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Page 1 Daily News
by Gail Helmer
Friday, April 27, 2001
Jane's News Briefs
Jane's Defence Weekly
Abu Dhabi seeks NBC vehicles
Middle Eastern sources indicate that the United Arab Emirates will soon select a wheeled armoured nuclear, biological and chemical (NBC) detection system.
Leopard 1 fleet vulnerable, says Australian Army
The Australian Army is concerned that the backbone of its combat firepower and manoeuvre capability, its Leopard AS1 main battle tank, is being eroded to the point where operational effectiveness can no longer be sustained.
East Timor force will train at Metinaro
The UN Transitional Administration in East Timor and the Timor National Council have approved construction of a training centre and cantonment facility for the new East Timor Defence Force.
Taiwan begins 'Hankuang-17' exercise
The Republic of China (Taiwan) has begun its annual Exercise 'Hankuang ('Han Glory')-17'.
USA launches tender for new Israeli training base
The USA has launched a competition for the construction of a military base in central Israel in a project estimated at $100 million plus.
Poland to negotiate transport deal with EADS
Polish Defence Minister Bronislaw Komorowski is to accept Primary Deputy Romuald Szeremietiew's recommendation to launch negotiations with EADS for the purchase of CASA C-295M medium-range tactical transport aircraft.
Berlin seeks public finance loan
Members of the German Bundestag defence committee have raised the possibility of the Ministry of Defence taking loans from a public institute, the Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau, to finance essential procurement programmes and the cost of the German contribution to the Stabilisation Force and Kosovo Force in the Balkans.
US Coast Guard prepares Deepwater tender
The US Coast Guard is preparing to move forward with its 30-year $15 billion Integrated Deepwater System project and release a request for proposals.
India, USA move closer to resuming co-operation
India and the USA moved closer to re-starting bilateral defence co-operation earlier this month following a visit to Washington by Indian Foreign Minister Jaswant Singh.
USA shares communications codes with Taiwan
The Republic of China (ROC, Taiwan) has been given communications codes that allow US military aircraft and ROC aircraft and ships to communicate directly, according to a Taipei Times report.
Jane's Foreign Report
Montenegro's future
Will Djukanovic lead the country away from federal Yugoslavia?Preliminary results from Montenegro's elections put the pro-independence Democratic Party of the prime minister, Milo Djukanovic, and its allies just ahead of the Socialist Party, which favours a continuation of the Yugoslav federation. Djukanovic told his supporters that the vote was a "victory for Montenegro" and indicated he would press ahead with his plans for a referendum in June or July, despite the narrowness of the vote. Djukanovic will face strong opposition not just from the pro-Yugoslav faction in parliament, but from the Serbian and federal governments in Belgrade and most western powers which fear the effects of further fragmentation in the Balkans.
Tanzania goes downhill
WHAT has happened to Tanzania's formerly benevolent President Benjamin Mkapa? His recent actions have severely damaged Tanzania's long-established reputation for peace, unity and stability. Things started to go wrong with the Zanzibar elections on October 29th last year which most observers considered were rigged by the ruling party, Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM). When the opposition Civic United Front (CUF) protested and demanded new elections, Mkapa's police brutally beat up civilians and some 20 to 60 people on the island of Pemba (estimates vary) were killed; some 2,000 (including 14 MPs) fled as refugees to Kenya. This was particularly embarrassing for Tanzania, which has a good reputation, having itself welcomed up to 1m refugees from troubled neighbouring countries during recent years.
Colombians bypass Plan Colombia
VAST stretches of southern Colombia now look like desert - crops withered away, the ground parched and brown, vegetation burnt by chemicals. The American-sponsored aerial drug eradication, the biggest in the world, is well under way, destroying every plant that grows over 30,000 hectares in this fragile Amazonian ecosystem. "This is a carefully planned campaign," says James Mack, the American point-man for Plan Colombia, the anti-drugs plan financed by $1.3 billion of American aid. "These crop-dusting aircraft are spraying areas plotted with aerial photographs and are guided by satellite positioning systems."
Chirac looks vulnerable
FRANCE'S President Jacques Chirac applauded with the rest of his country's conservatives when right-wing candidates fared better than he had expected in recent municipal elections, booting left-wing mayors from power in many towns and igniting hopes of a conservative victory in next year's legislative and presidential ballots. The two notable setbacks for the rampaging Right were the loss of Paris and Lyons to Socialist candidates. This wiped the smile off Chirac's face and not simply because the Right had ruled the French capital since 1871 or because the president - who currently shares executive power in France with a Socialist-led coalition - had been mayor of Paris for two decades until 1995. What bothered Chirac most about the election of Socialist Bertrand Delanoe as mayor of Paris was that it risked stripping him of protection against old charges of graft just as he was prepared to stand for re-election in 2002, most probably against Lionel Jospin, the Socialist prime minister.
More Caspian pipedreams
The struggle for control of Caspian Basin oil is heating up. On March 1st, Kazakhstan, Turkey, Georgia, Azerbaijan and the United States, signed a memorandum of understanding for the construction of a pipeline from Azerbaijan's Baku oilfields through Georgia to Turkey's Mediterranean terminal at Ceyhan. It will bypass Russia, which is not amused.
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