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

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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

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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