KL urges UN to probe of 'white' policy
KL urges UN to probe of 'white' policy
EAST TIMOR: Malaysia has urged the United Nations to investigate claims by a top UN official of a "white" policy in the UN administration in East Timor, a report said on Wednesday.
Malaysian diplomat N. Parameswaran said on Tuesday he had quit as Chief of Staff of the UN Transitional Administration in East Timor (UNTAET) and would leave his post on Sunday.
In his resignation letter to UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, Parameswaran alleged that interference from UNTAET deputy administrator Dennis McNamara hampered his efforts to bring home refugees.
He said UNTAET "has become very much a 'white' mission, an Eastern mission with a Western face."
Malaysian Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar said Parameswaran's claims were serious. --AFP
;AFP;KOD; ANPAi..r.. ATW-Warcrimes-Milosevic-open Milosevic pre-trial hearing before UN court opens on Wednesday JP/10/ATW
Milosevic pre-trial hearing opens
YUGOSLAVIA: Former Yugoslav president Slobodan Milosevic appeared before the UN war crimes tribunal in the Hague on Wednesday for a final hearing before the start of his trial next month over atrocities in Kosovo.
Wednesday's hearing will deal strictly with practical matters still pending before the case goes to court, including the number of witnesses to be called, possible security measures, and a timetable.
Milosevic, 60, is set to go on trial on Feb. 12 for war crimes and crimes against humanity during the 1998-1999 Serb crackdown on ethnic Albanians in the Serbian province of Kosovo.
A second trial concerning war crimes in Bosnia and Croatia is to be held when the Kosovo case is finished. --AFP
;REUTERS;KOD; ANPAi..r.. ATW-US-nuclear US nuclear review recommends a reserve JP/10/ATW
U.S. nuclear review recommends a reserve
USA: A Pentagon proposal to overhaul U.S. nuclear policy advocates a sharp reduction in dependence on nuclear arms, but does not call for destruction of all warheads removed from America's arsenal, U.S. officials said on Wednesday.
Officials familiar with the secret Nuclear Posture Review said the proposal to Congress seeks a defense shift from Cold War nuclear dependency to more reliance on precision-guided conventional arms and a proposed U.S. missile defense system.
The officials, who asked not to be identified, confirmed reports in the New York Times and Washington Post that some nuclear forces removed from active duty could be kept in reserve instead of destroyed under the proposal.
The Times also quoted congressional officials who were briefed on the review sent to Congress on Tuesday as saying the plan proposed a 10-year schedule for slashing the U.S. nuclear arsenal from a current 6,000-plus warheads to between 1,700 and 2,000 as proposed by President George W. Bush. --Reuters