-Pro-opposition media have described Senator Lugar as
one of the ‘architects’ of a ‘velvet revolution’ that
happened in the Ukraine and interpreted his visit to
Azerbaijan as an initial step in preparations for the
soft change of power.



http://www.azernews.net


AssA-Irada (Azerbaijan)
September 1, 2005


President receives US Senators


Baku - President Ilham Aliyev received the chairman of
the Senate committee on foreign relations Richard
Lugar and Senator Barack Obama on Wednesday.

Aliyev said the visit by the US Senators to Azerbaijan
will make a considerable contribution to bilateral
ties. The long-term relations between the two
countries show the ‘high level of mutual understanding
and support’, he said.

“Our multi-faceted cooperation is of great importance.
One of these areas is combat against terror. Our joint
participation in peacekeeping operations around the
world is a good example of our active collaboration.”

Lugar mentioned that Azerbaijan and the United States
are jointly involved in peacekeeping missions in
Afghanistan and Iraq.

“Azerbaijan’s granting us the right to use its air
space is very important in terms of fighting terror.
All this creates opportunities for sharing values and
think about future development together. We welcome
these opportunities.”
------------------------------------------------------
http://www.azernews.net


AssA-Irada (Azerbaijan)
September 1, 2005


US Senators meet opposition leaders


Baku - Opposition leaders held a closed-door meeting
with the visiting US Senators Richard Lugar and Barack
Obama on Wednesday.

Among the participants were leaders of major
opposition Azadlig bloc – chairmen of Musavat party
Isa Gambar and Popular Front Party (PFPA) Ali Karimli,
Azerbaijan Democratic Party (ADP) deputy chair Sardar
Jalaloghlu, executives of the New Policy (YeS) and
other opposition executives.

The situation on the eve of the November parliament
elections in Azerbaijan was discussed, Musavat
chairman Gambar said following the meeting. The
Senators will consider the views of opposition
parties’ representatives in this respect, said Gambar.


The Musavat chair said that the resolution on
Azerbaijan passed by the US Congress earlier will be
discussed in the Senate in September. 435 votes were
cast for and one against the document.

Chairman of the Democratic Reforms Party Asim
Mollazada said the forthcoming elections represent
importance for achieving stability and democratic
development in the country. “Only democratic elections
may give an incentive to Azerbaijan’s development
through evolution and democratic reforms.”

Senator Lugar said that development via evolution
depends on the will of the Azeri people. “The United
States wants the Azerbaijani people to achieve
democratic development”, he said.
------------------------------------------------------
http://www.azernews.net


AssA-Irada (Azerbaijan)
September 1, 2005


Senator rules out ‘revolution’ in Azerbaijan


Baku- Senator Richard Lugar does not expect a velvet
revolution to take place in the country.

“I am not promoting revolutions and do not expect this
to happen in Azerbaijan”, he told a news briefing in
Baku.

“I want to be seen as a person bringing hope and
optimism over the elections in all countries that I
visit.”

Pro-opposition media have described Senator Lugar as
one of the ‘architects’ of a ‘velvet revolution’ that
happened in the Ukraine and interpreted his visit to
Azerbaijan as an initial step in preparations for the
soft change of power.








____________________________________________________
Start your day with Yahoo! - make it your home page
http://www.yahoo.com/r/hs

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2005-08/31/content_3427668.htm


Xinhua News Agency
August 31, 2005


Chinese, former Soviet veterans commemorate war
friendship


BEIJING - Over 80 Chinese and former Soviet veterans
reunited Wednesday in Beijing to memory their fighting
together against Japanese invasive troops over 60
years ago.

This is one of a series of activities held recently in
Beijing to commemorate the victory of China's war of
resistance against Japanese aggression.

Chen Haosu, president of the Chinese People's
Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries,
said the government of the former Soviet Union helped
Chinese people fight against Japanese invasion even at
the early stage of the war.

"Those supports included a large quantity of military
equipment and materials, military staff training and
dispatching experts as well as voluntary pilots to
China," he said.

Statistic showed that a total of 3,665 soldiers of the
former Soviet Union had been dispatched to join the
Battle in China from 1937 to 1941, including 1,091
pilots. More than 200 of them died in China.

In 1931, Japan invaded and occupied northeastern
China. In 1937, the Japanese troops attacked Chinese
forces at the Lugou Bridge (Marco Polo Bridge)
southwest of Beijing, marking the start of Japan's
full-scale invasion of China.

Basil Ivanov, an 84-year-old veteran, said he still
remembered vividly an attack on the Japanese troops
that he joined on Aug. 9,1945.

"The Japanese soldiers at the sentries were all in
sleep. Our troops crossed the Heilongjiang River and
promptly took over the sentries," Ivanov said. "We won
the battle without firing a shot."

On Aug. 8, the Soviet Union declared war against Japan
based on the Yalta Agreement and sent troops to the
northeast China, joining Chinese army's fight against
Japan, which accelerated Japan's defeat.

"Friends from the former Soviet Union have offered
Chinese people great help during the war against
Japanese invasion, which we will never forget," Chen
said.






____________________________________________________
Start your day with Yahoo! - make it your home page
http://www.yahoo.com/r/hs

http://www.mosnews.com/news/2005/09/01/bioweaponsreport.shtml


MosNews (Russia)
September 1, 2005


Russia Refutes U.S. Accusations of Violating
Agreements on Chemical, Biological Weapons


-It accused the United States of scuttling
international efforts to strengthen the biological
weapons agreement, saying that “apparently, the State
Department is not interested in the opinion of the
international community on this issue”.



The US State Department report, released on Wednesday,
says that, based on all available evidence, Russia
“continues to maintain” an offensive biological
weapons program.

The Associated Press agency quoted the statement as
saying that the cases addressed in the report were
limited to countries for which the most evidence
exists of actual or potential noncompliance with the
Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention.

“Russia is dedicated to the strict adherence to the
[convention],” the Foreign Ministry said in an angrily
worded statement.

“We call for constructive co-operation with all
members of the convention, including the United
States, to create real barriers to any attempts to
reconstitute biological weapons.”

The ministry said that by “continuing to categorically
accuse Russia of violating international commitments
under the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention and
the Chemical Weapons Convention, the State Department
does not take the trouble to publish concrete facts”.

It accused the United States of scuttling
international efforts to strengthen the biological
weapons agreement, saying that “apparently, the State
Department is not interested in the opinion of the
international community on this issue”.

The Foreign Ministry also took issue with what it said
were one-sided or inaccurate statements about Russian
compliance with agreements on strategic weapons,
conventional forces in Europe and sensitive missile
technology.

It said the report was “abounding in assertions of
Russian violations of its international commitments”.
------------------------------------------------------
http://www.interfax.ru/e/B/politics/28.html?id_issue=11370107


Interfax
September 1, 2005


Russia denies alleged departures from arms control
accords


MOSCOW - Moscow on Wednesday rejected U.S. allegations
the previous day that Russia had been departing from
its arms control and nonproliferation commitments.

"On August 30, the U.S. State Department published a
report entitled '2005. Adherence to and Compliance
with Arms Control, Nonproliferation and Disarmament
Agreements and Commitments' full of allegations that
Russia has violated its international commitments,"
the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a commentary
published on its website, www.mid.ru.

"Such accusations are not new. The Russian Ministry of
Foreign Affairs has had to comment more than once on
sections of similar 'studies' that listed Russia among
principal 'violators' of nonproliferation agreements
indiscriminately and without citing any facts. We are
forced to state that this State Department document is
not very different," the commentary said.







____________________________________________________
Start your day with Yahoo! - make it your home page
http://www.yahoo.com/r/hs

http://www.spacewar.com/2005/050901082559.og4ib6dl.html


Agence France-Presse
September 1, 2005


China says US help to Taiwan on missile defence will
erode trust


BEIJING - China Thursday warned the United States and
other countries that any help they give Taiwan to
protect itself against a missile threat would erode
trust and undermine regional peace and stability.

The comments were made in a white paper - China's
Endeavours for Arms Control, Disarmament and
Non-Proliferation -- issued before a visit to the
United States next week by President Hu Jintao.

"As the Taiwan question involves its core interests,
China opposes the attempt by any country to provide
help or protection to the Taiwan region of China in
the field of missile defence by any means," it said.

"China does not wish to see a missile defence system
produce negative impact on global strategic stability,
bring new unstable factors to international and
regional peace and stability, erode trust among big
powers or undermine legitimate security interests of
other countries."

Beijing regards Taiwan as part of its territory and
has threatened to use force to retake the island
should it formally declare independence.

It has some 700 ballistic missiles opposite Taiwan and
could target the island with 1,200 ballistic and
cruise missiles by 2014, the Taiwan defence ministry
says.

Taiwan has already put into service three US-made
PAC-2 anti-missile systems to protect the greater
Taipei area, but has called for more help from
Washington.

Earlier this year it said it would need around 21
Patriot missiles to intercept and destroy any first
wave of cruise missile attacks by China.

As such, it said it needs more anti-missile weaponry
to prevent it being paralyzed after China's first
missile strikes.

In March, Taipei's cabinet approved an arms deal which
calls for the purchase of six PAC-3 Patriot
anti-missile systems, along with eight conventional
submarines and a fleet of submarine-hunting P-3C
aircraft from the United States over 15 years.

Taiwan's parliament has failed so far to ratify the
deal.

Each PAC-3 will be able to track 18 targets
simultaneously and cover a defense area of 400 square
kilometers (160 square miles), defence officials have
said.

The PAC-2s are only designed to track nine targets
simultaneously and cover an area of 225 square
kilometers.

The massive budget proposal stirred heated debate on
the island as critics said the spending could further
provoke China and heighten cross-strait tensions.

The United States remains Taiwan's leading arms
supplier despite switching diplomatic recognition to
Beijing in 1979. Under the Taiwan Relations Act it is
obliged to provide arms "of a defensive nature".

Hu leaves for the United States on Monday and will
meet President George W. Bush on Wednesday. The Taiwan
question remains the thorniest issue in Sino-US
relations.











__________________________________
Do you Yahoo!?
Yahoo! Mail - You care about security. So do we.
http://promotions.yahoo.com/new_mail

http://www.spacewar.com/2005/050901112504.8zhi3sed.html


Agence France-Presse
September 1, 2005


New commander takes over Bosnia NATO headquarters


SARAJEVO - US Brigadier General Luis Weber has taken
charge of NATO headquarters in Sarajevo tasked with
advising Bosnia on military reform and assisting the
hunt for war crimes suspects, a statement said
Thursday.

Weber took over from US Brigadier General Steven
Schook.

The North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO)
maintained a small contingent of troops in Bosnia
after the European Union took over security tasks in
the Balkan country from the NATO-led Stabilization
Force (SFOR) in December 2004.

SFOR was deployed in Bosnia to provide security and
oversee the military aspects of the peace deal that
ended the country's 1992-95 war.










____________________________________________________
Start your day with Yahoo! - make it your home page
http://www.yahoo.com/r/hs

http://en.rian.ru/russia/20050901/41269216.html


Russian Information Agency (Novosti)
September 1, 2005


SCO prepares to celebrate fifth anniversary
Alexei Yefimov


BEIJING - The Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO)
is beginning preparations for a jubilee summit of the
Council of the heads of state, a Russian diplomat told
a news conference Thursday.

Vitaly Vorobyev, Russia's coordinator in the SCO, said
the recent meeting of the Council of national
coordinators (CNC) on August 29-30 in Beijing focused
on preparations for the jubilee summit of the Council
of the heads of state scheduled for June 2006.

The SCO will celebrate its fifth anniversary on June
15, 2006, he added.

"Everybody agrees this first jubilee date must be
celebrated accordingly," the Russian diplomat said.

According to Vorobyev, "real measures to strengthen
ties between the SCO members that are beneficial to
each member" must become the key part of the
celebration.

Participants of the CNC meeting agreed to increase the
role and effectiveness of the SCO Secretariat,
Vorobyev said, adding that they also emphasized the
necessity of creating an effective system of
information sharing for SCO activities.

"...A system of measures and mechanisms to ensure a
joint response to situations threatening the peace,
security, and stability in the region must be
developed, as well," the diplomat said.

These are complex political and practical tasks,
Vorobyev added.
------------------------------------------------------
http://www.interfax.ru/e/B/politics/28.html?id_issue=11370432


Interfax
September 1, 2005


Next SCO summit to be in 2006 in Beijing - Russian
national coordinator


BEIJING - The next summit of the Shanghai Cooperation
Organization of (SCO) will take place in 2006 in
Beijing, said Russia's SCO national coordinator Vitaly
Vorobyov.
------------------------------------------------------
http://en.rian.ru/russia/20050901/41269974.html


Russian Information Agency (Novosti)
September 1, 2005


SCO to launch economic "pilot projects"
Alexei Yefimov


BEIJING - The Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO)
could decide by October to embark on several economic
projects, a Russian diplomat told a news conference
Thursday.

Vitally Vorobyev, Russia's coordinator in the SCO,
said the Council of national coordinators (CNC), at a
recent meeting in Beijing, discussed preparations for
a meeting of SCO prime ministers on October 14 in
Moscow and the creation of the Development Fund, the
SCO Business Council, and a system of inter-bank
exchange.

According to the diplomat, the SCO is selecting
several cooperative "pilot projects" in various
spheres and beginning to implement them.

"We hope to agree on the creation of the Development
Fund, the SCO Business Council, and a system of
inter-bank exchange before the meeting of the prime
ministers," Vorobyev said adding, "the work [on these
projects] has reached its final stages."

The diplomat also said Russia had formed its executive
part of the Business Council, almost finished the
inter-bank agreement, and reached significant progress
in the creation of the Development Fund.

Vorobyev expressed hope that the SCO Forum, whose goal
is to provide scientific and research support, would
be formed by mid-October.

SCO member countries (China, Russia, Kazakhstan,
Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan) are also
planning to expand cooperation in the cultural and
educational spheres, Vorobyev added.










____________________________________________________
Start your day with Yahoo! - make it your home page
http://www.yahoo.com/r/hs

http://www.spacewar.com/2005/050901042833.95g20mow.html


Agence France-Presse
September 1, 2005



China urges action against threat of militarization of
outer space


-"Outer space is the common wealth of mankind but, at
present, the danger of weaponization of outer space is
growing with each passing day."


BEIJING - Emerging space power China Thursday warned
urgent attention needs to be given to the prospect of
weapons being deployed in space, saying the risks were
growing every day.

In a position paper on arms control, disarmament and
non-proliferation, it said it supports international
legal documents ensuring the peaceful use of space.

"Outer space is the common wealth of mankind but, at
present, the danger of weaponization of outer space is
growing with each passing day," it said.

"Such a prospect is not in the interest of any
country."

In May, a New York Times report said the US Air Force
was seeking a national security directive from
President George W. Bush that could lead to fielding
offensive and defensive space weapons.

The White House subsequently denied it was considering
putting weapons in space.

"The international community should take effective
preventative measures, negotiate and conclude relevant
international legal instruments to prohibit deployment
of weapons in outer space," the position paper said.

The Times report said the US aim was not to place
weapons permanently in orbit - which is banned under
the 30-year-old Antiballistic Missile Treaty the US
withdrew from in 2002 - but to use space as a platform
for weapons systems currently being developed.

China carried out its maiden manned space flight in
October 2003 and plans to launch its next manned
mission this year. It set up its space program in 1992
and has said it will never be used to put weapons in
orbit.

Chinese President Hu Jintao leaves for the United
States and a meeting with Bush next week.











____________________________________________________
Start your day with Yahoo! - make it your home page
http://www.yahoo.com/r/hs

http://www.itar-tass.com/eng/level2.html?NewsID=2370290&PageNum=0


Itar-Tass
September 1, 2005


Russian peacekeepers say Georgia accuses them of
smuggling


SUKHUMI - Russian peacekeepers in the zone of the
Georgian-Abkhaz conflict have said that Georgia has
groundlessly accused them of smuggling.

“The detention of trucks of the CIS collective
peacekeeping force in the zone of the Georgian-Abkhaz
conflict with a supply of food is yet another
provocation by Georgian special services against the
Russian peacekeepers,” the peacekeeping force
press-service chief, Major Levon Arzanov has said.

Georgian law enforcers on Wednesday stopped and
detained two trucks of the 529th battalion of the
peace-keeping force that carried food supplies from a
warehouse of the Russian Defense Ministry in Sukhumi
to the base camp in Georgian territory in the village
of Urta.

“The vehicles were searched in violation of all legal,
moral and ethical norms and ten boxes of cigarettes
were confiscated. The cigarettes had been received at
the warehouse and are part of the Russian troops food
ration,” Arzanov said. He believes there has been a
“gross violation of the Collective Peace-Keeping Force
Status of January 19, 1996, signed by the CIS heads of
State. Article five of that document says that the
CPKF enjoys the status, privileges and immunities of a
U.N. mission personnel.”

Arzanov recalled that a similar incident took place on
August 12, when a truck carrying food for the same
battalion was detained and the cargo confiscated
illegally.

The peacekeepers’ official said that “despite the
Russian Foreign Ministry’s protest and promises by the
Georgian side the cargo seized on August 12 has not
been returned to this day.”





____________________________________________________
Start your day with Yahoo! - make it your home page
http://www.yahoo.com/r/hs

http://en.rian.ru/russia/20050901/41267947.html


Russian Information Agency (Novosti)
September 1, 2005


CIS processes have direct bearing on Russian border
security - minister


MOSCOW - Processes under way in the Commonwealth of
Independent States (CIS) have a direct bearing on the
security of Russia's borders, Russian Foreign Minister
Sergei Lavrov said Thursday.

Speaking to students at the Moscow Institute of
International Relations, the minister said: "Major
changes have taken place in post-Soviet countries near
our borders. These processes are directly linked to
how our security, the security of our borders, and
conditions for Russia's economic growth will be
ensured."

Lavrov said post-Soviet countries were an
unconditional priority for Russia's foreign policy. He
said the interests of Russians should be protected
worldwide, especially in the CIS, and a decision to
establish a common humanitarian space made at the
recent CIS summit in Kazan would be an important step
in that direction.

Lavrov said every CIS member country except for
Turkmenistan had signed the humanitarian cooperation
agreement and added that this had established
frameworks for interaction in culture, education and
sports.

"We should proceed from our national interests, so
that our activities in this area correspond to
people's needs," the minister said.
------------------------------------------------------
http://en.rian.ru/russia/20050901/41268086.html


Russian Information Agency (Novosti)
September 1, 2005


Moscow against attempts to rewrite history



MOSCOW - Moscow opposes recurrent attempts to rewrite
history, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said
Thursday.

Speaking to students at the Moscow Institute of
International Relations, Lavrov said attempts to
"charge Russia for a common past" using democratic
tools, such as independent media, amounted to
interference in Russia's internal affairs for selfish
purposes.

He denounced this practice saying Russia would respond
by becoming stronger.

According to the minister, there has recently been a
growth in anti-Russian sentiments in the Western
media, which he said attributed the changes occurring
in Russia to "imperial ambitions".

He said Russia was only striving to become a worthy
member of the world community.

Rejecting allegations of authoritarian trends in
Russia, Lavrov said, "The country is consolidating
power."

The minister admitted there were problems. "I must say
that everything is not perfect, and there are many
problems to be solved," he said, but added that it had
taken Moscow about fifteen years to solve problems
that Western countries had faced for centuries.






____________________________________________________
Start your day with Yahoo! - make it your home page
http://www.yahoo.com/r/hs

http://en.rian.ru/world/20050901/41267783.html


Russian Information Agency (Novosti)
September 1, 2005


China rejects U.S. bacteriological weapons allegations

Alexei Yefimov



BEIJING - A senior Chinese Foreign Ministry official
has described as "irresponsible" allegations made by
the U.S. State Department that China is pursuing
programs to develop bacteriological weapons.

Speaking to a press conference in Beijing Thursday,
Zhang Yan, director of the ministry's arms control
department, said the Chinese government was "seriously
unhappy" over the allegations and hoped Washington
would restrain from making any more such "false"
statements in the future.

Zhang said the U.S. seemed to disregard the impressive
progress made by China in arms control, disarmament
and non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.

China's White Book on Arms Control, Disarmament and
Non-Proliferation, compiled by its highest executive
body-the State Council-was unveiled in Beijing
Thursday.





____________________________________________________
Start your day with Yahoo! - make it your home page
http://www.yahoo.com/r/hs

http://washingtontimes.com/world/20050831-113412-3370r.htm


Washington Times
September 1, 2005


Military exercises to continue, expand
By David R. Sands


Russia's unprecedented military exercises with China
went so well last month that they may be expanded to
include several Central and South Asian countries,
Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov said.

Mr. Ivanov, in a Russian television interview Tuesday,
said Moscow was considering staging larger joint
exercises involving the six-nation Shanghai
Cooperation Organization (SCO), a four-year-old
regional grouping dominated by Moscow and Beijing.

"I think a repeat exercise will be held sooner or
later," Mr. Ivanov said.

"And secondly, I do not rule out that the armed forces
not only of China and Russia but of other members of
the SCO will take part, including perhaps the
countries which are observers with SCO."

SCO members are China, Russia, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan,
Kazakhstan and Tajikistan.

India, Pakistan, Mongolia and Iran were given observer
status just this year in the grouping, which has
become a prime vehicle for Russia and China to
challenge U.S. influence in the region.

The eight-day Russian-Chinese exercises, dubbed "Peace
Mission 2005," involved about 10,000 troops on
Russia's Pacific coast and China's Shandong peninsula.


They were the first joint exercises of their kind for
the one-time Cold War rivals, and many saw them as a
challenge to U.S. military dominance in Asia.

The United States was not among the countries invited
to observe the exercises, but U.S. intelligence
agencies closely monitored the proceedings, The
Washington Times reported last month.

Mr. Ivanov said in the interview that China was
Moscow's "major strategic partner" and denied the
exercises were aimed at either the United States or
Taiwan.

"I see nothing here that third countries should be
afraid of," he insisted.

SCO was formed in 2001 out of a looser grouping
created in 1996 known as the Shanghai Five. The
earlier group focused at first on resolving border
disputes after the dissolution of the Soviet Union and
the end of the Cold War. After September 11, it became
a component of the war on terror.






____________________________________________________
Start your day with Yahoo! - make it your home page
http://www.yahoo.com/r/hs

http://www.russiajournal.com/news/cnews-article.shtml?nd=48837


Russia Journal
August 31, 2005


Russia arms Belarus


Russia will supply S-300 surface-to-air missile
systems to Belarus. The weapons will be delivered
under contract to Belarus’ anti-aircraft forces, said
Russian defense minister Sergei Ivanov during his
visit to Russia’s southern Astrakhan region where he
is observing Comradership-in-Arms-2005 anti-aircraft
military training.

Belarus defense minister Leonid Maltsev said the
missiles would be positioned at the country’s
anti-aircraft unit on the western border, as part of a
Russia-Belarus joint anti-aircraft defense system.

Under the command of the Russian air force chief Gen.
Vladimir Mikhailov, the final stage of joint military
training is taking place at Ashuluk firing range in
the Astrakhan region. More than 40 aircraft from
Russia, Armenia, Belarus and Tajikistan have
participated in exercises.

Representatives from Kazakh, Ukrainian and Kyrgyz air
forces are observing the exercises. Unlike 2001 and
2003, when each country had separate command centers,
the exercises are now being run from a common command
center, Ivanov commented.

Russia’s air force is equipped with more advanced
anti-aircraft systems, S-400 or Triumf, Mikhailov
said. Triumf systems looked like S-300 systems, but
their missiles “flow faster, further and higher,” he
said. The anti-aircraft missiles entered service with
the Russian army in February 2005.




____________________________________________________
Start your day with Yahoo! - make it your home page
http://www.yahoo.com/r/hs

http://www.spacewar.com/2005/050901141007.ujtq123z.html


Agence France-Presse
September 1, 2005


NATO and US-led forces should cooperate in
Afghanistan: NATO chief


BERLIN - NATO Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer
called on Thursday for closer cooperation between
NATO-led peacekeepers and US-led forces in
Afghanistan.

De Hoop Scheffer said the 8,500-strong International
Security Assistance Force (ISAF) force of NATO troops
and the 16,000 soldiers under the Operation Enduring
Freedom banner could share commanders while
maintaining their separate tasks.

"We need more synergy and more cooperation between
ISAF and Operation Enduring Freedom.

"I don't know about them being completely merged, but
I can imagine a double-headed command structure with
two different missions," De Hoop Scheffer said after a
meeting with German Defence Minister Peter Struck.

The NATO chief said the issue would be on the agenda
of an informal meeting of NATO defence ministers in
Berlin on September 13-14.

Struck returned on Monday from a visit to Afghanistan
to check on the progress of German troops serving in
the 37-nation ISAF force which was set up in December
2001 after the defeat of the Taliban regime.

While ISAF's duties are restricted to peacekeeping and
reconstruction, Operation Enduring Freedom is hunting
remnants of the Taliban and their Al-Qaeda allies in
southern and eastern Afghanistan.











____________________________________________________
Start your day with Yahoo! - make it your home page
http://www.yahoo.com/r/hs

http://www.spacewar.com/2005/050901150131.l97ptax6.html


Agence France-Presse
September 1, 2005


EU warns Iran could be hauled before UN if necessary


NEWPORT, Wales - The European Union warned Thursday
that it may have to refer Iran to the UN Security
Council over its nuclear plans after it breached an
accord with the European bloc.

Speaking at an informal meeting of EU foreign
ministers, EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana said
the bloc is watching to see if Iran would comply with
a deadline this week set by the International Atomic
Energy Agency (IAEA).

He noted that the UN nuclear watchdog's board of
governors is set to meet on September 19 in Vienna,
after a September 3 deadline for Iran to stop work on
making atomic power reactor fuel that could also be
used to make weapons.

"Then we'll see," Solana told reporters, adding that
the EU would like to avoid escalating the situation
"but (it would) be ready to go to the Security Council
if necessary, yes."
....
"We are very very disappointed. We have been offering
a lot to the Iranians. We again call on the Iranians
that they come back to the negotiating table," said EU
external relations commissioner Benita
Ferrero-Waldner.

Other EU sources said that the warning from Solana
about refering Tehran to the UN was not a threat.

"Today is not a day for ultimatums," said one, while
another added: "The main aim is to persuade Iran to
come back to the negotiating table."











____________________________________________________
Start your day with Yahoo! - make it your home page
http://www.yahoo.com/r/hs

http://www.rferl.org/featuresarticle/2005/09/b9833987-682a-4f2a-a1d0-ed5f544c2af\
4.html


Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
September 1, 2005


Afghanistan: NATO Looks To Expand Mission After
September Elections
By Ron Synovitz


-The NATO deployments completed this week - involving
troops mostly from Spain, Romania, and the Netherlands
- take the total number of alliance troops in
Afghanistan to 11,000. The alliance also has backing
from increased air power.
-A separate contingent of about 20,000 troops - the
U.S.-led combat force on the ground as part of
Operation Enduring Freedom - is in charge of
bolstering security in the south and east of
Afghanistan....
-Significantly, Jones said that NATO is now planning
for the eventual takeover of....U.S.-led combat
operations - possibly within the next year."Operation
Enduring Freedom and ISAF will eventually merge and
become one mission."
"The North Atlantic Treaty Organization says that
Afghanistan is its No. 1 mission. And it remains
committed to that statement," Jones said.


The NATO-led International Security Assistance Force
(ISAF) has completed the deployment of an additional
2,000 troops to support Afghanistan's upcoming
parliamentary elections.

With a total of 11,000 troops across the country, ISAF
is now larger and more widely deployed than it has
ever been during nearly four years of UN-backed
political reforms known as the Bonn Process. In
addition, NATO's top commander says the alliance is
now planning for an expanded role that would merge
UN-mandated security assistance with U.S.-led combat
operations.


Prague - NATO's top commander, U.S. General James
Jones, says the alliance is now "correctly poised and
sized" for its security mission during Afghanistan's
parliamentary elections on 18 September.

Jones completed a two-day visit to Afghanistan
yesterday that included security talks with President
Hamid Karzai. Jones told reporters after those talks
that NATO - the leader of the UN-mandated
International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in
Afghanistan - already is looking beyond the
parliamentary vote.

"Not only will it be concerned with the security of
the parliamentary elections that are coming up in
September, but it will also be the transitional period
in which NATO continues its expanded mission in
Afghanistan," Jones said.

The NATO deployments completed this week - involving
troops mostly from Spain, Romania, and the Netherlands
- take the total number of alliance troops in
Afghanistan to 11,000. The alliance also has backing
from increased air power. Jones said the strength of
ISAF should be sufficient to guarantee security in
Kabul and in the northern and western regions of
Afghanistan that are under NATO's security umbrella.

As with the Afghan presidential election last October,
the primary responsibility for security at the polling
stations lies with Afghanistan's own security forces -
the Afghan National Army and the Afghan National
Police. But Jones said the NATO troops will be close
by in the north and west with ground forces and air
support if necessary.

A separate contingent of about 20,000 troops - the
U.S.-led combat force on the ground as part of
Operation Enduring Freedom - is in charge of
bolstering security in the south and east of
Afghanistan, where fighting with Taliban and Al-Qaeda
militants continues.

The coalition has launched a series of military
offensives in the south and east of the country since
the start of spring this year, focusing on Taliban and
Al-Qaeda militants who have vowed to disrupt the
ballot. Militants have also increased their attacks on
coalition troops - as well as civilian contractors and
Afghan election workers, parliamentary candidates, and
moderate clerics.

About 1,000 people have been killed in the surge of
violence this year. Most have been suspected militants
or Afghan civilians, but about 50 U.S. soldiers have
died in combat since the spring thaw.

Significantly, Jones said that NATO is now planning
for the eventual takeover of those U.S.-led combat
operations - possibly within the next year."Operation
Enduring Freedom and ISAF will eventually merge and
become one mission."

"The North Atlantic Treaty Organization says that
Afghanistan is its No. 1 mission. And it remains
committed to that statement," Jones said. "It intends
to be faithful to that statement by expanding the
mission even further during the course of the next
year to such a point that Operation Enduring Freedom
and ISAF will eventually merge and become one mission.
It will bring a new vitality and a new agility to this
effort. And Afghanistan will be all the better for
it."

Such a move could free up U.S. troops in Afghanistan
for deployment to Iraq. But France and Germany have
previously expressed doubts about the idea of merging
UN-mandated security assistance with U.S.-led combat
operations.

NATO spokesman James Appathurai said the issue has
been discussed in recent months by defense ministers
from NATO countries. The NATO spokesman said the issue
will certainly be raised again when alliance defense
ministers gather in Berlin in mid-September.

"This meeting does come at a good time to allow
ministers to reflect, in a more political way, on some
of the very important issues on their agenda,"
Appathurai said. "For example, they will want to look
at the long-term future for NATO in Afghanistan as
part of the international community's efforts to
support the Karzai government once we have moved
beyond what is called the Bonn Process. In other
words, once the district and provincial elections have
taken place, the international community will want a
new approach that will, of course, take into account
the issue of narcotics."

Appathurai said no formal decisions will be taken in
Berlin because it is an informal meeting meant to
allow ministers to discuss their political
perspectives.

The European Union also is concerned about the future
role of international troops and government aid
workers in Afghanistan. EU External Relations
Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner said it is
"crucial" for the international community to stay
engaged in Afghanistan after the elections.

In a statement issued yesterday, Ferrero-Waldner said
a new "post-Bonn compact" is needed between
Afghanistan and the international community to ensure
that both sides maintain their commitments in the
years to come.

Ferrero-Waldner is due to meet with Karzai in Kabul
next week for talks expected to include the issue of a
"post-Bonn" agreement.

(RFE/RL Afghan Service correspondent Freshta Jalalzai
contributed to this report from Kabul.)




____________________________________________________
Start your day with Yahoo! - make it your home page
http://www.yahoo.com/r/hs

http://www.outlookindia.com/pti_news.asp?id=320369


Press Trust of India
September 1, 2005


'India better off forging military relationship with
Russia, China'


-Padmanabhan says, India should not get overly pleased
with the USA calling us their 'ally' and speaking of
the 'Next Step in Strategic Progress' and military to
military cooperation including low level, rather
purposeless exercises and selling to us, a few
military equipments we wanted.
"All that is the sop that is being given to us to buy
our silence while they carry out their invasion of
Iran," he warns.



NEW DELHI - India cannot afford to ignore a country as
strong as the USA but it would be better off forging
military relationship with Russia and China, says
former army chief Gen S Padmanabhan.

"Russia, China and India could forge an alliance with
security clauses to give us, collectively, a degree of
immunity from the actions of the hegemon," says Gen
Padmanabhan in his forthcoming book "A General
Speaks".

"Perhaps that is what Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao had
in mind when he told a group of journalists in New
Delhi during his India visit that trilateral
cooperation between India, China and Russia will help
democratise international relations and safeguard
world peace, security and stability.

"The agreement will also make Asia an excellent
example of what nations can achieve, if they set their
minds to it," he says.

On India's foreign policy, the former army chief says
"India's primary interest is to ensure for herself
freedom to decide, act and progress without curtailing
a similar right of any other nation to do so. We are
nobody's vassals...."

He says that "we cannot afford to ignore a country as
strong as USA" but it should be our endeavour to
engage with it "on terms of strict parity" in all
matters in which we choose to engage with them such as
commerce and trade, science and technology, tourism
and travel, medicine, health and adventure sports.

"We should concern ourselves solely with our nation's
security interests and making the USA a major defence
supplier to us, is certainly not in our interest," he
cautions.

Also, Padmanabhan says, India should not get overly
pleased with the USA calling us their 'ally' and
speaking of the 'Next Step in Strategic Progress' and
military to military cooperation including low level,
rather purposeless exercises and selling to us, a few
military equipments we wanted.

"All that is the sop that is being given to us to buy
our silence while they carry out their invasion of
Iran," he warns.

On the other hand, he says, "our relationship with the
Russian federation are already well established."
Strategic cooperation, defence cooperation including
joint manufacture of supersonic cruise missiles,
economic linkages in the form of investments, trade
and joint ventures and a fair level of people to
people contacts, all indicate that Russo-Indian
friendship is bound to grow.

The fact that China and Russia have mended their once
strained relations and forged strong economic and
political linkages over the past five years or so,
augurs well for a triangular security arrangement
involving Russia, China and India, the former army
chief says.

There were many eyebrows raised when we mooted such an
idea in 2003, he says and argues that China is not
hegemonic, nor will it risk economic prosperity for
counter-productive assertiveness.

The only cause of friction between India and China is
the border dispute but then the apparatus to solve it
was put in position years ago.

"We have made some progress in the dialogue with
China. I may take many more rounds of talks to achieve
results...."

On relations with other countries, Gen Padmanabhan
talks of India's many friends like France, Germany,
Italy, Eastern Europe but says "we should be more wary
of the UK as long as the present new labour regime is
in office.





____________________________________________________
Start your day with Yahoo! - make it your home page
http://www.yahoo.com/r/hs

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2005-09/01/content_3431004.htm


Xinhua News Agency
September 1, 2005


Italian general takes over command of NATO-led force
in Kosovo


BELGRADE - An Italian general took over on Thursday
the command of the NATO-led peacekeeping force in
Kosovo, said reports reaching here from Pristina.

Gen. Giuseppe Valotto was handed the command over the
18,000-strong Kosovo peacekeeping force (KFOR) in a
ceremony in Pristina. He replaces French Gen. Ives de
Kermabon will lead the force for one year.

The ceremony for the transfer of command was attended
by UN and NATO officials as well as Serbia-Montenegro
Chief of Staff Gen. Dragan Paskas.

Paskas said in a statement that he came to the taking
over of duties by the KFOR commander at the invitation
of Gen. Kermabon, with whom he had a very good
cooperation.

"I also came so as to meet Gen. Valotto, establish
contact right away, have a good cooperation and
continue to have good and reliable partnership
relations with KFOR," Paskas said.

Valotto is the 10th commander of KFOR since its
deployment in Kosovo. His inauguration comes as NATO
is to begin a one-year major reshuffle of KFOR in
October.

NATO officials have revealed that KFOR would be
transformed to a structure based on task forces
instead of brigades to improve and facilitate command
and control.

The NATO-led peacekeeping force initially deployed
50,000 troops in Kosovo, backing UN administrators who
have overseen the Serbian province since the end of
the Kosovo war in June 1999. But the number of troops
has been gradually reduced.
------------------------------------------------------
http://www.spacewar.com/2005/050901155659.629d630z.html


Agenge France-Presse
September 1, 2005


Italian general replaces French colleague at KFOR helm
in Kosovo


PRISTINA, Serbia-Montenegro - French general Yves de
Kermabon officially handed over command of the
NATO-led multinational force in Kosovo (KFOR) to his
Italian colleague Giuseppe Valotto on Thursday.

For the first time since the United Nations assumed
administration of the southern Serbian province in
June 1999, the ceremony was attended by
Serbia-Montenegro's Chief of Staff, General Dragan
Paskas.

The handover ceremony at KFOR headquareters in the
Kosovo capital Pristina was chaired by Admiral Harry
Ulrich, commander of the Allied Joint Force Command in
Naples and attended by French and Italian Defence
Ministers Michele Alliot-Marie and Antonio Martino.

Alliot-Marie thanked de Kermabon for his efforts aimed
at re-establishing confidence in the province.

"It is clear that there was a need to re-establish
confidence after the March 2004 (anti-Serb) violence
which shook Kosovo," she said.

General de Kermabon took over KFOR command after March
2004 riots in which 19 people - 11 Albanians and 8
Serbs - were killed, while some 4,000 Serbs fled the
province despite the NATO presence.

"Stability in Kosovo and in the region is an important
goal for the Italian government....This goal also
demands international attention and an international
military presence in Kosovo," said Martino.

The UN and NATO have controlled Kosovo since June 1999
following NATO's air war against Yugoslavia which
forced then president Slobodan Milosevic to withdraw
his troops from the Albanian-dominated province.

Tensions have remained high with Kosovo's ethnic
Albanian leaders eager for talks leading to
independence, while Belgrade and the Kosovo Serbs want
the territory to remain part of Serbia and Montenegro.












____________________________________________________
Start your day with Yahoo! - make it your home page
http://www.yahoo.com/r/hs

http://news.scotsman.com/latest.cfm?id=1876552005


The Scotsman
September 1, 2005


Briton seized in Afghanistan ambush


A British man has been kidnapped at gunpoint in
Afghanistan after his convoy was ambushed by suspected
Taliban rebels.

The engineer and his local interpreter were seized by
armed militants yesterday in an attack which left
three policemen dead.

The man's family is being kept informed by police
liaison officers as Nato-led troops help hunt for the
missing pair using checkpoints and surveillance
aircraft.
------------------------------------------------------
http://www.frontierpost.com.pk/afghan.asp


Afghan Islamic Press (Pakistan)
September 1, 2005


Taliban claim destroying three US tanks


PESHAWAR - Taliban fighters claimed to have destroyed
three US tanks in Paktika on Tuesday, Taliban sources
said.

“Three US tanks were blown up with remote control
landmines in Teera Kotal area on Kabul-Gardez highway
near Gardez, capital of Paktika,” claimed spokesman of
Taliban guerillas Mufti Latifullah Hakimi on
Wednesday.

He said several US soldiers were killed and injured in
the incidents. However, Hakimi said that he did not
know about the exact number of killed and wounded US
troops.
------------------------------------------------------
http://www.frontierpost.com.pk/afghan.asp


Afghan Islamic Press (Pakistan)
September 1, 2005


Taliban attack check post in Khost


PESHAWAR - Taliban on Tuesday attacked a check post in
Khost provinces but no causality was reported,
government sources said on Wednesday.

Khost police chief, Major General Muhammad Ayub told
Afghan Islamic Press that Taliban fighters attacked a
security post in Yaqoubi district of Khost province,
adding that heavy arms including rockets were used by
both the Taliban and government forces and the
firefight continued for half hour.

“The Taliban guerillas inflected some financial loss
to government as the post was severely damaged but no
police official was injured in the clash, the police
chief said.

The police official, however, said that he did not
know about the casualties suffered by Taliban.

Similarly other sources told Afghan Islamic Press that
it was a fierce fight between the Taliban and
government forces but no loss of life has been
reported so far.

The police chief told AIP that police have unearthed
arms dump in Moosa Khel district of Khost province and
seized 700 mortar guns, 150 boxes of bullets, 130
round of anti aircraft gun and 40 boxes of different
rounds.

About the arms dump, the police chief said that is was
an old arms dump but the insurgents use similarly old
material in making landmines.







____________________________________________________
Start your day with Yahoo! - make it your home page
http://www.yahoo.com/r/hs

http://en.rian.ru/world/20050901/41273346.html


Russian Information Agency (Novosti)
September 1, 2005



Ukraine to make "Orange Revolution" a national holiday



MOSCOW - Ukraine's President Viktor Yushchenko wants
to make the day the "Orange Revolution" began a new
national holiday, a Ukrainian daily reported.

The president told Kommersant-Ukraina he supported the
proposal since he wanted to recognize those who had
fought for freedom.

"These events set the whole world in turmoil,"
Yushchenko said. [Indeed]
....
------------------------------------------------------
http://www.daily-news.ro/article_detail.php?idarticle=15556


Associated Press
September 1, 2005


Poll: Support for Ukraine's Yushchenko slipping


-The much-needed foreign investment has not flooded in
as the government had hoped, and economic forecasts
were being downgraded. Additionally, bickering has
persisted between Cabinet officials.
"There is a perception that Yushchenko's government is
unprepared and somewhat incoherent."


Support for President Viktor Yushchenko is continuing
to slip, but analysts don't believe the disappointment
threatens the pro-Western leader's Orange Revolution.
[Which is to say, the Yushchenko-Timoshenko junta has
been firmly ensconced by its Western backers and
popular opinion can go hang]
By Mara D. Bellaby



Support for President Viktor Yushchenko is continuing
to slip, but analysts said the disappointment did not
yet signal that the pro-Western leader's Orange
Revolution was under threat.

A new opinion poll found that only 20 percent of
respondents would vote for Yushchenko's party, Our
Ukraine, in next spring's parliamentary election, a
drop of one-third from 31.6 percent in May.

Yushchenko's main revolutionary ally and coalition
partner, Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, also saw her
party's support fall by a third to 10.5 percent,
according to the poll by Ukraine's respected Razumkov
think tank.
....
"So far, this is not really very threatening, but if
the popularity continues to drop at a high rate, of
say five or even seven percent a month, then it is
really going to be a worrying sign," said political
analyst Inna Pidluska of Ukraine's Europe Foundation.

Yushchenko needs to win a decisive victory in the 2006
parliamentary election because of constitutional
changes, due to take effect by year's end, that will
shift many of his powers to the prime minister, whose
appointment must be approved by parliament.
....
He campaigned on promises to fight corruption and
raise living standards in a nation where the average
monthly salary is 764 hryvna (US$152, 127 euros).
Yushchenko also pledged to nudge this ex-Soviet
republic closer to the West.

Many Ukrainians now do have thicker pocketbooks, after
an increase in pensions and state salaries. But prices
at the supermarket and at the gas tank have also
jumped, in part due to slowly rising inflation and the
strengthening of the hryvna, which now buys less. The
much-needed foreign investment has not flooded in as
the government had hoped, and economic forecasts were
being downgraded. Additionally, bickering has
persisted between Cabinet officials.
"There is a perception that Yushchenko's government is
unprepared and somewhat incoherent," said political
analyst Vira Nanivska, director of Kiev's
International Center for Policy Studies.





____________________________________________________
Start your day with Yahoo! - make it your home page
http://www.yahoo.com/r/hs

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/from_our_own_correspondent/4202186.stm


BBC News
September 1, 2005


Iraq: Another Vietnam for the US?
By Jonathan Charles
BBC News, Baghdad



-Mention Vietnam and Iraq in the same breath here and
American officers raise their eyes despairingly to the
skies.
It is premature to make a real comparison but some of
the similarities are becoming too close for comfort.
The last thing the Americans want is another
humiliating pullout.


Fierce opposition to Iraq's draft constitution looks
set to ensure there will be no withdrawal of US troops
in the near future, and as the violence continues, the
Vietnam comparisons return.


"Can you go to Baghdad?"

Five words which send a shiver down the stiffest
journalistic spine.

After covering more than a dozen conflicts during the
past couple of decades, I was in no doubt as to what a
trip to one of the world's most dangerous capitals
would be like.

Two and a half years on from the war which brought
down Saddam Hussein, death is still part of daily life
in Baghdad.

The past few weeks in Iraq have been particularly
bloody.

Twice in recent days my breakfast has been interrupted
by the crump of nearby explosions and the crack of
rifle fire.

The continuing violence is fuelling yet more
comparisons about whether what is happening here -
with American troops bogged down in a seemingly
endless battle against the insurgents - is similar to
the United States' terrible experience in Vietnam.

Demoralised forces

When I was growing up as a kid in the early 1970s, I
remember watching BBC reporters in Vietnam talking
about the demoralised American forces, unable to
defeat their enemy.

It was seeing these glamorous figures on television
that made me want to be a foreign correspondent.

Now, 30 years later, here I am in Baghdad grappling
with the same issue in another country. Is this
another Vietnam for America?
It is an easy analogy for critics of the American
presence here to bandy about, and the truth is that
there are both similarities and differences.

Half a million American troops spent 10 years in
Vietnam fighting the communists before suffering their
humiliating withdrawal.

This time the United States' commitment is much
smaller, casualties have been fewer and the aim is to
leave heads-held-high much sooner.

But in some other ways, the conflicts are alike.

Losing control

The American troops - just like their predecessors in
Vietnam - do appear to have low morale.

So far, almost 1,900 have been killed and the number
rises every day.

The soldiers can sense that life isn't improving here.


One captain I spoke to said he feels as though his men
are moving around Baghdad with their backs against the
walls.

He told me they can feel what control they had
slipping from their grasp.

He said in his unit, part of an infantry division,
many of his soldiers are beginning to lose faith in
their mission.

Falling morale goes hand-in-hand with a lack of
discipline.

There was a vivid example of that here earlier this
week when an Iraqi working as a TV sound recordist for
the Reuters news agency was shot dead by an American
soldier.

His only mistake was to have approached an area where
there had been a shooting incident.

Innocent civilian

Waleed Khaled appears to have been fired on without
any warning. He leaves behind a wife who is four
months pregnant and a seven-year-old daughter.

The Reuters cameraman with him was injured and,
although the main witness to what had happened, he was
promptly arrested by the Americans.

Before he was taken away, the cameraman was able to
tell colleagues what had occurred.

When an American journalist working for Reuters,
managed to get to the scene with a British security
adviser, he found the Americans laughing and joking
around Waleed's body.

They were also refusing to give the injured cameraman
any water.

The security adviser - a former British soldier - said
it was apparent to him that the American troops wanted
to clear away any evidence before there could be an
outside inquiry.

He said what was most worrying was that the unit did
not seem to care that they had shot dead an innocent
civilian.

The American military authorities say their
investigations are continuing.

Disastrous consequences

When I raised the matter with a senior British
official in Baghdad, he admitted there was now a
problem with American troops.

He told me they did not understand how to win over
Iraqi hearts and minds.

Every civilian death means that another family turns
against the Americans, he said.

In Vietnam too, America lost the "hearts and minds"
campaign with disastrous consequences.

During the final years in Vietnam, the Americans
started handing over more and more military
responsibility to local troops - the policy of
"Vietnamisation" - but they proved ineffective, unable
to stop the communist onslaught.

In Iraq today, there is a policy of "Iraqisation".

Frightened army

Driving around Baghdad, I have seen more and more
checkpoints manned by Iraqi troops, but they too
appear badly led and trained.

If you ask a question, they immediately look towards
the American forces standing in the background for
guidance.

At one roadblock this week, I saw Iraqi troops with
black woollen balaclavas over their heads, a bizarre
sight in the stifling heat of the Baghdad summer.

They did not want to be recognised, worried that they
and their families would be targeted.

It shows what little belief they have in their
abilities. Even members of the country's new army are
frightened of the insurgents.

Mention Vietnam and Iraq in the same breath here and
American officers raise their eyes despairingly to the
skies.

It is premature to make a real comparison but some of
the similarities are becoming too close for comfort.
The last thing the Americans want is another
humiliating pullout.

From Our Own Correspondent was broadcast on Thursday,
1 September, 2005 at 1100 BST on BBC Radio 4. Please
check the programme schedules for World Service
transmission times.







____________________________________________________
Start your day with Yahoo! - make it your home page
http://www.yahoo.com/r/hs

http://www.spacewar.com/2005/050902020403.5z8x1o3d.html


Agence France-Presse
September 2, 2005


Iraq-tested soldiers in New Orleans with shoot to kill
orders


BATON ROUGE - A squad of 300 National Guard troops
landed in anarchic New Orleans fresh from Iraq on
Thursday, with authorization to shoot and kill
"hoodlums", Louisiana Governor Kathleen Blanco said.

"Three hundred of the Arkansas National Guard have
landed in the city of New Orleans," said Blanco.

"These troops are fresh back from Iraq, well trained,
experienced, battle tested and under my orders to
restore order in the streets," Blanco said.

"They have M-16s and they are locked and loaded.

"These troops know how to shoot and kill and they are
more than willing to do so if necessary and I expect
they will," said Blanco.

Colonel Henry Whitehorn of the Louisiana State Police
said that the law and order situation in the city was
"bad."

He said however anarchic conditions around the
Superdome stadium and central business district where
up to 20,000 refugees have been sheltering had been
"stabilising."

But he admitted that a number of police officers, who
had lost everything in flooding after Hurricane
Katrina which roared ashore last Monday, had handed in
their badges, unwilling to take the fight to looters.

Several thousand people are feared dead in the
disaster.










____________________________________________________
Start your day with Yahoo! - make it your home page
http://www.yahoo.com/r/hs

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2005-09/02/content_3432634.htm


Xinhua News Agency
September 2, 2005


Chavez warns of global energy disaster if US invades
Venezuela


CARACAS - Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez on Thursday
warned of a global energy disaster if the United
States invaded his country to seize its oil reserves.

During an interview broadcast by the state-run VTV
television, Chavez said the US Defense Department is
interested in Venezuela's Orinoco region, which has a
crude reserve of 300 billion barrels.

He said the Venezuelan intelligence services have
learned of a US plan to invade his country and capture
the oil fields.

Under the US plan, code-named Balboa, a number of
ships, men and bombs will be used for invasion of the
major cities of Caracas, Maracay and Valencia,
according to the president.

Chavez vowed that the US soldiers "will bite the dust"
if they invade Venezuela.

Relations between Venezuela and the United States have
been deteriorating over recent years, and Caracas
accused Washington of supporting an abortive coup to
overthrow Chavez in April 2002.

Chavez also accused Washington of planning to
assassinate him, which the US government has denied.

Venezuela, with a daily 2.8-million-barrel output, is
the second most important producer of crude oil in
Latin America, nextonly to Mexico. It is the region's
main exporter with 1.5 million barrels of oil being
shipped out every day.





____________________________________________________
Start your day with Yahoo! - make it your home page
http://www.yahoo.com/r/hs

http://www.interfax.ru/e/B/politics/28.html?id_issue=11370926


Interfax
September 2, 2005


Russia demands Georgia stop provocations against
peacekeepers


MOSCOW - The Russian Foreign Ministry has denounced
Georgian actions aimed at the CIS collective
peacekeeping force which it sees as provocative.

"Moscow protests against the provocations from the
Georgian side. These actions are creating obstacles to
the operations of the peacekeeping force, which is
fulfilling the important task of preserving peace and
security in the conflict zone. These actions must be
stopped and confiscated cargo immediately returned to
the peacekeepers," a Friday ministry release says.
------------------------------------------------------
http://en.rian.ru/russia/20050902/41277011.html


Russian Information Agency (Novosti)
September 2, 2005


Moscow demands end to Georgian provocations against
peacekeepers


MOSCOW - Moscow is demanding that Georgia immediately
end provocations targeting peacekeepers and return
cargo that has been detained, the Russian Foreign
Ministry said Friday.

On August 31, Georgia stopped and detained
peacekeepers' vehicles delivering cargo to the
personnel with the Collective Peacekeeping Forces in
the zone of the conflict between Georgia and the
self-proclaimed republic of Abkhazia. The vehicles
were only released after the CPF command intervened,
but some cargo was not returned.

"Moscow protests against the provocations made by the
Georgian side, which created obstacles for the
Collective Peacekeeping Forces fulfilling the
important task of maintaining peace and security in
the conflict zone. Such actions must come to an end
and the detained cargo must be immediately returned to
the peacemakers," the Foreign Ministry said in a
statement.

The Foreign Ministry said that was the Georgian
authorities' second such action in August.

"Such actions violate the right of the CIS
[Commonwealth of Independent States] peacekeepers to
freedom of movement, their status, privileges and
immunity, which are similar to those given to UN
personnel when operations are conducted to maintain
peace, as well as the right to bring in equipment,
food, supply items and other goods without
restrictions," the ministry said.

The ministry said Georgia had signed the relevant
resolutions of the CIS Council of Heads of State on
the CPF in 1994 and 1996.
------------------------------------------------------
http://www.rbcnews.com/free/20050902112127.shtml


RosBusinessConsulting (Russia)
September 2, 2005


Russia protests against Tbilisi's seizing its cargoes


Moscow - Moscow has expressed its protest against
Georgia's preventing the Collective Peacekeeping
Forces of the CIS from operating in the conflict area,
the Russian foreign ministry reported.

Georgian authorities have seized a column of the
forces carrying provision for the forces.

The column was released after talks between commanders
of the collective forces and Georgian authorities.

The Russian foreign ministry stressed that such
actions prevent peacekeeping forces from moving
throughout the conflict area.
------------------------------------------------------
http://www.geotimes.ge/gtnews.php?cat1=6#20451


Daily Georgian Times
September 2, 2005


Russian peacekeepers say Georgia accuses them of
smuggling


Russian peacekeepers in the zone of the
Georgian-Abkhaz conflict have said that Georgia has
groundlessly accused them of smuggling.

“The detention of trucks of the CIS collective
peacekeeping force in the zone of the Georgian-Abkhaz
conflict with a supply of food is yet another
provocation by Georgian special services against the
Russian peacekeepers,” the peacekeeping force
press-service chief, Major Levon Arzanov has said.

Georgian law enforcers on Wednesday stopped and
detained two trucks of the 529th battalion of the
peace-keeping force that carried food supplies from a
warehouse of the Russian Defense Ministry in Sukhumi
to the base camp in Georgian territory in the village
of Urta.

“The vehicles were searched in violation of all legal,
moral and ethical norms and ten boxes of cigarettes
were confiscated. The cigarettes had been received at
the warehouse and are part of the Russian troops food
ration,” Arzanov said.

He believes there has been a “gross violation of the
Collective Peace-Keeping Force Status of January 19,
1996, signed by the CIS heads of State.

Article five of that document says that the CPKF
enjoys the status, privileges and immunities of a U.N.
mission personnel.”

Arzanov recalled that a similar incident took place on
August 12, when a truck carrying food for the same
battalion was detained and the cargo confiscated
illegally.

The peacekeepers’ official said that “despite the
Russian Foreign Ministry’s protest and promises by the
Georgian side the cargo seized on August 12 has not
been returned to this day.”

(Itar-Tass)
------------------------------------------------------
http://www.messenger.com.ge/issues/0939_september_2_2005/news_0939_brief.htm#4


The Messenger (Georgia)
September 2, 2005


Georgia detains more 'contraband' from Russian PKF


The Samegrelo district police and the Georgian Finance
Police confiscated goods belonging to the Russian
Peacekeeping Force (PKF) in the Georgian-Abkhaz
conflict zone on Wednesday, August 31.

Four-thousand cartons of cigarettes found in a PKF
vehicle had Abkhaz excise stamps which are considered
illegal in Georgia. Georgian officials detained two
vehicles and said they would stop all illegal goods
entering the country.

The head of Russian peacekeeping forces in the
southern area Victor Kazantsev said in response to the
arrest that Georgia was again provoking the situation
and violates the Moscow agreement on free movement of
peacekeepers, transportation of all kinds of goods for
PKF personnel.

In early August, Georgian law enforcement detained
several shipments belonging to Russian PKF on the
borders with both Abkhazia and South Ossetia. Russian
officials have maintained the goods are for their
personnel.









__________________________________
Yahoo! Mail
Stay connected, organized, and protected. Take the tour:
http://tour.mail.yahoo.com/mailtour.html

http://www.sciencedaily.com/upi/?feed=TopNews&article=UPI-1-20050902-05473400-bc\
-nato-afghanistan.xml


United Press International
September 2, 2005


NATO plans broader role in Afghanistan


BRUSSELS - NATO's top commander has said the alliance
is planning for an expanded role in Afghanistan beyond
the nation's Sept. 18 parliamentary elections.

NATO's role would merge U.N.-mandated security
assistance with U.S.-led combat operations, said U.S.
Gen. James Jones.

Jones, who had just returned from a two-day visit to
Afghanistan, where he discussed security issues with
President Hamid Karzai, said NATO is planning for the
eventual takeover of those U.S.-led combat operations
- possibly within the next year, Radio Free
Europe/Radio Liberty reported Thursday.

Such a move could free U.S. troops in Afghanistan for
deployment to Iraq. However, France and Germany have
previously expressed doubts about the idea of taking
over combat operations.

NATO spokesman James Appathurai said the issue had
been discussed in recent months by defense ministers
from NATO countries and would certainly be raised
again when alliance defense ministers gather in Berlin
in mid-September.

The NATO-led International Security Assistance Force
this week completed the deployment of an additional
2,000 troops - mostly from Spain, Romania and the
Netherlands - for a total of 11,000 troops who will
support the upcoming elections as a backup to
Afghanistan's own security forces.






__________________________________
Yahoo! Mail for Mobile
Take Yahoo! Mail with you! Check email on your mobile phone.
http://mobile.yahoo.com/learn/mail

http://www.vnagency.com.vn/NewsA.asp?LANGUAGE_ID=2&CATEGORY_ID=34&NEWS_ID=165048


Vietnam News Agency
September 1, 2005


Russia to joint military exercise with SCO members


Moscow - Russian President Vladimir Putin on August 31
asked Ministries of Defence and Foreign Affairs to
consult with other members of the Shanghai Cooperation
Organisation (SCO) and its observers about holding
joint military exercises.

Russian Defence Minister Sergei Ivanov said Russia
plans to hold joint military drills with Uzbekistan in
September and with India in October.

The Minister also said from this academic  year,
Russia will help train military officials for members
of the Commonwealth of Independence States and the
Collective Security Treaty Organisation.
------------------------------------------------------
http://www.uzreport.com/e/index.cfm?sec=1&subsec=1&n_ID=17978


UzReport (Uzbekistan)
September 2, 2005


SCO National coordinators meet in Beijing


The Council of National Coordinators of Shanghai
Cooperation Organisation member states held a meeting
at the SCO Secretariat on 29-30 August.

National coordinators from all six member states and
SCO Deputy Secretary-General S.Naryssov, as head of
SCO Secretariat delegation, were present at the
meeting, chaired by representative of the presiding
state in the SCO, Chinese national coordinator and
assistant to minister of foreign affairs Li Hui.

The meeting discussed issues, expected to top the
agenda of the upcoming meeting of the Council of heads
of government of SCO member states, due in Moscow in
October this year, as well as focused on an action
plan on execution of directives issued at the Astana
summit and a number of respective live issues,
concerning the current work of the SCO.






____________________________________________________
Start your day with Yahoo! - make it your home page
http://www.yahoo.com/r/hs

http://en.rian.ru/russia/20050902/41277899.html


Russian Information Agency (Novosti)
September 2, 2005


Russia invites India to participate in military
exercises


-[T]he desire of Moscow and Beijing to establish a
military-political alliance pointed to their "growing
resistance against the unipolar structure of the world
advocated by the Americans." The attempt to involve
India in a joint naval group looks logical in this
situation....


MOSCOW - Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov has
made a proposal to India to hold major
Russian-Chinese-Indian military exercises similar to
the recent maneuvers it had held with China, the
Nezavisimoye Voyennoye Obozreniye military weekly
reported Friday.

Experts said this means that Russia has serious plans
for its policy in the east.

Alexei Bogaturov, deputy director of the International
Security Institute, said the Russian political elite
was tired of Moscow's attempts to win the respect of
the West and the United States.

Russia's opinion is respected only when it is feared,
he said. "On the one hand, Russia does not want to be
feared, but on the other hand, you must be strong to
be respected," the expert said. This explains recent
hints about the creation of powerful military blocs.

According to Bogaturov, there are no reasons to
believe that Moscow, Beijing and New Delhi want to
join forces against Washington. They simply want to be
respected. "These joint exercises are, above all, a
kind of political statement," the expert said.

Anatoly Tsyganok, the head of the Military Forecasting
Center at the Institute for Political and Military
Analysis, said the desire of Moscow and Beijing to
establish a military-political alliance pointed to
their "growing resistance against the unipolar
structure of the world advocated by the Americans."
The attempt to involve India in a joint naval group
looks logical in this situation, the expert said.

Ivanov was pursuing one more goal when he made the
offer, the expert said. About a month ago, the Indian
military leadership again protested against Russian
arms deliveries to India's adversaries in the Indian
Ocean, in particular China. India said it would buy
from other major arms exporters unless Russia heeded
its appeal.

Therefore, Russia's offer to hold joint military
maneuvers and later to create a military group in the
Asian-Pacific region is also an attempt to sooth
India's concern over Russian arms exports to China,
the weekly concluded.








____________________________________________________
Start your day with Yahoo! - make it your home page
http://www.yahoo.com/r/hs

http://www.novinite.com/view_news.php?id=51892


Sofia News Agency
September 2, 2005


Bulgaria's President Welcomes NATO Secretary General


Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, NATO Secretary General, is to
pay on Friday a one-day visit to Bulgaria.

He is scheduled to confer with President Georgi
Parvanov and Prime Minister Sergei Stanishev.

Jaap de Hoop Scheffer will also attend NATO's Exercise
Cooperative Key 05 in the second biggest Bulgarian
town of Plovdiv.

The visit is at the invitation of the Bulgarian
president.
------------------------------------------------------
http://www.focus-fen.net/index.php?catid=69&newsid=71449&ch=0


Focus News Agency (Bulgaria)
September 2, 2005


NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer to Visit
Bulgaria


Sofia - NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer
will visit Bulgaria at the invitation of the Bulgarian
President Georgi Parvanov, the President’s press
office announced.

Along with meetings with the President Scheffer will
also watch the joint military training Cooperative Key
2005 in the town of Plovdiv.

Jaap de Hoop Scheffer will meet Bulgarian President
Parvanov at 11:15 in the Presidency.

The two are expected to make statement for the media
at 11:45 in the Gerbova hall of the Presidency.
------------------------------------------------------
http://www.focus-fen.net/index.php?catid=69&newsid=71474&ch=0


Focus News Agency (Bulgaria)
September 2, 2005


Bulgarian President at Meeting with Jaap de Hoop
Scheffer: Serious Resources To Be Allotted for Army


Sofia - Bulgarian President Georgi Parvanov met with
the Secretary General of NATO Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, a
reporter of FOCUS News Agency informed.

“Bulgaria will continue to play active role in the
Alliance and the new Government will continue to allot
serious resources for the army”, the Bulgarian Head of
State said at the meeting.

“I was satisfied to hear high evaluation for Bulgaria
as a stable and reliable partner within the boundaries
of the Alliance”, President Parvanov said in a
comment.

The President has expressed at the meeting Bulgaria’s
readiness to continue to develop in the chosen
direction through solving some very important tasks.

The President mentioned army modernization as the
first one.





____________________________________________________
Start your day with Yahoo! - make it your home page
http://www.yahoo.com/r/hs

http://www.egovmonitor.com/node/2519


eGov Monitor (Britain)
Ministry of Defense
September 2, 2005


UK offers full support for NATO Secretary General's
transformation plans


Transforming NATO, and the Alliance's role in
counter-terrorism, were high on the agenda for
discussions between Defence Secretary John Reid and
NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer in London
today.

Mr Reid conveyed to the Secretary-General the UK's
appreciation of the solidarity shown by NATO Allies in
the wake of the terrorist attacks in London in July.
These attacks (as well as those recently in Turkey and
Egypt) re-emphasise the importance of NATO's
contribution to counter-terrorism. This vitally
includes operations to create long-term security and
stability, including in Afghanistan where NATO
continues to expand its presence.

In order to ensure that it remains best placed to meet
this challenge, NATO needs to continue the momentum of
it transformation programme, to provide capable,
flexible and rapidly-deployable forces, supported by a
modern headquarters.

Mr Reid said,

"The UK fully supports the Secretary-General's
initiatives to modernise NATO. NATO's involvement in
Afghanistan, the Balkans, Iraq, the Mediterranean and
supporting the African Union's mission in Darfur show
how much the Alliance is already contributing.

"But the momentum must be maintained. More needs to be
done to ensure NATO has the advanced, flexible,
rapidly-deployable and sustainable forces, supported
by a streamlined headquarters, fit for the challenges
we face in the 21st century.

"The threat from terrorism is of course one of the
most pressing challenges. NATO's military operations,
particularly in Afghanistan, are a key contribution to
global counter-terrorism work. It is vital that we
create the security and stability which long-term
success against terrorism requires. NATO
transformation will make us more effective at doing
this."

Notes to editors:

John Reid and Jaap de Hoop Scheffer met to discuss
objectives for the informal meeting of NATO Defence
Ministers in Berlin on 13 and 14 September 2005.






____________________________________________________
Start your day with Yahoo! - make it your home page
http://www.yahoo.com/r/hs

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2005-09/02/content_3433377.htm


Xinhua News Agency
September 2, 2005


European countries hold military exercise on mine
search


-The annual "Open Spirit" exercise, organized by the
German navy, has been held since 1997 in the three
Baltic countries of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania in
turns.


RIGA - Twelve European countries started Friday a
joint military exercise off the shores of Latvia to
promote their cooperation in searching and destroying
underwater mines and enhance shipping security.

The drill, code-named "Open Spirit 2005," is aimed at
increasing cooperation among the European countries in
searching and destroying mines, said the general staff
of the Latvian Navy.

Participants from Latvia, Belgium, Denmark, Estonia,
France, Lithuania, The Netherlands, Poland, Russia,
Sweden, Britain and Germany will work together to
search, identify and destroy mines and other
explosives that were left in the Baltic Sea during
World Wars I and II, said the general staff.

Altogether, 20 warships are to join the drill, which
is scheduled to end on Sept. 13, it said.

The annual "Open Spirit" exercise, organized by the
German navy, has been held since 1997 in the three
Baltic countries of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania in
turns.

More than 300 mines, bombs and other explosives have
reportedly been found and destroyed in the Baltic
waters since the first "Open Spirit" exercise.





__________________________________
Yahoo! Mail for Mobile
Take Yahoo! Mail with you! Check email on your mobile phone.
http://mobile.yahoo.com/learn/mail

http://www.startribune.com/stories/484/5593021.html


Associated Press
September 2, 2005


Blasts heard along New Orleans' waterfront
Allen G. Breed


NEW ORLEANS — An explosion jolted residents awake
early today, illuminating the pre-dawn sky with red
and orange flames over the city where corpses rotted
along flooded sidewalks and bands of armed thugs
thwarted fitful rescue efforts.

Congress was rushing through a $10.5 billion aid
package, the Pentagon promised 1,400 National
Guardsmen a day to stop the looting and President Bush
planned to visit the region. But city officials were
seething with anger about what they called a slow
federal response following the devastation left by
Hurricane Katrina.

"They don't have a clue what's going on down there,''
Mayor Ray Nagin told WWL-AM Thursday night.

"Excuse my French — everybody in America — but I am
pissed.''

At 4:35 a.m. this morning, an explosion rocked a
chemical storage facility near the Mississippi River
east of the French Quarter, said Lt. Michael Francis
of the Harbor Police. A series of smaller blasts
followed and then acrid, black smoke that could be
seen even in the dark. The vibrations were felt all
the way downtown.

Francis did not have any other information about the
explosions and did not know if there were any
casualties. At least two police boats could be seen at
the scene.

It was the opening strike in yet another day of sadly
deteriorating conditions.

Thursday saw tens of thousands being evacuated by bus
to Houston from the hot and stinking Superdome.
Fistfights and fires erupted amid a seething sea of
tense, suffering people who waited in a lines that
stretched a half-mile to board yellow school buses.
The looting continued.

Kathleen Blanco called the looters "hoodlums'' and
issued a warning to lawbreakers: Hundreds of National
Guard troops hardened on the battlefield in Iraq have
landed in New Orleans.

"They have M-16s and they're locked and loaded,'' she
said. "These troops know how to shoot and kill, and
they are more than willing to do so, and I expect they
will.''

At the Superdome, group of refugees broke through a
line of heavily armed National Guardsmen in a scramble
to get on to the buses.

Escape from New Orleans.Richard Alan HannonAssociated
PressNearby, about 15,000 to 20,000 people who had
taken shelter at New Orleans Convention Center grew
ever more hostile after waiting for buses for days
amid the filth and the dead.

Police Chief Eddie Compass said there was such a crush
around a squad of 88 officers that they retreated when
they went in to check out reports of assaults.

"We have individuals who are getting raped, we have
individuals who are getting beaten,'' Compass said.
"Tourists are walking in that direction and they are
getting preyed upon.''

By Thursday evening, 11 hours after the military began
evacuating the Superdome, the arena held 10,000 more
people than it did at dawn. Evacuees from across the
city swelled the crowd to about 30,000 because they
believed the arena was the best place to get a ride
out of town.

Some of those among the mostly poor crowd had been in
the dome for four days without air conditioning,
working toilets or a place to bathe. One military
policeman was shot in the leg as he and a man scuffled
for the MP's rifle. The man was arrested.

By late Thursday, the flow of refugees to the Houston
Astrodome was temporarily halted with a population of
11,325, less than half the estimated 23,000 people
expected.

Texas Gov. Rick Perry announced that Dallas would host
25,000 more refugees at Reunion Arena and 25,000
others would relocate to a San Antonio warehouse at
KellyUSA, a city-owned complex that once was home to
an Air Force base. Houston estimated as many as 55,000
people who fled the hurricane were staying in area
hotels

While floodwaters in New Orleans appeared to
stabilize, efforts continued to plug three breaches
that had opened up in the levee system that protects
this below-sea-level city.

While floodwaters in New Orleans appeared to
stabilize, efforts continued to plug three breaches
that had opened up in the levee system that was
designed to protect this below-sea-level city.

Helicopters dropped sandbags into the breach and
pilings were being pounded into the mouth of the canal
Thursday to close its connection to Lake
Pontchartrain.

At least seven bodies were scattered outside the
convention center, a makeshift staging area for those
rescued from rooftops, attics and highways. The
sidewalks were packed with people without food, water
or medical care, and with no sign of law enforcement.

A military helicopter tried to land at the convention
center several times to drop off food and water. But
the rushing crowd forced the choppers to back off.
Troopers then tossed the supplies to the crowd from 10
feet off the ground and flew away.

"There's a lot of very sick people — elderly ones,
infirm ones — who can't stand this heat, and there's a
lot of children who don't have water and basic
necessities to survive on,'' said Daniel Edwards, 47,
outside the center. "We need to eat, or drink water at
the very least.''

An old man in a chaise lounge lay dead in a grassy
median as hungry babies wailed around him. Around the
corner, an elderly woman lay dead in her wheelchair,
covered up by a blanket, and another body lay beside
her wrapped in a sheet.

"I don't treat my dog like that,'' Edwards said as he
pointed at the woman in the wheelchair. "You can do
everything for other countries, but you can't do
nothing for your own people.''

FEMA director Michael Brown said the agency just
learned about the situation at the convention center
Thursday and quickly scrambled to provide food, water
and medical care and remove the corpses.

The slow response frustrated Nagin: "I have no idea
what they're doing but I will tell you this: God is
looking down on all this and if they're not doing
everything in their power to save people, they are
going to pay the price because every day that we
delay, people are dying and they're dying by the
hundreds.''

In hopes of defusing the situation at the convention
center, Nagin gave the evacuees permission to march
across a bridge to the city's unflooded west bank for
whatever relief they could find.

A day after Nagin took 1,500 police officers off
search-and-rescue duty to try to restore order in the
streets, there were continued reports of looting,
shootings, gunfire and carjackings.

Tourist Debbie Durso of Washington, Mich., said she
asked a police officer for assistance and his response
was, "'Go to hell — it's every man for himself.'''

FEMA officials said some operations had to be
suspended in areas where gunfire has broken out, but
they are working overtime to feed people and restore
order.

Outside a looted Rite-Aid drugstore, some people were
anxious to show they needed what they were taking. A
gray-haired man who would not give his name pulled up
his T-shirt to show a surgery scar and explained that
he needs pads for incontinence.

"I'm a Christian,'' he said. "I feel bad going in
there.''

Hospitals struggled to evacuate critically ill
patients who were dying for lack of oxygen, insulin or
intravenous fluids. But when some hospitals try to
airlift patients, Coast Guard Lt. Cmdr. Cheri
Ben-Iesan said, "there are people just taking potshots
at police and at helicopters, telling them, `You
better come get my family.'''

To make matters worse, the chief of the Louisiana
State Police said he heard of numerous instances of
New Orleans police officers — many of whom from
flooded areas — turning in their badges.

"They indicated that they had lost everything and
didn't feel that it was worth them going back to take
fire from looters and losing their lives,'' Col. Henry
Whitehorn said.

Mississippi's confirmed death toll from Katrina rose
to 126 on Thursday as more rescue teams spread out
into a sea of rubble to search for the living, their
efforts complicated at one point by the threat of a
thunderstorm.

All along the 90-mile coast, other emergency workers
performed the grisly task of retrieving corpses, some
of them lying on streets and amid the ruins of
obliterated homes that stretch back blocks from the
beach.

Gov. Haley Barbour said he knows people are tired,
hungry, dirty and scared — particularly in areas
hardest hit by Katrina. He said the state faces a long
and expensive recovery process.

"I will say, sometimes I'm scared, too,'' Barbour said
during a briefing in Jackson, Miss. "But we are going
to hitch up our britches. We're going to get this
done.''

————

Associated Press reporters Adam Nossiter, Brett
Martel, Emily Wagster Pettus, Robert Tanner and Mary
Foster contributed to this report.





____________________________________________________
Start your day with Yahoo! - make it your home page
http://www.yahoo.com/r/hs