HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK ---------------------------
http://www.ptd.net/webnews/wed/cs/Qkuwait-czech-slovakia.R6NW_DM8.html Czech, Slovak banned weapons battalion top-up troops in Kuwait -Under its mandate, the battalion, on the orders of the Czech parliament and with the agreement of Slovakia, can move into Iraq in the event of an NBC strike by Baghdad, on suspicion of a strike or in support of UN resolutions. -US President George W. Bush has courted president-elect of the Czech Republic, Vacalv Klaus, for support to invade Iraq. His country has supported Washington's hard line against Baghad. KUWAIT CITY, March 8 (AFP) - A Czech and Slovak battalion of nuclear, chemical and biological (NBC) warfare specialists have topped-up troop numbers in Kuwait and some could be sent to Iraq in the event of NBC strikes, officials said Saturday. Czech ambassador to Kuwait, Jana Hybaskova, said the 1st Czech-Slovak NBC Battalion, which was initially established here a year ago as part of the worldwide counter-terrorism Operation Enduring Freedom, now numbered 465 after 10 to 15 Slovak specialists were added this week. Under its mandate, the battalion, on the orders of the Czech parliament and with the agreement of Slovakia, can move into Iraq in the event of an NBC strike by Baghdad, on suspicion of a strike or in support of UN resolutions. Czech Defence Minister Jaroslav Tvrdik said last month the battalion would only intervene in Iraq without a UN mandate if weapons of mass destruction were used in the region. For her part, Hybaskova said "if there's reasonable suspicion, in that people are dying and no one knows why, then we can go there." The specialists, provided with more than 100 vehicles, have been deployed near residential areas in Kuwait as part of preparations to guard against any fallout from a conflict in Iraq. US President George W. Bush has courted president-elect of the Czech Republic, Vacalv Klaus, for support to invade Iraq. His country has supported Washington's hard line against Baghad. Colonel Dusan Lupuljev said the world knew that Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein had used chemical weapons against his own people, and that the capabilities and capacity to use them again probably existed. "Our task is not to fight," he said. "Our task is to save life and mitigate the use of weapons of mass destruction." Hybaskova also said negotiations between Qatar and Prague to send a small deployment of NBC specialists from the Kuwait-based battalion had hit legal snags, with Qatari officials insisting the troops would have to operate under local jurisdiction, which is based on Islamic Sharia law. "This is something that is totally unacceptable. We will not put our soldiers under a Sharia jurisdiction," she told AFP. __________________________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Tax Center - forms, calculators, tips, more http://taxes.yahoo.com/ --------------------------- ANTI-NATO INFORMATION LIST ==^================================================================ This email was sent to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?a84x2u.bdn7KI.YXJjaGl2 Or send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] TOPICA - Start your own email discussion group. FREE! http://www.topica.com/partner/tag02/create/index2.html ==^================================================================
