By MAR ROMAN MADRID, Spain Mar 11, 2006 (AP)— Spain observed a low-key remembrance of the Madrid terror bombings on Saturday's second anniversary of the attacks, as a delegation from Morocco home to many of the suspects fell silent at a station targeted in the massacre.
The 70-member delegation, called the Moroccan Caravan for Peace and Solidarity, set out from Morocco in buses on March 5, stopping in several Spanish cities before arriving at Atocha train station on a cold, blustery morning.
Members held a red Moroccan flag next to the red-and-yellow one of Spain as they stood in silence inside the station, one of four sites where 10 backpack bombs exploded exactly two years ago, killing 191 people and wounding more than 1,500.
The attacks were claimed by al-Qaida, but a two-year investigation has revealed that Osama bin Laden's group gave no logistical or financial support to the bombers, two senior intelligence officials told The Associated Press.
Many of the 24 suspects jailed in connection with the massacre are from Morocco, but some had lived in Spain for years.
"We want to express our solidarity and support for the Spanish people and show that the Moroccan people are a people of peace and against terrorism," said Mohamed Boujida, a delegation member. He noted that Morocco itself was hit by Islamic terrorists in May 2003 with suicide attacks that killed 45 people, including the bombers.
The delegation deposited a wreath of red and white roses and daisies inside the station and wrote messages of condolence on a large-screen computer terminal set up at a memorial site inside the building.
The ceremony was the first of several scheduled for a day in which the normally festive atmosphere of a weekend in Spain was replaced by heartbreaking memories of the morning of March 11, 2004.
The bombs, loaded with dynamite and shrapnel, turned crowded, rush-hour commuter trains into a maelstrom of bodies and body parts, twisted metal and wailing sirens.
Spain's version of Sept. 11 is etched so indelibly in Spaniards' minds that virtually everyone remembers where they were when they learned of the bombings, the frantic rescue efforts, the anguished search for missing loved ones.
The computer screen at Atocha station showed images of people crying that day, amid other pictures from a hellish morning.
"March 11 is a date I will never forget," said Javier Hervas, 35, who stopped by the terminal Saturday morning on his way to catch a train. "More than anything I remember the silence" that engulfed the city after the massacre.
Around the station, a few people lit candles and set them on the ground with flowers. But the outpouring was small compared to last year's display of grief, with only a handful of Spaniards in attendance.
Paqui Fernandez, a 40-year-old security guard on her way to work, stopped by the station specifically to honor the victims and was shocked by how few others had made the trip.
"In Spain, everything is forgotten right away. I simply could not believe there were so few candles, that there was no one here in comparison to the big outpouring last year. I put myself in the place of the victims and simply want to remember them, to honor their memory," she said.
Later Saturday, Christians, Muslims and Jews were to join together for an ecumenical prayer service outside Atocha station.
Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero was to attend a noontime wreath-laying ceremony, to be followed by five minutes of silence at the Forest of Remembrance a grove of 192 olive and cypress trees set up at a Madrid park in memory of the victims. Besides the 191 killed on the trains, a special forces officer died three weeks later when seven suspects holed up in an apartment outside Madrid blew themselves up to avert arrest.
As it did last year, the Association of Victims of March 11 was expected to mourn in silence. It was sending no official representative to the ceremony.
No one has been tried or even formally charged over the attack, but the judge leading the investigation said this week he expected to hand down the first indictments by April 10.
Unlike the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks in America, which united Americans across political lines, at least temporarily, the Madrid bombings proved to be divisive.
In elections three days afterward, voters elected the opposition Socialists and unseated a pro-U.S. government that had sent 1,300 peacekeepers to Iraq. Many Spaniards blamed that administration for the attack, saying it had made this country a target for terrorists. The Socialists quickly brought the troops home.
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The Associated Press AMMAN, Jordan - Two militants were executed by hanging Saturday for the killing in Amman of a U.S. diplomat, police said.
Laurence Foley, a 60-year-old administrator of U.S. aid programs in Jordan, was gunned down outside his Amman home on Oct. 28, 2002.
Jordanian authorities have blamed al-Qaida in Iraq's top operative, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, for Foley's death.
The two executed militants are Salem bin Suweid, a Libyan, and Yasser Freihat, a Jordanian. They were convicted of belonging to a cell headed by the Jordanian-born al-Zarqawi. The two appealed their convictions, but the appeals court upheld their death sentences in November.
A police statement said bin Suweid and Freihat were executed before dawn at Swaqa Jail, 60 miles south of the Jordanian capital.
In July 2004, a Jordanian military court found 10 people, including al-Zarqawi, guilty of a terror conspiracy that led to the killing of Foley. Six were sentenced to death, including al-Zarqawi and four other Jordanians believed to be in Iraq.
One of the 10, Moamar Ahmad al-Jaghbeer, was later captured by U.S. forces in Iraq and extradited to Jordan, where he is being retried for Foley's murder and another terror case.
An 11th man was acquitted for lack of evidence.
Bin Suweid was convicted of firing the gun that killed Foley. Freihat was convicted of driving the getaway car.
Foley's killing stunned Jordan, a U.S. ally in the fight against terror and a peace partner with Israel.
Jordan has sentenced scores of militants to death in recent years. Saturday's executions were the first to involve militants believed linked to al-Qaida.
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Pakistan terrorist arrest prevented attacks in Goa
Times of India: PANAJI: Possible terrorist strikes at popular tourist locations in Goa were prevented with the arrest of a militant with explosives, including one kg of RDX, and firearms from Margoa railway station, 30 km from Panaji.
Indentifying the militant as Tarique Jalal alias Tarique Batlo, Director General of Police Neeraj Kumar on Saturday said police recovered one kg of RDX, two Russian-made handgranades, two electronic detenators, two cameras, a mobile phone and a CD from his possession after his arrest on Friday night.
Acting on intelligence inputs, he was taken into custody after alighted from Ernakulam-bound Matsyagandha Express at the railway station, Kumar said.
The DGP said during his interrogation the Tariq revealed that he was a member of Pakistan-based militant Tehrique-ul-Mujahiddin which works under Lashkhar-e-Toiba.
He had taken two-and-a-half years training in Pakistan for conducting terrorist activities and has also travelled to Bangladesh and Nepal, Kumar claimed.
"Tourist spots could have been his target," the DGP said and added, "we have to find out whether he was here to set up base or execute some plan."
Investigations have revealed that the terrorist was frequenting Goa for last eight months and was staying in a rented flat at Sirvodem near Margao town.
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Hamas says gets Saudi promise on continued aid
RIYADH, March 11 (Reuters) - Palestinian militant group Hamas said on Saturday that Saudi Arabia has vowed to remain one of the biggest financial backers of the Palestinians, despite U.S. and European threats to cut aid.
The United States and the European Union have threatened to tighten the taps on the Palestinian Authority unless Hamas, which is gearing up to form its new government, gives up its armed struggle against Israel and recognises the Jewish state.
Hamas leaders are in Saudi Arabia, the world's biggest oil exporter and birthplace of Islam, on a tour of Arab and other countries seeking support after their surprise win in parliamentary elections in January.
"They affirmed that political and financial aid to the Palestinian Authority and Palestinian people would continue," said Ezzat El-Resheq, a member of Hamas' politburo.
"We did not go into numbers, but they promised excellent support," he told Reuters, referring to a meeting the delegation had with Foreign Minister Saud al-Faisal on Friday night.
Resheq declined to say whether Riyadh had promised to increase funding to fill gaps caused by Western countries. Saudi officials were not immediately available for comment.
Saudi Arabia is largely seen as the biggest financial backer of the Palestinian Authority. Saudi citizens and charitable foundations donate some $150 million each year to support social and economic projects in the Palestinian territories.
Saudi Foreign Minister Saud al-Faisal publicly spurned a U.S. call to isolate Hamas during a visit by U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice last month.
"We believe the Saudi position... will be extremely important in breaking the embargo that America and Israel want to impose on our people," Resheq said. "It is completely unreasonable to cut off an entire people."
Around three million Palestinians under Israeli control since the 1967 Middle East war want an independent state. But Hamas has been shunned by Western countries because it carries out suicide attacks against civilians inside Israeli cities.
Although Saudi Arabia is a key Arab ally of the United States, withholding aid is seen as politically impossible for the government because of popular support for the Palestinians, not least now that an Islamist group has come to power.
The kingdom has traditionally sought to champion Muslim causes, at various points backing Mujahideen fighters in Afghanistan, Bosnian Muslims in the Balkan country's 1992-95 war and Chechens against Russia.
Saudi media said the five-man Hamas delegation -- which is headed by leader-in-exile Khaled Meshaal -- would go on to visit Yemen, Bahrain and Kuwait, probably leaving Riyadh on Sunday after a meeting with King Abdullah.
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FORMER YUGOSLAV PRESIDENT MILOSEVIC DEAD - BELGRADE'S B92 RADIO
FORMER YUGOSLAV PRESIDENT MILOSEVIC DEAD - BELGRADE'S B92 RADIO
Former Yugoslavian President Slobodan Milosevic has died, according to reports on Serbia's B-92 radio station. Milosevic was in The Hague, where he was being held by the United Nations War Crimes Tribunal. According to the reports, he was found dead in his prison cell.
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Iran business: Out of hibernation
FROM THE ECONOMIST INTELLIGENCE UNITIran’s oil minister, Kazem Vaziri-Hamaneh, is making up for the time lost during the protracted wrangles that preceded his appointment at the end of 2005. The six-month hiatus during which major projects and policy initiatives languished now appears to have ended—although the industry still faces the threat of disruption from the dispute over Iran's nuclear plans.
The signs of renewed momentum include the announcement of plans to sign contracts for two liquefied natural gas (LNG) projects, involving European and Asian firms, and the invitation to bid for the development of four more phases in the South Pars gasfield. Mr Vaziri-Hamaneh has also indicated that he intends to move promptly to clear up a number of pending issues, including a proposed review of Iran’s buyback contract terms and the status of two major oilfield development contracts negotiated with Japanese and Chinese companies.
LNG movement
Iran has designated three of the 28 phases of South Pars for LNG exports, but has made only fitful progress in getting actual projects underway. South Pars itself is the Iranian section of a giant offshore gas reservoir in the Gulf—the Qatari section, known as the North Field, already accounts for some 15% of the world's LNG trade. The first five phases of South Pars (each phase entails output of 1bn-1.5bn cu ft/day) are now in production—Phases 2 and 3 were developed by France's Total, 4 and 5 by ENI of Italy, and the first phase by a local venture. Work is also going ahead on a further five phases (6 to 10), and two local groups have been selected to work on Phase 15 to 18. The phases allocated to LNG are 11, 12 and 13, while Phase 14 has been set aside for a gas-to-liquids (GTL) project.
The main objects of international attention in the Iranian LNG programme are Phases 11 and 13, which are to supply gas for two LNG ventures involving international firms. The most important issues to be resolved for both these schemes are the integration of the upstream gas development with the construction of the onshore facilities and the eventual marketing of the LNG. At end-2004 Total subscribed to a 30% stake in Pars LNG, along with Petronas of Malaysia (20%) and the National Iranian Oil Corporation (NIOC; 50%), which is planned to receive sufficient gas from Phase 11 of South Pars to produce some 9m tonnes/y of LNG. The Royal Dutch/Shell Group and Spain's Repsol YPF are involved with Persian LNG, which is linked to Phase 13. Interest in these schemes has quickened following a statement from Akbar Torkan, the head of Pars Oil and Gas Company, which is in overall charge of South Pars, that contracts will be signed by the end of the current Iranian financial year (March 20th) with Total, Shell and Repsol covering the upstream elements of the two LNG projects. It is not clear whether Petronas remains committed to the Pars LNG project—there were reports in mid-2005 that the Malaysian firm was reconsidering its involvement.
Pars LNG has completed some of the engineering design work for its facility, but more substantial work on the project is unlikely to start before the terms for developing South Pars Phase 11 have been clarified. There is also the critical question of securing buyers for the LNG. "First of all, we have to succeed in the negotiations we're involved in on the contract that we're negotiating, on the clients who purchase the LNG eventually," Total's chief executive, Thierry Desmarest, said at a recent briefing for Total shareholders . "And, of course, that is more important than anything else. Once we've concluded that set of negotiations, then we shall see where things stand in terms of the political issues in Iran." Similar considerations clearly apply for Shell and Repsol.
Policy pointers
Mr Vaziri-Hamaneh provided insights into his approach during his first press briefing, in mid-February. He said that new proposals on the structure of buyback contracts would be complete by the end of the current financial year. Foreign companies have been pressing the terms to be adjusted to so as to improve the risk-profile of such projects, thereby providing an incentive for them to commit more financial and technical resources. According to the existing terms, foreign companies develop fields to the point of production, and then hand them over to the Iranian authorities. The foreign company is paid out of the proceeds of the sales from the field’s output. However, foreign companies find the arrangement unsatisfactory as they have little say in how the field is run after they hand it over. In addition, many of Iran’s productive fields are reaching the stage where they require the continual application of sophisticated techniques to step up recovery rates.
The new minister, an industry insider (he was deputy to the outgoing minister), was eventually approved by the Majlis (parliament), after the first three candidates proposed by the president, were judged to be unsuitable. He has yet to state clearly where he stands in the buyback debate, but his remarks on the subject suggest that he is not overly enthusiastic about making changes that would improve terms for foreign companies. He suggested that an alternative approach to financing oil and gas development projects could consist in drawing on the Oil Stabilisation Fund (OSF), and he said that the ministry had submitted a request for such funding to the government and parliament.
The review of the buyback terms is likely to have a bearing on negotiations with China's Sinopec about developing the Yadavaran oilfield to produce up to 300,000 b/d, although Mr Vaziri-Hamaneh said that the critical issues in this deal were capacity and technical questions, rather than contract terms--Sinopec is said to be seeking a lower output target. He added that if the negotiations do not reach a satisfactory conclusion, alternatives will be studied. "We will do it ourselves, if we have the domestic financing and capability. If not, we will find a replacement." Talks are also going ahead with Japanese companies about the implementation of the 150,000-d/d Azadegan project, on which only limited progress has been made since it was signed two years ago. Inpex, the lead Japanese developer, is pressing for revised commercial terms to take account of increased costs. "The Japanese side has tentatively committed to starting the development work by early next year," the minister said. "The price increase mentioned by the Japanese side is not acceptable, but we do accept the fact that production costs have risen."
Price has also become a bone of contention in a deal for the sale of gas from Iran's Salman field to Sharjah. Following criticism of the terms of the deal from the National Accounting Office, Mr Vaziri-Hamaneh, in his remarks to the Iranian media in mid-February, said that the two parties would need to agree on a new price for the contract to be fulfilled. The 25-year contract was signed in 2001 between National Iranian Oil Company and Crescent Natural Gas Corporation, and most of the work on the fields involved and on the pipeline is now complete. It envisages the supply of some 600m cu ft/day of gas via the Mubarak field. Mr Vaziri-Hamaneh said that "necessary provisions have been made for unusual energy price changes, and the contract price will change accordingly", noting that when the contract was signed, oil and gas prices were much lower than they are now. He said that as the contract was negotiated between two companies--and not between governments--it did not require parliamentary approval. However, he said: "If the country's interests are not secured, no natural gas will be exported to the UAE. Crescent issued a statement that the contract is "firm and internationally binding on both parties". Neither the price nor any adjustment formula has been disclosed.
In the meantime, NIOC has invited international oil companies to apply by April 1st to pre-qualify for the development of phases 19 to 22 of the South Pars gasfield on a buyback basis. The project will entail producing 3.5bn cu ft/d of natural gas for domestic use, as well as the recovery of 2m tonnes/year (t/y) of ethane for use as feedstock in Iranian petrochemical plants, 2.1m t/y of liquefied petroleum gas and 160,000 b/d of condensates.
Nuclear shadow
The development of Iran's oil and gas industry has been affected by political factors for more than two years, as decision-making has been complicated by parliamentary and presidential elections and the risk-assessments of international companies have been coloured by the nuclear dispute. High oil prices mean that Iran has the ability to finance a large part of its equipment requirements from its own resources. However, without significant technological and marketing input from international companies it will be hard for Iran to do much more than keep oil output steady at about 4m b/d, and there will be little chance of it joining the ranks of LNG exporters. The evolution of the nuclear dispute will therefore have a crucial bearing on the pace and scope of Iran's oil and gas development.
SOURCE: ViewsWire Middle East
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Police Scour Chechen Mountains for Rebel
GROZNY, Russia - Thousands of police are searching Chechnya's southern mountains for an elusive rebel warlord who has been involved in deadly attacks during more than a decade of war in the southern Russian region, its prime minister said Friday.
In comments on state-run Rossiya television, Chechen Prime Minister Ramzan Kadyrov said he was "100 percent" certain that the warlord Shamil Basayev was in the mountains of southeastern Chechnya. Rossiya showed footage of elite police forces crouching on mountainsides.
Basayev led major assaults outside Chechnya during the first war there, in 1994-1996, and has claimed responsibility or been blamed for several attacks since Russian forces returned in 1999, including the 2004 Beslan school raid that left more than 330 people dead.
The search operation came days after Chechnya's parliament unanimously approved Kadyrov, the head of a shadowy security force widely alleged to commit abductions and abuse of civilians, as Chechnya's prime minister.
The capture and killing of Basayev would be a major victory for Kadyrov, who has strong backing from President
Vladimir Putin and is the son of the region's first Moscow-backed president, Akhmad Kadyrov, who was assassinated by a bomb blast in 2004.
The death of the former separatist president Aslan Maskhadov last year, in what authorities say was an operation by security forces, left Basayev as by far the best-known rebel leader alive.
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Chile economy: Heading for an energy crisis?
FROM THE ECONOMIST INTELLIGENCE UNIT On March 21st, only ten days after taking over from her fellow Socialist, Ricardo Lagos, as Chile's president, Michelle Bachelet will fly to Argentina to try to secure from that nation's government assurances on natural-gas supplies. She will also discuss a possible "strategic alliance". The trip underscores concerns in Chile about energy security, an issue that will be at the top of the new president's agenda. The risk of energy rationing is growing, even as more companies make commitments to invest in electricity generation.
Chile has been living dangerously in terms of usable generating capacity since March 2004, when Argentina's government began to impose severe restrictions on natural-gas exports to Chile in violation of supply guarantees contained in both long-term supply contracts signed in 1996 and in a bilateral gas integration treaty of 1995. These gas supplies are likely to be reduced further in the coming years given the paralysis in Argentina's gas output capacity and the rapid rise in its domestic consumption.
Within this context, the chances that energy rationing will have to be imposed in Chile in 2007-08 have risen sharply following the recent confirmation by the US National Weather Service that the La Niña climatic phenomenon is again in operation. In Chile La Niña is synonymous with drought.
The supply of energy from Chile's hydroelectric plants will remain relatively secure this year because, after two consecutive years of abundant rainfall in 2004-05, Chile began 2006 with 8,186 GWh of dammed energy in the reservoirs of the central grid, Sistema Interconectado Central (SIC). This is their highest level since 1997.
However, these reserves will be exhausted in 2006 if the drought is severe. If the drought continues into 2007-repeating the two-year pattern of previous La Niña appearances in 1968, 1988 and 1999-and Argentina deepens its gas cuts as it is widely expected, Chile is likely to face an energy crisis.
Chile’s generating capacity by the end of 2005
By grid, MW
Type SING SIC Aysen Magallanes Total
Hydroelectric 12.8 4,695.3 17.6 0.0 4,725.7
Thermoelectric 3,583.0 3,593.0 13.9 64.7 7,254.6
Natural gas 2,111.7 1,749.4 0.0 54.9 3,916.0
Natural gas or diesel 660.0 660 0.0 0.0 1,320.0
Eolic 0.0 0.0 2.0 0.0 2.0
Total 3,595.8 8,288.3 33.5 64.7 11,982.3
Source: Comisión Nacional de Energía (CNE).
Of Chile's generating capacity of 11,982 MW at the end of 2005, 43.2%, or 5,181 MW, was fuelled by Argentinian natural gas. Out of this amount, plants with a capacity of 1,320 MW were able to run also on other fuels, mostly diesel. Chile's nominal hydroelectric capacity stood at 4,726 MW, or 39.4% of total generation capacity. Peak demand for electricity was around 7,400 MW, and this is likely to reach 7,800 MW in 2006.
The roots of Chile's energy vulnerability are twofold. The first cause is government policies that combined reliance on Argentinian natural gas to the exclusion of all other energy sources between 1995 and 2004-which raised the generating capacity dependent on Argentinian natural gas from zero in 1997 to 43% at present. The second was a populist amendment to the electricity law (Article 99 bis), passed during the previous La Niña occurrence, just before the presidential and congressional elections of 1999.
Article 99 bis eliminated force majeure limits on contractual obligations for electricity supply without a compensating rise in electricity tariffs to pay for the additional generating capacity required to guarantee supply in all events. It was a popular measure and succeeded in its objective to secure Mr Lagos's election, but it put an end to the construction of new electricity generation projects for four years.
Although many of the ruling Concertación coalition's own experts urged Mr Lagos to revise Article 99 bis in 2001, the government merely allowed electricity tariffs to rise at a firm pace, hoping thereby to entice companies to invest. Only in the second quarter of 2004, following the panic caused by Argentina's gas cuts, did the government agree to a U- turn, hurriedly preparing a new regulatory regime that enables generators to limit their risks by passing increased costs to consumers.
Investment thrust
High and rising electricity tariffs-by the end of 2005 they were 75% above their 1998 level-coupled with the completion of this new regulatory regime through Law 20,018, which came into force in May 2005, have triggered a major investment drive by electricity generation companies, including several new market participants. However, most of their new capacity will come on stream only from the second half of 2008.
Among the old players, the Spanish-controlled market leader Endesa will bring on stream in late 2008 a 377-MW plant, San Isidro II, able to run on liquefied natural gas (LNG) or diesel. It is also building the 32-MW Palmucho hydroelectric plant scheduled for 2007. Endesa is preparing environmental impact studies for four controversial hydroelectric projects on the Pascua and Baker rivers in Aysén, in the extreme south, with a combined capacity of 2,430 MW that would come into operation between 2012 and 2018.
The second-largest generator, Colbún (a joint venture between the local Matte group and the Tractebel subsidiary of France's Suez), is building the 70-MW Quilleco and the 50-MW Hornitos hydroelectric plants, due to be completed in 2007, and will bring on stream an emergency diesel generator of 18 MW later this year.
AES Gener (US), the third-largest generating company in Chile, got permission to install a 136-MW diesel turbine in Las Vegas, which is due to be commissioned in the second half of 2006, and has presented an environmental impact study for a coal-fired 250-MW plant at Nueva Ventanas on the central coast.
Among the newcomers, British Gas (BG, UK) won the tender called by Chile's state oil company Enap in mid-February 2006 to build a US$350m, gas- natural-gas (LNG) regasification plant on the central Chilean coast. It is scheduled to be in operation from early 2009 at the latest, to enable imports of LNG that will be supplied by the same BG group.
Suez, which was defeated by BG in Enap's tender, is seeking the support of Colbún and AES Gener to launch an alternative LNG project.
The Latin American private equity fund Southern Cross acquired the Campanario project and is installing as a first step two diesel-fired turbines of 60 MW each that will be operational from August 2006. The overall project is meant to generate 260 MW with open-cycle turbines burning gas or diesel, and could eventually be transformed into a 360-MW combined-cycle generator by adding a 120-MW steam turbine.
The Australian generating company Pacific Hydro is due to complete in 2008 the 155-MW La Higuera hydroelectric plant on the Tinguiririca river in a partnership with Norway's SN Power. They also have three smaller hydro projects-Confluencia (145 MW), Las Damas (40 MW) and Portillo (55 MW)-for subsequent years.
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Developments in Iraq, March 11
March 11 (Reuters) - Following are security incidents and political developments in Iraq as of 0800 GMT on Saturday.
U.S. and Iraqi forces have been battling a Sunni Arab insurgency against the Shi'ite- and Kurdish-led government since U.S. troops toppled Saddam Hussein in 2003.
A wave of sectarian violence since the bombing of a Shi'ite shrine on Feb. 22 has killed hundreds.
FALLUJA - Three civilians, one Iraqi soldier and a U.S. soldier were killed when a suicide car bomb detonated near the western city of Falluja on Friday, the U.S. military said.
BAGHDAD - The body of American hostage Tom Fox was found with gun shot wounds and his hands tied behind his back near a railway line in western Baghdad on Thursday, police said on Saturday.
BAGHDAD - A director of Al-Iraqiya state owned television Amjad Hameed was killed and his driver wounded when gunmen ambushed his car in western Baghdad, police said.
BALAD - A roadside bomb exploded near a mosque killing two people and wounding one in the small town of Yathrib near Balad 85 km (55 miles) north of Baghdad on Friday, police said on Saturday. In a separate incident a U.S. military unit raided a house and killed a 25-year-old man in al-Thuluya near Balad on Friday, police said on Saturday. (IRAQ-DEVELOPMENTS; reporting by Gazwan Hassan in Tikrit, Faris al-Mahdawi in Baquba and Baghdad newsroom; writing by Ahmed Rasheed))
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Explosives found in crowded Indian rail station
MUMBAI, March 11 (Reuters) - Police recovered several powerful explosives from a crowded railway station in India's financial capital on Saturday, days after twin blasts in one of Hinduism's holiest cities killed 15 people.
The explosives were hidden in the toilet of the Byculla station in southern Mumbai, used by hundreds of thousands of commuters every day and close to the heart of the city.
An official at the bomb squad control room said crowds of people were cleared from a nearby beach where the explosives were destroyed with a controlled blast.
Mumbai police chief A.N. Roy said police were on high alert after Tuesday's blasts in the holy city of Varanasi that killed 15.
"Besides the explosives, we also found bomb-making material," Roy said.
Mumbai, a metropolis of more than 17 million, has been hit by a series of bomb blasts in the past decade-and-half.
More than 260 people died in a string of bomb blasts in 1993, blamed on groups avenging Muslim deaths in widespread religious rioting after Hindu zealots razed a 16th century mosque in northern India.
In 2003, two almost simultaneous car bombs killed about 60 people.
Most terror attacks in India are blamed on Muslim militant groups waging a rebellion against the Indian rule in the northern state of Jammu and Kashmir
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Seven killed in clashes in India's northeast
IMPHAL, India, March 11 (Reuters) - Seven people, including a civilian caught in crossfire, were killed in gunbattles between rebels and Indian troops in the troubled northeastern state of Manipur on Saturday, police said.
Soldiers attacked a well fortified rebel camp 95 km (60 miles) east of the state capital, Imphal, early Saturday, killing four separatist guerrillas in a more than two hour gunbattle.
One civilian was also killed when a stray bullet hit him.
"The militants have been identified and they belonged to the People's Liberation Army," a police spokesman said.
The People's Liberation Army is battling for freedom for the landlocked state bordering Myanmar, accusing New Delhi of neglecting the development and welfare of the people.
In a separate encounter, security forces killed two other militants in Imphal.
At least dozen guerrilla groups have been fighting Indian forces in Manipur for more than three decades.
About 50,000 troops have are deployed in the state of almost 2 million people. More than 10,000 have died in the conflict.
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Corsican official shot in front of airport passengers
AJACCIO, France, March 11 (Reuters) - Corsican police were hunting an attacker on Saturday who shot dead a local elected official at Ajaccio airport in front of passengers arriving from Paris. Robert Feliciaggi, 63, a businessman with casino interests in Africa and a member of Corsica's regional assembly, was sprayed with several bullets in the attack late on Friday and died shortly after reaching hospital, police said.
His hooded attacker fled in a vehicle driven by an accomplice, according to witnesses.
It was not immediately clear whether the killing was motivated by personal matters or related to Corsica's frequent history of political tension with the French government.
Police said several of his friends had been assassinated in or around the port city of Ajaccio in recent months.
Feliciaggi, who represented France's ruling UMP conservative party, entered politics in the 1980s.
He split his time between the Mediterranean island, Africa -- where he managed casinos in the Republic of Congo and Gabon -- and mainland France where he held interests on the French Riviera.
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By Dr. Rachel Ehrenfeld and Alyssa A. LappenFrontPageMagazine.com March 10, 2006 Russia's determination to undermine the U.S. policy in the Middle East may well weaken U.S. power. But opposing punitive sanctions for Iran at the U.N. and endorsing HAMAS is likely to cost Russia dearly.
On March 8, 2006, after discussing the Iran crisis with U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov conveyed Russia's objections to sanctioning Iran, while warning that "there is no military solution to this crisis." Instead, he welcomed the European Union proposal to continue exploring diplomatic solutions with Iran, despite years of European-led negotiations that merely allowed Tehran to continue to develop its nuclear program. And nuclear weapons in Iran , are likely to pose a grave danger to Russia ; much graver than to the U.S.
In a similar move, after visiting the State Department, Lavrov said that the HAMAS government should receive international funding because HAMAS chief Khaled Mashaal had assured him that the money would "be spent in a transparent manner." And Like Yasser Arafat and Mahmoud Abbas before him, Mashaal promised Lavrov to allow international monitors to ensure this.
It is not surprising, therefore, that Khaled Mashaal noted, "At the Russian Foreign Ministry we felt that we were being understood."
Mashaal went on to praise Russia for breaking "the blockade which Israel and the United States have been trying to impose on us," and added that his visit to Russia "opened the door to the entire global community."
HAMAS wants the international community to accept its goal to destroy Israel, which Mashaal reiterated on March 6, 2006 on Al Jazeera and Al Arabiya TV. "If they [Israel] want an all-out war - we are ready. If they want peace - let them acknowledge the rights of the Palestinian people and get out of our land." The demand to turn HAMAS into a mere political party is unrealistic, he said, elaborating on a February 13 Dream 2 TV interview, in which HAMAS deputy head and designated terrorist Musa Abu Marzouq explained the "phased" approach to seek "an independent Palestinian state with full sovereignty over the West Bank, Jerusalem, and Gaza," while unflinchingly insisting that "From the [Jordan] River to the [Mediterranean] Sea belongs to the Palestinians ..."
This is not only the HAMAS agenda; as evidenced by the large majority of Palestinians that elected HAMAS, they too, identify with this terrorist agenda. This should be reason enough for international leaders to avoid contact with the HAMAS Palestinian Authority government, which can only serve to legitimize this terror regime.
Russia, for now, is only talking with HAMAS, not funding the terrorist organization. But its accommodating stance sends exactly the wrong signal to other members of the international community, who are already opening their checkbooks. On March 7, 2006, the World Bank granted $ 42 million to the HAMAS-led PA. Lavrov expressed the apparent reasoning for the grant, in his Washington D.C. press conference, the same day, saying that HAMAS would " hopefully endorse the road map as drafted by the Quartet without any reservations." The World Bank grant followed $143 million in emergency aid granted to the PA by the European Union on February 27, 2006. Clearly, the international donor community is willing to be duped again by yet another Palestinian leader.
Wasting no time, HAMAS on March 9, 2006, declared that Lavrov's hopes are utterly wrong. Hamas official Assad Farhat said that "Hamas rejects the Roadmap Plan," because it is a non-binding "American Zionist" plan. The HAMAS spokesman reiterated, "After Israel announces she will withdraw to pre-1967 boundaries, releases Palestinian prisoners, ceases attacks against the Palestinian people, and agrees to the Palestinian right of return, only them will Hamas enter into negotiations."
The international grants should have been avoided not only because HAMAS is a terrorist organization and proud of it, but because the exact same promises made by Mashaal's Palestinian predecessors helped to encourage and spread terrorism. Those past promises facilitated the disappearance of more than $10 billion in foreign aid into the coffers of corrupt Palestinian officials and funded all Palestinian terrorist organizations. That much had already been recognized even by the Palestinian people who voted HAMAS in, in part, to clean up the PA's corruption.
"The vast plunder of EU money by the Palestinian Authority has had much to do with the electoral success of HAMAS, stated Dr. Charles Tannock, a member of the European Parliament, on March 1, 2006. He added, "We would be showing that we have learned absolutely nothing if we sent so much as a penny to a Palestinian Authority led by HAMAS."
Yet, it seems that the EU and the World Bank are competing with Iran to fund the HAMAS led PA. Already, Iran has announced that "they would fulfill all financial needs of the Palestinian Authority." Thus, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice was correct to repeat, on March 9, 2006 at a Senate hearing that "Iran is a central banker for terror."
Meanwhile, HAMAS is busily preparing for war. A HAMAS official, identified as Abu Huzeifa in an interview with Gaza City newspaper Dunia al-Watan, revealed that since Israel left the Gaza Strip, HAMAS has built training camps in all Palestinian cities. These camps are training new cadres of Jihadists. The basic training lasts a month, followed by three more months of advanced instructions in battle skills, endurance building, marksmanship, missile launching, commando fighting, hand-to-hand combat, crawling under fences and urban warfare.
The instructors are HAMAS members trained internationally, most likely in Lebanon, Syria and Iran. According to Abu Hufeiza, the HAMAS military production units are diligently developing new weapons, including rockets and advanced explosives. He emphasized that the al-Kassam Brigades will remain as HAMAS' military arm and will continue its struggle to liberate all Palestinian lands. According to the Dunia al-Watan reporter who accompanied Abu-Hufeiza to these training camps, each camp occupies over five acres, and accommodates dozens of trainees.
HAMAS coordinates its activities via an internal communications system known as SENAO, which is also used to alert thousands of loyalists of Israeli Air Force strikes. SENAO in addition conveys instructions on where and when to attack Israelis. Abu Hufaiza ended by warning Israel that if it tries to reconquer the Gaza Strip, it will face extraordinary resistance.
While HAMAS gets more organized and openly establishes itself in the territories, the Fatah terrorist arm, Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades, on March 1 also announced the start of a new military campaign against Israel: the Ababil Campaign – named after the legendary birds that dropped stones on the infidels. This new military campaign aims to launch 200 Kassam rockets at Israeli towns along the border. This is the so-called "moderate" Fatah, led by Mahmoud Abbas.
This is the same Abbas who allowed HAMAS to participate in the election in the first place, without demanding that they disarm and renounce terrorism. This is the Abbas who told al-Jazeera on March 2, "let us give it [HAMAS] a chance," and further offered that HAMAS should "proceed with any course or program you want." Moreover, Abbas agreed to transfer all the Palestinian security forces, excepting one intelligence unit, to HAMAS.
Even if international money supported only civilian and humanitarian projects, it would be equivalent to giving money to North Korea for humanitarian purposes – every dollar frees another to spend on its nuclear project.
Moreover, supporting the HAMAS led PA is also the same as supporting Al Qaeda. According to Dore Gold, al Qaeda "operations chief Abu Zubaydah entered the world of terrorism through HAMAS. And according to a 2004 FBI affidavit, al Qaeda recruited HAMAS members to conduct surveillance against potential targets in the United States."
Russia should know better since it suffers obvious susceptibility to domestic and international Islamic terrorism. Chechen terrorists have since 1991 committed more than 240 terror attacks, killing and wounding thousands of innocent Russian victims. Traditionally, Russia has quite understandably taken a hard-line stance against Chechen Islamic terror, presumably thanks partly to proven Chechen links and ideological affinity to Al Qaeda, and HAMAS. T he Israeli Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center at the Center for Special Studies revealed last month, that HAMAS supports the Chechen rebels in their battle for independence against the Russian regime and considers them part of the global Jihad.
All those factors make Russia's current HAMAS and Iran policies simply incomprehensible. It is difficult to understand why Russia would now simultaneously give succor to HAMAS terrorists and Iran's thuggish nuclear-club hopefuls. While Russia attempts to weaken U.S. influence in the region, doubtless these decisions will come back to bite Moscow sooner rather than later.
Dr. Rachel Ehrenfeld is author of Funding Evil; How Terrorism is Financed -- and How to Stop It, Director of American Center for Democracy and a member of the Committee on the Present Danger. Alyssa A. Lappen is a Fellow at the American Center for Democracy.
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By PAUL GOBLE TALLINN, Estonia, March 9 (UPI) -- In what may presage a broader Russian crackdown against Islamist groups, a regional Federal Security Service, or FSB, head says that Islamic extremists in have moved from the "first" to the "second" level of activity, one level short in the Federal Security Service's classification of the point at which such groups will organize "mass disorders" and try to "seize power."
On March 2, Aleksandr Krivyakov, the chief of the Chelyabinsk oblast FSB, told the Interfax news agency that there now existed "definite preconditions for the manifestation of extremism on an ethno-confessional basis" among "persons who profess Islam" in that predominantly Russian region.
According to the FSB officer, such a development would not have been possible "without organizational and financial support from abroad," a fact that he said had been confirmed by the Chelyabinsk courts last fall when they convicted representatives of Hizb ut-Tahrir from Central Asia of "extremist activity."
Despite those convictions, however, "the basic channel for the 'export' into the region of radical tendencies [up to now] consists of missionaries, many of whom belong to Islamic extremist organizations" which are based in countries beyond the borders of the Russian Federation.
Such charges by regional FSB officers are nothing new. Indeed, there has been a rising chorus of statements by such officials in the Russian Federation about the growing threat that Islamist groups now represent in the Russian Federation, commentaries that ever more people in the Russian Federation and the West are now prepared to accept.
But it was what Krivyakov added that makes his comments on this point both disturbing and potentially important.
He told the Russian news agency that "it is well known that the expansion of Wahhabism in Russia is taking place stage by stage, according to a definite plan. We already over the course of several years have noted cases of distribution in the region of literature and leaflets of Wahhabi content."
"At the present time," Krivyakov continued, "the second stage of this so-called expansion is taking place: the formation of missionary groups among the members of which is being disseminated an anti-government ideology."
And unless something is done and done quickly, he insisted, these Islamist radicals will move to the final, third stage in which there will be "a sharpening of inter-ethnic and inter-confessional relations," "the activization of national radicals," and even "the organization of mass disorders and the seizure of power."
Three years ago, FSB analysts first began to talk about what they called the "three-stage process" of the Islamist threat to the Russian Federation. At that time, these analysts and others close to them in Moscow said that they had learned of this plan from captured Wahhabist documents.
But over the last 18 months, few FSB officers either in Moscow or in the regions have made reference to it. Instead, most have preferred to focus on the specific actions of Islamist groups rather than suggesting that the actions of the latter are part and parcel of a much larger and more threatening plan that the Russian authorities have been unable to disrupt.
Now, however, Krivyakov has explicitly revived this idea. On the one hand, of course, his comments may be nothing more than normal bureaucratic politics, an effort by one regional official to extract more resources from Moscow by suggesting -- accurately or not -- that the threat he and his officers now face is much greater than it was only a few months ago.
But on the other hand, Krivyakov's suggestion that Islamic extremists supported from abroad could destabilize at least one Russian region and even threaten to "seize power" there may mean that the Russian government is considering a sweeping crackdown and is using the remarks of a regional FSB officer to gauge public reaction.
To the extent that the latter interpretation is correct, the number of references in the coming days and weeks to this Islamist "three-stage process" may provide a useful measure of both the state of the debate within the Russian government over how best to respond and the possibility that Moscow will come down harder on Islamist groups than ever before.
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TERRORISM: AL-QAEDA TAKES PROPAGANDA WAR TO SCHOOLS
Rome, 10 March. (AKI) - The most chilling footage in a new al-Qaeda video comes near the end of the hour-long extravaganza of bomb blasts, sheep-slaying, and maimed Americans. It shows hooded militants at work in a primary school class in the Iraqi city of Ramadi. Children are asked to sing jihadi songs, quizzed on what they think of America and rewarded with pens, rulers and erasers. The video, of which Adnkronos International (AKI) has obtained a copy, is the work of Ansar al-Sunna, part of the galaxy of Jordanian militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, and seeks to show the extent of militants' control in the restive al-Anbar province.
The video, shot in high resolution and professionally edited, is a collage of various propaganda excerpts, linked together by a presenter, wearing a balaclava, who gives his name as Abu Suleiman al-Ruwi, and says he belongs to the media division of Ansar al-Sunna.
Ansar al-Sunna, or Army of the Protectors of the Sunna [which refers to the collective teachings of the Prophet Muhammad], is a Sunni extremist group said to be linked to al-Qaeda and Jordanian militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. It has claimed responsibility for a number of deadly attacks and kidnappings in Iraq.
Children have appeared only on rare occasions in video propaganda material by al-Qaeda and its affiliates and this video is unprecedented in its use of children.
The hour-long film begins with a historical recap, from the start of the war in Iraq, (the marines landing, the toppling of the giant statue of Saddam Hussein and the speech by US president George W. Bush) to the emergence of Islamic militants attacking US military posts, as well as footage of anti-war demonstrations around the world, snippets from last year's Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans, and copies of the Koran being thrown to the ground or having pages ripped out.
This chronological review precedes the footage of the Ansar al-Sunna militants who are ready to launch missiles and attack US armoured vehicles, but also to support the local population.
In the segment dedicated to the town of Ramadi, hooded men are seen slaying and butchering sheep and then delivering cuts of fresh meat in black plastic bags to children in the street, a helping hand to the poorer families.
It is children of Ramadi who the terrorist formation are seeking to influence. In a segment entitled "Lions of the country in the city of Ramadi", a hooded man carrying a microphone and his camera-wielding colleague interview youngsters on the streets. The children contest the US presence and say they are happy that Ramadi remains under the control of the mujahadeen.
Forty six minutes in, the presenter announces the visit by mujahadeen to the schools of Ramadi. The first to welcome the men, again masked, are boys in class 6B, aged 10-11. As well as reciting jihadi songs, the youngsters are asked for an opinion on the US. "Americans kill children" one boy says.
The Ansar al-Sunna operatives then move on to talk to much younger boys, in their first years at primary school.
The school appears a modern, solid and well kept structure, albeit spartan; the children are clean, tidily dressed and seem well-nourished.
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Top Chinese blasts national oil firms
BEIJING, March 10 (UPI) -- A top Chinese official has asked the country's oil giants to reduce exports so domestic supply can be stabilized.
"Customs statistics showed that in the first six months last year, China exported 7.59 million tons of oil products, a year-on-year increase of 48.6 per cent," said Guo Rongchang, a member of the 10th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, the country's top advisory body. "It means that while domestic consumers were suffering from the 'oil thirst,' our petroleum companies were selling a large quantity of their products abroad.
His comments, which came on the sidelines of the annual full session of the advisory body, were reported by the official Xinhua news agency.
He said Chinese companies were exporting oil because the domestic oil price increase was slower than on the world market, and the companies had misjudged the development trends of world oil price, with the hope of buying back oil when prices started to fall.
Oil companies were still the biggest winners, he said.
In 2004, PetroChina and Sinopec had combined profits of more than $25 billion. In the first half of 2005, PetroChina recorded a profit of 12.86bn dollars, Xinhua quoted Guo as saying. Profits were natural, he said, but the firms needed to keep the national interest in mind.
"As state-controlled enterprises which exercise a complete monopoly of the oil sector, the Chinese petroleum companies must also take into account the interests of the country and the people," he said.
He accused the oil giants of failing to perform their public obligations properly, and said the country should carry out more effective supervision over and impose stricter restrictions on the monopoly sector.
"The excessive pursuit of profits and other egoistic activities by the monopoly companies must not be indulged," he said.
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New terror trend disturbs India
NEW DELHI, March 10 (UPI) -- Indian intelligence agencies are disturbed by a new terror trend that has revealed the use of local people and explosives to carry out blasts, Indian strategic affairs analysts said Friday.
The Varanasi bomb blasts have established the fact that local militant modules are well entrenched in areas outside the disputed Kashmir province.
"A new trend of terrorism that has come to light after two blasts in Varanasi has disturbed the intelligence and counter intelligence agencies, as militant outfits are now using local agents then their own cadres to carry out terror strikes," said Ajai Sahni, executive director of Institute of Conflict Management, a Delhi based strategic affairs think tank.
Sahni said the bombs planted at two locations in Varanasi were primarily made of widely available aluminum nitrate and not RDX, which has to be smuggled from outside India.
He said militants seem to have altered their strategy, as they are now using locally made explosives rather than RDX.
Sahni said that the bombers were, in all probability, all Indians, and a new concept of terrorism has clearly established itself in the Indian hinterland.
Terrorists struck Tuesday on the holy city of Varanasi in the northern Indian province of Uttar Pradesh as two bombs exploded, in Sankat Mochan temple and the railway station, killing at least 14 people and injuring over 60.
A hitherto-unknown terror outfit called Lashkar-e-Qahar (Army of the Imperious) claimed the responsibility for the twin blasts. "We want to warn the Indian government and Indian public that we are capable of carrying out more such acts at will," said Abdul Jabbar, alias Abu Qahar, a spokesman of the militant group.
He said Lashkar-e-Qahar was responsible for the Varanasi bomb blasts.
"Unless the Indians stop inflicting atrocities in Kashmir and give up their tyrannical measures, including random arrests of innocent people, we would continue to carry out more bomb blasts," he told a Srinagar-based news agency.
The Indian intelligence and security agencies in New Delhi and Srinagar doubted the claim of the caller. Agency sleuths say they have not come across any such terror group.
"This (bombing) was an attempt of Lashkar-e-Toiba because the modus-operandi is typical of LeT style," said a senior unidentified intelligence bureau official.
He said LeT has used such tactics in the past to mislead the investigation. The special task force investigating the Varanasi blasts said the evidence they have gathered indicates that the blasts may have been carried out by a LeT module led by Mohammed Saleem, who was killed near Lucknow just few hours after the blasts.
"Lashkar-e-Qahar has not been heard of before," said K. Rajendra Kumar, inspector general of police (Kashmir range), adding "our information is that no such group ever existed in Kashmir."
What is disturbing the investigating and security agencies is the possibility that LeT has changed its strategy. The dreaded terror outfit now selects its target months in advance and has the operation executed by locals, who are either hired or recruited.
This is an alarming situation because it shows that LeT has expanded its network outside Kashmir. The arrest of Mohammed Saleem, an Indian, has underscored this new concept of terrorism.
Saleem, who was a small time thief in Ratlam in central Madhya Pradesh province, joined LeT few years ago. He was assigned with the task of recruiting locals in Muslim majority areas of Uttar Pradesh.
Saleem, the agencies say, stayed in Muslim majority western and eastern Uttar Pradesh for over two months and recruited three locals. With the help of the three new recruits and two local criminals, he successfully carried out the attacks.
The Uttar Pradesh police, who released sketches of two of the bombers, have now admitted that they don't have any evidence to link the terrorist killed in Lucknow on Wednesday with the blasts. Intelligence bureau investigators identified Saleem.
Lack of coordination between federal and state intelligence agencies and irregular exchanges of information have also been making the militants' task easy.
Indian investigators do not know Lashkar-e-Qahar, and are not attaching much significance to the claims made by the organization. Rather they believe that LeT has created several modules comprising of locals and trained them in explosives. These modules continue to cause havoc, mostly targeted at symbols of India's resurgence, like information technology and religious places.
Meanwhile, a LeT spokesman has denied that the outfit has any links with the new group that claimed responsibility. "There isn't any jihadi organization in Pakistan or in Jammu and Kashmir with the name of Lashkar-e-Qahar," said Yahaya Mujahid, an official of Pakistan-based LeT.
He said the word Qahar means doom and Lashkar-e-Qahar means the army that brings doom. He said Qahar must be an indigenous jihadi group based in India, and might be using the world Lashkar just to confuse the Indian security agencies.
Indian security agencies have been tracking several possible links to the Varanasi blasts, including links between Islamist jihadis in Bangladesh. LeT generally uses Bangladesh for the supply of RDX. The security and intelligence services were taken aback in this case when it was established that RDX was not used.
If LeT were indeed responsible, it will mark the first time LeT has not used RDX to carry out explosions.
Instead, locally made explosives and local recruits were used, which has caused a serious concern for Indian intelligence agencies. They now have to work out a different strategy to stop this new terror concept spreading further.
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Developments in Iraq, March 10
March 10 (Reuters) - The following are security incidents and political developments in Iraq as of 1315 GMT on Friday.
U.S. and Iraqi forces have been battling a Sunni Arab insurgency against the Shi'ite- and Kurdish-led government since U.S. troops toppled Saddam Hussein in 2003.
A wave of sectarian violence since the bombing of a Shi'ite shrine on Feb. 22 has killed hundreds.
Asterisk denotes a new or updated item.
SECURITY DEVELOPMENTS
* BAGHDAD - A U.S. Abrams tank was set ablaze when a roadside bomb exploded in eastern Baghdad, the U.S. military said. The tank crew was not injured.
* FALLUJA - At least 11 people, including five policemen, were killed when a suicide truck bomber struck a checkpoint manned by U.S. soldiers and Iraqi security forces in eastern Falluja, 50 km (30 miles) west of Baghdad, police said.
* SAMARRA - An Imam of a Sunni mosque was killed and two people wounded when a car bomb exploded in front of a mosque in central Samarra, 100 km (60 miles) north of Baghdad, police said.
* SAMARRA - Two civilians were killed and another two were injured when a roadside bomb targeting a police patrol missed its target in southwestern Samarra, police said.
* TIKRIT - Two roadside bombs targeting a police patrol exploded in the centre of the town of Tikrit 175 km (110 miles), killing one policeman and injuring another four, police said.
POLITICAL DEVELOPMENT
* BAGHDAD - Iraq's president Jalal Talabani invited parliament to convene on March 19, a statement from the presidential office said.
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News in Brief
News briefs from around the world.
News in Brief
In Brief: 17 die in Iraq violence, parliament convened, 10 March 2006
ISN SECURITY WATCH (Friday, 10 March: 17.25 CET) – A series of bombings and shooting attacks left 17 dead in Iraq on Friday as President Jalal Talabani issued an order convening the country's first permanent parliament since the US-led invasion, the Associated Press (AP) reports.
In Brief: No detainees in Abu Ghraib after turnover, 10 March 2006
ISN SECURITY WATCH (Friday, 10 March: 15.55 CET) – Contrary to the suggestion the US military gave when announcing the turnover of Baghdad's Abu Ghraib prison today, Iraqi officials say they will not continue to use the facility as a jail.
In Brief: Accusations continue in Kazakh murder case, 10 March 2006
ISN SECURITY WATCH (Friday, 10 March: 15.18 CET) – The daughter of Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbaev alleged in an interview with local media on Friday that opposition forces were working with state security services were to discredit the family.
In Brief: Belarus jails another opposition leader, 10 March 2006
ISN SECURITY WATCH (Friday, 10 March: 14.45 CET) – A court in Belarus has jailed an opposition leader for two weeks, making it impossible for him to run in the 19 March presidential elections against long-time ruler Aleksandar Lukashenko.
In Brief: US, Bulgaria in talks on military bases, 10 March 2006
ISN SECURITY WATCH (Friday, 10 March: 14.44 CET) – Washington on Friday said an agreement establishing US military bases on Bulgarian territory would be concluded by the end of April.
In Brief: Eritrea, Ethiopia delegations meet in London, 10 March 2006
ISN SECURITY WATCH (Friday, 10 March: 14.23 CET) - Eritrean and Ethiopian officials met in London on Friday to resolve a border dispute that led to a two-year war and threatens renewed conflict, news agencies reported.
In Brief: UN launches new disaster fund, 10 March 2006
ISN SECURITY WATCH (Friday, 10 March: 14.21 CET) – The UN has launched a US$500 million humanitarian emergency fund to speed up delivery of aid in disaster zones.
In Brief: Hamas-Fatah coalition talks fail, 10 March 2006
ISN SECURITY WATCH (Friday, 10 March: 13.57 CET) – Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas has offered Hamas more time to form a new government, following the failure of coalition negotiations between the militant movement and Fatah.
In Brief: Four dead in Maoist attack in Nepal, 10 March 2006
ISN SECURITY WATCH (Friday, 10 March: 12.40 CET) - At least four security men were killed and six others injured when Maoists detonated three powerful bombs at a security check point in western Nepal on Friday, news agencies reported.
In Brief: Iraq hangs 13 insurgents, 10 March 2006
ISN SECURITY WATCH (Friday, 10 March: 11.11 CET) – Iraqi authorities have executed 13 people for their involvement in insurgent activities. "The competent authorities have today carried out the death sentences of 13 terrorists," an Iraqi cabinet statement announced.
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China becoming involved in the Middle East
As China stakes its claim in the Middle East, some wonder what effect its influence will have on the region.
By Chietigj Bajpaee for the Power and Interest News Report (10/3/06)
Two regions have emerged as the most likely sources of great power conflict in the 21st century. The first is the Middle East, which is the focal point for the U.S.-led war on terrorism. The region is important both as part of a global ideological struggle against Islamist extremism and in the quest for oil and gas resources. The second is Asia, as the rise of China presents competition for both intangible and material resources on the world stage.
On the ideological front, China's model of protecting one-party rule by improving the economic livelihood of the people and emphasizing the principles of sovereignty, non-interference and territorial integrity while calling for a multi-polar international system challenges the U.S.-led international order, which favors democracy, human rights and humanitarian intervention. China's rapid growth, development and modernization is also proceeding in tandem with China's growing resource needs, which are placing pressure on raw material prices and fueling a global competition for certain resources, notably energy resources given China's position as the second-largest oil consumer after the United States. [See: "China's Geostrategy: Playing a Waiting Game"]
However, events in these two regions are not mutually exclusive. China's growing economic influence has proceeded in tandem with a growing military capability and more proactive political and diplomatic policy on the world stage, including in the Middle East. Its policy toward the Middle East has emerged as a microcosm of its foreign policy throughout the world, being driven by a desire to maintain a stable international environment in order to focus on its internal development, forming a close bond with the developing world, gaining access to raw materials and markets, and elevating its status on the world stage.
China's Relations with the Middle East
China's relations with the Middle East are rooted in China's support for anti-colonial struggles during the Cold War. Beijing's wave of diplomatic recognition with the Arab world began in 1956, with China's establishment of diplomatic relations with Egypt, and completed in 1990 when Saudi Arabia established diplomatic relations with China. With the end of the Cold War and China's emergence as a net oil importer in 1993, China's primary interest in the Middle East has been to gain access to the region's vast oil and gas supplies. While China is trying to diversify its energy import supplies, it still depends on the Middle East for half of its oil imports, with Saudi Arabia and Iran providing approximately 30 percent of China's oil imports.
Meanwhile, numerous states in the region have agreed to invest in China's downstream infrastructure as demonstrated in December 2005 when Kuwait signed an agreement to invest in refinery and petrochemical infrastructure in Guangdong province. Also in December, China and the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (O.P.E.C.) launched an energy dialogue. In fact, many recent diplomatic initiatives by China toward the Middle East can be seen through the prism of China's growing energy needs.
For example, the visit by Saudi King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz to China in January was the first by a Saudi monarch to China. This visit demonstrated the deepening relationship between the world's fastest growing source of oil demand (China) and the world's biggest oil supplier (Saudi Arabia). Since 2002, Saudi oil shipments to the U.S. have been declining while shipments have been increasing to China. Indeed, last year Saudi Arabia was China's leading source of oil imports.
China has secured numerous energy exploration agreements with the Saudi government. For example, Sinopec has won the right to explore for natural gas in Saudi Arabia's al-Khali Basin, while Saudi Arabia has agreed to assist China in the development of its strategic petroleum reserves and upgrade China's downstream refinery capacity as demonstrated by the construction of a refinery for natural gas in Fujian Province.
Sino-Saudi relations extend beyond the energy sphere. Both countries maintain close relations with Pakistan and China has sold Saudi Arabia CSS-2 "East Wind" intermediate range ballistic missiles. Saudi Arabia has also emerged as China's leading trade partner in the region with Sino-Saudi trade amounting to US$14bn in 2005.
A similar deepening of relations can be seen in the case of Sino-Iranian relations. While China abstained in the vote to refer Iran's nuclear ambitions to the United Nations Security Council at the meeting of the International Atomic Energy Agency (I.A.E.A.) in January 2006, it still maintains strong relations with Iran. When the Iran issue will be discussed at the U.N. Security Council, China could employ a similar tactic to what it employed over the issue of Sudan, which is also a significant oil supplier to China; in 2004, the U.N. Security Council was forced to water down a resolution condemning atrocities in the Darfur region to avoid a Chinese veto.
China's relations with Iran, while rooted in centuries of history from the "Silk Road" and the voyages of Zheng He, have recently blossomed as a result of China's growing energy needs. China has signed a US$100bn deal with Iran to import 10 million tons of liquefied natural gas over a 25-year period in exchange for a Chinese stake of 50 percent in the development of the Yahavaran oil field in Iran. China has also expressed a desire in direct pipeline access to Iran via Kazakhstan.
Relations in the economic sphere have also continued to blossom as bilateral trade reached US$9.5bn in 2005, fueled by growing Chinese investment in Iran's infrastructure. Iran has also been drawn into China's sphere of influence by its observer status at the Shanghai Cooperation Organization. Given the ongoing frictions between Iran and the West, Sino-Iranian relations are also a source of potential friction for Sino-U.S. relations. For example, while China has voiced its commitment to the non-proliferation regime, Chinese companies have been the subject of numerous sanctions for the transfer of ballistic missile technologies to Iran. Since the mid-1980s, China has sold Iran anti-ship cruise missiles such as the Silkworm (HY-2), the C-801, and the C-802.
While gaining access to the region's vast energy resources is China's primary motivation for deepening relations with the region, there are a number of other factors driving China's Middle East policy. As the ideological center of the Islamic world, China has attempted to maintain good relations with the Arab world in order to get their support on the Uighur insurgency in Xinjiang Province and maintain amicable relations with the 55 million Muslims residing in China.
While China's main efforts in preventing external actors from fueling the Uighur insurgency have focused on Central and South Asian states, countries in the Middle East, most notably Saudi Arabia and Iran, have also had an important role to play in quelling the insurgency given their moral and material support. Most notably, Wahabbi Islam, which is an export from Saudi Arabia, has played a significant role in the rise of extremist, fundamentalist Islam in Pakistan, Afghanistan and the Central Asian republics on China's western borders.
In order to garner the goodwill of the region, Beijing has made numerous symbolic gestures. For example, in September 2002 Beijing appointed its first Middle East peace envoy. While this has had little significance for the Israeli-Palestinian peace process, it has nevertheless demonstrated China's increasing attention to the region.
Similarly, while China has maintained a low-profile in the U.S. intervention in Iraq, in May 2004 China submitted a document to the U.N. Security Council proposing that U.S.-led forces withdraw from Iraq. China has also consistently called for a larger U.N. role in Iraq. China is deepening its economic cooperation with the region through the China-Arab Cooperation Forum and the Framework Agreement between China and the Gulf Cooperation Council, which includes negotiations for a free trade zone.
While China has maintained a historically close relationship with the Arab world, including sympathizing with the Palestinian cause, it has nevertheless also pursued an increasingly close relationship with Israel in recent years. Israel is one of only a handful of countries that has never granted diplomatic recognition to Taiwan. In recent years, Sino-Israeli relations have been fueled by China's growing dependence on Israel for arms imports and upgrades, particularly hard-to-find U.S.-made weapons platforms. Israel is now China's second largest supplier of weaponry after Russia. Most notably, Israel has sold China "Harpy" anti-radar drones and Python-3 air-to-air missiles.
Nevertheless, there are limits to Sino-Israeli relations given the close relationship between Israel and the United States as evinced by Israel's decision (under U.S. pressure) to cancel the sale of the Phalcon airborne early-warning radar system to China in July 2000 and its decision not to upgrade harpy drones for China in 2004. [See: "Return of the Red Card: Israel-China-U.S. Triangle"]
Potential for China-U.S. Rivalry
While China and the United States are not engaged in an overt competition in the Middle East, it is not difficult to envision that the region could emerge as the stage for future Sino-U.S. rivalry. Not only are the United States and China dependent on energy resources from the Middle East, but both states offer competing models for international conduct, with the Chinese model becoming increasingly popular in the region.
While the United States has become more willing to engage in humanitarian intervention, preemptive action and regime change, with the Middle East emerging as the most likely candidate for the U.S. to practice these policies, China retains a preference for a traditional Westphalian-style of conducting international relations with emphasis on non-intervention, state sovereignty and territorial integrity.
Since 9/11 and the launch of the U.S.-led war on terrorism and the Greater Middle East Initiative to spread democratic principles across the Middle East, regimes in the region, including those that have traditionally maintained close relations with Washington such as Saudi Arabia, have deepened relations with Beijing in order to hedge their bets against a downturn in relations with the U.S. China's relations with pariah, terrorism-sponsoring governments in the region including Iran, Libya, and Syria, as well as the proliferation of ballistic missile technologies and other weapons platforms to these countries, has already created a source of tension between the United States and China.
The implications of Sino-U.S. energy competition in the Middle East extend beyond the region. At present, China has to depend on the U.S. to patrol sea-lanes through which its oil imports from the Middle East transit. Beijing is attempting to reduce this dependence by diversifying to access oil and gas imports from other regions and developing port facilities through which China can import oil by pipeline. This "String of Pearls" strategy, as it has been characterized, has been made apparent by China's development of port facilities at Gwadar in Pakistan, which is on the doorsteps of the Persian Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz. China has also expressed a desire to augment its blue water naval capability over the long-term, which could be used to compete with the U.S. in policing waterways in the South China Sea and Indian Ocean. [See: "The Modernization of the Chinese Navy"]
Conclusion
Sino-U.S. competition in the Middle East is by no means inevitable. The Middle East may emerge as a stage for cooperation between the world's major energy consumers, including the United States, China, Japan and India. This has already been seen with the joint bid by China National Petroleum Corporation (C.N.P.C.) and India's Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (O.N.G.C.) for energy assets in Syria, and China and India having a 50 percent and 20 percent stake respectively in the development of Yahavaran field in Iran.
The growing dependence on Middle East energy by China, India and Japan may also encourage these states to play a more proactive role in resolving long-standing disputes in the region, bringing peace and stability. China's low-key presence in the ongoing debate over the U.S. intervention in Iraq and abstention over the vote to refer Iran to the U.N. Security Council also suggests that China does not seek to engage in open confrontation with the United States over issues in the Middle East. There are also technical barriers to China's access to Middle East oil given that China lacks the refineries to process the heavy sour crude from the region.
Nevertheless, Chinese and U.S. interests in the Middle East are not identical. In many ways, there has been a role reversal for the United States and China on the world stage -- while China had originally fueled revolutionary change through sponsoring anti-colonial struggles and communist insurgencies, it is now the United States that is attempting to fuel change in the international system by rejecting international conventions (e.g. Kyoto Protocol, A.B.M. Treaty) and norms (preemptive action, granting recognition to India as a nuclear power).
On the other hand, while the United States has traditionally favored stability even at the cost of supporting unsavory regimes, it is now China that increasingly favors stability in the international system, even if it means supporting pariah regimes such as Burma, Iran, Nepal, North Korea, Uzbekistan and Zimbabwe. In the Middle East, the volatile mix of long-standing disputes, great power competition and Islamist extremism create the recipe for further instability in the region.
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PAKISTAN: SURVEILLANCE FLIGHTS BEGIN IN WAZIRISTAN
Karachi, 10 March (AKI) - US surveillance aircraft have begun flights across the tribal belt of North Waziristan which lies on the Afghan-Pakistan border. Tribal sources told Adnkronos International (AKI) that the flights have been taking place over the last two days, coming soon after the meetings in Islamabad this week between the top US military comander, General John Abizaid, and Pakistani authorities. The aim of the meetings was to sort out a mechanism to combat cross-border infiltration by militants and at the same time ensure that neither Pakistan nor the allied troops will then face complaints of breaching borders. "The aircraft comes from the Afghan side, goes up to the Datakhail area [near the 'capital' Miran Shah] and around and then it goes back,” said a tribal source in a telephone interview with AKI on the condition of anonymity.
Similar flights were observed before the the controversial US attack on the Bajaur Agency in January in which 13 civilians were killed in apparent missile strikes carried out by US-led forces.
Currently there are 20,000 American troops in Afghanistan but Pakistan does not officially allow them to operate across the border. Pakistan for its part has deployed 80,000 troops in the tribal areas bordering Afghanistan.
North Waziristan has been the scene of recent fierce clashes between the Pakistani troops and pro-Taliban tribal militants. Officials say that at least 140 people have been killed.
According to sources, soon after the recent demolition of an Islamic seminary or madrassa run by wanted cleric Maulana Abdul Khaliq in North Waziristan earlier this week, the situation in the tribal area has deteriorated.
Pakistani officials said that Khaliq had been using the religious school as a meeting place for militants in the area. Khaliq, together with another cleric, Maulvi Sadiq Noor, are believed to be leading the pro-Taliban militants in the area.
"Islamabad has so mishandled the situation, that it is now beyond any control," tribal sources told AKI. "Now the governor of [Pakistan's] North West Frontier Province and even [Pakistani president] General Pervez Musharraf are meeting with tribal leaders to try and sort out the situation but ironically it is beyond the control of all of them," the source said.
For the first time in the history of North Waziristan, the tribal leaders have become powerless in their own areas. After centuries of their control, teenagers and young men in 20s are now the ones who claim to be in power in North Waziristan. Most of them are not the students in any Islamic seminary yet they choose to refer to themselves as Taliban [which literally means 'student'] as a mark of kinship with the hardline Taliban movement in Afghanistan.
These Pakistani Taliban, as they are generally referred to, are those who fought alongside the Taliban regime during the initial days of the movement and they took their ideological inspiration from them. When these Taliban returned to the tribal regions of North Waziristan from where they originally belong, they spread the Afghan Taliban ideology and currently these militants refer to themselves as Pakistani Taliban and they pledge their allegiance to Mullah Omar, the founder of the Taliban movement in Afghanistan.
The Pakistani Taliban have in recent months established their power centres all over North and South Waziristan where they now resolve local disputes, provide a system of policing against bandits and robbers, resolve family feuds and provide counseling in family and religious matters. The new system has rooted out the old tribal jirga system (tribal councelling).
In fact, the tribal jirga began to lose its significance when former Pakistani prime minister Nawaz Sharif introduced political reforms in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) and instead allowed the representation of tribal leaders in Pakistan's National Assembly and Senate through a system of votes. Previously, FATA had representation in the tribal region but only through the tribal jirga.
The jirga used to comprise powerful Maliks or tribal chiefs who would then only elect a member among themselves. As a result, only tribal chiefs, usually the richest and most powerful were then made the members of the senate and national assembly. Once At one time, people such as Ayub Afridi, who was believed to be the biggest drug baron in the world, was elected on tribal seat in the national assembly of Pakistan.
This method of choosing tribal representation eventually destroyed the system in which the strongest or richest leaders were always elected. During the 2002 elections, even less powerful and poorer clerics managed to secure a seat in the national assembly. For example, in North Waziristan, Pir Nek Zaman is member of the national assembly and he comes from a very modest background. He lives in a mud hut in Razmak, North Waziristan and does not even own a vehicle.
However, the recent emergence of the Pakistani Taliban has turned the tables yet again. Over 100 tribal chiefs have been killed by the Pakistani Taliban on the suspicion of supporting the government of Pakistan and many of those still alive have fled from North Waziristan or have decided to live under the control of these young pro-Taliban militants.
According to sources, the current situation in North Waziristan suggests that an all out war is looming in the valleys of this tribal belt, with the US-led allied forces stationed on Afghan side of the border and Pakistani troops stationed in Miran Shah, the main town in North Waziristan.
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Ariz. Governor Orders Troops to Border
PHOENIX (AP) -- Gov. Janet Napolitano on Wednesday ordered more National Guardsmen posted at the Mexican border to help stop illegal immigrants and curb related crimes.
National Guard troops have worked at the border since 1988, but Napolitano signed an order authorizing commanders to station an unspecified number of additional soldiers there to help federal agents.
Once the funding is approved, the troops will monitor crossing points, assist with cargo inspection and operate surveillance cameras, according to the order.
"They are not there to militarize the border," the governor said. "We are not at war with Mexico."
About 170 National Guardsmen are already posted at the nation's busiest illegal entry point, where they assist with communications, fence construction and anti-drug efforts.
Napolitano did not say how many additional troops would be stationed at the border and referred questions to the National Guard. Guard spokesman Maj. Paul Aguirre said the number of troops would not be known until funding for the plan is approved.
The Democratic governor proposed sending troops to the border more than two months ago. Her critics in the Republican-led Legislature then introduced a bill requiring her to do so and providing $10 million for the project.
The bill won final approval Wednesday in the House and was headed to the governor, but she promised to veto the measure, saying it infringes on her constitutional powers as commander in chief of the Arizona National Guard.
Napolitano has asked the military to pay for her plan, but said she would commit state dollars if necessary.
The governor declared an immigration emergency last summer in Arizona's four border counties, citing security shortcomings by the federal government.
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International terror cell planned Madrid bombings
Expatica: MADRID — The judge leading the investigation into the Madrid bombings has said the attacks were carried out by a local cell linked to a international terrorist network.
Judge Juan del Olmo said the cell of Islamic fanatics which planted the bombs had links stretching through France, Belgium, Italy, Morocco and to Iraq.
The judge's claims come in documents issued with a judicial order to detain nine suspects for up to two more years without trial.
They show an extensive terrorist apparatus which conceived, planned and carried out the attacks which killed 191 people and left 1,500 injured.
On Saturday Spain will mark the second anniversary of its
worst peacetime terrorist atrocity.
On Friday, the London Philharmonic Orchestra is to mark the occasion with a special concert in Madrid which will also remember the victims of the London bombings in the summer in which 56 people died.
So far 116 people have been charged in connection with the Madrid attacks.
Del Olmo said within a month indictments into about 30 people will be issued.
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Iran’s military stages war games to repel air attacks
Iran Focus Tehran, Iran, Mar. 10 – Iran’s Islamist militia, the Bassij, staged war games on Friday in the southern suburbs of Tehran to defend the Iranian capital against “enemy air attacks”, the state-run news agency ILNA reported.
Nine “Ashoura Battalions” of the Bassij, a branch of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, took part in the drills near the Tehran-Qom highway to “enhance the strength and capability of the force against enemy air attacks”.
The news agency report said “medium and light arms” were used in the exercises.
“Our forces carried out operations against heliborne attacks to help prepare against possible threats by foreign countries against our country”, the report added.
The exercises involved the use of “electronic warfare tools” to “disrupt the enemy’s wireless and radio communications”, according to the report.
In February, some 2,500 members of the Bassij took part in military drills in Qods (Jerusalem) Garrison in Tehran’s Garm-Darreh district.
Those military exercises also involved the paramilitary group attacking and destroying the “positions of enemy forces that had been ferried to Tehran by helicopters”.
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Car blast in Russia's Dagestan kills policeman
MAKHACHKALA, Russia, March 10 (Reuters) - A car exploded on Friday in the Russian region of Dagestan killing a senior policeman and wounding his driver, an Interior Ministry spokesman said.
The blast ripped through the car as it was being driven along a street in the republic's capital, killing the deputy head of the local criminal police department, who was a passenger in the car. His driver was wounded.
Dagestan, a Muslim republic which borders Chechnya, has been targeted by Islamist militants, who Russian authorities say are seeking to destabilise the republic and create an Islamic state in the North Caucasus.
Rebel groups say they are responding to police brutality and official corruption.
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LIFTING OF UKRAINE FROM SOVIET-ERA TRADE RESTRICTION HAILED BY WELDON
WASHINGTON - Yesterday, U.S. Rep. Curt Weldon (R-Pa.), co-chair of the Congressional Ukrainian Caucus and founder of the Rada-Congress Study Group, praised the passage of H.R. 1053, which officially lifted Jackson-Vanik restriction from Ukraine. A Soviet-era trade barrier that has hampered U.S.-Ukraine relations since Ukraine's independence in 1991, Jackson-Vanik was finally removed clearing the way for Ukraine's normal trade relations with the United States.
Just this past November, standing beside Ukraine Prime Minister Yuriy Yekhanurov and members of the Congressional Ukrainian Caucus, Weldon called on Congress to lift Jackson-Vanik immediately. "It is time to remove this Cold War dinosaur from the halls of Congress," said Weldon. Days later, the Senate passed a measure elevating Ukraine from Jackson-Vanik and moved the matter to the U.S. House of Representatives.
Congressman Weldon congratulated Ukrainians and the Ukrainian-American community on their hard work during a press conference hosted by Ukrainian diaspora shortly before today's vote. "Today, the leadership of the current Ukrainian government and the persistence of the Ukrainian-American community should be commended for their role in helping Ukraine shed the last remnant of its Cold War past," said Weldon. "You have made today's vote very easy, and should stand proud behind this monumental accomplishment."
Throughout his time in Congress, Weldon has worked with Ukrainian officials from all levels of government and countless Ukrainian diaspora to lift Jackson-Vanik restrictions from Ukraine. "Today's vote closes a shameful chapter in U.S.-Ukraine relations," said Weldon. "Now we can truly say that Ukraine is a full and equal partner of the United States."
Several members of the Ukrainian American community thanked Weldon for his work on this issue. "The Pennsylvania Ukrainian diaspora will never forget Congressman Weldon's friendship and many years of support," said Zenia Czarnyk of Montgomery County, Pa., and member of the Ukrainian Federation of America. Michael Sawkiw, president of the Ukrainian Congress Committee of America, thanked Weldon "for his passionate advocacy and staunch support of Ukraine."
Weldon was also keen to point out the impact this vote would have on other countries throughout the world. "This is not just about Ukraine, but about all nations that desire a more free and transparent society," said Weldon. "From Tblisi to Baghdad, today's vote is a message to the world that other countries can follow the way of the "Orange Revolution". Slava Ukraine!"
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TEAM W'S UNILATERAL DISARMAMENT
New York Post The anti-war left says bad information led America into a war in Iraq it never should have waged. Meanwhile, an anti-war media steadily spreads negative stories that undermine confidence in America's ability to prevail in Iraq.
Clearly, the War on Terror - and specifically, the Iraq campaign - is more dependent on the use (or abuse) of information than most wars. And so it's truly astounding that the Bush folks seem to put so little emphasis on getting good information - and disseminating it to America's advantage.
Consider the reports filed by Stephen Hayes of The Weekly Standard (a News-Corp sister publication of The Post). Hayes notes that Coalition forces captured some 2 million "exploitable items" (documents, photographs and other textual material) in Iraq and Afghanistan - but Team Bush has actually "exploited" almost none of them.
Judging from just a few that have been made public, this material could bear significantly on the war in Iraq, as well as the broader War on Terror. Yet, nearly three years after America toppled Saddam Hussein, and more than that since the Afghani campaign, the feds have thoroughly examined and, where possible, acted on barely 50,000 of these "exploitable items." Fewer still (by far) have been made public.
Are the Bushies nuts? Some of these documents, Hayes reports, dispel fundamental beliefs about the situation in Iraq - e.g., about relations between Saddam's secular Ba'athists and the religious fanatics of the growing terrorist army.
Many folks claim the secularists never would do business with fundamentalists. The documents suggest otherwise.
Recently, a former weapons inspector, Bill Tierney, made public some 12 hours of tapes of Saddam and top aides, wherein the now-deposed Butcher of Baghdad talks of how to mislead weapons inspectors and how easy it would be to attack America clandestinely using biological or chemical weapons - and get away with it.
"We had boxloads of Iraqi Intelligence records - their names, their jobs, all sorts of detailed information," Hayes quotes a former military intelligence saying. "In an insurgency, wouldn't that have been helpful?" You bet it would.
This should be high-priority stuff.
And who knows what else is in the mountain of material yet to be "exploited"?
Beyond that, publicizing evidence that supports America's campaign seems critical to maintaining the backing of the U.S. public, particularly as an anti-Bush, anti-war press seeks to erode it.
That erosion, by the way, won't hurt just Bush - but the war effort as well, and ultimately America. Yet the administration has placed massive restrictions on the release of any material from this trove.
The American public is smart enough to do the right thing - when given the relevant facts. But it increasingly appears that the Bush folks aren't smart enough to do the right thing and release those facts. That's a big problem.
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Iran arrests 50 suspected insurgents in oil province
Iran Focus Tehran, Iran, Mar. 09 – Iran’s Minister of Intelligence and Security said on Thursday that authorities had identified and apprehended more than 50 people in connection with the recent spate of bombings in the oil-rich province of Khuzestan in south-western Iran.
“Unfortunately, these individuals had ties to the enemies of the Islamic Republic of Iran abroad”, Hojjatoleslam Gholam-Hossein Mohseni-Ezhei told the official state news agency during a visit to the south-western city of Khorramshahr in Khuzestan Province.
“These individuals are currently in detention and will soon be handed over to the judicial officials”, Mohseni-Ezhei said.
There were several spates of bombings in the troubled region earlier this year and in 2005. Ahwaz, the capital of the Arab-dominated province, has been the scene of unremitting anti-government protests since early 2005.
“Our enemies are trying to strike a blow at the Islamic Republic and these disturbances are influenced by the efforts of the enemies of the sacred Islamic Republic”, he added.
Last week, the radical Shiite cleric who heads the Islamic Republic’s dreaded secret police repeated the charge that the attackers were guided from abroad.
A string of top Iranian officials including hard-line President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad accused Britain of being behind the bombings.
London has repeatedly denied any involvement in the attacks.
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Myanmar military tightens security after pipeline attack
The Myanmar military continued to enforce a local curfew after a pipeline was attacked by insurgents also forcing them to patrol the pipeline. This is not the first time the pipeline has been attacked, and after new deals with China, the ruling junta will be keen to gain control of the outlying areas as attacks are most likely to step up.
Independent Mon news agency story...
Tight security continues in and around the site of the gas pipeline explosion In Mudon township and troops have been forcing villagers in the area to guard the pipeline and bridges.
“Every day four men from our village and Youngdoung village have to patrol Youndoung village's iron bridge for 24 hours. Fourteen men from each village have to patrol the pipeline,” Ko Khaing from Kwan-hlar village explained.
Soldiers have been based in the village for security reasons since the gas pipeline exploded on February 1 night. The soldiers have been patrolling all night in our village and other villages near by he added.
My father was forced to patrol the pipeline in our Kalawthut village recently, a girl who reached the border said.
After the Kanbauk- Myaing-kalay gas pipeline exploded, local people in the area were forced to patrol the pipeline. About a hundred men from Youngdoung village, Kwan-hlar village and Hni-padaw villages were forced into patrolling for a couple of weeks.
“They did not allow villagers to go out at night. If we have to go out for emergency reasons we have to take permission from the troops,” he added.
The authorities have also restricted villagers from celebrating their traditional pagoda festival due to the explosion. They are not allowed to have stage shows and drama performances during the festival.
Villagers are afraid and have been following the orders of the army. Villagers are concerned because the Infantry Battalion No.62 commander told them they were to be moved to Pegu division if another explosion occurred in the area.
According to villagers they are afraid of losing their land and plantation if another blast occurs. In this area, the pipeline has exploded three times. This time an armed group was said to be involved.
Local authorities have accused the Mon and Karen armed groups. But both armed groups have called the accusation baseless. Before the explosion occurred local authorities had warned that some armed groups planned to cause an explosion in the pipeline. The authorities put up posters of those involved on main roads those being held responsible are two Karens, four Burmese and two Indian Burmese. Later authorities accused Mon and Karen armed groups and also put out a warrant for a New Mon State Party (NMSP) member for involvement in the explosion. But NMSP denied that their man was involved.
This pipeline was laid in 2000 for the Myaing-ka-lay cement factory and it is more than 200 kilometres long. The gas comes from Yatana offshore in Kabauk area, Tenasserim division.
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Bomb explosion aims Thai king's chief adviser
BANGKOK, March 9 (Xinhuanet) -- A homemade tubelike detonator exploded beside a security box in front of the residence of Thai Privy Council's Chairman Prem Tinsulanonda in central Bangkok on Thursday afternoon, injuring two foreigners and causing minor damage.
he blast occurred at 2:05 p.m. local time (0505 GMT) near a security box outside Prem's house compound in Bang Lamphu district in Bangkok. A policeman at the scene told Xinhua that the bomb was laid under a stone chair which was burst into pieces after the blast.
Some police dynamite experts sampled the metal relics of the bomb and said it was something like a homemade percussion cap.
"The bomb which blasted today is the same kind of the two bombs which exploded in Bangkok during the last two months," a plainclothesman said.
Fung, a shopkeeper whose store is just in front of the blast scene, said a few stone pieces were burst into her shop.
"I was doing some cleaning in the shop when I heard the huge sound. It just like an earthquake and some stone pieces flied into the front-yard of my shop," Fung said. "And then I saw two foreigners, a man and a woman, sat on the ground beside the security box of Prem's residence."
Initial investigation identified the injured as a Briton and a Canadian. A spokesman of Vajira Hospital identified the Briton as Jeffeny King, 28, who was passing the house at the time of the blast. He was injured by shrapnel in his left shin.
Three cars were also damaged in the explosion, police said.
Police closed the four-lane road in front of the scene half an hour after the blast and then some soldiers from Thai Royal Army marched into the residence.
"Some passers-by witnessed a man in his twenties rode a bike around the residence for several times and the police are hunting the suspicious person now," a security man guarding the closed gate of the residence said.
Another police officer said he believed the blast was related to recent political chaos in Thailand. He thought the group behind the blast wanted to make more confusion for the situation because "Prem plays an important role between the political side and the royal side."
Prem, a former army commander-in-chief who was prime minister between 1980 to 1988 and currently Privy Council chairman to Thai King Bhumibol Adulyadej, was in his residence when the bomb exploded. He said after the blast that he "never knows why to be the bomb target."
Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who was on the election campaign tour in Chanthaburi, said he had not received an official report on the bomb yet but he believed someone was trying to create a situation.
He said police would try to find out the masterminds of the bomb and bring them to justice.
The embattled caretaker prime minister is facing, on one hand, a strong pressure from anti-Thaksin middle-classed groups, led by the People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD), to force him to step down following his family's sale of Shin Corporation shares to Singapore's Temasek Holdings in late January and, on the other hand, an overwhelmed support by pro-Thaksin groups who are mostly people of the grassroots level and want him to remain in office.
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Al Qaeda fugitive surrenders in Kuwait
KUWAIT, March 9 (Reuters) - A man sentenced to 10 years in jail in absentia in Kuwait for belonging to al Qaeda has handed himself in to authorities, security sources said on Thursday.
They named the fugitive as Meshal al-Shimmari, sentenced to 10 years in jail in December for belonging to the al Qaeda-linked Peninsula Lions group which staged several bloody attacks in Kuwait last year.
Shimmari, 35, showed up at the Court of Appeals on Wednesday, the sources said. A former Kuwaiti army conscript, he is one of several stateless Arabs who were part of a group of 37 Islamists tried for belonging to Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda in Iraq and Saudi Arabia.
The sources said Shimmari was a low-level member of the Peninsula Lions group, which Kuwaiti authorities said carried out four shootouts in January 2005 which killed nine Islamists and four members of the security forces.
Six members of the group were sentenced to death at the December trial for belonging to an "extremist" group, calling for attacks on state facilities and trying to kill Kuwaiti security forces and foreign forces in the country.
Kuwait, which hosts up to 30,000 U.S. troops, has cracked down on Islamists opposing the foreign military presence there. Diplomats say radical Islam is taking hold among Kuwaiti youth.
Neighbouring Saudi Arabia and Iraq are also battling al Qaeda militants bent on destabilising their governments.
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Bomb explodes on Spanish roads
ISN SECURITY WATCH (Thursday, 9 March: 15.08 CET) - A bomb exploded near a highway between the Spanish cities of Bilbao and Santander on Thursday, news agencies reported.
The bomb exploded after a warning call purportedly on behalf of the Basque separatist Eta group that four bombs had been planted on highways from Vitoria to Burgos, Pamplona to Logrono, Bilbao to Santander, and Pamplona to Zaragoza.
Also on Thursday, the outlawed separatist Batasuna party called a general strike in the region to protest the local government’s refusal to allow tributes to be paid to two ETA prisoners who died in jail.
Some 700 people found guilty of belonging to Eta are being held in prison in Spain.
The two deaths this weekend sparked protests that threatened to turn into riots.
Police used anti-riot ammunition against demonstrators in Vizcaya on Saturday, and thousands of people took to the streets of Portugalete.
On Wednesday, bomb exploded at the headquarters of Spain’s right-wing Falange political movement in Santona, in northern Spain. The Eta reportedly claimed responsibility for the attack.
In late February, Spanish media reported that the Eta had launched an extortion campaign against Basque businessmen, including photographs of the businessmen’s family members and reports on their movements.
Eta has been fighting for an independent Basque homeland for four decades. More than 800 people have been killed in the campaign. In recent years, Eta attacks have targeted building and caused no serious injuries, with an Eta representative always making a warning call to give police time to evacuate the area.
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PAKISTAN: MILITANT HIDEOUT IN WAZIRISTAN BLOWN UP
Miran Shah, 9 March (AKI/DAWN) - Pakistani security forces have expanded their military operation beyond Miran Shah in the tribal area of North Waziristan Agency and blown up militant hide-outs in the Datakhel area. Officials said army and paramilitary troops had begun a clean-up operation against militants in the agency following clashes with the pro-Taliban militants in the tribal area which lies on the Afghan-Pakistan border.
The officials said that the troops had blown up the hide-outs of the militants in Datakhel area near the main North Waziristan town of Miran Shah. On Tuesday they demolished the religious school of Maulvi Abdul Khaliq, one of the militant clerics believed to be leading the pro-Taliban militants in the area.
The top regional administrator, Syed Zaheerul Islam survived an attempt on his life on Tuesday evening, when his vehicle was attacked near Mirali. His guard however was killed while another sustained injuries in the attack.
Sources said militants had fired a rocket on the vehicle in the Nowrak area, about five kilometres west of Mirali. However, Islam escaped unhurt.
Reports say that tension is high in Miran Shah and other areas, while the bazaars and business places remain deserted.
The Pakistan army has been battling Islamic militants in the Waziristan region since Taliban and al-Qaeda fighters fled into the area after the American-led invasion of Afghanistan in 2001. Tens of thousands of Pakistani soldiers were sent into the area in 2003.
Meanwhile in the northern Pakistani city of Peshawar, lawyers and students from the tribal areas demonstrated against the ongoing military operation in North Waziristan Agency and demanded that the Supreme Court and Peshawar High Court should take action against the atrocities and human rights violation there.
Protesters gathered in front of the Peshawar Press Club and chanted slogans against president Musharraf, US president George W. Bush and called for an end to operations in the tribal areas.
Speaking to the demonstrators, Fata Lawyers Forum president Karim Mahsud said that an independent parliamentary and judicial commission should be formed to investigate the situation.
"The recent string of operations was launched in Miran Shah to please president Bush before his arrival to Islamabad," Mahsud said.
He said that around 99 percent of the local residents had been killed in the operation in the Dandey Saidgay area last week.
He urged the government and human rights organisations to take notice of the large-scale displacement of innocent tribesmen in the North Waziristan Agency. “There is no security, no food, no medical facilities and no electricity,” he added.
The government should provide food and lodging for the displaced people in other areas, he said.
Ejaz Mohmand, the general secretary of the Fata Lawyers Forum, said the government should call off the military operation and initiate talks with the tribal people to defuse the situation.
"The government is receiving dollars in return for killing the tribesmen," he said.
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Russian UAVs making a comeback
ISN Security Watch: The issue of the overall development of various types of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), including unmanned helicopters for civilian and military purposes, has been and still is well addressed by the Moscow-based analysts and defense correspondents. However, what has been lacking is analysis concerning the issue from the Western perspective.
When it comes to the issue of the use of UAVs by the Russian armed forces, this has been less publicised. This is partly because the open source information related to the operations of the 58th Army in Chechnya has not shed any light on the issue, and/or perhaps partly because there has been no reason to shed any such light.
The Chechen war provided the original impetus for using UAVs during combat. The technological level of the UAVs used in Chechnya has been low and lags behind the development and manufacture of UAVs in Israel and the US.
Another reason for the lack of information is the level of teaching of military operators to use UAVs effectively in Russia. It is not as advanced as it is in other countries such as the US.
Furthermore, the depreciation in the efficiency of the UAVs and the lack of interest by the military bureaucrats in procuring them has added to the lack of information on the issue.
A certain change in attitude and in the provision of funding by the Russian Defense Ministry can now be detected. The worldwide accelerated development of UAVs has caused the Russian Defense Ministry to focus on UAV design, development, and manufacture, and to allocate funds for this task.
Aviation Week and Space Technology magazine reported in October 2001 that Russian military experts were beginning to realize that they were missing the revolution in unmanned aircraft technology and, as a result, were urging design bureaus to begin working on a range of home-grown products.
According to another report published in September 2003 by the same publication along with other Russian-language reports, during the Chechen conflict, unmanned aerial vehicles proved to be indispensable systems for the Russian ground forces, but the Russian military experts and high-ranking officers of the armed forces in particular seriously underestimated their importance. This was in spite of the former Soviet Union’s wide experience with the vehicles, at least in peacetime. Three design bureaus were extensively involved in the design and manufacture of UAVs in the former Soviet Union: Yakovlev, Tupolev, and Kamov.
Until October 2001, Russian UAV efforts had been largely limited to one system that had been used by the army for artillery spotting. In addition, the Russian air force has not asked industry to design and build a medium- or high-altitude reconnaissance system. In another report from Aviation Week and Space Technology, dated 8 October 2001, Konstantin Makienko, deputy director of the Moscow-based Center for Analysis of Strategies and Technologies (CAST) said: “We have a great disadvantage in the area of UAVs. Building UAVs should be one of the Russian military’s top priorities.”
Apparently, the Yakovlev design bureau, which stands at the forefront of UAV research, development, manufacture, and upgrades, has been given the green light.
In addition, General Vladimir Mikhailov, Commander-in-Chief (CINC) of the Russian Air Force said in another interview with the publication: “During the 1990s, there was no funding for UAVs and the air force badly needed such systems. Right now we are accelerating our efforts and many of our design bureaus are working on developments in this area.”
The Sukhoi design bureau is the latest newcomer.
Problems have also been encountered in reconciling the differing outlooks of the land forces, air force, navy, Federal Security Service (FSB) and Emergencies Ministry - the main current and potential UAV users - and in narrowing the differences in military and civil certification procedures.
According to a report published last year in Asia-Pacific Defense Reporter, the Emergencies Ministry has decided to pursue its own system, the Irkut-MChS. Whether the problems mentioned above have been finally resolved remains to be seen. What is clear, however, is that over the last two to three years, Russian UAV development and manufacture has accelerated.
It also remains unclear how much money has been allocated for UAV development, since Russian open sources have not disclosed such information.
Furthermore, the companies themselves consider such information classified. However, Jane’s Defence Weekly reported in April last year that the Russian Defense Ministry had provided some funds, while in other cases the companies involved invested their own funds.
The designers, however, lament the lack of orders from the air force, and do not agree with having to spend their own money on research and development.
For the companies involved, UAVs have been perceived as goods for export, particularly to India and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries. So far, neither of these countries have actually purchased UAVs.
There is an additional potential source of funding, some observers say: Countries in Southeast Asia associated with the marketing of the Russian UAVs, for instance South Korea, have probably provided some funding and/or some UAV technologies have been sold to China. This information has not been independently confirmed.
The Yakovlev design bureau: The Pchela UAV
In an interview with Jane's Defence Weekly in 1998, Colonel Valery Barkovski, the Russian Air Force’s Head of Procurement for UAVs during the Chechen conflict, said one of the most pressing requirements that emerged during Russia’s UAV operations in Chechnya was the ability to deal with multiple objectives and targets. He also said the operator often had insufficient time to interpret all incoming information.
Describing operations with the Pchela-1T UAV, also known as the Yakovlev Yak-61 Shmel or Bumblebee, he said that in flight the UAV might get a number of objectives into view at the same time and, in such a situation, automatic recognition was necessary.
As a result, a decision was made to upgrade the Pchela-1Ts ground station, the Stroy-P, with an automatic target detection and recognition system. This system is programmed to identify a set number of images and can then detect and classify up to ten targets and automatically provide targeting coordinates.
Colonel Barkovski said another important concern in operating the Stroy-P system was to ensure its security, particularly when operating near battle areas or in situations where battle lines were not clearly established.
He added that it also had been determined that a mission-planning station was required for operational liaisons with the higher command and other units, as well as for the deciphering of recordings and other missions. Despite the success of the trial system, it was more than two years before Stroy-P and Pchela-1T were accepted into service by the Russian military.
Another article published in Flight International in 2004 says that although a first series of 36 Pchela-1Ts for three Stroy-P ground stations was produced by the Smolensk aircraft factory in 1991-1992 and used in combat for the first time in April-May 1995, the Pchela UAVs were officially commissioned by the Russian armed forces on 16 June 1997.
In addition, production resumed only in 2002, when six new vehicles were made and a further four returned into service after major repairs. In other words, the Russian armed forces were very slow in assessing the performance of UAVs.
The whole process underscores the armed forces’ depreciation and perhaps also its misunderstanding of the efficiency of the UAVs. Even though the UAV’s limited use in combat showed that “the data obtained by UAVs could not be obtained by other means”. In addition, the prompt delivery of information to those concerned allowed the forces to respond to changing situations in a timely and effective way.
Meanwhile, in-service Pchela air vehicles are being upgraded to provide secure, real-time, data links to manned reconnaissance and strike aircraft. The Yakovlev design bureau has also completed Russian Defense Ministry acceptance trials of an upgraded Pchela-1K UAV equipped with a night-capable infrared surveillance system.
In June 2002, Flight International reported that funding for the Pchela versions in the following year was expected in the defense budget for 2003. According to another story in April last year, an infrared sensor-equipped Pchela-1K was believed to have entered service in 2005, with between six and ten more to follow suit in the near future.
The Yakovlev design bureau began research and development of a new UAV for the Russian military in 2005, with a system that is expected to be similar in dimensions to the in-service Pchela 1, but with more advanced sensors.
Looking to the future
In April 2004, Irkut Corporation (formerly known as the Irkutsk Aviation Production Organisation (IAPO)) purchased more than 75 per cent of the Yakovlev design bureau. As a result, in addition to combat training aircraft such as the Yak-130 designed by the Yakovlev bureau, UAVs are becoming a major focus for Irkut.
In an interview with Jane’s that same year, Irkut chief executive Alexei Fedorov said: "The UAV segment will develop faster than any other for the next 20 years.”
“The system integration for UAVs is much more important than the UAV itself at this point. Systems integration is a new area for us,” he was quoted as saying.
Following integration of French avionics and Israeli components together with a Russian platform and Indian sub-components into the Su-30MKI for the Indian Air Force, Irkut has created a systems integration division. The new division’s first project is expected to be on the development of a UAV designed for para-public missions. Test flights have started.
Fedorov says the company has begun development of a UAV for search-and-rescue and border patrol missions and to provide surveillance for fire crews. The company will base the UAV’s systems on the Aria 200 integrated avionics suite developed for the Beriev Be-200 amphibious fire-fighting craft. This system, for instance, may be bought and used by the Emergencies Ministry, which has already purchased the Be-200. In addition, export opportunities for such a system based on the Be-200 aircraft looks very promising.
The Tupolev and Kamov design bureaus
In addition to Pchela UAV, the Tupolev design bureau has developed a larger and faster Tu-243 Reis-D jet-powered UAV. According to various sources, the Reis-D UAV was developed, tested, and manufactured for the army in the late 1980s.
The Russians continue to work on a large, high-speed unmanned weapons platform for attacking carrier battle groups. According to the Venik’s Aviation website, this UAV may be similar in size and performance to the Tupolev Tu-123 Yastreb, which was produced in the early 1960s.
Tupolev is believed to have completed flight tests of the Tu-300 Korshun. This three-tonne, jet-powered reconnaissance UAV with strike capability is equipped with an infrared camera and side-looking radar, and can carry a standard KMGU (bomb) container, or other weapon loads up to 1,000 kilograms, on a hard point under the fuselage.
Kamov flew first an unmanned helicopter known as the Ka-37 in 1993 after developing it using its own funds. The Ka-37 looked like a scaled-down version of a Kamov manned helicopter. The Ka-37 provided an impetus to design of the Ka-37S prototype in 1996, with a new engine. The Ka-137 is a next generation of the Ka-37, and, as a result, has been substantially redesigned. According to Vectorsite.net, the Ka-137 is currently in service with the Russian border guards and possibly coast guard patrol boats.
Kamov is understood to be working on new models to operate from compact warships, notably the new 1,000-tonne corvette for the Russian navy, carrying sensor equipment.
Moscow-based Mil Helicopter Plant chief designer Alexei Samusenko said in an interview with Defense News last year that the design bureau will complete a blueprint of its unmanned helicopter. The company began work on its unmanned helicopter program in 2000. Samusenko said the prototype of Mil’s first unmanned helicopter may be built this year.
He also said that until then, the company has been investing its own money in the program, but he refused to specify how much. He further added that Mil was drawing up the technical proposal with a concrete set of equipment for the two prospective customers: the Russian Defense Ministry and the Emergencies Ministry. So far, as of last year, the Russian air force had not put forward a tender for an unmanned helicopter, he said.
The crucial importance of UAVs
The advantages and specificity of the UAVs underlines their role as highly mobile component of the air force. They are capable in a short time of collecting reliable intelligence about the enemy spread over a large territory and located in depth and at the same time of attacking the most important enemy targets according to the changing situation on the ground. These characteristics define the increased importance of the UAVs, which can be used for both military and civilian operations.
As a result, the complex targeting program takes into account the development and manufacture of various types of UAVs up to the year 2010 and beyond. This program includes not only the development and manufacture of the UAVs for the air force but also for other interested services and ministries.
It is clear that the Russian Defense Ministry and other ministries, agencies, and armed forces staff members, have finally realized the crucial importance of UAVs. It is also possible to envisage further cooperation between Russian and EU companies in the design and development of UAVs.
The flexibility of reasons for using UAVs can be further impetus for Russia. The US Pacific Air Forces (PACAF) announced last month that it would discuss the use of UAVs for counter-terrorism and anti-piracy operations in Southeast Asian nations. According to the Journal of Net-Centric Warfare, flyovers of the Strait of Malacca should start in three years. Six RQ-4 Global Hawks, the same model that has been used in the Iraq war, will reportedly be flown in the operation.
There is also no doubt that the extensive use of UAVs by other countries, such as by the US in Afghanistan and Iraq, underscored the importance of timely intelligence that can very often mitigate military losses.
Dr. Eugene Kogan is a noted expert in the field of defense technologies. He has held a series of research fellowships at some of Europe's most renowned research institutes, including the Forschungsinstitut der Deutschen Gesellschaft fuer Auswaertige Politik; Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik; the Swedish Defence National College; and the Swedish Defence Research Agency.
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TURKEY: UPDATE - DEADLY BLAST HITS KURDISH EASTERN REGION
Istanbul, 9 March (AKI) - The death toll in an apparent suicide bomb attack on Thursday in eastern Turkey has risen to three while 18 have been reported injured - three in a critical condition. One of the dead has been identified according to police in the mostly Kurdish region of Van where the blast occurred. The explosion occurred at 9:00am local time (0700 GMT) in front of Sempas Market, some 500 metres away from the governor's office, in Besyol district of the eastern Van province which borders Iran.
Turkey has witnessed a wave of attacks since the outlawed Kurdish Workers' Party (PKK) called off a five-year unilateral ceasefire in June 2004.
The PKK took up arms against the government in 1984, struggling for a Kurdish homeland in southeastern Turkey. During years of violence, some 30,000 people have been killed.
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An unfair fight? The perils of asymmetrical warfare
Scripps-Howard: In a conventional war, if one side has tanks, fighter jets, submarines and similar weapons, while the other side does not, who wins? The answer is obvious. In an unconventional war, if one side has suicide bombers, license to kidnap, torture and violate the laws of war while the other side must refrain from deploying such weapons and abide by all the rules, who wins? The answer, I'm afraid, may be equally obvious.
The United States is now engaged in what is called an "asymmetrical war," a conflict in which the two sides fight in different ways and using different weapons.
The 9/11 attacks were a textbook example of asymmetrical warfare. A terrorist organization hijacked passenger planes and used them to cause more deaths on American soil than any foreign enemy had ever before inflicted. But this was not the first such assault the United States. suffered. In 1979, America's embassy in Tehran was seized and its diplomats held hostage. The militant Islamist revolutionaries responsible bet, correctly, that the United States would not strike back in a similar fashion or even in a resolute manner.
Four years later, Iranian mullahs arranged for Hezbollah, a terrorist group they controlled, to suicide-bomb the U.S. marines barrack in Beirut _ confident again that the United States would not use such tactics against them or find in its arsenal any weapons with which to effectively punish them.
The suicide bombings now taking place in Iraq also are asymmetrical warfare. These frequent mass murders not only frighten and intimidate, they also demonstrate the inability of Iraqi authorities and their American supporters to protect the innocent. The more dramatic and lethal the bombings, the more they undermine confidence in the possibility of establishing an Iraqi government that would serve the people rather than be the people's master.
Asymmetrical warfare would be less effective if suicide-bombing women and children, decapitating aid workers and using civilians as shields evoked widespread public outrage and revulsion, if it brought shame and disrespect upon those who committed such acts and on the causes they claim to champion.
But, on the contrary, the trend has been to legitimize the tactics used against the West and indulge those employing them. Mass murdering civilians, torching churches and even mosques do not spark major protests anywhere. Nor has there been serious action in response from the United Nations, the international courts and prominent human rights organizations.
By contrast, what are alleged to be American violations of international laws are a constant source of media controversy and public protest. The publication in a Danish newspaper of cartoons caricaturing the prophet Mohammed set off riots in a half dozen world capitals, as well as death threats against the cartoonists and those who dare publish them.
Many Western news organizations _ the Reuters wire service is just one example _ decline to be judgmental about those who set out to slaughter civilians. Instead, they assert, "One man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter."
The extent to which elite Western opinion has internalized such views was prominently on display at last weekend's Academy Awards presentation. Nominated as best foreign film was "Paradise Now" _ a movie that explicitly justifies suicide-bombings.
Nominated, too, was "Syriana," which lays the blame for the global conflict now underway not with the Militant Islamist movement but with the American government and American corporations. Also nominated was "Munich," which argues for a moral equivalence between terrorists and those who battle them.
All this is happening at a time when there is a very real possibility of chemical, biological or even nuclear weapons coming into the possession of militants who believe, as al Qaeda in Iraq commander Abu Musab al-Zarqawi put it, that "Killing the infidels is our religion, slaughtering them is our religion, until they convert to Islam or pay us tribute."
There is no deterring such fanatics. To die while fighting Islam's enemies, they believe, will ensure them "paradise now" _ to borrow the phrase used by Hany Abu-Assad, the filmmaker celebrated by Hollywood's aristocrats.
"A democracy must often fight with one hand tied behind its back," wrote Israeli Supreme Court President Aharon Barak, "as not all means are acceptable to it, and not all practices employed by its enemies are open before it."
That's right of course. But if at some point democracies must fight with both hands tied behind their backs, the likelihood that they will prevail cannot be high.
Clifford D. May is the president of the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies, a policy institute focusing on terrorism.
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Bomb kills an opposition leader in Bangladesh
DHAKA (AFP) - An opposition leader has been killed in a bomb attack by an outlawed Maoist group in Bangladesh's southwestern city of Khulna, police said.
Bacchu Chowdhury, 40, died on the way to hospital late Wednesday after the blast near the shop he runs, area police chief Nasir Ahmed told AFP.
Chowdhury was a local leader of the Jatiya Party, the third biggest party in the Bangladesh national parliament.
Ahmed said the outlawed Maoist group Janajuddha (People's War) claimed responsibility for the killing in a telephone call to a local Bengali-language newspaper.
Immediately after the murder hundreds of party activists shouting anti-government slogans staged a street protest.
The murder follows a bomb attack in the city last month against a local leader of the main opposition Awami League party.
Sheikh Yunus Ali, an elected Khulna councillor, lost his right hand and suffered splinter wounds to his back after unidentified attackers hurled two bombs at him.
The outlawed Maoist group has been linked to dozens of killings of politicians and journalists in the past decade in Khulna and other southwestern districts.
A bomb attack on Tuesday in nearby Jhenidah wounded four people including a journalist. The attack, said by police to be possibly linked to a Maoist group, was the town's third in a week.
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China explains stance in Arab world
(UPI) -- Chinese Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing defended his country's position on several critical Middle East issues Tuesday at the ongoing national congress.
"China and Arab countries enjoy very good cooperation. Since the inception of the China-Arab Cooperation Forum there has been close cooperation between the two sides, playing a very positive role," Li said, noting that the first business leaders' conference between China and the Arab world last year and ensuing talks had been successful.
Li called the Forum "a new platform for dialogue and cooperation between China and the Arab states," and said a second ministerial meeting would take place in Beijing later this year.
Critics said that China maintains a lackluster role in the oil-rich region. Claims Li rejected.
"On the basis of mutual respect, equality and mutual benefit, we maintain that countries in that region should develop normal state-to-state relations and we have been working for peace and facilitating dialogs towards this goal," he said.
The foreign minister touched upon the recent uproar in Muslim countries over the Danish cartoons, saying that "different civilizations should respect each other."
Li said China's position on Iraq was to respect its sovereignty. And on Iran's nuclear program, if allowed to proceed, it must only be used for peaceful energy purposes.
"The nuclear issue in Iran is also a question of interest to China," Li said. "We maintain the international non-proliferation regime should be safeguarded, and we are opposed to any forms of proliferation of nuclear weapons."
Li noted that as a member of the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, "Iran is entitled to the right of using nuclear energy peacefully, and of course it should shoulder its relevant obligations under that treaty."
Li said Vice Foreign Minister Liu Guozheng had just traveled to Tehran to "make the Chinese position more clear."
Liu arrived in the Iranian capital last Friday for a three-day visit to broker a last-minute deal on uranium enrichment before the issue heads to the U.N. Security Council.
Li noted the director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Mohamed ElBaradei, said Monday night that "there was still hope to arrive at some kind of agreement."
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Turkmenistan raises gas exports price to Iran
UPI: Turkmenistan said it has increased the price of natural gas exports to Iran to $65 per 1,000 cubic meters from $42 beginning as of Feb. 1.
Turkmen President Saparmurat Niyazov and Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad secured an agreement Monday, the Turkmen press service said Tuesday.
Niyazov increase gas exports to Iran to 14 billion cubic meters as of 2007 and the gas price will be revised every three years.
In 1997, the two sides secured a 25-year contract on gas supplies. In 2005, Iran imported 5.8 billion cubic meters of Turkmen gas for $42 per 1,000 cubic meters, according to Turkmenistan's State Statistics Service. Iran expects to receive 8 billion cubic meters.
Last December, Turkmenistan also increased gas prices for Russia and Ukraine.
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Philippine army questions more soldiers over plot
MANILA, March 9 (Reuters) - Two colonels and six special forces soldiers were being detained and questioned in connection with an alleged conspiracy to overthrow President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, army officials said on Thursday.
Arroyo, who survived a crisis last year over accusations of vote-rigging and graft, invoked emergency rule for a week before lifting it last Friday after security chiefs said the threat had eased and investors warned of damage to economic reforms.
The military has said agitators continue to try to recruit soldiers to join the alleged plot against Arroyo by communist groups, some of her political enemies and rogue troops.
A senior army official told Reuters that seven of the eight officers and junior officers in detention were members of the elite Scout Rangers regiment, whose commander Brigadier-General Danilo Lim was removed during the brief state of emergency.
The soldiers are accused of planning to join Lim and 17 other Scout Rangers at anti-Arroyo rallies on Feb. 24 in a bid to spark unrest in the crowd by withdrawing support for the president.
"They are under restrictions while awaiting the recommendations of the inspector general," said the army official, who declined to be identified.
Two Marine commanders and four top officials of the police's elite unit have also been removed and face investigation.
Five leftist lawmakers wanted for questioning remained holed up in Congress, waiting for police to produce arrest warrants. A sixth member of Congress has been in custody since Feb. 25, a day after Arroyo declared emergency rule.
Intelligence officials have linked other opposition figures and religious leaders to the plot.
MEDIA CHILL
Arroyo, due to complete her term in 2010, has been at pains to show that it is business as usual in the Philippines while trying to convince Filipinos and foreign investors there really was an organised move to set up a civilian-military junta.
Lim, the Scout Ranger general implicated in the plot, denied on Wednesday he was part of a coup attempt.
"It is not true that I am involved in an alliance with the left. I will never allow myself to be in that position," he said.
Critics and analysts suspect Arroyo's government of playing up parts of the conspiracy, especially the leftist threat, to allow the military a more free hand to fight a long-running communist insurgency and crack down on the president's foes.
Groups of journalists have filed a petition in the Court of Appeals to halt what they said was a state chill on the media, which the president accused of contributing to instability.
The publisher of the Daily Tribune and two columnists face sedition charges after police raided the opposition newspaper.
Troops had also kept watch for a week over two television stations, a move criticised as a reminder of nine years of martial law under the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos.
"The threat of official intervention -- in the form of administrative sanction or criminal prosecution -- is just as damaging to a free press as the fact of it," the petition said.
On Tuesday, the Supreme Court began hearing arguments over seven petitions seeking to have Arroyo's emergency rule declared unconstitutional and set down a precedent for future cases.
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Nigerian militants say kill 7 soldiers in gunfight
LAGOS, March 9 (Reuters) - Nigerian militants said on Thursday they killed seven soldiers in a firefight during an attack by the army in the southern Niger Delta, and threatened reprisals against the military and oil company Royal Dutch Shell .
It was the biggest military attack on militants from the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta since mid-February, when a military bombardment of a militant stronghold prompted a string of devastating attacks on oil installations and the kidnapping of nine foreign oil workers.
"Our patrols on the Escravos River were attacked in the vicinity of Okerenkoko by four patrol boats belonging to the Nigerian Army," the militants said in an email, adding that there was a 45 minute firefight in the attack which occurred on Wednesday evening.
"Seven soldiers were confirmed killed at the scene of the attack and an unspecified number reported dead upon arrival at the Shell terminal from where this attack was launched," they said.
It was not immediately possible to confirm the statement, but the militants have provided accurate information on previous such incidents.
The militants are still holding three foreign hostages -- two Americans and one Briton -- from last month's raids, when their attacks on pipelines and a loading platform forced Shell to cut 455,000 barrels a day output, or one fifth of the OPEC member's oil output.
On Wednesday, they named an Ijaw activist as mediator for talks with the government, raising hopes of a speedy resolution to the three-month-old crisis.
The militants said 32 troops initially attacked in four boats, but were reinforced by three more boats containing 24 more soldiers. They said they suffered no casualties.
The military was not immediately available for comment.
The militants also said they had received reports of army patrols firing indiscriminately into Ijaw communities near the village of Odidi.
"In the light of this, we are considering what further actions to take against the military and Shell installations in Forcados and Odidi," the militants said.
Shell has already evacuated all its staff from the Forcados region, and shut all its production from the western side of the delta.
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OSCE: Guantanamo better than Belgian jails
(UPI) -- Is Guantanamo a model prison? Not in the eyes of most observers. The United Nations and the European Parliament have called for the notorious American detention center to be closed immediately and slammed the practice of holding prisoners without trial for over three years. German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Italian premier Silvio Berlusconi, both close allies of the Bush administration, have also urged Washington to shut the camp -- as have civil liberties groups the world over.
However, a preliminary report by a team of observers from Europe's biggest security organization paints a rosier picture of conditions at the controversial camp, which is situated on the island of Cuba.
"At the level of the detention facilities, it is a model prison, where people are better treated than in Belgian prisons," said Alain Grignard, the deputy head of Brussels' federal police anti-terrorism unit. Grignard, who is also a professor of Islam at the University of Liege, served as an expert to a group of lawmakers from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe on a visit to Guantanamo Bay last week.
While admitting that conditions were not "idyllic," and that detaining prisoners for years without trial was a form of "psychological torture," Grignard -- who has inspected the camp five times -- told reporters in Brussels: "I have never witnessed acts of violence or things which shocked me in Guantanamo ... one should not confuse this center with Abu Ghraib."
European politicians and human rights groups have repeatedly rapped the U.S. military for its treatment of prisoners in Iraq and Guantanamo Bay. But this torrent of criticism was undermined last month by a report on French prisons by the Council of Europe, the pan-European human rights organization. The author of the report, human rights commissioner Alvaro Gil Robles, said France had the shabbiest prisons of any country he had visited, with the exception of Moldova. One prison in central Paris was described as "catastrophic and unworthy of France," while another in Marseille was classified as "on the borderline of human dignity." Observing a dramatic rise in complaints about mistreatment of prisoners, Gil Robles said that French police operated with a "sense of impunity."
Members of the Belgian delegation noted that "tough" tactics had been used in the first years of of the Guantanamo's detention center's existence, but that guards had since adopted a "more European" approach in recent years. Noting that the mainly Muslim prisoners were given halal food and prayer mats, Grignard said: "I know no Belgian prison where each inmate receives its Muslim kit."
Belgium currently holds the rotating presidency of the OSCE, the 55-member security organization that also includes the United States.
The head of the delegation, Belgian Senate President Anne-Marie Lizin, also sketched a picture of Guantanamo that runs counter to widespread media reports of torture, prisoner abuse and denial of religious freedom at the U.S. naval base.
Lizin, who has visited prisons in Algeria, Bolivia and Yemen, said the prisoner cells in Guantanamo were "bigger than in Belgium." The senate leader said it was "unrealistic" to expect the Bush administration to shut the camp immediately, but repeated her call for its phased closure.
This is effectively what is happening anyway. Since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks against the United States, 750 suspects have been detained at the U.S. Navy base. There are now less than 500, and 300-350 of these are expected to be transferred to their countries of origin in the short term, said the OSCE experts.
Amnesty International was furious with the observations by the OSCE team, which it said risked tarnishing the reputation of the Vienna-based body. The Belgian section of the civil liberties grouping said Lizin's preliminary report was "blinkered," accusing the senate leader of wearing the same black eye masks as prisoners during their transfer to the naval base from Afghanistan.
Lizin, who had previously been refused access to the camp, was granted official access on the condition she did not interview detainees. United Nations inspectors refused to visit the detention center because of the restrictions.
The OSCE is due to present its findings in July. "If this report does not denounce the complete absence of transparency regarding detention conditions, interrogation methods and the absence of detainee rights -- in short, the flagrant violation of international humanitarian law Guantanamo represents -- then it will be the whole of the OSCE that is discredited," said Amnesty in a statement.
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EGYPT: MORE MUSLIM BROTHERHOOD ARRESTS
Cairo, 8 March (AKI) - The number of Muslim Brotherhood members arrested since last week, in the latest crackdown by the Egyptian authorities, has risen to 22. Among the latest member of the banned but tolerated group is Abdul Moneim Mahmud, 26, a leading figure in the brotherhood in the city of Alexandria. According to the movement's spokesman, Essam al-Aryan, the security forces on Tuesday made a threatening request to the parents of Mahmud to hand him over. He described this as a "new and dangerous intimidation strategy," aimed at striking the families of members.
In the past, arrests were normally made at night, with police bursting into the homes of the brotherhood members. But in recent blitzes, the security forces have stopped the Islamic militants in public places, including popular cafes in the capital, provoking fears that the authorities were taking a harsher line.
In particular, Ayman Abul Ghani was arrested along with his wife when he went to collect his children from school in Nasser City on the outskirts of Cairo.
During last December's parliamentary elections, candidates of the Muslim Brotherhood ran as independents, winning a record 88 of the 454 seats in parliament.
Several hundred members were arrested ahead of the elections, but most of them were released in January.
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Chavez Denies Uranium Shipments to the Middle East
The president of Venezuela denied yesterday that his country had shipped uranium to the Middle East to be used in a bomb, the Associated Press reported
“Now they are saying that I'm sending uranium to make atomic bombs from here, from Venezuela's Amazonas, to send it directly to the Persian Gulf,” President Hugo Chavez said.
The president accused U.S. newspapers of taking part in a Washington-directed campaign to make him out to be a dictator and Venezuela a rogue nation.
“They have no limits in their capacity to make up lies, to attack our country, of course, it's part of an imperialist plan,” he said.
Chavez, in 1999 since 1999, has developed relationships with several Middle Eastern countries, including Iran. Cooperation agreements between the two have drawn concern from Washington, according to AP (Associated Press, March 8).
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U.S. Defense Department Seeks to Convert 24 Trident Nuclear Missiles for Conventional Use
NTI: The U.S. Defense Department has requested $500 million to convert 24 nuclear-armed Trident missiles into conventional rockets weapons of striking any location in the world within an hour, the Washington Post reported today
Trident missiles armed with conventional warheads would offer a non-nuclear alternative in a crisis where time is of the essence, U.S. defense officials said.
The Pentagon would begin deploying the missiles in 2008.
The “prompt global strike” capability is needed to address terrorism, underground military facilities and other burgeoning threats for which nuclear weapons are “not appropriate,” a senior defense official said. He added that the weapon would be capable of penetrating the ground more deeply than other conventional weapons, making it a possible alternative to the controversial proposed Robust Nuclear Earth Penetrator.
However, other nations could misconstrue such a long-range conventional missile attack as a nuclear strike, the official acknowledged.
“Will it be interpreted as having a nuclear warhead and elicit … a nuclear response?” said the official. A troubling scenario “is that they do see it, then they misinterpret it,” he said.
Nuclear experts said such a scenario was likely as U.S. submarines could be armed with both conventional and nuclear Tridents.
“If we did end up in a crisis where things were really tense, this decision about what is coming at you could be essential,” said Hans Kristensen, director of the nuclear information project at the Federation of American Scientists.
The official said the Pentagon seeks debate on the issue, the Post reported.
“We’ve done the testing” and developed one of two planned warheads, he said (Ann Scott Tyson, Washington Post, March 8).
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North Korea Again Refuses to Resume Six-Party Nuclear Talks Following U.S. Briefing
North Korea yesterday renewed its pledge to boycott nuclear disarmament negotiations after a meeting with U.S. officials on Pyongyang’s alleged financial crimes, the Associated Press reported (see GSN, March 7).
U.S. Treasury Department officials told a visiting North Korean delegation that actions against a Macau-based bank were regulatory moves “to protect the U.S. financial system from abuse, and not a sanction on North Korea,” an agency statement says.
Following the briefing in New York, Ri Gun, director general of the North Korean Foreign Ministry’s American affairs bureau, said North Korea would not resume nuclear negotiations.
“Our position is consistent that (North Korea) cannot return to the talks in the midst of the continued pressure (from the United States),” said Ri, who led the North Korean delegation at the meeting (Associated Press/USA Today, March 8).
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Why terror financing is so tough to track down
By Mark Rice-Oxley: British leader Gordon Brown called last month for the creation of a multinational team to crack the problem.
LONDON - When police raided a London mosque three years ago in their pursuit of a radical Islamic preacher, they found forged passports, laminating equipment, and bundles of cash.
The haul, details of which were only recently made public, speaks volumes about a remarkable evolution in the funding of terrorism. What was once a global network financed by elusive donors and administered by Al Qaeda "fund- managers" has now fragmented into a constellation of franchises that sustain themselves primarily through crime.
This, experts say, is partly a result of the vigorous multinational effort since 9/11 to break up the Al Qaeda network and stanch the cash flows that sustained terror attacks. But it's also due to the reduced cost of mounting terror attacks, they say.
Estimates suggest that the 9/11 attacks may have cost as much as $500,000 to stage. By contrast, the Madrid bombings of 2004 are believed to have cost no more than $15,000, and last year's London attacks perhaps $2,000.Four bombs, four rucksacks, some train tickets, a little gasoline, and a few phone calls.
Source: http://www.csmonitor.com/2006/0308/p04s01-woeu.html
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A Statement from Sheikh Hamed al-Ali Addressing the Core of the Problem Between Ayman al-Zawahiri, Hamas, and the Chechen Mujahideen
SITE Institute: A statement from Sheikh Hamed al-Ali, distributed to jihadist forums on Monday, March 6, 2006, addresses the situation between Hamas and the Chechen mujahideen, in addition to Dr. Ayman al-Zawahiri’s most recent message, concerning Hamas entering into agreements and treaties with Western governments. Statements from Ahmad Zakayev, a representative of the Chechen jihad, and Hamas leader Khalid Mesha’al, which were made following Hamas’ talks with the Russian government, provide the bulwark for Sheikh al-Ali’s discourse, as he argues against Mesha’al’s belief that the Chechen issue is only within Russian internal affairs.
According to Sheikh Hamed al-Ali, the Chechen jihad is not localized to the Caucuses only, but the entire Muslim world, just as the jihad in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Palestine are not limited to those particular tracts of land. He states: “Every land is dirt; it has no importance but only in the importance of the faith that is on its surface. So it becomes a land of Islam because of the Islamic faith, and a land of disbelief is one which is absent of Islam. All of the jihad is to raise this belief on the land.” The statement, duly serving as an “advice” to Khalid Mesha’al, reads that the aforementioned is fundamental to the Islamic movement brigades, and further, “Palestine cannot be bought by selling this faith.” Sheikh al-Ali argues that he who abandons a Muslim is then abandoned by Allah.
The statement suggests that Hamas hold steadfast to Islamic law, not deviate to fall into the “mirage of peace” and reject previous agreements signed by the Palestinian Authority, the “traitors,” and keep their arms and continue jihad. In addition, Shekh al-Ali references three traps he believes the West and Israel want Hamas to be ensnared, including substitution of Islamic law for treaties such as those made in Oslo and Camp David, laying down arms and then being led to the “slaughter of humiliation,” and becoming a “toy” in the hands of the White House, Kremlin European Parliament, and the “Enslavement Nations (United Nations)”.
Sheikh Hamed bin Abdullah al-Ali was acquitted by a Kuwait judge Tuesday, December 27, 2005 of suspicion of forming a fundamentalist group in Kuwait that plotted to execute terrorist attacks in the country and for alleged complicity in four shoot-outs between Islamic militants and Kuwait security in January of this year. Sheikh al-Ali is a former secretary general of the Salafi Movement who received a two-year suspended sentence for publicly opposing Kuwait’s support for the US-led war on Iraq in 2003.
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Shell to invest $500 mln in China in 2006
BEIJING, March 8 (Xinhuanet) -- Royal Dutch Shell Group will invest 500 million U.S.dollars in China in 2006 in order to expandgas station network and develop clean energy in the country.
"Shell's investment of 3.5 billion dollars in China is too little, while the investment opportunities in the country are so big," said Lim Haw Kuang, executive chairman of Shell companies inChina.
Shell will seek all possible opportunities to expand investment in China to achieve mutual benefits for both sides, he said.
So far, Shell is one of the largest foreign-funded enterprises in the nation. It has set up 200 gas stations in East China's Jiangsu Province in cooperation with China Petroleum and Chemical Corporation (Sinopec), the nation's biggest oil refiner.
It also has 70 gas stations of its own brand in Guangdong, Beijing and Tianjin.
Shell's lower stream business in China witnessed fast growth. The Nanhai Petrochemical project in South China's Hainan Province,which is jointly funded by Shell and China National Offshore Oil Corp. is now operating.
The project is so far the largest Shell investment project in the petrochemical sector and is also one of the biggest foreign-invested enterprises in China.
Nanhai Petrochemical has an annual output capacity of 2.3 million tons of petrochemical products, which will help ease China's short supply of such products due to the fast development of the economy in the past years.
Meanwhile, Shell is focusing on developing an oil and coal transformation production project and signed last week a memorandum of understanding with Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region in northwest China in this regard.
It is also negotiating with China's biggest coal producer Shenhua on such a project.
In the upper stream, the Shangbei project jointly funded by Shell and the China National Petroleum Corp is expected to start supplying natural gas to Beijing and north China in 2008.
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Russia stirs up more trouble for Georgia
Tensions in the region are at an all time high as South Ossetia rebels(supported by the Kremlin) gain support from Abkhazia rebels in case of war with the Georgian government.
Two articles(pro-russian) on the subject:
Abkhazia may support South Ossetia in case of war - official
MOSCOW. March 6 (Interfax) - Abkhaz Prime Minister Alexander Ankvab objects to a pullout of Russian peacekeepers from the unrecognized republic and says that Sukhumi might assist South Ossetia if the conflict escalates.
"Abkhazia has declared 2006 the year of South Ossetia. No one can deny us the right to help [in case of hostilities in South Ossetia]," he said in an interview published in the Monday issue of the newspaper Vremya Novostei.
Ankvab said that he feels very "negative" about the tensions surrounding South Ossetia. "This must stop. Georgia will not survive another war," he said.
Russians Reckon Abkhazia And South Ossetia Part Of Russia
Tbilisi. March 06 (Prime-News) – 34% and 36% of Russians reckon Abkhazia and South Ossetia a part of Russia and 58% of Russians are against withdrawal of Russian peacekeeping troops from those territories.
77% reckon that Russia should interfere in the process to defend interests of its citizens in abovementioned regions.
The poll was carried out by research institute ‘Levada-Center’, Russian mass media informs.
Four die in Abkhazia gun attack
JTIC - 08-Mar-2006
GUNMEN fired on two vehicles in the breakaway Georgian region of Abkhazia on 8 March, killing four people, including a seven-year-old girl
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Four killed, one wounded in shelling in Georgia conflict zone
SUKHUMI, March 8 (RIA Novosti, Ruslan Tarba) - Four civilians have been killed following the shelling of two automobiles in Georgia's breakaway republic of Abkhazia during an ambush, the local interior minister said Wednesday.
Otar Khetsiya said all four passengers of one of the cars were killed, including a seven-year-old girl. One passenger of the mini-van traveling behind was wounded. All the victims were local residents.
"Several cases of submachine-guns and one machinegun have been found at the site," Khetsiya said.
Commenting on the incident, which occurred Wednesday morning in the Galsky district of Abkhazia, Valery Dzhaparidze, the commander of the Georgian peacekeepers in the conflict zone, said that forces opposing peace in the area stood behind the attack.
"I think such incidents are in the interests of those forces who do not want peace in the region," Dzhaparidze said, adding that murders were common in the area, but that every time "the Abkhazian side puts the blame on the Georgians."
Abkhazia proclaimed independence from Georgia after bloody conflicts in the early 1990s following the collapse of the Soviet Union, but has failed to gain international recognition.
In a latest display of tensions between Georgia and its breakaway republic, Abkhazian police arrested three Georgian journalists on March 2 saying they were members of a Georgian religious non-governmental organization and did not have permission to cross the border.
Tbilisi has repeatedly accused Moscow of siding with separatists in the breakaway province, which has soured relations between the two countries.
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Iran politics: Nuclear outcomes
(EIU) -The board meeting that started on March 8th at the Vienna headquarters of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) will determine how the dispute over Iran's nuclear ambitions develops over the next few months. In an effort to provide a longer-term perspective, the Economist Intelligence Unit has identified three broad outcomes for how the issue could unfold in the period up to 2010. Inevitably, this is a simplification—the situation will remain fluid and it will always be impossible to be sure that any given outcome will remain in place for the long-term. However, we consider that, for forecasting and business planning purposes, having plausible outcomes is essential.
Central outcome—Iran completes fuel cycle 45%
Iran completes the nuclear fuel cycle, either by agreement or not. This outcome implies heightened geo-political tensions over the next five years, with the US, EU, Russia, China and others offering inducements and threats to persuade Iran to give up its fuel cycle ambitions or at least agree to stringent safeguards. Iran is expected to respond in a mixed fashion, sometimes agreeing to compromise, but also threatening to break off talks, to disrupt the oil market or to promote armed action against US or allied interests which would as likely add to regional instability. However, within this outcome is also subsumed the possibility that Iran agrees to more stringent inspections in exchange for an array of inducements, including an end to economic sanctions (bilateral or multilateral). Ultimately, Iran is expected to complete the fuel cycle without the US and its allies resorting to military action. The high stakes negotiations, arguments and brinkmanship implied by this outcome suggests that a significant oil price "risk premium" will persist over much of the forecast period--something that is included in our central forecast.
Military outcome 35%
Concerns about Iran’s nuclear ambitions reach the point that the US, or less likely Israel, undertake air strikes against Iranian civil nuclear targets and succeeds in setting back the Islamic Republic's pursuit of the fuel cycle. It is assumed that the US would, as a precursor to such action, also have to target Iranian air defences. Under this outcome is also subsumed Iranian armed action in reprisal, or in pre-emption, of air strikes. A further armed escalation beyond these steps cannot be ruled out, including ground fighting and/or a wider regional conflagration encompassing targeting of US/US-allied, or Iranian interests. Should this scenario occur a substantial oil price premium would build, with crude of US$100 plausible (at least in the short term, when spare capacity in the crude market is limited).
Iran does not complete fuel cycle 20%
Iran is unable to complete the nuclear fuel cycle in-country. This would either mean a continuation of the current level of its civil nuclear capability in the context of economic sanctions and diplomatic pressure to constrain the flow of "dual-use" technology. Or, more likely under this outcome, there is an agreement by Iran to forego what it considers its right to be able to complete the fuel cycle in-country, in response to international economic pressure (short of oil export sanctions), fear of military attack, and in order to secure economic and diplomatic rewards. This outcome would carry with it the smallest (although not insubstantial) oil price premium.
This adjustment in our thinking on Iran has, of course, impacted on our assessment of oil prices over the forecast period. While we have been factoring tensions arising from Iran's nuclear ambitions into our oil price forecasts for some time, our new thinking suggests that these tensions will be higher than previously assumed. The permanent five members (P5) of the UN Security Council all voted (at the IAEA) to report Iran to the UNSC, a consensus which suggests that the international approach to Iran could be tougher than some had anticipated. In response Iran has resumed uranium enrichment, a move which is likely to further increase tensions. While we expect there to be periods of negotiation as well as confrontation, under our central scenario we expect oil prices to remain elevated for some time. The pressure on prices will be particularly acute in the first half of the forecast period (2006-08), partly because the US electoral cycle creates a window in 2007 and early 2008 when a more robust approach to Iran would be feasible, and partly because global spare capacity in the oil market will be tightest in that period (global oil supply will be rising more rapidly in the final years of the forecast period as recent investment comes on stream). We have therefore revised up our forecast for Brent dated oil prices to an average of US$60/b in 2006, US$55.25/b in 2007 and US$48/b in 2008 (previously US$55/b, US$46.75/b and US$40.75/b).
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Jordan jails six Islamists for recuiting jihadis
AMMAN, March 8 (Reuters) - Jordan jailed six Islamist youths on Wednesday for between 18 months and four years for plotting to recruit Islamist fighters into Iraq from neighbouring Syria to fight U.S. troops, judicial sources said.
A state security court also sentenced another five accomplices in absentia to 15 years hard labour after they were also found guilty of "engaging in acts that are deemed to harm ties with a foreign country and infiltration and abetting smuggling into the country.
Four other men were acquitted because of a lack of evidence.
Prosecutors said one of the convicted fugitives, Hussein Fawzi Kudeisat, had preached in mosques in Jordan in an attempt to persuade young men to go to fight Jihad in Iraq.
Jordanian security officials estimate that several hundred Jordanian "holy warriors" have headed to Iraq since the 2003 U.S. led invasion to join various Sunni Muslim militant groups.
Security officials in Jordan, a staunch U.S. ally, say the rise in militancy is tied to growing anti-American sentiment after the invasion of Iraq.
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North Korea conducted new missile tests, U.S. says
GAUTIER, Miss., March 8 (Reuters) - The White House said on Wednesday that North Korea apparently had conducted a missile test and the country's program posed a threat to the region.
"Indications are that North Korea launched two short-range missiles. The regime has conducted similar tests in the past," a statement from White House spokesman Scott McClellan said.
"We have consistently pointed out that North Korea's missile program is a concern that poses a threat to the region and the larger international community," the statement said.
The United States says that Pyongyang should resume six-party talks aimed at ending the communist state's nuclear program. The United States, Russia, Japan, China and North and South Korea take part in the talks.
State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said those talks are also a forum in which issues of missile proliferation and missile technology can be addressed.
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UN refers Iran nuclear case to Security Council
Vienna, 8 March. (AKI) - A report on Iran's nuclear programme is being forwarded to the Security Council for it to consider possible punitive action, after a crucial meeting of the UN's nuclear watchdog in Vienna. The US says the council will debate Iran's "flagrant threats and phoney negotiations," but Iran has vowed to continue its nuclear work regardless, threatening the US with unspecified "harm and pain" for its opposition. Meanwhile, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Mohammed ElBaradei, has said there is still the chance of a settlement, urging all sides to "lower the rhetoric."
The sending of the report on Iran's nuclear programme to the UN'S top decision-making body opens a new phase in the standoff . The Security Council is expected to review the case as early as next week, but ElBaradei insisted that diplomatic efforts are still continuing. The council has the power to impose sanctions, although it is not clear that all key members would agree to do so.
While admitting disappointment that a solution had not been found this week in Vienna, "I am still optimistic because all the parties involved know that there is no other option," said ElBaradei. "What we need is for everyone to keep calm and to lower the rhetoric," he added.
The debate by the UN watchdog - the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) - in Vienna of the long-awaited report came amid heated accusations traded between Iran and the US.
"The United States may have the power to cause harm and pain, but it is also susceptible to harm and pain," said a statement issued by Iran's delegation at the talks.
"There is full consensus on the fact that Iran must be more transparent in its cooperation with the agency," said ElBaradei at a press briefing.
He underlined that the main task of the Security Council is finding "a peaceful solution to the crisis", adding that what was required was a balanced agreement which "one one hand respects the rights of Iran but at the same time reassures the international community" that Iran's nuclear programme is for peaceful purposes - something that that the IAEA currently questions.
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Venezuela extends its oil influence
(ISN Security Watch) - With its vast oil supply and Latin America’s largest natural gas reserves, Venezuela has quickly become a major energy powerbroker in the region and the world.
South America’s only member of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) has benefited hand over fist from inflated oil prices and utilized soaring global energy prices to its advantage. Venezuela is exporting an estimated 3.3 million barrels of oil per day, with prices set at about US$50 per barrel.
The spike in oil prices over the last year has put tens of billions of extra dollars in Venezuelan coffers and prompted President Hugo Chavez to expand his vision for an energy-integrated Latin America.
Chavez already sends 100,000 barrels of oil per day to communist Cuba, in exchange for which Venezuela receives a cadre of Cuban doctors and other medical personnel to assist the nation’s less fortunate.
But by cozying up to Cuba’s Fidel Castro, Chavez has drawn the ire of officials in Washington, who accuse the Venezuelan leader of trying to create a Cuba-style regime at home - a criticism Chavez does not take lightly. The outspoken leftist has complained vehemently in the last year that Washington was trying to undermine his authority and even aided those seeking his ouster. A short-lived coup in April 2002 saw Chavez briefly removed from office, only to return to power two days later. The Venezuelan president accused the US of aiding the coup plotters - an allegation the administration of George W. Bush has denied.
Since then, US officials, including Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, have cast aspersions about Chavez and warned he could become a catalyst for unrest in the region.
“If what they [the US] want is to break relations with Venezuela, it’s up to them,” said Chavez during a pro-government rally last month. “It doesn't cost me anything to close our refineries in the United States or sell the oil that goes to the United States to other countries around the world.”
It would, however, certainly harm US energy interests, considering the 1.5 million barrels of oil it receives from Venezuela every day, fulfilling a major portion of American energy needs.
Chavez maintains he does not want to cut off Venezuelan oil supplies to the US, either. Venezuela is the fourth largest supplier of oil to the US, behind Canada, Mexico, and Saudi Arabia.
“We don’t want to go to such extremes,” he said. “Let them decide. What we want is to be left in peace, that the imperialist government finally accepts that Venezuela is free and is not and never will be a colony of the United States.”
He has noted that other countries, like China, would be more than happy to make up for Venezuela’s losses in the oil sector if relations between Caracas and Washington reached a breaking point.
In a move considered part-peacemaking, part-propaganda, Chavez has sent large quantities of discounted oil shipped to several US cities to ease the burden of rising heating costs for poor and elderly US citizens during winter months.
Last week, the US state of Connecticut joined the Bronx borough of New York City, along with Delaware, Massachusetts, Maine, Rhode Island, Pennsylvania, and Vermont in receiving 4.8 million gallons of heating oil at a 40 per cent discount for poor households. Chavez has also ordered that free fuel be given to homeless shelters in those states.
The recipients of the gesture must quality for state assistance in heating their homes this winter in order to be eligible for a share of the Chavez-mandated shipment.
Leaders in Connecticut, like many in the other states where poor Americans otherwise might suffer the bitter cold this winter, praised Venezuela for its generosity and made a point of stressing its necessity and compliance with US laws.
“This heating oil assistance fills an unfortunate, profoundly important need for our citizens - and is consistent with our laws,” Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal said in a statement this week.
But other US officials took a different view.
Republican Congressman Joe Barton from Texas has publicly questioned whether the donations are “part of an unfriendly government's increasingly belligerent and hostile foreign policy”.
Barton has ordered an investigation into Venezuelan-owned oil company Citgo, which is based in Houston, and demanded that the company hand over all paperwork, emails, and other material related to the donation program to US officials for inspection.
A letter drafted by Barton’s office asks Citgo to answer numerous questions relating to the donations, including “how and why were the particular beneficiaries of this program selected” and if the program “runs afoul of any US laws, including but not limited to, antitrust laws”.
“The bellicose Venezuelan [Chavez] decided to meddle in American energy policy, and we think it might prove instructive to know how,” said Larry Neal, deputy staff director for Barton’s committee.
Lawmakers in favor of the donations questioned Barton’s motivation for condemning the oil shipments, as the Texas Republican congressman has been a beneficiary of large campaign contributions from US energy companies.
“The Republicans are on another planet when it comes to energy policy,” said Massachusetts Democratic Congressmen Markey, the New York Daily News reported last week.
Markey also stressed his disbelief that Barton and other Republicans would investigate “a charitable donation of heating oil to relieve the suffering of a few thousand American families”.
Some Venezuelan experts said the oil donations were a “public relations gesture to guild the Chavez image” and were indeed an effort to embarrass the Bush administration.
“Chavez says he likes the United States, but doesn’t like the [Bush] administration,” an analyst and former deputy assistant secretary of state for Western Hemisphere affairs told ISN Security Watch.
Chavez forging new energy relations
Meanwhile, Chavez has looked to neighbors like Brazil, Cuba, and Uruguay to forge new energy partnerships, such as oil refineries, and has already spent upwards of US$5 billion on the initiatives.
The idea, according to Chavez, is to become more self-sufficient and home and rely less on the US as an energy trading partner.
His independence ideal is one echoed by many Latin American leaders, including Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who though a more moderate leftist, has also espoused the need for greater regional integration.
Among the products headlining the Chavez agenda is a proposed gas pipeline running from the Venezuelan north all the way down to the tip of Patagonia, a nearly 8,000-kilometer conduit for the country’s estimated 148 trillion cubic feet of natural gas reserves.
“Oil will gradually run out around the world and more and more countries will turn to gas. Latin America will also have to switch to gas,” Venezuelan Oil Minister Rafael Ramirez recently told reporters. “In fact it's much more efficient to generate energy using gas than with oil.”
Some analysts simply do not agree with that assessment or Chavez’s ambition to create a continent-long pipeline.
“It doesn’t make sense,” Frank Verrastro, an energy analyst with the Center for Strategic and International Studies, told ISN Security Watch, noting that the multi-billion project would have to cross over some of South America’s most difficult terrain.
Verrastro said it seemed that potential partners Brazil and Argentina were getting caught up the “political rhetoric” of the plan, namely the quest for greater local integration, rather than considering whether it was a profitable scheme for all involved. “Chavez is willing to subsidize projects that just wouldn’t be feasible otherwise,” he said, noting the danger of such a move if oil prices fall in the coming years.
Both Brazil and Argentina already import gas from nearby Bolivia, which boasts the continent’s second largest reserves.
“It’s geopolitics trumping commerciality,” said Verrastro.
Ramirez said during last week’s pipeline talks among Venezuelan, Brazilian, and Argentine officials that the decision to move ahead with the project already had been made.
“We’ve already taken the political decision to build this pipeline. Now we're discussing the technicalities,” he told the BBC.
It does remain unclear just how the three nations would divide the cost of the project.
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Developments in Iraq, March 8
March 8 (Reuters) - The following are security incidents and political developments in Iraq as of 1430 GMT on Wednesday.
U.S. and Iraqi forces have been battling a Sunni Arab insurgency against the Shi'ite- and Kurdish-led government since U.S. troops toppled Saddam Hussein in 2003.
A wave of sectarian violence since the bombing of a Shi'ite shrine on Feb. 22 has killed hundreds.
Asterisk denotes a new or updated item.
*BAGHDAD - Gunmen attacked the house of Interior Minister advisor Major General Hikmat Moussa Salman in western Baghdad. Police said two of his bodyguards were killed and two wounded.
*BAGHDAD - Gunmen wearing Iraqi police commando uniforms seized about 50 employees from the offices of a security company in eastern Baghdad, police said.
*BAGHDAD - Four civilians were wounded when a car bomb exploded near a U.S. patrol in the western part of Baghdad, police said.
BAGHDAD - Two Interior Ministry personnel were killed and five wounded when a roadside bomb went off near minister of interior's convoy in eastern Baghdad, an Interior Ministry official said.
TAL AFAR - A U.S. soldier was killed and four others wounded on Tuesday when a roadside bomb went off near their patrol in Tal Afar northwest of Mosul, 390 km (240 miles) north of Baghdad, U.S. military said in a statement.
BAQUBA - Iraqi army and police arrested 19 suspects in raids in Baquba, 65 km (40 miles) north of Baghdad, police said.
BAGHDAD - The bodies of 18 men, bound and blindfolded, were found on Tuesday night in a minibus in western Baghdad, an Interior Ministry spokesman said.
FALLUJA - Four civilians were killed and two wounded when a roadside bomb exploded in a main road in Falluja, police said.
BAGHDAD - Two policemen were killed and six civilians and two policemen wounded when a roadside bomb went off near a police patrol in central Baghdad, police said.
BAGHDAD - The bodies of two people were found, bound and blindfolded, after they were shot dead in eastern Baghdad, police said.
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NUCLEAR: IRAN HAS ENOUGH URANIUM FOR TEN ATOMIC BOMBS, U.S. OFFICIAL SAYS
Vienna, 8 March (AKI) - Iran has enough uranium hexafluoride (UF6) which, if enriched, would allow it to manufacture ten atomic bombs, the US permanent representative to the United Nations' nuclear watchdog said on Wednesday. Gregory Schulte adressed a meeting in Vienna of the 35-nation board of governors of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) warning that "Iran is pursuing in a very determined way its [uranium] enrichment programme." Schulte added in his speech that it was time the UN Security Council intervened in the international crisis over Iran's nuclear plan, unless Tehran started cooperating with the IAEA.
"Iran has informed the Agency that it means to install the first 3,000 P-1 centrifuges [needed for erichment] in Natanz next autumn," said Schulte.
According to the US official, the Islamic Republic "has a stock of 85 tons of UF6 which, if enriched, can produce enough material for approximately 10 nuclear weapons."
The time has come for the Security Council to take action, Schulte also said, and Iran must be warned of the "consequences" of its behaviour if it doesn't respect its obligations on the nuclear issue.
The ongoing IAEA meeting is expected to pave the way to Security Council action against Iran.
Sources say the Security Council could discuss Iran as early as next week. The council has the power to impose sanctions, although it is not clear that all key members would agree to do so.
"The United States believe the involvement of the Security Council should strengthen the role and investigations of the Agency," Schulte said. The official added that "Iran's actions will obviously influence the way in which the issue is discussed by the Security Council."
Meanwhile Iran's top negotiator in Vienna, Javad Vaodi, said on Wednesday that his country at the moment did not mean to use oil as a weapon in negotiations but would consider doing so in the future if forced by the West.
The IAEA wants Iran to suspend uranium enrichment.
Western powers believe Iran wants to develop nuclear arms, a claim denied by Tehran which says it wants to develop its nuclear sector only to produce energy for civilian purposes.
Three years of negotiations between Iran and the EU have brought no significant result, and Iran resumed enrichment in January after a two-year moratorium.
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Bomb explodes at Spanish Falange offices
ISN SECURITY WATCH (Wednesday, 8 March: 12.10 CET) – A bomb exploded on Wednesday at the headquarters of Spain’s right-wing Falange political movement in Santona, in northern Spain, news agencies reported.
Police said no one was injured in the explosion.
According to reports, police sealed off the area after an anonymous caller purportedly on behalf of the Basque separatist ETA group, warned of the device.
Police searched the premises and found a sign on a backpack next to the main door that read “danger, bomb”.
The Spanish Falange, founded in 1993, defends a totalitarian state with no political parties and places great emphasis on national traditions.
Late last month, Spanish media reported that ETA had launched an extortion campaign against Basque businessmen, including photographs of the businessmen’s family members and reports on their movements.
The letters were also sent to the owners of companies that have been attacked over the last few weeks.
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Pakistan attacks suspected militant hideout
ISN SECURITY WATCH (Wednesday, 8 March: 13.25 CET) – The Pakistani military has launched an attack on a suspected militant hideout in a village near the border with Afghanistan. The move is in response to an ambush by rebels in the region, reports cited Pakistani officials as saying.
Pakistani forces shelled a village in the country’s tribal North Waziristan region after their forces were ambushed in an attack that reportedly killed one Pakistan security guard, a tribal regional administrator told the Associated Press.
According to Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL), pitched battles between Pakistani forces and pro-Taliban militants have been taking place in the region since 4 March. More than 100 people have been killed.
Last week, Pakistani forces killed 45 militants in a raid that coincided with US President George W. Bush’s visit to the country. Since then, the fighting has not let up, RFE/RL said.
Pakistani officials say they are trying to root out “foreign fighters” coming across the border from Afghanistan and seeking shelter with tribes in Pakistan.
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NIGERIA: AL-QAEDA FORUMS BACK GUERRILLA DRIVE AGAINST FOREIGN OIL COMPANIES
Rome, 8 March. (AKI) - Internet forums close to the al-Qaeda network have claimed responsibility for guerilla operations against foreign oil companies in the Niger Delta in Nigeria. In an apparent link between international jihadi groups and the ongoing unrest in the oil-rich African nation, the websites have published photos of nine employees of the US petrol company Willbros, kidnapped on 18 February. Their captors are guerillas fighting to force foreign oil companies to abandon the area and ensure the income from the industry is detinated to the local Ijaw ethnic group.
"Photos of the Lions of Nigeria after having taken prisoner some Americans" runs the headline, with the following text: "Allah supports you oh Lions of Nigeria! These are the photos of the mujahadeen in Nigeria after the seizure of nine hostages from the US oil companies who rob the wealth of Muslim Nigeria and of the world. Subsequently six of them were freed and they are Muslims while the American pigs remain in their hands."
The message refers to the liberation on 1 March of six of the hostages. The first to be freed was an elderly American, Macon Hawkins, who suffers from diabetes and was freed on his 69th birthday. After that two Egyptians, two Thais and a Philippino worker were also released.
Two American citizens and one Briton are still being held.
The interest of al-Qaeda for interrupting strategic energy resources in Muslim countries was highlighted by a foiled attack on the world's biggest oil processing plant in Saudi Arabia late last month.
Al-Qaeda has warned of further attacks on oil installations and Saudi forces later killed five suspected militants believed to be linked to the suicide bomb attempt.
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Police chief killed in Mexico drug war city
NUEVO LAREDO, Mexico, March 7 (Reuters) - Suspected drug hitmen with assault rifles killed a police chief on Tuesday in a shootout that left two others dead in this crime-ridden city on the U.S.-Mexican border, police said.
Victor Berrones, head of one of several police forces in the northern state of Tamaulipas, was gunned down when he went to the aid of a patrol car ambushed on a busy road in broad daylight, state police spokesman Hector Ovalle told Reuters.
He said another police officer and a man dressed in civilian clothes, who may have been one of the attackers, also died. Earlier, police sources and witnesses said four people died in the clash, including a deputy head of a state police force.
The killings took place in broad daylight on a highway leading to the airport in Nuevo Laredo, across the Rio Grande from Laredo, Texas.
It was the latest murder of a senior policeman in the city, despite Mexican President Vicente Fox sending hundreds of troops and police last year to quell a drug feud.
The policemen and their attackers fought for 15 minutes in a shootout that spilled over into an auto dealership and left bodies strewn on the ground.
Ovalle said the attackers traveled in sport utility vehicles and fired assault rifles on the patrol car, which called for help over the radio.
More than 40 people have been killed in Nuevo Laredo this year in a fight over smuggling routes between the local Gulf cartel and an alliance of drug traffickers from the western state of Sinaloa.
The city's public security chief Alejandro Dominguez was shot dead in June, hours after taking office. That murder prompted the government to increase security forces in Nuevo Laredo and suspend the entire municipal police force while the government investigated alleged links between police and drug cartels.
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Iran Focus London, Mar. 07 – A Dubai-based company owned by the Iranian government has been used by Iran’s Ministry of Defence to procure a key component needed for production of nuclear bombs, Iran Focus has learnt.
Sources inside the Iranian government have informed Iran Focus that the Dubai-based Gulf Resources Development Corporation (GRDC) has smuggled sizeable quantities of a type of graphite known as ceramic matrix composite (CMC) from China to Iran.
Ceramic matrix composite is used in the construction of nuclear bombs and preservation of highly enriched uranium. Without CMC insulation, highly enriched uranium cannot be placed in a bomb structure because of high radiation.
Although CMC is a dual-use item, international trading of CMC is prohibited for use in nuclear weapons under the Missile Technology Control Regime.
The Iranian Defence Ministry’s front company, Gulf Resources Development Corporation, set up its Dubai subsidiary in 1995. Iran has been using the Dubai-based company for over a decade to procure sensitive precursors for its secret military projects, taking advantage of the port’s lax controls, free tax, and convenient banking facilities.
GRDC is not the only Iranian front company operating in Dubai, according to the sources who spoke to Iran Focus. As early as March 1989, a firm owned by the Indian government was reported to have shipped 60 tons of thionyl chloride, which can be used to manufacture mustard gas and nerve agents, to Iran via Dubai. In later years, Iran used front companies in Dubai to illegally import centrifuge parts, sensitive computer components, encryption devices, and a range of blacklisted materials with military use.
The chief executive officer of GRDC, Raouf Mashayekh, is an Iranian national based in Dubai. He frequently visits Iran, according to the well-informed sources, for meetings with officials in Iran’s military industries, who are his clients. The sources identified the Ministry of Defence official responsible for the procurement of CMC as a “Mr. Tabatabai”.
Iran has recently mastered the technique of producing CMC indigenously, the sources said. Research on CMC is conducted in Malek Ashtar University of Technology, which is affiliated to the Ministry of Defence. The MoD is also using the heat-resistant graphite composite in its missile industry, the sources said.
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Iran Reportedly Developing Nuclear-Capable Missile
Intelligence indicates that a covert Iranian program known as “Project 111” includes plans to arm Shahab 3 missiles with nuclear warheads, Reuters reported yesterday.
The European Union, Israel and the United States believe the assessment is accurate, said an EU diplomat, while an Iranian official denied the charge.
The Washington Post last month described Project 111 as “a nuclear research effort that includes work on missile development.”
However, one expert cautioned that the intelligence is based on assessments rather than known facts.
“I don’t think any of the available intelligence represents a smoking gun,” said David Albright, president of the Institute for Science and International Security.
The National Council of Resistance of Iran, an exile group opposed to the current regime, said yesterday that Tehran was also working on producing Ghadr missiles with a range of up to 3,000 kilometers.
Meanwhile, a German government source said intelligence officials are sending “early warning letters” to German firms, urging them to beware of Iranian agents seeking missile technology (Louis Charbonneau, Reuters, March 6).
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Afghan-Pakistani relations deteriorating
(AP) - KABUL, Afghanistan - A rift between Afghanistan and Pakistan deepened Tuesday as Afghan President Hamid Karzai's office said intelligence about Taliban and al-Qaida fugitives allegedly hiding in Pakistan was "very strong and accurate."
Karzai's spokesman Karim Rahimi said his government will present Islamabad with further intelligence about the militants' whereabouts and that it was "hopeful that measures will be taken" against them.
Relations between Pakistan and Afghanistan - key allies of Washington in its war on terror - have deteriorated sharply since Karzai gave Pakistan President Gen. Pervez Musharraf last month a list of Taliban and al-Qaida fugitives he said were hiding in Pakistan.
Afghan and Pakistani officials told The Associated Press the list included Taliban supreme leader Mullah Omar and top associates, and that Afghanistan also shared the locations of alleged terrorist training camps.
"Afghanistan provided very strong and accurate intelligence," Rahimi told a press conference Tuesday in response to a claim by Musharraf in an interview Sunday on CNN that the information was old.
Rahimi said that even if the intelligence was outdated, "It still shows that there are problems and terrorists have freedom of movement" in Pakistan.
Pakistan has accused Afghanistan of leaking the list to the media because Kabul did not trust Islamabad to act on it. "The bad-mouthing against Pakistan is a deliberate, articulated conspiracy," Musharraf was quoted as saying Monday by the state-run news agency, Associated Press of Pakistan.
Musharraf said nobody should question his commitment to fight terrorism and that his security forces have captured terrorists and will continue to do so. He added that he discussed the matter with President Bush during Bush's visit last week to Islamabad.
Top U.S. military commander Gen. John Abizaid was expected to visit Pakistan later Tuesday to discuss a range of issues, including the fugitive militants list, the Pakistani Foreign Ministry said.
"Definitely, we will present our view about Afghanistan's list when our officials meet with General Abizaid," Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Tasnim Aslam said.
In another sign of the increasing tensions, Pakistani Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Tasnim Aslam urged Afghanistan - and U.S.-led coalition forces - to do more to stop militants from sneaking across the porous Pakistan-Afghanistan border into its tribal regions.
She said Pakistan had deployed some 80,000 troops along the rugged frontier and that Afghan and coalition forces should "equally contribute in stopping militants."
Pakistan, which used to support Afghanistan's former Taliban government, switched sides in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks in the United States and has backed Karzai since then. But a spike in violence in Afghanistan has fueled suspicions in Kabul that Pakistan's intelligence agencies may be still supporting the Taliban - a charge Pakistan strongly denies.
Some 1,600 people were killed in violence in Afghanistan last year, the most since the Taliban was ousted in 2001. Recent months has seen a wave of suicide attacks that Afghanistan claims were plotted in Pakistan and executed by militants who crossed the border.
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China interested in $12 billion projects in Pakistan
'Pakistan Times' Federal Bureau ISLAMABAD: Pakistan and China have identified projects worth $12 billion, including Islamabad International Airport, oil refinery at Gwadar, Bunji Hydropower Project and Neelam-Jhelum Hydropower Project for Chinese investment.
In an interview, Minister of State for Investment, Umar Ahmad Ghumman, said that the leaders of both countries had discussed these projects costing $12 billion where China would like to invest in these projects, private TV channel (Aaj) reported.
Ghuman said that Chinese investors were very keen to invest in
infrastructure projects and the government would provide them every facility in this regard.
He said that Pakistan's biggest refinery, which would be established in Gwadar, would refine 60,000 barrels of oil per day.
Infrastructure
All infrastructure projects in the country would be processed through the Board of Investment (BoI).
The minister said that the country had attracted foreign direct investment (FDI) worth $1.6 billion during seven months of the current fiscal year, and expressed hope that it would reach $3
billion by the end of the year.
He said Sialkot international airport was likely to be inaugurated in July. The airport is being constructed by private sector. •
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Armenia Defense Ministry reports shelling from Azerbaijan
YEREVAN, March 7 (Itar-Tass) - The Armenian Defense Ministry has reported the shelling of border army units from Azerbaijan on Monday and overnight to Tuesday.
According to the spokesman for the Armenian Defense Ministry, Colonel Seiran Shakhsuvaryan, the Armenian side had not retaliated with fire. He said positions in three regions had come under fire.
Defense Minister Serzh Sarkisyan believes there is “no particular aggravation of the situation on the border”. The minister, who is also secretary of the National Security Council, told Russian reporters here that following the signing of an agreement on ceasefire 12 years ago, it has been violated on a monthly or weekly basis.
Meanwhile, the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry reported on Tuesday the shelling of the Azerbaijani western Kazakhsky region from the side of Armenia. Ministry spokesman Ilgar Verdiyev said national army positions had been shelled twice from Armenia. He said Azerbaijani positions had been shelled from sub-machine guns and machine guns. He said there had been no losses among Azerbaijani military. No retaliatory fire followed, he added.
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Pro-Jihad website comments on Pakistani operation in Waziristan
Note: The following two articles are from a pro-jihadi website known for its anti-US, anti-West rhetoric. The first article comments on Pakistan security forces battling pro-Taliban forces in North Waziristan. The second article is a media relations statement outlining Taliban operations in the past week.
Tribal Battlefield Heats Up Again In Waziristan As Civilians Evacuate In Fear
Mar 07, 2006
Reported By Muhammad Al Halimi, JUS Waziristan Correspondent
After the intense clashes between the Mujahideen and Pak collaborator security forces starting last week that continued through the weekend until press time, the situation in troubled tribal region of Waziristan has exploded into an “undeclared war”.
According to unconfirmed reports from Urdu Daily Jasarat and Daily Jang, intense battles continued as the Pakistani military operation that carried out for another day. Earlier on Friday Mujahideen were reported to have taken over several communications installations and buildings used by collaborator authorities following claims Pak forces were targeting Mujahideen training facility resulting in martyrdom of over 45 Mujahideen mostly of Arab, Chechen and Uzbek nationalities however this report could not be verified.
Waziristan Reverses To Late 2004 Like Situation
Although the Pakistan, subservient to the US, has been claiming for months that all the “foreign” Mujahideen had been expelled from the tribal area after a year of the most controversial military operation in Pakistani history in an effort to please their US masters, the renewed war proves the opposite; it has strengthened the Mujahideen presence and hold in the area. Now it appears that the Mujahideen are better positioned and equipped to confront a qualitatively superior force.
On Friday local scholar Maulvi Abdul Khaliq declared Jihad against collaborator forces by motivating the local tribesmen with passionate speeches. Mujahideen assembled their forces and liberated some key communications installations used by Pak army and government buildings in Zarmela area near Mirali including a telephone exchange that temporarily disrupted army’s communications. The puppet political authority tried to convene a Jirga or Assembly of Tribal Elders but failed after Mujahideen moved to block it by warning of death penalty for anyone participating.
On Saturday Mujahideen attacked a military installation and various security check posts using rockets in Mirali, Miramshah and Zarmela. The situation further escalated when army repulsed the attack resulting in over rumors that a large number of Mujahideen were martyred however this still remains unconfirmed by independent sources. The Pak Army moved against Mujahideen backed by helicopters gunships and artillery. Pak collaborators have claimed to have regained control of installations earlier liberated by Mujahideen however this again has not been confirmed. Moreover the Chechen Mujahid Commander believed to have been martyred has been identified as Asad.
Mujahideen Warn Of Greater Conflict
Meanwhile, Mujahideen spokesman Maulvi Abdul Ghafoor speaking to AFP from a satellite phone warned that the war could spread to other areas of Waziristan if Pak security forces do not leave the area. It was reported earlier that the Mujahideen have consolidated in their stronghold in Waziristan, declaring an Islamic State and taking over law and order while limiting the limp wrested collaborator forces to their barracks.
Civilians Evacuate As Fighting Escalates
Urdu Daily Jang is reporting that civilians, including many women and children, have started evacuating the area on foot, carrying along their belongings for fear the volatile and tense situation will explode and are shifting to safer places. According to AFP, those leaving the the area are seen walking on foot carrying suitcases and bundles of clothes as public transport is not permitted by Pak authorities.
The more news comes in the more unstable the future in the area looks as Mujahideen seem to gain strength prompting renewed military operation by collaborator Army. According to army sources the situation has reversed to the one in late 2004 when Pak Army operation was met with stiff resistance by Mujahideen resulting in over 500 deaths on Pak army’s side and nearly 700 Mujahideen martyrs including the highly admired Mujahideen Commander Neik Muhammad and Uzbek Mujahideen Commander Tahir Yeldashev who narrowly escaped capture.
What is going to come out in Waziristan War II or WWII, only time will tell with Allah’s promise of victory for the Mujahideen and His rage and humiliation for the collaborator and hypocrite forces.
Puppets Wrangling Over “Wanted Taliban List”
As the Waziristan fighting continues, the puppet and collaborator regimes of Pakistan and Afghanistan engage in War of words over a “Wanted Taliaban List” handed over by puppet President Hamid Karzai to Musharraf that allegedly lists the telephone numbers used and locations of Taliban and Al Qaeda Mujahideen including Ameer Ul Momineen Mullah Umar and Commander Gulbadin Hikmatyar in Pakistan. Hamid Karazai also blamed Pakistani intelligence of supporting the Mujahideen attacking inside Afghanstan that invited President Musharraf’s strong rebuttal and counter accusations of Afghanistan’s intelligence and Interior Ministry’s involvement in the aiding Baloch nationalist in Balochistan province.
This squabbling between Washington’s two main collaborators in the so called “War on Terror” came just a day after Bush completed his South Asian trip by striking log term strategic partnership with India while only making veiled promises to Pakistan in contrast. This also strengthens the Mujahideen’s strategy by providing clear proof that as Allah tells us, the hearts of collaborators are overflowing with filth and distrust for each other. (JUS)
Islamic State of Afghanistan Reports On Taliban Operations February 28 – March 3, 2006
Mar 07, 2006
By Ubaidah Al-Saif , Translation © Jihad Unspun 2006
The Office of Media Affairs has issued a new report on Taliban operations carried out in the Islamic State of Afghanistan during the past few days that shows a steady increase in not just attacks but martyrdom operations styled after those being carried out in Iraq that are yeilding significant losses for the occupiers.
Here is their report, published uncut and uncensored, as translated by JUS.
We remind our viewers that the opinions and points of view expressed in this article are those of the author and shall not be deemed to mean that they are necessarily those of Jihad Unspun, the publisher, editor, writers, contributors or staff.
Islamic State of Afghanistan: Taliban Mujahideen Operations February 28 – March 3, 2006
March 3, 2006
Scores Of Canadian Soldiers Killed In Martyrdom Operation In Kandahar
Today, at 10 in the morning, martyr Abdullah, a resident of Kandahar, was able to immerse his explosive laden vehicle in the middle of a Canadian military formation in Dorahi area of kandahar, he then detonated his cargo. Scores of cross worshipers were killed and sent to Hell Fire. May Allah accept our brother as martyr.
Four Afghan Soldiers Killed In Paktika
Taliban Mujahideen in Nikname Village in Baktika, attacked the government postal building and completely destroyed it. 4 Afghan soldiers were killed in the attack.
Head Of Intelligence Assassinated
Taliban Mujahideen attacked the head of intelligence in Kabisa who goes by the alias “Farouk”. Farouk and two of his companions were killed and their vehicle was destroyed.
Mayor, 9 Afghan Sodliers Killed In Helmend
Taliban Mujahideen carried out an attack at noon time on Afghan soldiers formation in Helmend. 7 soldeirs were killed. Mujahideen went on to attack a convoy of Afghan sodliers in Ausheer village, two soldiers were killed in that attack. Mujahideen day’s work did not end until they ambushed the mayor of Senjeen and killed him.
March 2, 2006
Taliban Mujahideen Pounded A Military Airport Near Kandahar
Details on casualties have yet to come. Taliban Mujahideen have also launched a ferrocious attack on an American base in Jarjino, Arozjan governorate. We are awaiting details on casualties.
Three Afghan Soldiers Killed
An attack on an Afghan military convoy in Khurwariano are in Zabel governorate resulted in killing three apostate Afghan soldiers.
Soldiers, Vehicles Destroyed
Mujahideen carried out an attack on Afghan military caravan in Helmend. 6 Afghan soldiers were killed and two vehicles were destroyed.
March 1, 2006
American Hummer Destroyed In Kandahar, All Soldiers Killed
Taliban Mujahideen attacked an American Humvee on the road linking the city of Kndahar and the airport, using explosive device which was detonated using remote control. The vehicle was destroyed and all American sodliers on board were killed.
Three Afghan Soldiers Killed In Helmand
Taliban Mujahideen attacked an Afghan military convoy in Baghni area of Helmend and destroyed one vehicle and killed three Afghan soldiers.
Two Afghan Soldiers Killed
Taliban Mujahideen attacked a check point in Rishkhur area, near Luqman village in Kabul. Two Afghan soldiers were killed, others fled the scene, and the check point was set ablaze.
February 28, 2006
Taliban attacked and destroyed two large personnel carriers in Haidar Abad area. The two drivers were released on the basis that they will not work with the apostate government anymore.
{And when it is said to them: "Make not mischief on the earth," they say: "We are only peacemakers." Verily! They are the ones who make mischief, but they perceive not.} 02:11-12
Allahu Akbar and Glory is to Allah, His messenger, and to the believers.
Office of Media Affairs
Islamic State of Afghanistan-Taliban
March 6, 2006
Official Taliban Spokespersons:
Abdul Al-Hai (Motma’en)
Al-Hafeth Muhammad (Ahmady)
Dr. Muhammad Hanif
English Translation © Jihad Unspun 2006
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Sri Lanka rebel peace team nabbed with gun catalogues
COLOMBO, March 7 (Reuters) - Tamil Tiger rebels were delayed on their return from peace talks in Europe on Tuesday after airport customs officials in Sri Lanka found gun catalogues in their luggage and briefly confiscated them.
The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) were also forced to pay $380 in duty on a range of new items including electric razors, head-mounted torches and digital cameras, officials said. The Tigers had no immediate comment.
"There had been some catalogues of small guns and weapons, like shotguns and revolvers," Sarath Jayatilake, Director General of Customs, told Reuters.
"This was taken over by customs, and thereafter they have examined this with the military specialists ... and then finally they have decided there was no offensive kind of literature in that and they have decided to release it," he added.
The Tigers have built up a formidable arsenal ranging from high-speed assault boats to artillery, rocket-propelled grenades and a number of small aircraft smuggled into the country in pieces.
The rebels and the Sri Lankan government agreed at crunch talks in Geneva last month to halt an upsurge in violence that threatened to end a 2002 truce and plunge the island back into a two-decade civil war that killed more than 64,000 people.
However each side has since accused the other of negotiating in bad faith and of carrying out new killings and preparing for war on an island still striving to recover from the 2004 tsunami.
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Developments in Iraq, March 7
March 7 (Reuters) - The following are security incidents and political developments in Iraq as of 1100 GMT on Tuesday.
U.S. and Iraqi forces have been battling a Sunni Arab insurgency against the Shi'ite- and Kurdish-led government in Baghdad since U.S. troops toppled Saddam Hussein in 2003.
A wave of sectarian violence since a bombing of a Shi'ite shrine on Feb. 22 has killed hundreds.
Asterisk denotes a new or updated item.
*BAQUBA - Gunmen killed three members of radical Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr's office in Baquba, police and hospital sources said. Two other members were wounded.
*BAGHDAD - Three mortar rounds landed on the headquarter of National Dialogue Front, a Sunni Arab party headed by Salih al-Mutlak. No casualties were reported.
*KIRKUK - Three students and a soldier were wounded when a roadside bomb exploded as an Iraqi army patrol drove by Kirkuk University in central Kirkuk, 250 km (150 miles) north of Baghdad, police said.
*HAWIJA - A policeman was killed and another wounded in a drive-by shooting on the Kirkuk-Hawija highway, 60 km (40 miles) southwest of Kirkuk, police said.
BAGHDAD - Five civilians were wounded when a car bomb exploded in southern Baghdad, police said. The target of the explosion was not clear.
BAGHDAD - A civilian was killed and his wife was wounded when a car bomb struck at a U.S. patrol in western Baghdad, police said.
BAQUBA - A car bomb killed one civilian and wounded three police officers. The policemen had arrived at the scene after gunmen had killed a policeman on a patrol.
HILLA - Three traffic policemen and four civilians were wounded when a car bomb went off in central Hilla, 100 km (60 miles) south of Baghdad. Another car bomb exploded in northern Hilla but no casualties were reported.
BALAD - A policeman was wounded when four mortar rounds landed in and around Balad police station in Balad, 90 km (55 miles) north of Baghdad, police said.
BAIJI - Three policemen were killed and four were wounded when gunmen attacked their patrol in the oil refinery city of Baiji, 180 km (110 miles) north of Baghdad, police said.
TIKRIT - A Sunni shrine was destroyed on Monday when gunmen planted bombs inside it in the city of Tikrit, 175 km (110 miles) north of Baghdad, police said.
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Defense news
Tuesday March 7, 2006: Defense news briefs...
Latest news
07 Mar 2006
Farnborough International Teams with Aero India
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07 Mar 2006
RAM adds Boeing 737-700 to Fleet
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07 Mar 2006
Oshkosh Truck Signs Agreement with ADI Limited to Offer Bushmaster(R) Armored Vehicles in North America
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07 Mar 2006
Bombardier Sells Three Q300 Turboprops for Australia's Coastwatch
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07 Mar 2006
ITT Receives Contract for Electronic Warfare System For U.S. Navy F-18E/F Aircraft
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07 Mar 2006
Team JCA Offers Interoperable Military Solution for Joint Cargo Aircraft Requirement
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07 Mar 2006
AgustaWestland Awarded 25 Year IMOS Contract
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07 Mar 2006
L-3' Tactical Common Data Link Demonstrates Airborne Interoperability in Apache-Hunter Teaming
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07 Mar 2006
BAE Systems Awarded $32 Million Contract for M113 Armor Contracts
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07 Mar 2006
Raytheon Delivers Missile-Detection and Tracking Sensors for U.S. Space Program
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07 Mar 2006
Goodrich Enters Into Teaming Agreement With Rockwell Collins for Video Solutions
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07 Mar 2006
BAE Systems Receives $9.5 Million Contract to Provide M88A2 Spare Engines to the U.S. Marine Corps
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06 Mar 2006
Northrop Grumman Completes Research to Increase Hunter UAV Combat Capabilities
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06 Mar 2006
Future Combat System Team Selects Active Protection System Provider for Manned Ground Vehicles
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06 Mar 2006
Fats Awarded $1 Million Contract from CUBIC Defense Applications
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06 Mar 2006
Anteon Stockholders Approve Sale to General Dynamics
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06 Mar 2006
Russian Commission Begins Proton Investigation
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Georgian Ministry of Defense outlines 2006 priorities
Breaking News published on 07/03/2006
Tbilisi, 7 March 2006 (Georgian Ministry of Defense Press Release) - The Georgian Ministry of Defense (MoD) posted a document outlining the Ministry’s priorities for the year 2006 on its website on March 6.
The document was published ahead of the Strategic Defence Review (SDR) document, which is expected to be completed this summer:
"This vision statement provides general guidance to the Ministry of Defence, Joint Staff and the Georgian Armed Forces (GAF) in performing our role as a primary element of national security. The vision, priority goals and objectives serve to frame and to shape the nature and direction of planning and development of defence capabilities and contributions. This vision statement guides the Ministry of Defence in a manner consistent with the vision of the President and the principles of the National Security Concept and the National Military Strategy. This document is intended for public consumption, to increase awareness and understanding of our efforts. This vision statement is published in advance of the completion of the Strategic Defence Review (SDR) and the detailed implementing plans and guidance that will follow the SDR. It is essential that the Ministry of Defence and the Georgian Armed Forces continue making progress on the important issues discussed here. The Minister’s Vision 2006 provides guidance for continued long term actions, and also serves to give interim guidance on specific activities while the SDR remains ongoing. This document replaces the Defence Policy Priorities for 2005-2006, which is hereby cancelled.
The National Security Concept and the National Military Strategy define the overall defence objectives of Georgia based on current national values, interests and security requirements. These objectives consider the ongoing separatist issues, regional and international terrorism and other current threats. The purpose of the GAF is to provide for the security of the nation and contribute to meeting our international objectives. We therefore establish three main priorities:
First, improve GAF combat capabilities. This process requires proper training and equipping of the force, maintaining qualified personnel, and improving their living and working conditions.
Second, facilitate the NATO-integration process. The ultimate goal is a highly capable, NATO-interoperable GAF able to contribute to NATO-led military operations.
Third, improve the defence management system. This includes effective use of available human, material and financial resources; while improving planning process, program development and the rapid and effective implementation of decisions.
Our forces and capabilities must be proportional to the threat and anticipated missions. The structure of our internal organisation must be both capable and responsive. It must also be proportional to our national size and means, and be pragmatic and efficient in the use of the resources allotted to us. The ongoing Strategic Defence Review will greatly enhance our understanding in this area. Additionally, we must evaluate all areas of management, command, structure, processes, and procedures with regard to effectiveness in supporting operational and efficiency in use of resources.
We face threats from separatism and terrorism, which require appropriate cooperation and support of our defence forces both with other internal agencies and with regional and broader international efforts. Georgia is an active part of the national engagement in regional contributions and maintaining positive relations with our neighbors. This projects the goals of the nation as a responsible member of the international community through contributions to NATO and UN missions for peace support, disaster relief, and humanitarian assistance. Therefore it is important to build a defence force that is compatible with NATO and able to effectively interface with western militaries. Georgia’s long term security interests lie in effective collective defence.
In 2006 Georgia plans to continue participating in international peacekeeping and stabilization operations, in a manner, which highlights its commitment to world peace and the global war against terrorism. Georgia is committed to being not only a consumer of global security, but also a provider.
Priority Goals and Activities for 2006
Ministry and Joint Staff:
Create a functional Joint Staff, including permanent billets for Air Force, Navy and National Guard officers
Create force development/management system and develop implementation plans for SDR force structure decisions
Continue actions on recommendations received from NATO assessments, the 2005 U.S. European Command Defence Assessment, and other partner nations
Start to develop an effective Human Resources System
Continue to develop a functional logistics system
Start to develop a functional Planning, Programming, and Budgeting System (PPBS)
Improve NATO interoperability with focus on defining clear command and staff functions within the organisational structure and developing identified “niche capabilities”
Develop a readiness reporting program
Continue to develop capability in Special Forces, Military Police and Military Intelligence; integrate Military Intelligence with other national intelligence activities
Update National Training Center (KTA) with Combat Maneuver Training Center capability
Continuing actions for services of Georgian Armed Forces:
Support and contribute to peacekeeping operations for the resolution of territorial conflicts
Support NATO-lead/coalition operations
Improve the ability to deploy and sustain forces, within and outside of the country
Continue to improve the quality of living and working conditions of military service members
Develop effective intelligence structures and initiate capability
Develop C2 capabilities
Conduct disposition procedures for equipment identified as unserviceable by SDR
Develop recommendations/plan for location of forces/assets consistent with threat, contingency plans and fiscal considerations
Land Forces:
Establish a functional Land Forces Headquarters
Develop a deployable command and control systems and unit tactical communications
Fully sustain the GTEP/SSOP unit training program
Implement a training management system in 1st and 2nd Brigades
Air Forces:
Continue to develop air surveillance and reporting capability, compatible with NATO standards and procedures, to support maintaining air sovereignty
Navy:
Continue to develop effective, integrated operational capability with the Georgian Coast Guard to ensure maritime sovereignty/control
Maintain capability for Black Sea cooperative security
National Guard:
Develop an effective mobilisation system
Gain and maintain 20 battalions in trained and equipped status
Conclusion
Accomplishment of the goals and priorities that are established above will enable us to make substantial progress toward achieving an effectively manned and affordable armed force that is interoperable with NATO. Our efforts will be the foundation to providing Georgia with a safe and secure environment, free from intimidation and threats, and leading the way to becoming a prosperous nation, fully integrated into Europe-Atlantic institutions, and a respected partner within the international community."
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Russia-US meet to discuss Hamas & Iran's nuclear programme
Washington, 7 March (AKI) - Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov is holding a round of talks with US secretary of state Condoleezza Rice and meeting president George W. Bush in Washington on Tuesday to discuss Russia's position on the Iranian nuclear crisis and on Hamas. Russia, which has veto power as one of the permanent members of the Security Council, is a key player in the Iran crisis currently being debated by the UN's atomic watchdog in Vienna. Russia is also important to US policies aimed at limiting aid to the Palestinian militant group since it won a landslide victory in a general election on 25 January.
Russia has proposed a potential compromise over Iran's nuclear crisis to avert UN sanctions. In a last-ditch attempt to find a solution to the impasse, Moscow proposed on Monday to let Iran produce small quantities of nuclear fuel while offering to enrich uranium on its behalf on Russian soil - a compromise reportedly rejected by the US.
The proposal was issued on the first day of a week-long meeting in Vienna of the 35-nation board of governors of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) which could lead to Security Council action against Iraq.
Rice on Monday called Mohamed ElBaradei, the head of IAEA, to stress the US position that Iran "must cease all uranium enrichment-related activity," State Department spokesman Tom Casey told the Associated Press news agency.
The United States was successful in convincing Russia last month to abide by a US-backed initiative to report Iran to the Security Council. However, the United States had to agree to a delay of at least a month before the Council could decide whether to take action.
The Bush administration is also slated to demand explanations on a visit made by a Hamas delegation to Moscow last Friday on the invitation of Russian president Vladimir Putin, despite US and Israeli efforts to isolate the militant group.
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Mofaz: Hamas PM Could Be Israeli Target
JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel's defense minister said Tuesday that the Islamic militant Hamas group's prime minister-designate, Ismail Haniyeh, is not immune from an Israeli targeted killing.
Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz told Israel's Army Radio that Israel's policy of pinpointed killings has proven to be effective, and will continue.
"There is no question about its efficacy," Mofaz said. "Look what happened to Hamas in the years it conducted an untrammeled suicide bombing war against us. When we started the targeted killings, the situation changed."
"We will continue the targeted killings at this pace," he added. "No one will be immune."
Hamas, the militant Islamic group sworn to Israel's destruction, swept January parliamentary elections and is in the process of forming a Cabinet. It has rejected international calls to renounce its violent and anti-Israel ideology, but has maintained a year-old moratorium on suicide bombings.
Asked if Hamas' prime minister-designate would be a target if Hamas were to resume its attacks on Israel, Mofaz responded: "If Hamas, a terror organization that doesn't recognize agreements with us and isn't willing to renounce violence, presents us with the challenge of having to confront a terror organization, then no one there will be immune. Not just Ismail Haniyeh. No one will be immune."
Salah al-Bardawil, a Hamas spokesman, denounced Mofaz's comments.
"This statement and Israeli practices on the ground reflect the bloody, inhumane and inflammatory character of the Zionist enemy," al-Bardawil said. "We are not seeking immunity or mercy from Israel. We are in a confrontation. The side that is most steadfast is the side that will survive."
On Monday, two Islamic Jihad militants and three Palestinian bystanders were killed in an Israeli pinpoint attack in Gaza City. Two of those killed were children.
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Cybercriminals stepping up targeted attacks
Reuters: Cybercriminals are stepping up smaller, more targeted attacks as they seek to avoid detection and reap bigger profits by stealing personal and financial information, according to a report issued Monday.
Symantec's Internet Security Threat report said during the second half of 2005 attackers continued to move away from broad attacks seeking to breach firewalls and routers and are now taking aim at the desktop and Web applications.
The latest report from the world's biggest security software maker said threats such as viruses, worms and trojans that can unearth confidential information from a user's computer rose to 80 percent of the top 50 malicious software code threats from 74 percent in the previous six months.
Scams such as phishing attacks that trick users into revealing information such as passwords, credit card information and other financial information also rose, the report said.
Between July 1 and Dec. 31, phishing attempts made up one in every 119 processed e-mail messages, the report said. This translates into an average 7.92 million phishing attempts per day, up from 5.70 million in the first part of the year.
Vincent Weafer, senior director of Symantec Security Response, said hackers are eschewing widespread viruses or worms that deliver infected software code able to potentially devastate hundreds of thousands of computers in favor of smaller-scale attacks.
He added criminals do not want to trigger a major security response with a high-profile attack and now seek to more narrowly tailor their focus to silently slip onto a user's machine.
Weafer also noted the number of headline-grabbing viruses has slowed since the Blaster worm outbreak infected computers worldwide in 2003--further evidence criminals are moving away from large-scale attacks.
"Instead of sending out a worm to hit a million desktops people are sending out smaller, aggressive attacks," Weafer said. "Criminals want to now get on a system silently."
The report also cited a growing threat from robot, or "bot" networks used to launch attacks on computer systems. Criminals create botnets by illegally gaining control of a large number of computers, which the report said are increasingly used as tools for extortion attempts.
The number of computers infected by botnets fell slightly but on average Symantec observed 1,402 denial of service attacks per day utilizing botnets, representing a 51 percent increase over the prior reporting period.
"What we are seeing is increased intensity from a lower number of botnets," Weafer said. "Those botnets that are smaller are being used more than larger ones."
China is also fast turning into a major source of botnet attacks likely due to the rapid growth in broadband Internet connections there, the report said.
During the last six months of the year, botnet attacks originating in China soared 153 percent, which is 72 percentage points above the average increase, the report said.
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Third blast hits Ethiopian capital, no injuries
ADDIS ABABA, March 7 (Reuters) - A third blast struck the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa on Tuesday, exploding outside the gate of a hotel and tourism training centre, a Reuters witness said.
No one was injured in the blast, which damaged a small guard shack at the gate. It followed two other explosions earlier in the city. One outside a restaurant injured four people, while another in a market caused no injuries.
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INDIA: BLASTS HIT VARANASI
New Delhi, 7 March (AKI) - At least four people were killed on Tuesday when an explosion ripped through a Hindu temple in the northern Indian city of Varanasi. According to Indian television channel NDTV a separate blast occured moments later at the city's railway station. Police said dozens were injured in the blast at the temple which is dedicated to the Hindu God Hanuman. Worshippers traditionally flock to the site on Tuesdays and the blast occurred after 6 pm local time when evening prayers are usually held. Indian prime minister Mammohan Singh condemned the blasts and appealed for calm.
The area around the temple has been cordoned off, according to NDTV which also said that the blast caused panic and a near-stampede situation as devotees rushed to safety.
The city of Varanasi, which is situated on the banks of the River ganges is an important Hindu pilgrimage city in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh.
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Saudi Arabia: New Islamic satellite channel launched
Riyadh, 7 March. (AKI) - Prince Alwaleed ibn Talal, the chief executive of Saudi Arabia's Kingdom Holding Company, has officially launched an Islamic satellite channel seeking to project Islam as a religion of moderation, the Arab News online daily reports. Al-Resalah (The Message) has been broadcasting informally since last Wednesday. At a press conference on Monday, Prince Alwaleed said the 24-hour channel would target an Arab audience, especially young people, by projecting "our Arab heritage through a modern medium.". Al-Resalah will be the forerunner of a future English-language Islamic channel for Western audiences.
The prince said the new Islamic network would provide a platform for a dialogue onreligious, social and economic issues affecting everyday life, but its priority would be to counteract the misconceptions of Islam in other societies.
Tarek Alsuwaidan, the channel’s general manager, said that 40 percent of the programs would be youth oriented, 30 percent would target women and families, and 10 percent would focus on children, Arab News reports.
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EXCLUSIVE: Iraq Weapons -- Made in Iran?
Intelligence Officials Say Weapons Responsible for Increasing U.S. Deaths in Iraq
March 6, 2006 — - U.S. military and intelligence officials tell ABC News that they have caught shipments of deadly new bombs at the Iran-Iraq border.
They are a very nasty piece of business, capable of penetrating U.S. troops' strongest armor.
What the United States says links them to Iran are tell-tale manufacturing signatures -- certain types of machine-shop welds and material indicating they are built by the same bomb factory.
"The signature is the same because they are exactly the same in production," says explosives expert Kevin Barry. "So it's the same make and model."
U.S. officials say roadside bomb attacks against American forces in Iraq have become much more deadly as more and more of the Iran-designed and Iran-produced bombs have been smuggled in from the country since last October.
"I think the evidence is strong that the Iranian government is making these IEDs, and the Iranian government is sending them across the border and they are killing U.S. troops once they get there," says Richard Clarke, former White House counterterrorism chief and an ABC News consultant. "I think it's very hard to escape the conclusion that, in all probability, the Iranian government is knowingly killing U.S. troops."
'Very Lethal'
U.S. intelligence officials say Iran is using the bombs as a way to drive up U.S. casualties in Iraq but without provoking a direct confrontation.
John Negroponte, director of national intelligence, testified before the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence on Februrary 2, saying, "Tehran's intention to inflict pain on the United States and Iraq has been constrained by its caution to avoid giving Washington an excuse to attack it."
The U.S. Army has embarked on a crash effort to find ways to stop the bombs, according to an unclassified report issued last month. The devices are easily hidden and detonated by motion detectors -- like those used in garden security lights -- that cannot be jammed.
When exploded, the copper disc becomes a molten liquid bullet that can penetrate the thickest armor the United States has.
"They penetrate the armor of an M1 Abrams tank," Clarke says. "They're shape charges. They go through anything, and they are very lethal."
There is currently no real defense against the weapons, he says.
"The Pentagon has a major crash study underway to figure out how to stop them," Clarke says, "but they haven't figured it out yet."
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L.A. County Bioterror Spending Problems Identified
NTI: An estimated $2 million of the federal grant money directed to Los Angeles County for bioterrorism preparedness has been used for public relations, response to unrelated health problems and the purchase of questionable services and supplies, the Los Angeles Times reported today.
The county spent some of the money on extras to participate in a 2004 smallpox vaccination drill because officials could not find enough volunteers. Central Casting received more than $57,000, while the county spent $10,000 on gift certificates and $13,600 for other gifts for the participants.
Most of the federal money has been spent to train first responders. However, the definition of terrorism readiness has sometimes been stretched, drawing concern from inside the county Health Services Department.
“Unless we have a compelling public message, this seems to be a big waste of taxpayer funds,” said John Wallace, head of external and government relations at the department, in a 2004 e-mail message. Wallace was addressing a proposed $1 million press campaign.
“I am concerned that it will appear that we are trying to spend grant dollars for the sake of not having to return them, and that is not acceptable,” he said.
The department has not used one out of every six dollars allocated by the federal government from 2002 to 2004 for bioterrorism readiness.
In that period, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention granted more than $2.7 billion to cities, states and counties to prepare for a bioterrorism attack. Los Angeles County received $83 million, $14 million of which was not spent.
As there has not been a biological attack, it is hard to say whether the spending issues have hurt preparedness. However, it is clear that the county has fallen behind on projects in important areas, such as the construction of a new public health laboratory.
According to documents reviewed by the Times, the county has spent:
— More than $128,000 on trinkets such as letter openers, whistles, flashlight and pens that have been given to the public;
— $1,000 for nylon discs for Public Health Week;
— $4,145 on stress balls, notepads and clipboards for a forensic epidemiology conference;
— at least $170,000 to train staff on how to prepare videos for online viewing;
— $4,675 for a teleprompter, as well as $450 for improvements to the machine;
— $2,187 for a laptop computer to write teleprompter scripts;
— $3,392 for a portable microphone;
— hundreds of dollars to replace a podium “damaged by rodents”;
— 70 high-end chairs that cost $600 each, as well as 800 computers; and
— $18,000 to print fliers and cards with West Nile virus information and $4,629 for printer cartridges in response to an “increased amount of bite reports” in connection with West Nile.
The California Health Services Department does not allow counties to spend bioterrorism funding on West Nile, according to Betsey Lyman, California’s deputy director for public health emergency preparedness.
Los Angeles County Public Health Director Jonathan Fielding defended the spending, arguing it meets federal guidelines. For example, CDC Julie Gerberding approved the West Nile spending, he said.
He said the teleprompter had been used three times in training and that it was cheaper to hire actors than to use country employees for the smallpox drill.
“Even actors might need to know how to reach the BT [bioterrorism] Web site or have the material available on how to prepare themselves — that was our thinking,” said Sharon Grigsby, county bioterrorism preparedness director.
The public health laboratory, which was supposed to be completed by November 2004, will not be done until late spring and is set to cost more than $15 million. Original estimates had the cost at $9 million, but increased because of rain and “unforeseen structural and infrastructure problems,” according to county records.
Various problems have been identified with Los Angeles County spending requests. Alison Johnson, director of the CDC state and local readiness division. Some restrictions have been placed on the county’s and better justification is now required.
“I would say they have more issues than what we would normally see,” Johnson said. “They definitely have more issues than average.”
When told of the spending irregularities discovered in the documents, she said, “You’ve raised some valid concerns.”
Donna Knutson, an official at the agency senior to Johnson, later said that Los Angeles County’s problems were not excessive (Charles Ornstein, Los Angeles Times, March 6).
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Iran announces it has arrested a "spy"
Vienna, 6 March (AKI) - On the eve of a board of governors meeting of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) which kicked off in Vienna on Monday, the Iran announced it had arrested a "spy" in Tehran. The man, reportedly arrested a few days ago, is charged with providing secret information on Iran's nuclear activities to a foreign power, Tehran daily Kayhan reported. The newspaper reported that the detainee was spying for the United States while government sources only spoke about "a foreign power".
According to Kayhan, the man had already been arrested in the past on the same charges but subsequently released for lack of evidence.
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Developments in Iraq, March 6
March 6 (Reuters) - The following are security incidents and political developments in Iraq as of 1230 GMT on Monday.
U.S. and Iraqi forces have been battling a Sunni Arab insurgency against the Shi'ite- and Kurdish-led government in Baghdad since U.S. troops toppled Saddam Hussein in 2003.
A wave of sectarian violence since a bombing of a Shi'ite shrine on Feb. 22 has killed hundreds.
* Asterisk denotes new or updated item.
SECURITY DEVELOPMENTS
*BAGHDAD - Three policemen were killed and one wounded when a car bomb went off near their patrol in central Baghdad, police said.
*MAHMUDIYA - One civilian was killed and five people wounded, including two policemen, when a car bomb went off in Mahmudiya, south of Baghdad, police said.
*BAGHDAD - Three civilians were wounded when car bomb went off in central Baghdad, police said. The target of the explosion was not clear.
*BAGHDAD - Ali Hussein al-Khafaji, the dean of the college of engineering, was abducted by gunmen while he was heading to work in Baghdad, police said.
BAQUBA - A car bomb exploded in a busy market in Baquba northeast of Baghdad on Monday, killing six people, including two girls under four, and wounding 23, police said, adding most of the casualties were children.
BAGHDAD - One civilian was killed and 10 were wounded when a car bomb went off in northern Baghdad, police said.
BAGHDAD - One civilian was wounded when four mortar rounds landed in Sadr city in eastern Baghdad, police said.
ANBAR PROVINCE - A U.S. soldier was killed by "enemy action" on Sunday in western Anbar province, a Sunni insurgent stronghold, the U.S. military said.
BAGHDAD - Two civilians and two policemen were wounded when a suicide bomber blew himself up near a bank in Baghdad's Doura district, police said.
BAGHDAD - Two policemen and four civilians were wounded when a car bomb exploded as their patrol passed by in northern Baghdad, police said.
BAQUBA - Three civilians were killed by gunmen in separate attacks in Baquba, 65 km (40 miles) north of Baghdad, police said.
POLITICAL DEVELOPMENTS
*Iraq's President Jalal Talabani said on Monday he will summon Iraq's new parliament to hold its first sitting on March 12.
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Fatah walks out of Hamas-dominated parliament
RAMALLAH, West Bank, March 6 (Reuters) - Fatah legislators walked out of the Hamas-led Palestinian parliament on Monday after the Islamic militant group took initial steps to revoke powers the previous legislature granted President Mahmoud Abbas.
Hamas, which crushed Abbas's Fatah faction in a Jan. 25 election, decided to put the issue of the president's enhanced authority on the agenda of the new parliament's first working session, sparking the walk-out.
"We have tried through dialogue and contacts with Hamas to resolve this issue before, but they are insisting on domination," said Azzam al-Ahmed, head of the Fatah bloc in parliament.
In the final session of the previous parliament last month, majority Fatah members pushed through an amendment to an existing law, giving Abbas power to appoint judges to a consitutional court without seeking legislative approval.
Judges appointed by Abbas to the court could be asked to decide whether laws approved by the new Hamas-led parliament are constitutional.
Hamas said the move would effectively give Abbas veto power over laws the new parliament passed and the group vowed to vote down the amendment once the legislature began its work.
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Pakistan: Army claims control in Wazirstan standoff
Peshawar, 6 March (AKI/DAWN) - Pakistani security forces say they have regained control of government buildings and installations after a fierce military battle with the pro-Taliban fighters in Miramshah, the regional headquarters of North Waziristan, the tribal area on the Afghan-Pakistan border. The army says that about 50 militants were killed in the fighting, which some observers say is the fiercest so far in the region. However, there were also reports of sporadic clashes continuing and civilians trying to flee the area.
Last week, reports said that pro-Taliban forces had taken control of government buildings in Miramshah.
After clashes between the Pakistani security forces and the militants, officials said on Sunday that troops had removed the pro-Taliban fighters from the government buildings after a nightlong battle in which Cobra helicopter gunships were also used. A senior military official said the militants were still in control of a small pocket of the Miramshah bazaar and expressed the hope that they would be ‘wiped out’ by Monday.
"There have been small engagements in Mirali and Miramshah but considering the heavy fighting on Saturday, these were insignificant,” the official said. He said that security forces would begin active patrolling in the area from Monday.
Sources said that the army and paramilitary troops had blocked the Mirali-Miramshah road and all roads and communication links had been cut off.
Briefing the media on the situation in the region, Pakistan army spokesman, Maj-Gen Shaukat Sultan said that militants continue to pour in from Afghanistan into Waziristan. He said that it was not possible to ascertain the number of foreign militants in the area because it was not a question of simple arithmetic. “More militants might have come from Afghanistan as we have a porous border,” he said.
He said that residents were moving to "safer areas" because of the fighting.
A representative of the office of the governor of the Pakistan's North West Frontier Province (NWFP) in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) told the Pakistani daily Dawn that security forces had launched a clean-up operation and taken over all government buildings, including the telephone exchange and the college in the troubled town.
"Forces have secured positions and now we have decided to go after militants, because they have challenged the writ of the government,” Arbab Shehzad said, adding that efforts were under way to restore the telephone exchange in a day or two.
Security has also been beefed up in the Bannu district amid reports that civilians were fleeing Miramshah for other places, using various routes to avoid the road blocks set up by the pro-Taliban forces as well as those of the Pakistani security forces.
Last month, Adnkronos International (AKI) reported that the Taliban had released a video claiming that they had established an Islamic state in North Waziristan and that they had the support of the people in the tribal agency.
The Pakistan army has been battling Islamic militants in the Waziristan region since Taliban and al-Qaeda fighters fled into the area after the American-led invasion of Afghanistan in 2001. Tens of thousands of Pakistani soldiers were sent into the area in 2003.
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Bangladesh: Top islamic militant captured
Dhaka, 6 March (AKI) - One of Bangladesh's top Islamic militants has been arrested after a fierce gunbattle with the security forces. According to the police. Siddiqul Islam, also known as Bangla Bhai, of the banned Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen (JMB) was captured in his hideout in northern district of Mymensingh. His arrest comes just days after the leader of the JMB, Shayek Abdur Rahman, surrendered to the police in the north-eastern district of Sylhet.
Officials in Bangladesh blame the JMB for a series of bombings which killed at least 28 people.
A court in Bangladesh has sentenced both Islam and Rahman to 40 years in prison for an attack which killed two judges last year. Last August hundreds of bombs were set off in several districts of Bangladesh killing at least three people and injuring over 100. The banned Islamic group JMB was blamed for the series of attacks. Subsequent attacks also targeted judges and courts in the country.
The militant group wants to replace the Muslim-majority Bangladesh's secular laws with Islamic law.
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Maoists attack in Nepal, 100 prisoners escape
ISN SECURITY WATCH (Monday, 6 March: 14.17 CET) - At least seven people were reportedly killed after Nepal Maoists attacked the government installations in the eastern town of Ilam and freed over 100 prisoners from the local prison, news agencies reported.
The rebels attacked the prison, army base, and police and administration offices late on Sunday, reports said.
News agencies cited police officials as saying that security personnel and five rebels were killed in the clashes.
Some of the government buildings were bombed or set on fire.
The rebels also set fire to the home of mayor Rohit Chandra Bhattarai, who was elected in last month’s controversial municipal elections, which the Maoists opposed.
At least 200 civilians, rebels, soldiers, and police have been killed since the Maoists ended a unilateral four-month ceasefire in January.
Maoists rebels are fighting to overthrow the monarchy in the country and install a secular, communist regime with more rights for the people. More than 13,000 people have been killed in the decade-old conflict.
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France to develop Libya’s nuclear technology
ISN SECURITY WATCH (Monday, 6 March: 11.20 CET) - French authorities will help Libya develop its civilian nuclear energy program. An agreement between the two countries is expected to be signed in the coming weeks, news agencies reported.
Patrick Ollier, president of the French National Assembly’s economic affairs committee, told Reuters news agency on Sunday that the two governments already had approved the cooperation project.
Ollier offered reporters few details about the pending deal, in which Libya will sign a contract with the world’s largest maker of nuclear reactors, Areva, for civilian nuclear power technology.
Last year, France expressed interest in helping the Libyan government develop its civilian nuclear program after it agreed to give up internationally banned chemical, nuclear, and biological weapons.
Libya also signed protocols with the UN’s International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
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Al-Qaida tape released
ISN SECURITY WATCH (Monday, 6 March: 12.28 CET) - A taped recording attributed to al-Qaida's second-in-command, Ayman al-Zawahiri, calls on Muslims to stop Western countries from "stealing" Middle East oil and to attack the "economic infrastructure" of the West, CNN reports.
The recording, which was uploaded to Islamist websites on Sunday, urges al-Qaida members to attack the Western powers and to make them "bleed for years".
The speaker, who is identified as al-Zawahiri, adds, "We have to prevent the crusaders from stealing the Muslims' oil, which is being drained in the biggest robbery in history."
The release of the tape comes after a 24 February suicide car-bomb attack at the Abqaiq oil-processing plant in eastern Saudi Arabia. Saudi forces prevented car-loads of attackers from entering the facility.
Five insurgents, with purported links to the bombing attempt and al-Qaida, were later killed in a shootout with Saudi troops in the capital Riyadh.
The audio recording appeared to have been taken from a recent videotaped message by al-Zawahiri in which he praised Hamas for its victory in Palestinian elections, condemned further images of prisoner torture in Abu Ghraib prison in Baghdad, and criticized the publication of caricatures of the Prophet Mohammad.
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Nato may help US airstrikes on Iran
The Sunday Times - WHEN Major-General Axel Tüttelmann, the head of Nato’s Airborne Early Warning and Control Force, showed off an Awacs early warning surveillance plane in Israel a fortnight ago, he caused a flurry of concern back at headquarters in Brussels.
It was not his demonstration that raised eyebrows, but what he said about Nato’s possible involvement in any future military strike against Iran. “We would be the first to be called up if the Nato council decided we should be,” he said.
Nato would prefer the emphasis to remain on the “if”, but Tüttelmann’s comments revealed that the military alliance could play a supporting role if America launches airstrikes against Iranian nuclear targets.
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) will tomorrow confirm Iran’s referral to the United Nations Security Council for possible sanctions.
Iran insists it is developing peaceful nuclear energy, a claim regarded as bogus by America and Britain, France and Germany, which believe it wants to develop nuclear weapons. President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s remarks about wiping Israel “off the map” have added to fears.
America and Israel have warned that they will not tolerate a nuclear-armed Iran. If negotiations fail, both countries have plans of last resort for airstrikes against Iran’s widely dispersed nuclear facilities.
Porter Goss, the head of the CIA, visited Recep Erdogan, the prime minister of Turkey, a Nato country, late last year and asked for political, logistical and intelligence support in the event of airstrikes, according to western intelligence sources quoted in the German media.
The news magazine Der Spiegel noted: “Washington appears to be dispatching high-level officials to prepare its allies for a possible attack.”
Nato would be likely to operate air defences in Turkey, according to Dan Goure, a Pentagon adviser and vice-president of the Lexington Institute, a military think tank.
A former senior Israeli defence official said he believed all Nato members had contingency plans.
John Pike, director of the US military studies group Globalsecurity.org, said America had little to gain from Nato military help. “I think we are attempting to bring the alliance along politically so that when all diplomatic initiatives have been exhausted and we blow up their sites, we can say, ‘Look, we gave it our best shot’.”
A senior British defence official said plans to attack Iran were pure speculation. “I don’t think anybody has got that far yet,” he said. “We’re all too distracted by Iraq.”
Israel’s special forces are said to be operating inside Iran in an urgent attempt to locate the country’s secret uranium enrichment sites. “We found several suspected sites last year but there must be more,” an Israeli intelligence source said. They are operating from a base in northern Iraq, guarded by Israeli soldiers with the approval of the Americans, according to Israeli sources.
The commander of Israel’s nuclear missile submarines warned Iran indirectly in a comment to an Israeli newspaper last week that “we are able to hit strategic targets in a foreign country”.
The Israelis fear Iran may reach the “point of no return” — at which it has the capacity to enrich uranium to bomb-grade purity — in the next few months. The Americans are more interested in the point at which Iran is close to developing an actual bomb, thought to be at least three years away.
Two Iranian opposition groups claimed this weekend that Iran had increased its production of Shahab 3 missiles, which have a range of 1,200 miles, sufficient to reach Israel.
Diplomatic efforts to contain Iran are likely to proceed slowly, given Russian and Chinese opposition to punitive action. A Foreign Office official said although the IAEA would refer Iran to the security council, any sanctions would be a “strictly step-by-step process”.
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Nigerian militants threaten to halve oil output
LAGOS, March 5 (Reuters) - Nigerian militants threatened on Sunday to halve the country's current oil output by cutting another 1 million barrels a day this month in their campaign to gain more autonomy for the southern delta region.
The militants from the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta are holding two U.S. hostages and one Briton. Their attacks last month reduced output from the world's eighth largest exporter by 455,000 barrels a day, or one fifth.
This lowered output to 2 million barrels a day before the latest threat by the militants, who want more local control of the delta's oil resources.
"God willing we hope to reduce Nigeria's export by a further one million barrels for the month of March," the militants said in an email.
Royal Dutch Shell has shut down its oilfields on the western side of the Niger Delta, a vast maze of mangrove-lined creeks in southern Nigeria, after a string of bombings and kidnappings on Feb. 18.
The militants had threatened to shut 30 percent of exports in February.
"There will be inland operations in March as well as standard creek attacks," the militants said.
Most of Nigeria's remaining production comes from the eastern side of the delta where Shell, U.S. giants ExxonMobil and Chevron , Italy's Agip and France's Total operate fields.
Two abandoned oil pipeline junctions operated by Shell in the western delta were attacked by unidentified saboteurs on Saturday, but output was unaffected because the area had already been evacuated, military and industry sources said.
DEMANDS
The militants have demanded the release of two ethnic Ijaw leaders, compensation for oil pollution to delta villages and more autonomy over the region's huge oil income.
The Ijaw are the dominant tribe in the delta, where impoverished fishing villages play host to a multi-billion-dollar export industry.
Sabotage, kidnapping and ethnic killings have been common features of the Niger Delta for years, but diplomats say this new movement is better organised, better armed and has a more overtly political agenda than previous such groups.
The government has called them oil thieves, but they have accused government and security officials of being complicit in the trade of stolen oil from Nigeria, worth hundreds of millions of dollars every year.
Analysts say the upsurge in violence is also linked to escalating regional rivalry in Nigeria ahead of elections next year, when one civilian leader is due to hand power to another for the first time in Nigeria's 47 years of independence.
Supporters of President Olusegun Obasanjo are lobbying to amend the constitution and let the former military ruler, an ethnic Yoruba from the south-west, to run for a third term.
This is opposed by many politicians from other geo-political zones in Nigeria, including the delta, who want a stab at power themselves. It is also unpopular in the north, where at least 100 people were killed in rioting last month.
Rampant corruption in government has fuelled distrust and rivalry between tribes and regions in Nigeria, where political office comes with discretionary power over billions of dollars in oil revenue.
Ijaw activists say the attacks will encourage other regions to take their decades-long fight for more autonomy seriously at a time when the constitutional provision on wealth distribution is also under review.
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How we duped the West, by Iran's nuclear negotiator
Telegraph: The man who for two years led Iran's nuclear negotiations has laid out in unprecedented detail how the regime took advantage of talks with Britain, France and Germany to forge ahead with its secret atomic programme.
In a speech to a closed meeting of leading Islamic clerics and academics, Hassan Rowhani, who headed talks with the so-called EU3 until last year, revealed how Teheran played for time and tried to dupe the West after its secret nuclear programme was uncovered by the Iranian opposition in 2002.
He boasted that while talks were taking place in Teheran, Iran was able to complete the installation of equipment for conversion of yellowcake - a key stage in the nuclear fuel process - at its Isfahan plant but at the same time convince European diplomats that nothing was afoot.
"From the outset, the Americans kept telling the Europeans, 'The Iranians are lying and deceiving you and they have not told you everything.' The Europeans used to respond, 'We trust them'," he said.
Revelation of Mr Rowhani's remarks comes at an awkward moment for the Iranian government, ahead of a meeting tomorrow of the United Nations' atomic watchdog, which must make a fresh assessment of Iran's banned nuclear operations.
Iran factfile
The judgment of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is the final step before Iran's case is passed to the UN Security Council, where sanctions may be considered.
In his address to the Supreme Council of Cultural Revolution, Mr Rowhani appears to have been seeking to rebut criticism from hardliners that he gave too much ground in talks with the European troika. The contents of the speech were published in a regime journal that circulates among the ruling elite.
He told his audience: "When we were negotiating with the Europeans in Teheran we were still installing some of the equipment at the Isfahan site. There was plenty of work to be done to complete the site and finish the work there. In reality, by creating a tame situation, we could finish Isfahan."
America and its European allies believe that Iran is clandestinely developing an atomic bomb but Teheran insists it is merely seeking nuclear energy for peaceful purposes. Iran's negotiating team engaged in a last-ditch attempt last week to head off Security Council involvement. In January the regime removed IAEA seals on sensitive nuclear equipment and last month it resumed banned uranium enrichment.
Iran is trying to win support from Russia, which opposes any UN sanctions, having unsuccessfully tried to persuade European leaders to give them more time. Against this backdrop, Mr Rowhani's surprisingly candid comments on Iran's record of obfuscation and delay are illuminating.
He described the regime's quandary in September 2003 when the IAEA had demanded a "complete picture" of its nuclear activities. "The dilemma was if we offered a complete picture, the picture itself could lead us to the UN Security Council," he said. "And not providing a complete picture would also be a violation of the resolution and we could have been referred to the Security Council for not implementing the resolution."
Mr Rowhani disclosed that on at least two occasions the IAEA obtained information on secret nuclear-related experiments from academic papers published by scientists involved in the work.
The Iranians' biggest setback came when Libya secretly negotiated with America and Britain to close down its nuclear operations. Mr Rowhani said that Iran had bought much of its nuclear-related equipment from "the same dealer" - a reference to the network of A Q Khan, the rogue Pakistani atomic scientist. From information supplied by Libya, it became clear that Iran had bought P2 advanced centrifuges.
In a separate development, the opposition National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) has obtained a copy of a confidential parliamentary report making clear that Iranian MPs were also kept in the dark on the nuclear programme, which was funded secretly, outside the normal budgetary process.
Mohammad Mohaddessin, the NCRI's foreign affairs chief, told the Sunday Telegraph: "Rowhani's remarks show that the mullahs wanted to deceive the international community from the onset of negotiations with EU3 - and that the mullahs were fully aware that if they were transparent, the regime's nuclear file would be referred to the UN immediately."
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Pakistan forces, militants clash near Afghan border
MIRANSHAH, Pakistan, March 4 (Reuters) - Fierce fighting broke out on Saturday between Pakistani security forces and pro-Taliban militants in a tribal region near the Afghan border, residents and an intelligence official said.
The fighting erupted after the militants seized one government building and attacked others in Miranshah, the main town in the North Waziristan region, they said.
"A heavy exchange of fire is going on between the two sides. At least three helicopter gunships are also being used by the army," a resident said.
"We don't know about losses because it is dark and there is no electricity or telephone available," he said. "I can see a huge cloud of smoke billowing out of the town's market."
The fighting erupted in Miranshah and nearby areas as U.S. President George W. Bush was visiting Pakistan for talks with President Pervez Musharraf on the war on terrorism.
It underlined the problems Musharraf faces in the semi-autonomous, conservative, ethnic Pashtun tribal area.
Pashtuns inhabit both sides of the border with Afghanistan and many people support the Taliban, most of whose leaders and rank-and-file are Pashtun.
Many al Qaeda members and supporters fled to Pakistan's remote border region after U.S. and Afghan opposition forces ousted the Taliban in late 2001.
The Pakistani army said 45 militants suspected of links to al Qaeda were killed in a security force raid on a hideout in the same area on Wednesday.
Afghanistan's U.S.-backed government has often complained of Taliban and other militants infiltrating from the Pakistani side of the border to attack its forces and U.S. and other foreign troops.
An intelligence official said the militants began the fighting with attacks on government buildings with rocket-propelled grenades and automatic rifles.
"First the communication system broke down and then missiles began flying in all directions," said the official, who declined to be identified.
The militants were led by a powerful Islamist cleric, Maulana Abdul Khaliq Haqqani, the official said.
Government forces had responded with an attack on an Islamist school, or madrasa, run by Haqqani, he said.
"It is apparently blown up but it is not clear whether Haqqani was there or not."
Militants also launched attacks in the nearby town of Mir Ali, he said.
Residents said Miranshah had been tense since Wednesday's fighting and hundreds of families had moved out fearing more bloodshed.
Earlier on Saturday, Haqqani told reporters politicians from the area would be killed if they contacted the central government's top official in the region.
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Three killed in Colombian rebel attack on town
BOGOTA, Colombia, March 4 (Reuters) - Colombian Marxist rebels blasted a remote village with mortar shells and assault rifles on Saturday, killing a baby and a police officer in the latest violence before legislative elections, police said.
A rebel also was killed in the nighttime raid on Monte Bonito in the coffee-growing province of Caldas in the mountains of central Colombia, a police spokesman said.
Fifteen civilians and police were wounded in the attack, in which the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, known by its Spanish initials FARC, apparently aimed homemade mortar bombs at the police station and destroyed 15 houses.
Guerrillas set fire to a bus and a truck and destroyed a bridge before retreating under pressure from army troops sent to reinforce police.
The attack, which began at about 1 a.m. and lasted until dawn, was one of several launched by the FARC in the run-up to congressional elections on March 12.
Rebels killed 18 civilians in attacks on a town council and a rural bus late in February.
The elections will be a test of the popularity of President Alvaro Uribe, who, polls say, is himself headed for re-election in May thanks largely to his tough military policies against the FARC.
FARC attacks aim to show that Uribe, a close U.S. ally, has failed to diminish the strength of rebels who have been fighting for socialist revolution since 1964, analysts say.
The FARC has 17,000 members, military intelligence estimates, and funds itself by kidnapping and trafficking cocaine. It has support in some rural areas but little in the cities where most Colombians live.
A smaller rebel group, the National Liberation Army, which has begun preliminary peace talks with the government, on Thursday declared a truce for the congressional elections.
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Rebels kill three Russian soldiers in Chechnya
MOSCOW, March 4 (Reuters) - Three Russian servicemen died in a clash with Chechen separatists when they stumbled upon the rebels' forest camp, local media reported on Saturday.
The group of around 20 rebels retreated after the clash on Friday in the Kurchaloi, east of the capital Grozny, apparently without loss, RIA Novosti and Interfax news agencies reported.
Such clashes are rare in the winter when the lack of natural cover in Chechnya's forests keeps rebels under cover, but frequent during warmer periods of a war that has ground on for 11 years and developed into a bitter guerrilla insurgency.
Later on Saturday, Chechnya's pro-Moscow parliament is due to approve the candidacy of strongman Ramzan Kadyrov as prime minister of the local government.
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Bomb blast in Turkish city
ANKARA, March 4 (Reuters) - A small bomb wounded one man and damaged dozens of buildings in western Turkey on Saturday, the state-run Anatolian news agency said.
The makeshift bomb exploded in a wheelbarrow near a police station in a mainly Kurdish district of Izmir, Turkey's third biggest city, located on the Aegean coast.
The wounded man, aged 54, had been crossing the street at the time of the blast, which shattered glass and caused other damage to more than 40 buildings in the vicinity.
Police suspected the hand of the rebel Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), which is fighting for an ethnic homeland in southeast Turkey, Anatolian said
A wide variety of militant groups ranging from Kurdish rebels to ultra-left radicals and Islamists operate in Turkey and small-scale bomb blasts are not uncommon.
Last month, a group called the Kurdistan Liberation Hawks, a hardline PKK-splinter group, carried out two separate bomb attacks in Istanbul.
One man died in the first blast, which hit an Internet cafe near a police station. At least six people were hurt in the second blast targeting a supermarket a few days later.
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Developments in Iraq, March 4
March 4 (Reuters) - The following are security incidents and political developments in Iraq as of 1145 GMT on Saturday.
U.S. and Iraqi forces have been battling a Sunni Arab insurgency against the Shi'ite- and Kurdish-led government in Baghdad since U.S. troops toppled Saddam Hussein in 2003.
A wave of sectarian killing since a bombing of a Shi'ite shrine on Feb. 22 has killed more than 500 people, by conservative estimates.
Asterisk denotes a new or updated item.
SECURITY INCIDENTS
BAGHDAD - Seven people were killed and 20 injured when a mortar round hit a crowded market near a bus station in a town just southeast of Baghdad, police said.
BAGHDAD - Two civilians were killed and three policemen injured when a car bomb detonated near a police checkpoint in southeast of Baghdad, police said.
*BAGHDAD - A mortar round landed near a building in the green zone 15 minutes after the Interior Minister Bayan Jabur had given a news conference there, a source from the Interior Ministry said. No details of casualties or damage were available, they said.
*BAQUBA - Six policemen were injured when a roadside bomb exploded near their patrol in Baquba 65 km (40 miles) to the north of Baghdad, police said. In a separate incident a girl was killed and eight other civilians injured when a roadside bomb exploded in Baquba, police said.
POLITICAL DEVELOPMENTS
* Gen. John Abizaid, the Central Command chief who oversees military operations in the Middle East, met Prime Minister Ibrahim Al-Jaafari and President Jalal Talabani during a visit to Baghdad.
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Putin-backed strongman appointed Chechen PM
GROZNY, Russia, March 4 (Reuters) - Ramzan Kadyrov, a strongman accused of mass human rights abuses, was appointed head of Chechnya's pro-Moscow government on Saturday.
Kadyrov heads a militia that rights groups accuse of feeding the cycle of violence in Chechnya. His appointment as prime minister puts the resources of the state behind him and analysts predicted a descent into "gangster politics".
Parliament in the turbulent region unanimously approved Kadyrov, a close ally of President Vladimir Putin and the dominant figure among Chechens who stand for ties with Moscow. He was put forward by regional president Alu Alkhanov.
"I can die a happy man knowing I have such support. I did not know so many people supported me," said Kadyrov. The Chechen parliament has been packed with his allies since its formation last year.
"Do not hurry me, because I have little experience and I might make mistakes ... We must work together. Anyone who doesn't want to work should just go home," he said.
The Kremlin says Chechnya is returning to normal and the 11-year war that has killed tens of thousands of Chechens is all but over. But clashes erupt daily, with media reporting on Saturday three soldiers killed in a firefight with rebels.
Kadyrov replaces Sergei Abramov, an economist who resigned after being injured in a car crash. His appointment breaks an unwritten rule that the prime minister should be an ethnic Russian, a convention that had previously prevented Kadyrov's clan from gaining a monopoly on power.
Kadyrov, whose father Akhmad was president of Chechnya until his assassination in 2004, heads an irregular army of thousands of former rebels -- called the "Kadyrovtsy" -- key to Moscow's efforts to safeguard its rule over the southern region.
ABUSE
Rights activists who work in Chechnya say the Kadyrovtsy abuse their powers to crush any rivals to the new prime minister, driving a cycle of escalating violence.
"He has already had plenty of time to impose order, but he has not done this. He has no qualifications, all he has is total power, and no one should have that," said Svetlana Gannushkina of the Moscow-based rights group Memorial.
Memorial has branches all over the country and monitors disappearances and murders on much of Chechen territory and blames most of them on the Kadyrovtsy acting with impunity.
"I am very sad about this. ... This will bring nothing good to Chechnya. Lawlessness, more lawlessness, more chaos," said Gannushkina.
Kadyrov has been acting as prime minister since Abramov's accident in November, and rapidly put his personal stamp on the post by pushing through a series of Islamic decrees -- a marked contrast to the secular Muscovite Abramov.
He banned gambling halls, cracked down on alcohol sales, backed polygamy and persuaded pro-Moscow clerics to declare jihad on the armed rebels.
"With Kremlin support, Kadyrov can rule Chechnya any way he pleases, especially since Alkhanov, who is responsible mainly for legislative initiatives and external relations, does not have the political will to oppose Kadyrov," said global security consulting firm Stratfor.
"With Kadyrov and his posse acquiring additional legitimacy and the machinery of state, Chechnya can be expected to descend further into gangster politics, oppressive laws and militant activities."
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Operation Noble Eagle: Protecting the US coast
Homeland Security gets boost with new anti-terror teams and joint coordination with the US Coast Guard according to Jane's Information Group.
Jane's International Defence Review reports:
In an immediate response to the terror attacks of 11 September 2001 (9/11), the US Coast Guard (USCG) mobilised more than 2,000 of its reservists in the largest homeland defence and port security operation since the Second World War. As part of Operation 'Noble Eagle', the USCG assumed a heightened state of alert protecting more than 361 ports and 152,855 km of coastline - referred to as 'America's longest border'.
In the broader sense, Operation 'Noble Eagle' refers to US military operations associated with homeland defence and civil support to federal, state and local agencies in the US, including the increased security measures taken after the 9/11 terrorist attacks. It involves joint agency co-ordination and co-operation the US and its borders are protected from future attacks.
In parallel with Operation 'Noble Eagle' operations inside the US, some USCG units have also been participating in Operation 'Enduring Freedom' (OEF). OEF encompasses US military operations associated with the 'war on terrorism' outside the US, considered by some to be a proactive means of enhancing homeland security. USCG Port Security Units have been deployed in support of these operations.
Along with operational platform and tactical changes, the most significant USCG organisational response to 9/11 involved the creation of new 'anti-terrorism' organisations designated Maritime Safety and Security Teams (MSSTs). The new teams were modelled after both PSU and LEDET programmes in an effort to provide a complementary non-redundant capability designed to close critical security gaps in US strategic seaports.
One of the new MSST capabilities includes 'Tactical Boat Operations involving NCW boat tactics'. In fact, as part of the MSST mission statement, the teams will "support naval coastal warfare requirements during (operations undertaken for) homeland defense and in accordance with long-standing agreements with DoD and the Combatant Commanders (protect strategic shipping, major naval combatants and critical infrastructure at home and abroad)".
The recognition of expanded NCW capabilities reflects a similar recognition on the part of the USN. In the latter case that recognition is leading to the establishment of two brand new NCW squadrons. Long a Naval Reserve responsibility, the new squadrons are part of the USN's active-duty component, highlighting the increasing importance of NCW in both the 'global war on terrorism' and homeland defence missions.
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Turkey sides with Moscow against Washington on Operation Active Endeavour
Eurasian Daily Monitor: Ankara and Moscow joined forces to reject the U.S. administration's proposal to expand a NATO-led Mediterranean counterterrorism effort into the Black Sea. Turkey and Russia's joint opposition to the U.S. request underscores the two countries' growing wariness of U.S. strategic designs in the wider Black Sea region.
Turkey and Russia have long been reluctant to allow the extension of NATO's naval Operation Active Endeavor from the Mediterranean into the Black Sea (see EDM, February 17, 2005). But now the rift between the long-time NATO allies, the United States and Turkey, has come into the open. "We would certainly be in favor" of the expansion, Kurt Volker, U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs, said in Washington on February 24. But the senior diplomat conceded that the Black Sea littoral states had different views on this issue -- "from more enthusiastic to less enthusiastic."
Quite unsurprisingly, the "more enthusiastic" countries are new NATO members Romania and Bulgaria as well as the pro-Western Ukraine and Georgia. The countries that are not terribly happy to see the NATO vessels in the Black Sea are Russia – whose attitude is understandable -- and Turkey -- whose stance, undoubtedly annoys Washington. Indeed, Volker specifically pointed to Ankara's position, saying that Washington is not going to "be pushing NATO in against the wishes of any NATO allies, particularly Turkey." The State Department official's comments appeared to be the first on-the-record remarks by the United States on the Black Sea Force issue, which means, some Turkish and international analysts suggest, that Washington had decided to go public about the rift.
Operation Active Endeavor (OAE) was created in late 2001 following the September 11 terrorist attacks against the United States. The force -- a combination of naval units from the United States, Britain, Germany, Greece, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, and Turkey -- has the task to fight criminal and terrorist activity in the Mediterranean theater. Russia joined OAE at NATO's invitation, but Moscow is categorically against OAE's expansion into the Black Sea. Turkey appears to be viewing Russia's position with understanding. "There's not much point in engaging in efforts that unnecessarily would raise tensions in the Black Sea region," one Turkish official was quoted as saying.
Turkey's policymakers and analysts cite two main reasons behind the country's opposition to the U.S. proposal. First, Ankara fears the erosion of the Montreux Convention, a 1936 accord that puts the Turkish Straits under Turkey's control. Second, the Turks argue that OAE is simply redundant as the two already existing Black Sea naval force structures with NATO connections are sufficient to do the job. "The Black Sea littoral states have the capacity to carry out the mission through Black Sea Harmony and BlackSeaFor," one Turkish official suggested. "We're a NATO member, and we see no need for greater NATO involvement in the Black Sea."
(Turkey launched Black Sea Harmony in 2004 to patrol the southern segment of the Black Sea. Recently, Ankara extended an invitation to other littoral countries to join its security initiative. The Black Sea Naval Task Force, or BlackSeaFor, was set up in 2001; the group comprises all six riparian states.)
It would seem, however, that the real reason behind Turkey and Russia's opposition to Washington's move is that the two countries likely perceive U.S. policies in the Black Sea and Caucasus region as being potentially destabilizing to their vital interests. Symptomatically, in 2005, when Russia blocked a U.S. request to get observer status in the Istanbul-based Black Sea Economic Cooperation organization (BSEC), Turkey, the group's formal host and supposedly Washington's "strategic ally," did not raise a finger to help obtain a positive decision. It took the lobbying of other BSEC members to push the U.S. candidacy through.
Both Ankara and Moscow are extremely keen to preserve the status quo in the region and they perceive the West in general and Washington in particular as dangerous agents of change. The calls for the West's more aggressive involvement in the region -- such as, for example, a recent policy paper penned by high-profile U.S. analysts and titled "The Black Sea and the Frontiers of Freedom" -- cannot fail to rattle Turkish and Russian strategists. While Turkey is particularly concerned about potential instability on its northeastern borders (similar to the crisis unfolding on its southeastern borders in the wake of the U.S. invasion of Iraq), Russia is primarily seeking to ward off Western penetration of its traditional sphere of influence.
Remarkably, the veiled U.S. criticism of Turkey's stance came amid the growing military cooperation between Ankara and Moscow. On February 27, Russian-Turkish naval exercises kicked off in the Black Sea. The joint maneuvers appear to have crowned the visit to Turkey by Russian Navy Commander Admiral Vladimir Masorin.
Related reading: Operation Active Endeavour
(Turkish Daily News, March 1; Itar-Tass, February 27; Ifri.org [Russie.Nei.Visions no. 8, January 2006]; Policy Review, no. 125 [2004])
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Russia tells Hamas to recognize Israel
Moscow, 3 March (AKI) - Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov told a high level Hamas delegation visiting Moscow that the radical Palestinian movement must recognise Israel. At a news conference after Friday's talks, Lavrov said he had insisted that all the views laid out by the Quartet group, that includes the United States, the European Union and the United Nations, must be respected.
"That means above all the need to stick by all existing agreements, the need to recognise the right of Israel to exist as a partner in negotiations (and) the need to reject all armed methods of settling political questions," the Interfax news agency quoted him as saying.
The Hamas delegation, headed by the Islamist group's exiled political leader Khaled Meshaal arrived in Russia on Friday for talks that mark the first meeting with a major foreign power since Hamas won the Palestinian elections in January.
Before the talks the group reiterated its stance against Israel.
"The issue of recognition is a done issue. We are not going to recognise Israel," Mohammed Nazzal, a senior member of the delegation told reporters after arriving in Moscow.
Meshal said Friday that Israel must withdraw from territories occupied in 1967 and allow return of Palestinian refugees if it wants peace.
Meshal said that if Israel took these steps, "our movement will have taken a big step toward peace."
He welcomed the outcome of high-level talks with Russian officials - in which Hamas faced pressure to soften its hostility to Israel and abandon violence.
The talks were "good, constructive and open," Meshal said after meeting with Lavrov and other Russian officials.
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Report: Qaida pushing Iraq into civil war
NEW YORK, March 3 (UPI) -- U.S. intelligence agents believe al-Qaida is planning a spectacular attack in Iraq with the goal of pushing the battered nation into a full civil war.
CBS News reports that intelligence sources are calling the feared attack the "big bang" and see it as a follow up to the recent mosque bombing that set off a wave of street violence and religious outrage across Iraq.
Possible attack scenarios include coordinated attacks against multiple targets in Iraq, or a single blow against an unspecified high-profile location, the network said late Thursday.
The United States is concerned that al-Qaida commander Abu Musab al-Zarqawi is betting that the fledgling government in Baghdad would be unable to control rioting and fall apart, knocking the American military back to Square-One in their nation-building exercise.
A collapse of the elected government would conceivably make it easier for Islamic extremists to take control of Iraq.
The attacks, sources said, could also be designed to undermine support for the Iraq conflict in the United States.
The report is the latest in a flurry of new warnings about al-Qaida's intentions, including a concentrated offensive against the oil infrastructure in Iraq and Saudi Arabia, infiltration of the Gaza Strip, and recruitment and training of new terrorists among inmates in Middle Eastern prisons.
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Pakistan: Taliban take over buildings in Waziristan
Miramshah, 3 March (AKI/DAWN) - The Taliban have taken control of government buildings in Miramshah, the regional headquarters of the North Waziristan agency, the tribal area that lies on the border between Pakistan and Afghanistan. The Taliban militants have also occupied the area’s telephone exchange and are patrolling the streets of Miramshah.
Eyewitnesses and government officials said that after Wednesday’s heavy gunbattle between Pakistani security forces and Taliban fighters, a large number of families started moving to other places in the troubled area. The Pakistani army said that at least 45 militants were killed in the raid, and that most of them were forigners.
Sources said that the Taliban fighters have also taken over the telephone exchange in Miramshah. The exchange had already been shut down by the military to disrupt communication between militants.
The Taliban also took over the irrigation department building, snatched government vehicles and occupied the rooftops of buildings near the main market.
The authorities have pulled out paramilitary troops from the main bazaar as the Taliban took positions at key points in the town. Paramilitary forces restricted their movement to bases and government buildings.
The atmosphere in Mirali and other parts of the tribal region, were also tense, although calm, the sources said.
Frightened shopkeepers in Miramshah pulled their shutters down as hundreds of militants entered the town on trucks fitted with machine-guns, shouting “God is Great” and “Death to America and its friends”. The offices remained closed and traffic was very thin in the area.
"There is chaos. The administration has left the area at the mercy of the Taliban," said a security official.
he governor of Pakistan's North West Frontier Province Khalilur Rehman told the Pakistani daily Dawn that his administration in Miramshah had been able to bring the situation under control by getting a local jirga [assembly of leaders] involved.
"The jirga went to those people and asked them to come down. They have since abandoned their positions and have walked away. This was the right approach. For the first time a political process was used to defuse the situation and it worked,” the governor said.
But a government official said that a few of the Taliban continued to guard the telephone exchange while others were waiting it out at the Gulshan-i-Uloom madrassa or Muslim seminary in Miramshah which is just across the road from the telephone exchange .
When asked who was in control of Miramshah, the official said: “No-one really. The Taliban have (apparently) left, yet they are still there, and the government is there but is not in total control.”
Last month, Adnkronos International (AKI) reported that the Taliban had released a video claiming that the had established an Islamic state in North Waziristan and that they had the support of the people in the tribal agency.
A for Wednesday's raid on a militant hideout in North Waziristan, independent sources have contradicted government’s claims that most of the dead were foreigners and said that residential compounds had been targeted by helicopter gunships.
A doctor said that more than 15 wounded, a number of women among them, were treated for multiple injuries in the main hospital in Miramshah and all of them were locals.
"We did not treat a single foreigner," said the doctor.
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Israeli official: Arrow can block Iranian missiles
ISN SECURITY WATCH (Friday, 3 March: 17.08 CET) – Israel's Arrow 2 anti-ballistic missile system is now capable of intercepting and destroying any Iranian missile, according to a senior Israeli military official interviewed by the Jerusalem Post.
Referring to Iran's ballistic missile program, the unidentified high ranking military officer told the newspaper that "We will shoot all of [Iran's missiles] down […] .The Arrow knows how to intercept the Shihab missile."
He explained that modifications had been made to the Arrow 2 that allow it to differentiate between armed decoys and real missiles and to detect even split warhead missiles.
The Post noted that last year the Israeli military acknowledged that the Arrow 2 was incapable of intercepting Iran's Shihab-3 missile.
The head of the Israeli air force's anti-aircraft units, Brigadier-General Ilan Bitton, told a government committee in 2005 that while the Arrow was extremely effective against the Scud missiles in Syria's arsenal, it "needed improvement" in order to shoot down the Shihab-3.
In its most recent test, the Arrow 2 succeeded in destroying a mock of the Shihab-3 at a far greater height than in the previous 13 tests of the system.
Asked by the Post about the danger of the Arrow destroying a nuclear or non-conventional missile over Israel, the officer claimed that the height at which the incoming missile was destroyed would mean that its payload was dispersed without causing casualties.
Israel is protected from missile strikes by Patriot missiles and two operational Arrow batteries, each thought to have hundreds of missiles.
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Jordan: Security forces shake-up
Amman, 3 March. (AKI) - Two days after revolts in three Jordanian jails, the head of security Mohammed Majid al-Itan has announced that some top level security officials are being dismissed and replaced. He also announced that that there would also be changes in various police corps, the judiciary and the prison system. The move follows a stand-off in Jordan's prisons when the detainees in Juweideh jail held the director and guards hostage.
One Jordanian security source told Adnkronos International (AKI) that there was no connection between the new appointments and the sackings. "They were based on a decree which was issued the day before the revolts" he said.
Some observers however believe that it is intended to pre-empt the findings of a commission of inquiry demanded by the premier Maaruf al-Bakhit into the causes of the prison riots.
One of the high level figures to lose their jobs is national prisons director lieutenant colonel Saad al-Ajrami, who was held hostage and is still receiving medical treatment for his wounds. He has been replaced by lieutenant colonel Husayn al-Trawna.
The riots broke out on Tuesday evening at the Juweideh jail when inmates demanded that at least two prisoners, including the al-Qaida-linked killer of an American diplomat, be transferred from the Swaqa prison to theirs, the officials said.
Juweideh prison is one of five Jordanian disciplinary jails where 180 Muslim militants including a number of al-Qaida members are incarcerated.
The two main inmates the rioters wanted transferred were Jordanian Azmi al-Jayousi and Libyan Salem bin Suweid, officials said.
Al-Jayousi was sentenced to death on 15 February for a 2004 plot to carry out chemical attacks against sites in Jordan, including the U.S. Embassy. Another Jordanian-born militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi thought to be behind many terrorist attacks in Iraq was also sentenced to death in absentia for the plot.
Al-Jayousi was convicted for conspiring to attack various sites in Jordan by setting off a cloud of toxic chemicals that would have killed thousands of people.
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EU-Iran nuclear talks fail
ISN SECURITY WATCH (Friday, 3 March: 14.35 CET) – Negotiations between Iranian and European diplomats on the Islamic Republic's nuclear program ended without agreement on Friday, ministers said.
In comments carried by the Associated Press, French Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy told reporters: "Unfortunately we were not able to reach an agreement."
Douste-Blazy said that the EU-3 ministers had demanded "full and complete suspension" of uranium enrichment and related activities
His German counterpart Frank-Walter Steinmeier confirmed that the meeting ended "without achieving a result".
Steinmeier, Douste-Blazy and a senior British official held two hours of discussions with a delegation led by chief Iranian nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani.
The 35-nation board of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is to meet on Monday to decide whether to refer Iran to the UN Security Council over its failure to comply with its nuclear commitments.
The IAEA board voted in favor of referral on 4 February but gave Iran a month to demonstrate a commitment to ending enrichment activities.
There are fears that if Iran masters the full nuclear fuel cycle through autonomous, large-scale uranium enrichment, it will then have made a significant leap required for the fabrication of nuclear weapons.
Iran strenuously denies that it intends to create nuclear weapons.
A breakthrough appeared to have been made on Sunday with the announcement that Russian-Iranian negotiations had produced a joint venture agreement for uranium enrichment.
However, subsequent statements by Iranian officials, confirming that their country would push ahead with uranium processing under any such deal, and a lack of further progress in Russian-Iranian negotiations on the plan make an IAEA referral likely.
Larijani confirmed that an IAEA decision to send the Iranian nuclear dossier to the UN Security Council would kill off the enrichment joint venture.
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IRAN: NEW EXPLOSION IN AHWAZ
Tehran, 3 March (AKI) - Just a few hours after the public execution of two Arab separatists in the south-western Iranian city of Ahwaz, a bomb attack was reported in the capital of the Khuzestan province late on Thursday. Ali Afrawi and Mehdi Nawaseri were hanged for the October 2005 attack in Ahwaz which killed six people and wounded at least 30 passers-by. Another two explosions had preceded the execution. No one was reportedly injured. The attacks were part of a series of bombings in the city of Ahwaz, in Khuzestan province, following unrest a year ago in which ethnic Arabs protested against alleged discrimination by the Persian majority.
Over 1.5 million Arabs live in Iran's southern regions.
Iranian officials have blamed the attacks on British forces stationed in southern Iraq - an allegation strongly denied by Britain.
Thirteen people, including the two men hanged on Thursday, have been executed in Iran since 20 January this year.
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Chechen rebels blast Hamas over Russia visit
MOSCOW, March 3 (Reuters) - Chechnya's rebels slammed Hamas on Friday, saying leaders of the Palestinian group had given their blessing to the "murder of the Chechen people" by meeting top Russian officials.
The Islamist militant group, which swept to victory in Palestinian elections in January, visited Moscow in a bid to win support from a major foreign power since it is shunned as a terrorist group by Israel and Washington.
Chechen separatist leaders said the group had sold out its principles, and showed itself as hungry for power as corrupt officials who governed the Palestinians before.
"We regret this decision of Hamas. In observing convention, the leaders of Hamas will squeeze the hand of the killers of 250,000 Muslims of Chechnya, among which are 42,000 Chechen children," said Movladi Udugov on Web site www.kavkazcenter.com.
Russian troops have fought for 11 years to crush Chechnya's separatists. Although fighting has waned, soldiers and police still die daily in clashes with rebels.
Udugov, who heads the rebels' information service, was using a casualty figure for the 11-year Chechen war several times higher than most estimates, although observers agree that savagery on both sides has killed thousands of civilians.
"Their chosen path could once again push the Islamic movement into a political dead end and ideological degeneration. In the end, Hamas risks becoming another Yasser Arafat," Udugov said, referring to the former Palestinian leader whose administration was widely criticised as corrupt.
Russia has said it will press Hamas to accept the "road map" which seeks to achieve Israeli-Palestinian coexistence and says Hamas must recognise the Israel and renounce violence.
Udugov, who represents the wing of the Chechen rebels that has conducted the worst attacks on civilians of the war, said Hamas was naive to think that the friendship of President Vladimir Putin could give the movement recognition.
"It is naive to expect that Putin's Russia can be some kind of political partner for the Palestinian people. It is not the communist party that now sits in the Kremlin, but people who have committed appalling crimes," he said.
Akhmed Zakayev, who lives in London and represents the separatists' less radical wing, said the visit showed that Hamas did not care about the cause of fellow Muslims in Chechnya.
"People justifying the murder of the Chechen people could in no way be seen as friends or comrades of the Chechens," he said in comments on another rebel Web site (www.chechenpress.info).
"What benefit could the Chechen leaders gain from contacts with a movement that with all its strength tries to establish contacts with the Chechens' deadliest enemies."
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Turkish journalists accused of helping Kurd rebels
TUNCELI, Turkey, March 3 (Reuters) - A Turkish court heard charges on Friday that nine journalists and human rights workers, including a reporter for Reuters, had given help to Kurdish rebel fighters.
But Judge Murat Tekmen said there were faults in the case and set June 2 for the next hearing, saying those involved needed more time to prepare their testimony.
The reporter for Reuters, Turkish national Ferit Demir, who is based in the eastern town of Tunceli, and other defendants were detained last August while observing the handover of a soldier abducted by Kurdish rebels to a human rights group.
The men were then released pending investigations.
The gendarmerie, a paramilitary force overseeing security in rural areas, asked state prosecutors to open a case against the men. If found guilty, the nine face up to three years in jail.
Defence lawyers said on Friday the charges should be dropped because the gendarmerie had not provided evidence to back up their claim that the nine had spread propaganda on behalf of Kurdish rebels.
They also said the fact that the gendarmerie had brought the charges amounted to "military pressure" on the court which they said violated their clients' right to a fair trial. Journalists have often fallen foul of Turkish authorities over coverage of the Kurdish conflict in the impoverished southeast that has cost some 30,000 lives since 1984.
Demir also works for the private Turkish news agency, Dogan, and has reported for Reuters from Tunceli, one of the most volatile regions in eastern Turkey, for 12 years.
Turkey's government has eased curbs on the media and on Kurdish language and culture as it seeks European Union membership, but the security services and judiciary are seen as conservative forces often hostile to the human rights reforms.
In its indictment, the Tunceli prosecutor's office accused the nine journalists and human rights workers of using the kidnapped soldier, Coskun Kirandi, to promote the cause of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK). The nine deny the accusations.
PKK rebels held the soldier captive for nearly four weeks in a remote region of the southeast before releasing him.
Turkey blames the PKK, classified by the EU and the United States as a terrorist organisation, for the deaths and the economic damage inflicted on the southeast over two decades.
Violence eased after the 1999 capture of rebel leader Abdullah Ocalan, but has flared up again since the PKK ended a unilateral ceasefire in 2004.
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Hamas delegation in Moscow for talks
ISN SECURITY WATCH (Friday, 3 March: 09.58 CET) – Senior Hamas figures have reiterated their movement's refusal to recognize Israel on the first day of an official visit to Moscow.
According to Ha'aretz, Mohammed Nazzal, a senior Hamas official traveling with the Hamas delegation, told reporters on the group's arrival in Moscow that "the issue of recognition is a done issue. We are not going to recognize Israel".
Hamas' exiled political leader, Khaled Meshaal heads the delegation.
The talks, which are the first between the militant group and a major Western government, start on Friday.
Hamas spokesperson Sami Abu Zuhri told reporters on Thursday, "The visit in itself is a declaration of the failure of pressures exerted by the United States on the world to besiege Hamas."
"Now Hamas is on the threshold of international legitimacy, thanks to the visit by Hamas leaders to Moscow," he added.
Russia recently extended an official invitation to the militant group, much to the chagrin of Israel and the US which have been working to isolate the incoming Hamas-led Palestinian government.
Russia has confirmed that it will press the Islamic movement to accede to the demands of the road map quartet – the UN, US, Russia and EU – that Hamas renounce armed struggle, accept past peace agreements signed between the Palestinian Authority and Israel and recognize Israel.
Russia has sought a greater role in the region in recent years after the collapse of the Soviet Union divested it of much of the influence it had previously held.
South Africa became the latest country to invite Hamas officials for discussions on Thursday.
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Economic forecast update
Economic forecast for France, Thailand and Pakistan updated by EIU.
France Forecast
Mar 2nd 2006
From the Economist Intelligence Unit
Source: Country Forecast
France's right-of-centre government enjoys a sizeable majority in parliament and should remain in office until the next presidential and legislative elections in 2007. However, its authority was badly dented in 2005 by French voters' rejection of the proposed EU constitution and by the outbreak of rioting in run-down suburbs across the country. In addition, its sense of purpose is likely to be weakened during 2006 by the rivalry between the prime minister, Dominique de Villepin, and the minister of the interior, Nicolas Sarkozy, to succeed Jacques Chirac as president in 2007. The government has postponed its programme of income tax cuts for the second year running in 2006, but this will not prevent the general government budget deficit from exceeding 3% of GDP for the fifth consecutive year. Real GDP growth is forecast to pick up from 1.4% in 2005 to 1.9% in 2006 and 2.4% in 2007. Despite persistently high international oil prices, inflation will remain subdued in 2006-07 as a result of favourable base effects and continued slack in the labour market. Although the euro weakened in 2005, the Economist Intelligence Unit expects it to renew its appreciation against the US dollar in 2006. France will post large trade deficits in both 2006 and 2007, but these will be partly offset by large surpluses on the services and investment income accounts.
Key changes from last update
Political outlook
Opinion polls indicate that Mr de Villepin's labour-market reforms have taken a toll on his popularity with voters.
Economic policy outlook
Although recent social protests will not prevent the adoption of the government's modest reform of the labour market, they could deter further reforms in the run-up to the presidential election in 2007.
Economic forecast
A weaker than expected outturn for GDP growth in late 2005 means that the economy will enter 2006 with less momentum than we had expected. We have therefore revised our forecast for GDP growth in 2006 down from 2% to 1.9%.
Thailand Forecast
Feb 28th 2006
From the Economist Intelligence Unit
Source: Country Forecast
The popularity of Thailand's prime minister, Thaksin Shinawatra, is crumbling amid widespread public criticism of his family's decision to sell its stake in Shin, the telecommunications-based conglomerate, to a Singaporean investor. His popularity was already waning as a result of rising inflation and interest rates, and daily violence in southern Thailand. The Economist Intelligence Unit expects Thaksin to remain in power, but his authority will be compromised. The budget will record small deficits over the forecast period as the government raises expenditure to stimulate the economy. Monetary conditions will continue to tighten in 2006, and the inflation rate will start to fall in tandem with modestly lower global oil prices in 2007. Real GDP growth will average 5% in 2006-07, driven by higher investment demand as the government embarks on its infrastructure development programme and steps up the pace of privatisation. The current account will remain in deficit in 2006-07, owing to strong demand for imported capital and intermediate goods for investment purposes.
Key changes from last update
Political outlook
Mr Thaksin has dissolved parliament and called fresh elections, scheduled for April 2nd. The prime minister will wage an electoral campaign aimed at attracting the support of poorer, rurual thais, his main base of support. Opposition parties have threatened to boycott the election.
Economic policy outlook
In January the government launched the bidding process for its ambitious Bt1.8trn ($46 billion) infrastructure development programme. The bidding process is likely to be criticised, however, for its lack of transparency and potential investors could be deterred by the current political uncertainty.
Economic forecast
We have revised up our forecast for real wage growth in 2006-07, in line with tight labour market conditions—the rate of unemployment was 1.8% at end-2005.
Pakistan Forecast
Feb 24th 2006
From the Economist Intelligence Unit
Source: Country Forecast
The Economist Intelligence Unit expects the president, General Pervez Musharraf, to remain in power in 2006-07. He has the support of the army, a majority in parliament, as well as the power to dismiss the prime minister and the right to suspend parliament (in his capacity as Chairman of the National Security Council). His supporters are also likely to be re-elected in a parliamentary election in 2007. The biggest risk to political stability is the possibility that he may be assassinated. The economy is expected to perform strongly, despite the earthquake that hit northern Pakistan in October: real GDP growth is expected to reach 6.5% in fiscal year 2005/06 (July-June) and 6% in 2006/07, following the government’s provisional figure of 8.4% at factor cost (7.8% on an expenditure basis) for 2004/05. Inflation remains the biggest threat to the economy: annual inflation will average 8.8% in 2006 and 6.7% in 2007. The current-account deficit will widen to 3.8% of GDP in 2006 and 3.9% in 2007, in line with the rising merchandise trade deficit.
Key changes from last update
Political outlook
In late January, acting upon a fresh approach from a court in Pakistan, the international police organisation, Interpol, issued international notices for the arrest of the former prime minister and leader of the Pakistan People's Party, Benazir Bhutto, and her husband. Nevertheless, the decision to arrest them will depend upon whether the country in which they reside in (or visit) has an extradition treaty with Pakistan. The move will galvanise the opposition.
Economic policy outlook
On January 26th the central bank released is monetary policy statement for January-June 2006. Despite holding rates constant, it stated that it was concerned about the high level of inflation. It stated that it remained open to raising interest rates in the future.
Economic forecast
Owing to high oil prices and strong merchandise import growth, we have adjusted our forecast for Pakistan's current-account deficit. It is now expected to widen to 3.8% of GDP in 2006 and then rise to 4.1% of GDP in 2007.
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Saudi Qaeda idealogue sets rules for oil war-Web
DUBAI (Reuters) - Al Qaeda has advised followers to attack pipelines in Saudi Arabia and Iraq but to steer clear of oil wells because they are the lifeline of Muslim states, according to a two-year-old document recently posted on the Web.
The guidelines in al Qaeda's war against "crusaders" and U.S.-allied governments were laid out in a manifesto written by Abdulaziz al-Enezi, arrested in Saudi Arabia in 2005 and described by the Saudis as a prominent ideologue of al Qaeda.
In the manifesto, which was recently posted on an Islamist Web site, Enezi said disrupting oil supplies was the best way to hurt the U.S. economy and destabilise the Saudi royal family.
It said Saudi state-owned refineries and oil pipelines and Iraqi facilities were "all in the hands of infidels."
"It is permissible to target oil interests held by infidels ... including American and Western oil tankers," Enezi said.
Saudi Arabia, the world's top oil exporter, has since 2003 been battling al Qaeda militants bent on toppling the pro-U.S. monarchy and expelling Westerners from the birthplace of Islam.
Al Qaeda claimed a foiled suicide attack on an oil facility last week in the kingdom and vowed more attacks in response to a call by al leader Osama bin Laden to target oil installations.
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U.S.-Mexico Border Tunnels Seen as Terrorism Risk
New federal legislation would send people to prison for up to 20 years for constructing or funding secret tunnels under the U.S.-Mexico border, USA Today reported today.
Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) said she pushed the idea after touring one tunnel beneath California’s border with Mexico.
Federal agents have found at least 35 such passageways since Sept. 11, 2001, according to USA Today.
“It’s a transnational threat,” said Lt. Col. Steve Baker, an Army engineer involved in the tunnel search. “You don’t know that they’re just bringing drugs through there.”
One large tunnel below the Otay Mesa section of San Diego is believed to have taken more than a year to build and probably required sophisticated engineering and substantial funding, USA Today reported. That suggests that drug smugglers financed the passageway, said Special Agent Frank Marwood of Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Agents tested the tunnel for radiation and biohazards but found no evidence that weapons of mass destruction had been brought through the passage, USA Today reported (William Welch, USA Today, March 2).
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Saddam admission delights, surprises Iraqis
BAGHDAD, March 2 (Reuters) - Saddam Hussein's admission that he gave the orders that led to the execution of Shi'ite Muslims in the 1980s has both shocked and delighted many ordinary Iraqis.
Saddam made the frank admission, along with another that he ordered farmland to be destroyed, during a court appearance on Wednesday in his trial for crimes against humanity.
"I was delighted to see Saddam admitting his guilt," said Ahmed Khalil, a Baghdad money changer in his 20s.
"For a while I began to think the court had no solid evidence against him but I am glad they had the document he signed," he said on Thursday.
Since the trial began last October, more than a dozen witnesses have given graphic evidence against Saddam's regime, but there have been doubts over whether the evidence was strong enough to implicate Saddam personally.
On Wednesday, however, prosecutors read out documents, showed satellite images and played audio tapes in an attempt to link Saddam directly to the execution of 148 Shi'ites from Dujail after an assassination attempt there in July 1982.
"I referred them to the Revolutionary Court according to the law. Awad was implementing the law, he had a right to convict and acquit," Saddam said, referring to his co-accused Awad al-Bandar, the former chief of the Revolutionary Court.
"I razed them ... we specified the farmland of those who were convicted and I signed," said Saddam, who faces hanging if convicted.
"It's the right of the state to confiscate or to compensate. So where is the crime?" he said, essentially arguing that he had the right to do what he did as president at the time.
The confession buoyed Iraqis who have grown frustrated at the drawn out legal process and want the trial to end quickly.
"This confession will shut up his sympathizers who say he is innocent," said a 29-year old Sunni man who would only give his name as Sabah, who was shopping for clothes in the upscale Baghdad district of Mansur.
"The court is a farce," Sabah said. "I hope he gets sentenced to death."
Following a week of sectarian violence that has killed hundreds and pitched Iraq toward civil war, Saddam also tried to use Wednesday's court to recall the unity of Iraqis in the war he waged against Iran in the 1980s.
But that message failed to move Baghdad residents.
"I was shocked when I saw him confess," said one Iraqi in his late 30s outside a video shop in downtown Baghdad. He declined to give his name.
"He tried to make himself a hero but I think he changed his attitude after he saw the documents signed by him."
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Italian Panel: Soviets Behind Pope Attack
ROME (AP) - An Italian parliamentary commission has concluded ``beyond any reasonable doubt'' that the Soviet Union was behind the 1981 shooting of Pope John Paul II, the first time an official body has blamed the Kremlin for the failed assassination.
The draft report, obtained by The Associated Press Thursday, said the pope was considered a threat to the Soviet bloc because of his support for the Solidarity labor movement in his native Poland. Solidarity was the first free trade union in communist eastern Europe.
The Italian report said Soviet military intelligence - and not the KGB - was responsible. Russian Foreign Intelligence Service spokesman Boris Labusov called the accusation ``absurd.''
``All assertions of any kind of participation in the attempt on the pope's life by Soviet special services, including foreign intelligence, are completely absurd,'' he said, according to the Interfax news agency.
In its report, the commission said Moscow was alarmed because ``Poland was the main military base of the Warsaw Pact, its main supply lines and troop concentrations were there.''
``This commission believes, beyond any reasonable doubt, that the leaders of the Soviet Union took the initiative to eliminate the pope Karol Wojtyla,'' the document said. Wojtyla was John Paul's Polish name.
The draft has no bearing on any judicial investigations, which have long been closed. If the commission approves the report in its final form at a meeting Tuesday, it will be the first time an official body has blamed the Soviet Union.
The report also said a photograph shows that Sergei Antonov, a Bulgarian man acquitted of involvement in the May 13, 1981, assassination attempt, was in St. Peter's Square when the pontiff was shot by Mehmet Ali Agca.
The Bulgarian secret service was allegedly working for Soviet military intelligence, but the Italian court held the evidence was insufficient to convict the Bulgarians in the plot.
Agca, a Turk, has changed his story often and investigators said it was never clear who he was working for. He initially blamed the Soviets. In 1991, then Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev denied there was KGB complicity.
In Bulgaria, Foreign Ministry spokesman Dimiter Tsanchev told reporters the case was closed with the Italian court decision in March 1986. He also referred to comments by John Paul during his visit to Bulgaria in May 2002.
``The pope said at the time that he never believed in the Bulgarian connection,'' Tsanchev said.
Agca served 19 years in an Italian prison for shooting the pope and 5 more years in Turkey for murdering journalist Abdi Ipekci. He was released from the Turkish prison on Jan. 12 but returned days later when prosecutors said he must serve more of his 10-year term for killing Ipekci. He will be released in 2010.
The Italian commission was originally established to investigate any KGB penetration of Italy during the Cold War.
The commission president, Sen. Paolo Guzzanti, said he decided to investigate the 1981 shooting after John Paul said in his book ``Memory and Identity: Conversations Between Millenniums'' that ``someone else planned it, someone else commissioned it.'' The book came out weeks before the pope's death in April.
The passage drew immediate interest because during John Paul's 2002 visit to Bulgaria, he appeared to put the issue to rest, saying he never believed there was a Bulgarian connection to Agca.
The report said the commission considered all the evidence gathered during trials in Italy as well as information from a French anti-terrorism judge, Jean-Louis Bruguiere. That information apparently stemmed from the French investigation of Ilich Ramirez Sanchez, a terrorist known as Carlos the Jackal, held in France since his capture in Sudan in 1994.
Antonov's lawyer, Giuseppe Consolo, said the photograph was a case of mistaken identity. He said the man in the photo came forward during the investigation and was an American tourist of Hungarian origin. The photo was not used as evidence in the trial.
``Since Antonov is alive and well in Bulgaria, they should make a comparison with the physical person, not with other photos,'' Consolo said.
Guzzanti, a member of Premier Silvio Berlusconi's Forza Italia party, said the photo was not used because the technology of the time couldn't determine if it was really Antonov, but recent computer comparisons with other shots of the Bulgarian show that ``there is a 100 percent compatibility.''
``We don't believe it's possible to reopen the case against Antonov,'' Guzzanti told the AP. ``We just want to set the record straight.''
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FARC to support Chavez
UPI: The Bush administration has recently been pressuring the administration of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez Frias over its leftist polices. Caracas is now receiving support from the leftist Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia guerrilla group.
VHeadline.com reported that FARC leader Raul Reyes has offered the Venezuelan government his "unconditional support" in the event of a U.S. invasion.
During an interview on Colombian alternative news agency Anncol, Reyes said that his insurgents will "energetically" condemn any invasion coming from the Colombian side of the border and support Venezuela's resistance to an invasion.
Under the U.S. Southern Command's joint U.S.-Colombian "Plan Colombia," U.S. military advisers have assisted Colombian Army's efforts to combat FARC guerrillas using electronic surveillance and helicopters. It also trains Columbian forces.
During the interview Reyes referred to Colombian President Alvaro Uribe as a "narco-paramilitary" and a regional "Yankee beachhead."
This year Uribe is running for reelection. Reyes said that Uribe has failed to deliver on his electoral pledge to free Colombia of FARC, which has been battling the authorities in Bogotá for 40 years in Latin America's longest insurgency.
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Russia charges exiled oligarch in coup plot
ISN SECURITY WATCH (Thursday, 2 March: 16.30 CET) – Russian prosecutors have opened a criminal case against exiled Russian oligarch Boris Berezovsky on charges of plotting to overthrow the government, officials said on Thursday.
Prosecutors told reporters they had sent extradition papers to London, where Berezovsky is living in self-imposed exile. The case was officially opened last month, prosecutors said, but was not made public.
The case reportedly was opened after Berezovsky apparently outlined plans for a coup in an interview with a Russian media outlet.
“President [Vladimir] Putin violates the constitution and any violent action on the opposition’s part is justified today. That includes taking power by force, which is exactly what I am working on,” Berezovsky reportedly said, adding that Putin’s regime had “lost all legitimacy and was leading Russia into the abyss”.
The Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) is said to be investigating the case.
Berezovsky could face up to 20 years in prison if Britain decides to extradite him to Russia.
On Monday, British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said Berezovsky’s refugee status could be reviewed at any time if he was “using the UK as a base for organizing violent disorder or terrorism in other countries”.
“Those granted asylum in the United Kingdom have duties to the UK which require, in particular, that they conform to its laws and regulations,” Straw told a press conference.
During the regime of Russian president Boris Yeltsin, Berezovsky was one of the country’s most influential oligarchs. In 2003, he went into exile in London.
In 2002, Russian prosecutors issued a warrant for Berezovsky’s arrest on fraud charges connected to his AvtoVAZ car manufacturer. Prosecutors also charge Berezovsky with embezzling large sums of money from Russia’s national airline, Aeroflot. Many critics believe Berezovsky is largely responsible for fleecing the country during the privatization that followed the collapse of the Soviet Union in the 1990s.
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Iran and EU-3 to hold last minute talks
ISN SECURITY WATCH (Thursday, 2 March: 17.32 CET) – Iran and European nations announced on Thursday that they would enter last minute talks on the Islamic Republic's controversial nuclear program.
Reuters reports that the first indications that a new round of talks was to be held came from Iran's chief nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani, who announced that a meeting was to be held in Vienna with EU-3 officials.
The discussions come just days before a crucial board meeting of the UN's nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) on 6 March.
"Our talks with the EU-3 are being held for us to say we are in favor of holding constructive negotiations," Larijani said.
British officials later confirmed that EU-3 diplomats would hold ministerial-level discussions with Larijani in Vienna on Friday.
A spokesperson for Britain's Foreign Office said: "Iran requested the meeting, we will listen to what Iran has to say but we have no new proposals."
An Iranian delegation, led by Larijani, is in Moscow for talks with Russian officials over a joint venture project for the enrichment of uranium for Iranian nuclear facilities.
Iran refuses to give up on autonomous uranium processing. In the wake of the joint venture announcement last Sunday, Iranian officials confirmed that any export of enrichment activities would be accompanied by a continuation of nuclear fuel processing in the Islamic Republic.
This stance makes it likely that the IAEA board will vote next Monday for the immediate referral of the Iranian nuclear dossier to the UN Security Council for possible sanctions.
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Iran’s President vows not to suspend enrichment
Iran Focus Tehran, Iran, Mar. 02 – Iran’s hard-line President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad declared that his government will not suspend uranium enrichment activities, despite the looming prospect of United Nations Security Council referral, government-owned newspapers reported on Thursday.
“Iran will not suspend peaceful nuclear activities”, the official state news agency quoted Ahmadinejad as telling a large gathering of Iranian businessmen in Kuala Lumpur late Wednesday.
“Certain countries and powers of the world want to control all the world’s precious resources and prevent others from wreaking their benefit”.
He said that Iran would not retreat through “bullying and pressure”.
Ahmadinejad is in Kuala Lumpur for three days of talks with Malaysian leaders.
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MIDDLE EAST: AL-QAEDA PRESENCE IN TERRITORIES, SAYS ABBAS
London, 2 March (AKI) - Palestinian Authority president Mahmoud Abbas has warned that al-Qaeda is trying to establish a foothold in Gaza and the West Bank. "We have indications about a presence of al-Qaeda in Gaza and the (West) Bank. This is intelligence information. We have not yet reached the point of arrests," Abbas said in remarks published on Thursday in the London-based Arabic newspaper al-Hayat.
"The last security report I received was three days ago. This is the first time that I've spoken about this subject. This is a very serious matter," he added.
Israeli officials have in the past said they were worried that foreign militants and al-Qaeda agents had entered Gaza from Egypt during a brief period of chaos on the border following the Israeli withdrawal from Gaza last year. The Palestinian Authority had denied the reports.
Abbas also said Thursday that he intends to transfer broad security powers to the future Hamas government, including the national defence branch, preventive security, the civilian police and civil defence.
The national defence branch, which consists of 25,000 policemen, is the largest branch and is defined as the Palestinian army. The other three are subject to the Palestinian Interior Ministry.
Israel and many in the West including the United States and the European Union consider Hamas a terrorist organisation and insist there can be no negotiations with the Islamist group unless it renounces violence and recognises the Jewish state.
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LEBANON: TROOPS MOVE TO THWART SMUGGLING FROM SYRIA
Beirut, 2 March (AKI) - Lebanese troops on Thursday took up positions along Lebanon's border with Syria as part of a campaign to curb the smuggling of people and goods across the frontier. The deployment in the Hermel province in the north of the Bekaa Valley marks the first time in decades that Lebanon has taken massive action to secure the area. Last October, Lebanese troops started patrolling part of the 335 killometre-long border, much of which lacks demarcation barriers. Lebanese authorities have also started shoring up with soil some illegal passages used by smugglers criss-crossing the frontier.
During Syria's military presence in Lebanon which ended last April after almost three decades, the border areas were presided by the Syrian military.
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Developments in Iraq, March 2
March 2 (Reuters) - The following are security incidents and political developments in Iraq as of 1315 GMT on Thursday.
U.S. and Iraqi forces have been battling a Sunni Arab insurgency against the Shi'ite- and Kurdish-led government in Baghdad since U.S. troops toppled Saddam Hussein in 2003.
A wave of sectarian killing since a bombing of a Shi'ite shrine on Feb. 22 has killed more than 450 people, by conservative estimates.
Asterisk denotes a new or | | |
