31.   Iceland has in general opposed the planned European defence force.

32.   In an apparent attempt to deflect the criticism, Chirac on Thursday offered the French nuclear deterrent to the European Union for a future EU defence force.

33.   In Sarajevo he pressed Bosnian officials to agree to a new defence bill formally uniting the Moslem and Croat defence forces into one federal army.

34.   AFP correspondents said military planes flew several passes over Grozny, drawing machine-gun fire from Chechen defence forces on the ground.

35.   AFP correspondents said military planes flew several sorties over Grozny, drawing machine-gun fire from Chechen defence forces on the ground.

36.   And he accepted that any concrete moves towards setting up an integrated European defence force were still years away, said the paper.

37.   At key intersections hundreds of police, many armed with shotguns, blocked all roads, in what looked like an attempt to keep defence forces away.

38.   Bahraini defence forces on Sunday took part in joint air and naval exercises with British and US units, the Gulf news agency GNA said.

39.   Australia will withdraw the remainder of its defence force from the UN peacekeeping mission in Somalia beginning next month, the Australian government announced here Thursday.

40.   Beijing has also sent its defence minister on a trip to Europe with an arms shopping list to modernise its defence forces.