO
officials. "I believe NATO is transforming itself and
adjusting to meet the true threats of the 21st century."
When Mr. de Hoop Scheffer, a former Dutch foreign minister,
pledged to work to get NATO to do more in Afghanistan, Mr.
Bush replied, "I'm with you." When the conversation turned
to Iraq, Mr. Bush said, "The more of a NATO role the
better."
Mr. de Hoop Scheffer, who was the Bush administration's
choice to lead NATO, came home to Europe and pitched the
new line. At a speech in Brussels on Tuesday, he said the
alliance was willing to deploy forces in Iraq.
"Under the right conditions we could do it," Mr. de Hoop
Scheffer told the German Marshall Fund's Trans-Atlantic
Center. If a sovereign Iraqi government with United Nations
backing were to ask for NATO's help, it would difficult to
"abrogate our responsibilities," he added.
Until NATO took command of the force that polices the
Afghan capital, Kabul, and the area around it, the
organization was in the midst of an identity crisis,
uncertain of its role, its future and what constituted a
military threat in the post-9/11 era. Its mission in
stabilizing Afghanistan represents NATO's first "out of
area" mission beyond Europe; Iraq would be the second.
NATO's mission has become so broadly defined that Mr. de
Hoop Scheffer announced during a trip to Greece on Thursday
that NATO would help with security during the Olympics
there in August.
In Afghanistan, the United States is pushing NATO to
deliver on an ambitious plan to extend its peacekeeping
presence beyond Kabul and create links with the
American-led offensive military operation in the south that
is struggling to rout the remnants of Taliban rule.
Washington also wants NATO to take command of the
vulnerable 9,500-member multinational brigade in central
Iraq, which is currently run by Poland, and possibly the
larger British-led operation in the south.
The goal is for NATO to make a headline-grabbing commitment
to both missions at the NATO summit meeting in Istanbul,
just days before the transfer of sovereignty to the Iraqis
at the end of June and five months before the United States
presidential election.
The problem in expanding NATO into Iraq is that it already
has failed to persuade its members to do enough in
Afghanistan.
In the four months since the United Nations authorized NATO
to expand its peacekeeping mission of about 6,000 beyond
Kabul, the alliance has managed to send only a few hundred
troops under German command to the relatively safe northern
city of Kunduz.
It took months of high-level arm-twisting of NATO members
last year to get them to pledge crucial helicopters to
Afghanistan.
Lord Robertson, the former secretary general, was forced to
lobby hard for the helicopters at the NATO defense
ministers meeting in Brussels and at every farewell meeting
as he completed his term in December, finally getting
commitments of three Black Hawk helicopters from Turkey and
at least three more from the Netherlands.
"Lord Robertson had to use everything he had to bludgeon
the foreign and defense ministers into committing
helicopters," said Robert Bell, a former White House and
senior NATO official who is now a private defense
consultant in Brussels. "NATO can't operate that way."
Gen. James L. Jones, NATO's top military commander in
Europe, told a Senate committee last month that Afghanistan
was a "defining moment" for the alliance as it adopted a
broader global agenda, but complained that NATO members
were not providing enough troops for the country's
reconstruction.
"The alliance has agreed, the donor countries have been
identified and yet we find ourselves mired in the
administrative details of who's going to pay for it, who's
going to transport it, how's it going to be maintained," he
said.
On Wednesday, General Jones presented NATO members with a
wish list of what he felt was needed to enable NATO to
deploy forces in five provincial cities, senior NATO
officials said.
The goal of the planning, which he is hoping to complete in
the next few weeks, is to find countries willing to supply
forward operating forces, aircraft, logistical and
intelligence support and communications.
Mr. de Hoop Scheffer has also acknowledged his failure so
far to persuade NATO nations to send more troops to
Afghanistan, saying on Tuesday that force protection was a
continuing problem. No legislator in any NATO country would
approve the new request for troops if there was not an
answer to the question of "who will come to the assistance"
of the troops "in extreme circumstances," he said.
On the positive side, France, whose opposition to the war
in Iraq damaged its relationship with Washington, sees NATO
as a vehicle for it to project its own military and
political power and repair its American ties.
In recent weeks the United States has quietly welcomed two
French one-star generals onto NATO's command, one at
alliance headquarters in Mons, Belgium, the other in
Norfolk, Va. General Jones pushed hard for the
administration to grant the French request that the two
generals be placed, but the issue was so divisive that Mr.
Bush himself had to make the final decision, according to
NATO officials.
France has not been part of NATO's military command
structure since de Gaulle, on a campaign to assert France's
military autonomy, withdrew from it in 1966. Now, with
about 2,000 troops in the first rotation of the 6,000-troop
NATO Response Force, France is the force's largest
contributor of troops.
A picture-perfect opportunity for President Bush to patch
up differences with President Jacques Chirac of France and
Chancellor Gerhard Schröder of Germany will come with the
60th anniversary of D-Day on June 6.
Mr. Bush's national security adviser, Condoleezza Rice, has
recommended that he accept Mr. Chirac's offer to dine at
Élysée Palace the night before and visit the Normandy
beaches together, but Mr. Bush has not formally accepted,
senior administration and French officials said.
Senior American and French officials have said privately in
recent weeks that Mr. Bush has no choice but to accept,
given the historic importance of the event.
They also noted that a photo of Mr. Bush standing side by
side in Normandy with Mr. Chirac and Mr. Schröder could
help deflect charges by the Democrats that he has
squandered good relations with two of America's closest and
most important allies.
GREECE MAY SEEK NATO GUARD AT OLYMPICS
International Herald Tribune, 21 Feb 04, by Thomas Fuller
Security preparations for this summer's Olympic Games have
become so costly and complex that Greece will probably
submit a formal request to NATO for help in guarding
against terrorist threats, officials here say.
Greece is seeking assistance in areas such as intelligence
gathering and dealing with the unthinkable -- a major
chemical or biological attack on a stadium, for instance --
according to a top Greek official, who said there had
"already been lots of informal meetings" between the
government and NATO.
Helping safeguard the Olympic Games would be an
unprecedented role for the military alliance.
A formal request could come as soon as Friday, when the
NATO secretary general, Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, visits
Athens, officials say. But given sensitivities in Greece
over the presence of foreign military forces, the request
might be delayed until after the March 7 general elections
here, which are being closely fought by the Socialist
government and its conservative opposition.
Preparations for the Games already resemble "a
semi-military operation," said Paul Anastasi, a spokesman
for the Athens city government.
During the games, Awacs surveillance aircraft will fly
overhead monitoring suspicious "chatter" and gathering
other intelligence. At sea, the U.S. 6th Fleet "will be on
standby" and ready to assist in case of a major problem,
according to the Greek defense minister, Yannos
Papantoniou. And on the ground a total of 90,000 Greek
troops and police will patrol the capital and monitor the
country's borders.
Officials say use of the Awacs aircraft could be formalized
in the deal with NATO. Greece, which is a member of the
alliance, is also seeking use of specialized NATO equipment
and personnel such as teams that deal with nuclear,
chemical and biological threats.
Even if the government elected in March chooses not to
formally seek NATO assistance, which officials say is a
possibility, Greece will call on individual NATO allies for
help.
The Olympics, which are Aug. 13 to 29, will be the first
Summer Games since the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.
"In a sense this has become the big global test," said Alex
Rondos an official at the Greek Foreign Ministry
responsible for international coordination of Olympic
security. "Given what we have learned since 9/11 about the
nature of international terrorism, can we --
internationally -- handle such an event with a sense of
assurance about the security?" The overall Greek strategy
appears to be trying to induce the world's major powers to
help with security.
A specially formed Olympics advisory group consisting of
seven countries -- Australia, Britain, France, Germany,
Spain, Israel, United States -- meets once a month to
provide advice about security measures.
The group is led by Britain and reports its recommendations
to the Ministry of Public Order, which is charged with
security at the Games. Russia recently requested that it,
too, advise the government on security threats.
"What is extremely important is that we don't feel alone,"
Mayor Dora Bakoyanni of Athens said in an interview. "This
is no longer a Greek security operation but an
international one." Bakoyanni and others say the modern
Olympics is a huge challenge for a small country like
Greece, which has a population of about 11 million.
"Greece is the smallest country, the technologically and
financially least developed of all countries that have
hosted Olympic Games on the massive scale they have
reached," Bakoyanni said.
Another official said that the government realized during
the course of its security preparations that it "simply
does not have the logistical capacity" to handle
contingency planning for something as serious as the
bombing of a stadium.
In what is perhaps a cautionary tale for future Olympic
bidders, officials say total security spending is already
nearing $1 billion, or more than three times the amount
spent in Sydney in 2000.
An American security firm, SAIC, is installing more than
1,300 closed-circuit television cameras on Athens streets
and at athletic facilities. They will be linked to a
centralized computer system that is capable of tracking
cars and other vehicles across the city. The streets and
athletic facilities will also be monitored by an airship,
or blimp, hovering silently overhead.
David Tubbs, a former FBI agent who now works for SAIC,
said one particular challenge for Athens is geography.
"Greece happens to have a lot of water, a lot of ports,"
Tubbs said. As part of its 255 million, or $324 million,
contract with the government, SAIC is installing
surveillance equipment, including underwater sensing
devices in harbors.
Tubbs, who was in charge of security at the Salt Lake City
Winter Olympics two years ago, said he expected all of the
security equipment to be in place by August.
Yet even with the state-of-the-art equipment, questions
remain. A reporter visiting the defense minister here
arrived without passing through a metal detector or having
his bag checked. Metal detectors were present but the
reporter was escorted through a back door, bypassing them.
Diplomats and Greek officials themselves say language is
also a potential problem given the international emphasis
on security preparations.
More broadly, the Games also present a test for the
European Union. It will be the first time that the Summer
Olympics are held in a borderless Europe. The previous
Summer Games held on the Continent, in Barcelona in 1992,
took place before the Schengen agreement on the abolition
of border controls came into force.
Today a traveler from Paris, Berlin or Madrid, for example,
can fly to Athens without showing a passport or identity
document, making the job of tracking suspected terrorists
more difficult and increasing the need for pan-European
cooperation.
There are provisions in the Schengen agreement to reimpose
border controls under exceptional circumstances, but the
Greek government has not indicated whether it would take
that step. Bakoyanni, the mayor, said such a move was
possible, while Papantoniou, the defense minister, said it
was doubtful.
The government is also sending mixed signals over whether
it will allow countries to supplement security for their
athletes by providing their own armed guards.
The issue is a very sensitive one in Greece, where the
Constitution stipulates that the government must seek
approval from Parliament before allowing uniformed foreign
troops into the country.
Papantoniou said the government had decided that no armed
foreign personnel would be allowed. "The forces that will
be established in Greece will be only Greek forces," he
said. "That is a matter of principle because otherwise
there will be confusion in the fault lines, in the command
structure." But another top official disputed this. "It is
obvious that the countries that are considered targets are
going to have personnel here," the official said. "They're
not going to be in uniform. They're going to be either in
intelligence or trained security people who will look after
their own folk." News reports have said that the government
has agreed to allow Israel to send its own guards.
Diplomats say they are happy with the overall pace of
security preparations. An official from one of the
countries on the advisory board said recent tests at event
sites had been successful.
"Right now it's our opinion that they could certainly
handle everyday Olympic security," the official said on
condition of anonymity.
"They could certainly handle an Atlanta situation -- the
backpack bomb," he said, referring to the bomb at the
Atlanta Olympics in 1996 that killed a woman and wounded
about 100 other people.
Greek officials say they are confident about one thing: The
threat from domestic terrorism has dissipated. With the
help of British intelligence officers, the government last
year cracked the November 17 group, which was responsible
for the deaths of two dozen prominent Greeks, a station
chief for the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency and a
British defense attache.
A Greek antiterrorism court convicted 15 members of the
group in December.
"We don't have any domestic threats any more -- 17 November
is finished as a terrorist group and the rest of the
terrorist groups are dead," said Bakoyanni, whose husband,
Pavlos, was shot and killed by the gang in 1989.
"So we just have to be aware of any international threats,"
she said.
BULGARIAN DEFENSE MINISTER SAYS NATO SHOULD BE IN IRAQ
AFP, 19 Feb 04
Bulgarian Defense Minister Nikolai Svinarov said Thursday
he was "categorically in favor" of a NATO engagement in
Iraq.
In an interview with AFP, he said: "I am categorically in
favor of NATO's engagement in the operation in Iraq. There
is no doubt this will happen, the question is to know when.
Let's hope it will be soon."
He said a UN Security Council resolution was necessary for
NATO to embark in Iraq and "a local government would seem
to needed for such a resolution to be adopted."
France said Thursday that NATO forces could be sent to
Iraq, but only if an Iraqi government made the request and
other Middle East countries did not perceive a deployment
to be a threat.
Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin raised the
possibility in an interview with Paris's Le Figaro
newspaper in which he reaffirmed his government's position
that the priority for Iraq was to regain its sovereignty
after nearly a year of US-led military occupation.
In Ankara, NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer
said NATO was prepared to assist Spain should it agree to
take over the command of the multinational military
contingent in Iraq, which is currently headed by Poland.
"Spain could do that and if Spain would ask for NATO
assistance NATO will certainly give it," de Hoop Scheffer
told a press conference following talks with Turkish
Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul.
Spain, a NATO member serving in Iraq, currently has 1,300
troops in the war-torn country.
Bulgaria, which is set to join NATO later this year, also
has some 400 troops in Iraq.
ESTONIA TO SEND FOUR MILITARY UNITS TO HOTSPOTS IN 2004
BBC Monitoring / Eesti Paevaleht, 13 Feb 04
Estonia will send four Defence Forces units on various
missions later this year, with the biggest group to go to
Kosovo. In August, Estonia will send 98 soldiers to Kosovo
on another NATO mission. They will replace the Latvians
currently on the mission.
Capt Peeter Tali, head of the information service at the
Defence Forces, said that Baltsqn-10 would serve in a
Danish battalion. Tali added that the 22-strong
Estpatrol-10, together with the (Italian) carabinieri,
would be sent to Pristina in June. The 6-strong
mine-clearance team in Afghanistan is due to be replaced as
soon as late February or early March.
The government yesterday approved the extending of the
Estonian soldiers' mission in Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain and
Iraq by a year, to 20 June 2005. The 32-strong light
infantry unit Estpla-9 and the 13-strong goods-handling
team Cargoteam-3 should go on missions in June. Before they
can do so, however, the decision has to be approved by the
Riigikogu (parliament) as well.
The 98-strong company to be dispatched to Kosovo in August
is, however, not the largest that Estonia has ever sent on
a mission. "The largest Estonian mission unit was serving
in 1996-97 as the 140-strong Estcoy company, part of Unifil
(UN interim force in Lebanon). "It was a UN mission in
Lebanon, which lasted for six months," Tali said.
The parliament's decision regarding the mission in Kosovo
will be valid until December 2005 and the maximum number of
soldiers that can be dispatched to Kosovo at any one time
is 150.
The decision was taken on 11 December 2002. "The parliament
has made a decision with respect to the mission in
Afghanistan as well," Tali added.
BRITISH PRIME MINISTER TO SEEK THIRD TERM
AP, 22 Feb 04
British Prime Minister Tony Blair, his popularity bruised
after leading Britain into a divisive war in Iraq, said he
intends to seek a third term in office.
In an interview published Sunday in the News of the World
newspaper, Blair said that ``whatever the problems and
pressures, this is an immensely enjoyable and fulfilling
job and I intend to carry on doing it. I will be putting
myself forward.''
An election must be held by mid-2006, but could come next
year.
Blair's Labour Party was elected in 1997 after 18 years of
Conservative rule, and won another landslide victory in
2001. But Blair's decision to join the U.S.-led war in Iraq
has hurt his popularity, and many Labour lawmakers are
unhappy at the government's plans for reforming public
services.
``You have people kicking lumps out of you, but you can
live with it, and I do,'' Blair was quoted as saying.
Some reports have suggested Blair might step down as party
leader in favor of Treasury chief Gordon Brown, who is
thought to covet the top job. In the British parliamentary
system, the leader of the party with the most seats in the
House of Commons usually becomes prime minister.
Blair said his political fate lay with voters.
``I have made it clear this is a decision in the end for
the British people at the next election. They are the ones
who decide,'' he was quoted as saying.
LATVIAN TO BECOME EUROPE'S FIRST GREEN PM
AFP, 20 Feb 04, by Aija Lulle
Latvia was set to become the first European country with a
Green prime minister, after the president on Friday
nominated Indulis Emsis as the Baltic nation's new head of
government.
Emsis, a 52-year-old parliamentarian for the Farmers and
Greens Party and a former environment minister, fills the
political void left by Einars Repse, whose centre-right
coalition resigned two weeks ago in the run-up to EU and
NATO membership.
Once he is confirmed by parliament, Emsis would be Europe's
first Green prime minister. In Germany, the Green party has
three ministerial posts in a coalition with the Social
Democrats, but nowhere else in Europe are the Greens part
of government.
"Of course it is a great honour because the main principle
for the Greens is sustainable development and this will be
the principle for me in the new government," Emsis said.
He said he favours a broad coalition of all five
centre-right parties currently represented in parliament.
"The doors will be open for everybody. I support a large
coalition with all centre-right parties," he said.
The nomination came as Greens gathered in Rome on Friday
for a congress aimed at forming a new European Green Party
to fight June European elections on a united front.
"The nomination of Indulis Emsis is a great achievement and
honour for Greens to some extent, since there is not a
single Green prime minister in Europe," Viesturs Silenieks,
the co-chairman of Green party, told AFP.
"It is an honour and a big responsibility for the party,"
said parliamentary speaker and party chairwoman Ingrida
Udre.
Aiva Rozenberga, a spokeswoman for Latvia's president, told
AFP he had been chosen because Vaira Vike-Freiberga
"believes Emsis as an experienced politician also has high
professional qualifications. He has been working in the
biology field for many years."
Vike-Freiberga had vowed to install a new team quickly in
order to avoid disruption before Latvia's forthcoming
membership of the EU and NATO.
Emsis will hold talks with four other centre-right parties.
On Friday he met with the opposition People's party and the
centre-right Latvia's First, and they agreed to work with
him, Atis Slakteris, chairman of the People's party told
reporters.
On Monday we will meet the New Era party of Repse, and the
right-wing For Fatherland and Freedom, Emsis said.
He said he wanted to set up a government "as soon as
possible", but did not set a deadline.
Emsis declined to be drawn on the possible members of his
government, but told reporters he could imagine outgoing
Repse on his team, perhaps as defence minister, due to what
he called his "strong character."
Government collapses have been common since Latvia restored
independence from the Soviet Union in 1991, with Repse
boasting one of the five longest-serving governments.
Emsis is a co-chair of the Greens party, where he has
worked for the past 14 years. A three-term legislator in
parliament, he has served in the past as his country's
environment minister.
He had been due to attend a congress in Rome on Friday
aimed at forming a new European Green Party to fight June
European elections on a united front, but stayed behind
because of his imminent nomination.
Emsis is a native of northern Latvia on the Baltic Sea
coast. He has long worked in non-governmental organisations
on protecting the sea and green coastline, and Latvia's
ancient castles.
Repse's government resigned after losing its majority in
parliament when the centrist Latvia's First party pulled
out of the coalition following months of dispute.
LITHUANIAN PRESIDENT FACES ALMOST CERTAIN REMOVAL OVER
CORRUPTION SCANDAL
AFP, 20 Feb 04, by Arturas Racas
Lithuanian President Rolandas Paksas faces almost certain
removal from office after parliament set the final wheels
in motion for his impeachment over a corruption scandal.
Parliament voted the widely-expected move late Thursday by
62 to 11 with three abstentions after hearing a damning
report which found Paksas had abused the Baltic country's
constitution.
"The abyss opens under the feet of the head of the state,"
said a front-page headline of Lietuvos Rytas, which in an
editorial added: "It seems that even Paksas has no
illusions that he could be cleared."
"Judging from Thursday's vote in parliament I can see that
the majority of our group will vote to impeach the
President," Irena Siauliene, head of the ruling coalition
member Social Democrats (SD), the parliament's largest
group, told AFP.
During a seven-hour reading before parliament, a special
panel detailed how Paksas, a former stunt pilot who came to
office a year ago, had breached the constitution on six
counts.
The panel was set up a month ago after a security services
report led parliament to conclude that alleged links
between Paksas' office and criminal groups made the leader
a threat to national security.
The scandal has shaken the Baltic ex-Soviet republic in the
run-up to joining the European Union and the NATO alliance.
The panel found Paksas guilty on all six counts of posing a
threat to national security, violating his oath, leaking
classified information, meddling with private business and
discrediting public institutions and allowing his aides to
abuse their powers.
The impeachment panel report read to parliament confirmed
that Paksas posed a threat to national security, but did
not bear out reports of links with criminal groups.
The parliament set the wheels in motion for calling an
impeachment vote by deciding by 65 votes to one with six
abstentions to ask the country's constitutional court to
confirm the conclusions of the panel.
Only after it has done so can it stage a vote.
Due to the lengthy procedures a vote, in which at least 85
members of the 140-member assembly would have to vote
against Paksas, is therefore expected in a few weeks' time.
Parliamentary speaker Arturas Paulauskas, who is Paksas'
main political rival, said on Friday parliament could get
down to the vote at the end of March.
"I think it could (take) a week after we get ruling of
contitutional court," Paulauskas said.
Paksas won an unexpected victory on January 5 of last year
over his predecessor Valdas Adamkus, a 77-year-old US
emigre, who was supported by the majority of Lithuania's
political establishment.
He has consistently denied any wrongdoing and insisted he
will not resign, despite calls to do so from top political
and church leaders.
If Paksas is impeached, parliamentary speaker Paulauskas
will succeed him for two months, during which time new
elections would be held.
Under Lithuania's constitution, however, Paksas would still
be able to run for the presidency again, and analysts were
not writing him off.
Prime Minister Algirdas Brazauskas is tipped in the media
as the likely replacement.
Brazauskas, who was the last leader of Lithuania's
Soviet-era Communist party and first president of Lithuania
after it restored independence from the Soviet Union, has
not yet said if he will run for office if Paksas is
impeached.
Adamkus and speaker Paulauskas are also seen as potential
candidates in presidential elections, if Paksas is ousted
from the office.
ALBANIANS DEMAND PRIME MINISTER'S EXIT
AP, 22 Feb 04
Thousands of protesters marched past Albania's heavily
fortified government headquarters on Saturday, demanding
the prime minister resign over corruption allegations and
his failure to improve living conditions in one of Europe's
poorest nations.
The protesters ignored an order to stay away from the
government offices, issued after demonstrators tried
unsuccessfully to storm the building during the last mass
anti-government rally Feb. 7. But police did not move
disperse the crowd.
International observers estimated between 6,000 and 20,000
people participated in the march, organized by former
President Sali Berisha's Democratic Party and nine other
opposition groups. The groups have joined forces in their
bid to unseat Prime Minister Fatos Nano and his
Socialist-led government.
``Nano, go!'' Berisha chanted before the crowd. ``You and
your group are getting rich stealing from Albanians every
day.''
Berisha urged the crowd to remain peaceful. Party leaders
released white doves into the air.
The protests have sparked fears that Albania again could
plunge into the kind of anarchy that erupted in 1997, when
the collapse of get-rich-quick investment schemes sent
hundreds of thousands of angry citizens into the streets.
Albania emerged from communist rule in 1990 but its
transition to democracy has been marred by sometimes
violent political infighting.
BULGARIA MODERNISES ITS ARMY AHEAD OF JOINING NATO
AFP, 22 Feb 04, by Vessela Sergueva
Bulgaria has cut its army by more than half and implemented
other difficult reforms as it prepares to join NATO and
take part in more international military missions, like the
one in Iraq.
"The 'destructive part' of our reforms has been completed
and the army now has 45,000 men of whom 40 percent are
officers," Defence Minister Nikolai Svinarov told AFP.
"We are setting up well-trained, well-equiped mobile
units."
The Bulgarian army counted 92,000 conscripts when the
communist regime collapsed in 1989.
The country has since sought to transform it into a fully
professional military that can deploy 5,000 men on foreign
peacekeeping missions at a time but the process is being
hampered by a lack of money and new recruits.
"We are not expecting any problems with our neighbours for
the next 10 years. That is why we plan to take part in more
foreign missions," Svinarov said.
In April, the same month Bulgaria is expected to formally
join NATO, parliament is due to adopt Bulgaria a blueprint
for reforms that should be completed by 2015.
The government hopes the army will become fully
professional in 2010 but at the moment less than a quarter
of its staff are professional soldiers.
After its mission in Iraq lost five soldiers in a suicide
bombing in Karbala in December, the army had trouble
renewing its 480-strong contingent in the Iraqi city where
it forms part of an international force under Polish
command.
Svinarov admitted last month that 62 soldiers who had
volunteered for duty in Iraq, pulled out because of the
Karbala attack.
He said Bulgaria would amend its military legislation to
make it impossible for soldiers who had agreed to take part
in foreign missions to refuse deployment.
"From 2006, we will dispose of 3,000 to 5,000 infantry
soldiers who could take part in missions abroad for six
months at a time. Or we could deploy smaller battalions and
rotate them," Svinarov said.
Bulgaria currently has 800 men deployed in peacekeeping
missions -- 420 of them in Iraq and the rest in
Afghanistan, Bosnia and Kosovo.
Sofia plans to invest 1.3 billion euros (1.64 billion
dollars) in 68 projects to modernise the military and its
equipment.
Among these is the construction of a new military airport
in southeastern Bulgaria in accordance with NATO standards.
It is being built by the Canadian company Intelcan and is
Bulgaria's third, after the ones at Kroumovo and
Graf-Ignatievo, in the south of the country.
Sofia has contracted Daimler-Chrysler to replace the army's
12,900 vehicles to a cost of 256 million euros, and bought
six fighter planes and an aircraft made for mid-air
refuelling from the Swiss company Pilatus.
At the end of March the defence ministry is also expected
to select a bidder to update 20 MiG-29 aircraft and 36
Mi-17 and Mi-24 helicopters, after an earlier deal with the
Russian manufacturer RSK MiG fell through.
The infantry brigade destined to be deployed abroad is
being equipped with a new communication system by the
Italian company Marconi at a cost of 58 million dollars in
a five-year project that should be completed at the end of
this year.
On top of that a new air defence system is being installed
at Sofia's international airport and the government plans
to build six Corvette patrol vessels for the navy with the
help of a foreign company.
But this year only 31 million euros of the country's budget
have been set aside for projects, and Svinarov hinted that
the ministry was looking for funds elsewhere.
He said the French government had offered to sponsor a
project by the French company Sagem to update Bulgaria's
military aircraft and to allow the government to repay the
cost "over a long period once the project has been
completed."
U.S. REALIGNING FOOTPRINT OF MILITARY FORCES WORLDWIDE
DPA, 19 Feb 04, by Mike McCarthy
In a major change of military strategy since the end of the
Cold War, the United States is planning a significant shift
of its forces around the world to better respond to threats
and regional crises. While the Pentagon has not announced
what the plan entails, Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld
has made no secret of his belief that the global
"footprint" of the U.S. military is outdated and inadequate
for responding to new threats facing the United States and
its allies. The posture review was launched after Rumsfeld
took office in 2001 with orders from U.S. President George
W. Bush to "transform" the military, and it gained momentum
with the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. The goal of
transformation is to create a faster, more lethal force
that involves changes in the types of weapons the armed
forces wield and where they are deployed, and will likely
focus on U.S. troops currently based in three countries:
Germany, South Korea and Japan. "We'll see some adjustments
in many if not most parts of the world," Rumsfeld said last
year at a NATO gathering. The Pentagon has been working
meticulously through the process, weighing the concerns of
allies while trying to secure use of other foreign soil,
and Rumsfeld said that the process will play out over a
period of years. Defence officials have been tight-lipped
about the plan, even keeping Congress in the dark about
specifics. Late last year, officials from the Pentagon and
State Department travelled to Germany to begin
consultations on the proposed changes. "We do not really
know what direction this is going," said one congressional
source. "Some of the people we know working on this won't
talk. They've been warned not to." Even though the United
States says it will not close one of its most important
overseas airbases, in Ramstein, Germany, the prospect of
losing other U.S. bases in the country has worried local
German governments, who fear the potentially devastating
economic consequences. The bulk of the 70,000 U.S. troops
in Germany could be sent home or to new NATO bases in
eastern Europe. Last year, a delegation of German regional
politicians visited Washington to lobby against the
changes. Nevertheless, the United States appears to have
the general support of its NATO partners for redeploying
the troops. Among the Eastern European nations reportedly
under discussion to host U.S. troops are Poland, Bulgaria
and Romania, where the U.S. will build or use small "lily
pad" bases for temporary deployments and rotations rather
than recreate the large German bases that for more than 50
years have required massive, costly infrastructure. On the
Japanese island of Okinawa, residents have grown
increasingly sensitive to the presence of the 47,000
American soldiers, after a spate of sex crimes in the last
decade. Politicians on the island have demanded that the
United States reduce its presence there. In South Korea,
where 37,000 U.S. troops have been based since fighting in
the Korean War ended in 1953, the Pentagon is also mulling
a new strategy, but it is not likely to significantly
reduce the size of the U.S. contingent on the peninsula.
Instead, Rumsfeld is considering moving the bulk of the
forces away from the North Korean border to positions
farther south, where troops can better respond to an
invasion, instead of being overrun at the 38th parallel.
South Koreans have also grown resentful toward U.S. troops
in their country, but that sentiment has cooled since North
Korea admitted in October 2002 to having resumed a nuclear
weapons programme, and South Korea President Roh Moo Hyun
raised concerns about U.S. forces stepping back from the
border. The United States has also had to allay Moscow's
worries about moving U.S. bases from Germany closer toward
Russia, which is already wary of NATO's eastward expansion.
"We are not looking to move bases per se of the kind we
used to have during the Cold War closer to Russia, just to
put a base closer to Russia," U.S. Secretary of State Colin
Powell said last month. After the Cold War ended, the
United States eventually cut its presence in Europe - most
of it in Germany - by nearly 200,000 troops. Germany has
been one of the closest U.S. allies since the end of World
War II, and has long served as the basis for the U.S.
defence of Western Europe during the Cold War and as a key
staging point for military actions in other regions of the
world. While the departure of American troops would at
least signal a symbolic change in the relationship, there
may be no going back once the soldiers are gone, one
analyst said. "This will be a one way street," said Loren
Thompson of the Lexington Institute in Washington. "Once we
leave, the German government won't welcome us back to
facilities that are being used for other purposes."
UZBEK OFFICIAL WELCOMES U.S. FORCES: FORMIN
AP, 22 Feb 04
Uzbekistan will allow the United States to keep military
forces here as long as needed for operations in
Afghanistan, and would consider a permanent U.S. outpost if
Washington wanted one, the Uzbek foreign minister said in
an interview Saturday.
Speaking before Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld visits
Tuesday, Sadyk Safayev also told The Associated Press that
Uzbekistan is improving its much-criticized human rights
record. He said two people convicted in recent high-profile
cases likely would receive amnesty soon.
Rumsfeld's visit will be his third here in two years,
meeting with Uzbek President Islam Karimov before heading
to neighboring Kazakhstan and Afghanistan, the Uzbek
Foreign Ministry said Saturday.
This former Soviet republic went from a largely forgotten
backwater to a prominent place in the war on terror after
the Sept. 11 attacks in the United States. A U.S. base in
the southern town of Khanabad became a key staging point
for American operations in Afghanistan.
Hundreds of U.S. troops remain stationed there, and the two
countries signed a strategic partnership agreement in 2002.
While troops continue operations in Afghanistan, ``we have
an obligation as a member of the anti-terrorist coalition
to allow U.S. military forces to use the military
infrastructure in Uzbekistan,'' Safayev said.
Previously, Karimov had ruled out a long-term U.S. military
presence, but Safayev said the government will make a
decision after the Pentagon completes its assessment of
U.S. military deployments.
Rumsfeld's visit will also focus on nonproliferation,
including American help in cleaning up a Soviet biological
weapons lab once used to produce anthrax. So far,
Washington has pledged $6 million for cleanup projects, but
Safayev called for more cooperation.
Such nonproliferation work and other cooperation has been
hindered by Uzbekistan's poor human rights record.
Uzbekistan has not improved that record enough to meet
requirements for funding under a U.S. nuclear disarmament
program. That forced President Bush to grant a waiver in
the interests of national security in December.
The strategic partnership agreement also requires progress
on human rights for the Uzbek government to receive aid.
The next evaluation, due in April, is expected to be a
close call.
In a report after a 2002 visit, United Nations envoy Theo
van Boven found that torture was systematic in Uzbek
prisons. Safayev said Uzbekistan was making improvements,
and invited van Boven ``to visit anytime.''
Also, Safayev hinted Saturday that pardons would be granted
in two cases that have attracted widespread international
criticism.
Earlier this month, an Uzbek court imprisoned a 62-year-old
mother of a prisoner who was allegedly tortured to death.
Fatima Mukadirova was convicted of anti-constitutional
activity and possessing banned leaflets, but her family and
activists claim the case was motivated by her efforts to
draw attention to her son.
Safayev rejected the claim and called Mukadirova an
``active'' member of the banned extremist Muslim group Hizb
ut-Tahrir. Still, he said he expected an appeals court to
grant her a pardon Tuesday because of her age.
Also, Safayev suggested that independent journalist Ruslan
Sharipov, serving four years in prison on convictions for
homosexuality and having sex with minors, could be freed.
Human rights groups and Western diplomats have said the
case against Sharipov was motivated by his critical
articles about the government.
``It might happen that (Sharipov) would be amnestied,''
Safayev said. ``Personally I am against that ... but
somehow the international community thinks that I'm
wrong.''
PUTIN URGES STRONGER RUSSIAN MILITARY
AP, 22 Feb 04
President Vladimir Putin called for strengthening the
Russian military on Sunday but said Russia had no
aggressive aims or imperial ambitions.
``We are strengthening and modernizing the armed forces,
including the strategic forces, in order to reliably defend
the nation,'' Putin said at a reception Sunday on the eve
of Defender of the Fatherland Day. ``We are not intending
to threaten anyone.''
The comments followed military maneuvers last week that
were described as the largest show of Russian might in more
than 20 years.
The exercises were marred by two failed missile launches,
but they also saw the successful testing of what the
military called a ``hypersonic flying vehicle'' -- possibly
some sort of missile warhead. Officials said the device
could lead to new strategic weapons capable of punching
through any missile-defense system.
``Security is a key element of our domestic development,''
Putin said. ``We must be ready to repel any threat from
terrorism to localized conflicts to major aggression.''
But Putin stressed that ``our nation doesn't have and
cannot have aggressive aims or imperial ambitions.''
Putin, who is expected to easily win a second term in a
March 14 election, has cultivated an image as a leader
attempting to restore the country's military power and
global clout. He has repeatedly pledged to modernize the
bloated, underfunded armed forces, which have struggled to
maintain aircraft and ships in the decade that followed the
1991 Soviet collapse.
``Our army and navy must meet modern requirements, must be
mobile, truly professional and be equipped with new
generation weaponry and technology,'' Putin said.
Russian officers' salaries are meager and many of their
Soviet-era perks have disappeared, making it difficult to
convince young Russians to pursue a military career and
junior officers to stay in.
Putin said Sunday that Russia ``carries special
responsibility for global stability'' and in particular for
security in Europe and Asia.
The Defender of the Fatherland Day was established in
Soviet times to commemorate a 1918 clash with German troops
that marked the birth of the Red Army.
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