Chief Of War

India's Military Buildup

2011-12-11T21:35:00.001-08:00

BY JOSHUA E. KEATING

China's new aircraft carrier -- actually just a refitted Gorbachev-era Soviet model purchased for $20 million from the Russians -- made international headlines when it began sea trials this year, signaling Beijing's growing military ambitions in East Asia. But it isn't the only Asian giant investing heavily in new military hardware. India has kept pace with its neighbor to the north and, in some areas, is actually exceeding it -- a development that, though much less noted, is a sign of the growing militarization of the region as a new generation of emerging powers with global ambitions jockeys for regional supremacy.
India is now the world's largest weapons importer, according to a 2011 report by arms watchdog SIPRI, accounting for 9 percent of the world's international arms transfers -- most from Russia -- between 2006 and 2010. India will spend an estimated $80 billion on military modernization programs by 2015, according to an estimate from the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies.
In particular, India is focusing on sea power, a crucial new area of competition. The country is planning to spend almost $45 billion over the next 20 years on 103 new warships, including destroyers and nuclear submarines. By comparison, China's investment over the same period is projected to be around $25 billion for 135 vessels, according to data on both countries from maritime analysis firm AMI International.

On top of long-running tensions with Pakistan and festering insurgencies by Kashmiri separatists and Maoist rebels, India's military planners are increasingly concerned about the prospect of military hostilities with China -- hence the new focus on naval power. For now, the United States seems much more comfortable with India's military ambitions than China's. The Pentagon's 2010 Quadrennial Defense Review welcomed "a more influential role in global affairs" for India, including in the Indian Ocean region. But there are some troubling signs that the area might not be big enough for two rising superpowers.
In August, an unidentified Chinese warship confronted an Indian amphibious assault ship near the coast of Vietnam and demanded that it explain its presence in Chinese waters (the encounter took place in a disputed part of the South China Sea claimed by Vietnam). Thankfully, the situation resulted in nothing more than some testy public statements from officials in all three countries, but it was yet another sign of an increasingly militarized Asian seascape.

US message for China: We're the boss

2011-11-17T02:00:00.001-08:00

US is 'here to stay' as Pacific power: Obama's message to China

Melbourne: In a clear message to China, President Barack Obama today said that US will maintain its military presence in the Asia-Pacific region despite budget cuts, saying that America was "here to stay" as a Pacific power.

"The United States is a Pacific power, and we are here to stay," Obama said in a speech to the Australian parliament, a day after announcing that the US would send military aircraft and up to 2,500 Marines to northern Australia.
China immediately questioned the US move and said it deserved further scrutiny.
Addressing the special joint sitting of the Australian Parliament, Obama told MPs and senators he had directed his national security team to make "our presence and mission in the Asia-Pacific a top priority".
"As a result, reductions in United States defence spending will not, I repeat, will not come at the expense of the Asia-Pacific," he said.
While he stressed that the US was "here to stay" as a Pacific power, he said the US is focused on the region as the one that will define the future of the world.
"The United States has and always will be a Pacific nation," he said.
"Let there be no doubt, in the Asia Pacific in the 21st century, the United States of America is all in," he added.
Obama said that given its size, resources and the economic growth that the region had witnessed in recent years, Asia-Pacific countries were playing an increasingly important role globally.
"As the world's fastest-growing region - and home to more than half the global economy - Asia is critical to achieving my highest priority: creating jobs and opportunity for the American people," Obama said.
"With most of the world's nuclear powers and nearly half of humanity, this region will largely define whether the century ahead will be marked by conflict or co-operation, needless suffering or human progress," he said.
He said that the US was keen to increase its presence in the region and play a bigger role in its development and progress.
"As president, I've therefore made a deliberate and strategic decision - as a Pacific nation, the United States will play a larger and long-term role in shaping this region and its future, by upholding core principles and in close partnership with allies and friends."
Obama said US military, along with Australians, had fought and died in the region and its mission now was to promote security, prosperity and human dignity.
"Americans have bled with you for this progress and we will never allow it to be reversed," he said.
"That's what we stand for, that's who we are, that's the future we will pursue in league with our allies and friends with every element of American power."
Obama and Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard yesterday announced an expansion of US military activity in Australia, beginning with an increase in the presence of US Marines from mid-2012, a move that angered China.
Obama addressed the Chinese unease, pledging to seek greater cooperation with Beijing.
He welcomed the rise of China as a world economic and military power but said he wanted more engagement between US and Chinese armed forces "to avoid misunderstandings".

Philippines rejects new Chinese territorial claim

2011-11-14T04:01:00.001-08:00

China has claimed new territory less than 50 miles (80 kilometers) from a Philippine province after Manila invited foreign investors to explore for oil and gas in the area, but the Philippines has dismissed the claim, an official said Monday.

Philippine Energy Undersecretary Jose Layug Jr. told The Associated Press that China protested the exploration plan in July. It is the closest point in waters off the main Philippine islands that China has claimed in increasingly tense South China Sea territorial disputes.
Beijing's action will likely bolster Philippine resolve to seek a U.N. ruling on the long-simmering disputes, which involve China, the Philippines and four other claimants.

Among the areas being contested is the Spratlys, a chain of up to 190 islands, reefs, coral outcrops and banks believed to be sitting atop large deposits of oil and natural gas, which many fear could be Asia's next flash point for conflict.
The issue is expected to be discussed Wednesday with visiting U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton.
The two new areas being claimed by China are not part of the Spratlys, Layug said.
The Chinese Embassy delivered a protest to the Philippine government on July 4 after Manila invited foreign companies to bid for the right to explore for oil and gas in 15 areas. Chinese officials opposed the inclusion of "areas 3 and 4" northwest of Palawan province, claiming they fall under China's "indisputable sovereignty," according to a Philippine government report seen by the AP.

Palawan province, about 510 miles (820 kilometers) southwest of Manila, faces the South China Sea, which is claimed entirely by China.
China asked the Philippines to cancel oil exploration in the two areas, the nearest of which is just 49 miles (79 kilometers) northwest of Palawan.
Layug said the Philippine government told China the areas are located well within Philippine waters.
"The areas that we're offering for bidding are all within Philippine territory, Layug said. "There is no doubt about that."
The two areas are more than 500 miles (800 kilometers) from the nearest Chinese coast, Layug said.
About 50 foreign investors, including some of the world's largest oil companies, have expressed interest in exploring for oil and gas in the Philippines, half of them in the new areas being claimed by China, because of strong indications of oil there, he said.
None of the prospective foreign companies has expressed concern over the territorial disputes, he said.
"Of course their issue would be ensuring security and the support of the Philippine government when they are awarded the contract," he said.
In March, two Chinese vessels tried to drive away a Philippine oil exploration ship from Reed Bank, another area west of Palawan. Two Philippine air force planes were deployed but the Chinese vessels had disappeared by the time they reached the submerged bank.
The Philippines protested the incident, which it said was one of several intrusions by China into its territorial waters in the first half of the year. Vietnam has also accused Chinese vessels of trying to sabotage oil exploration in its territorial waters this year, sparking rare anti-China protests in Vietnam.
A British company behind the exploration at Reed Bank found very strong indications of natural gas and plans to start drilling in about six months, Layug said.
President Benigno Aquino III plans to discuss a Philippine proposal at an Association of Southeast Asian Nations summit this week in Bali, Indonesia, to segregate disputed South China Sea areas so coastal states can freely make use of non-disputed areas. China has opposed the plan.
Aquino's government also plans to bring the territorial disputes before the United Nations for possible arbitration.
Source: AP

US officials worried about security at London 2012 Olympics

2011-11-14T02:24:00.001-08:00

US plans to send 500 FBI agents to protect its athletes as organisers admit underestimating number of security guards needed

London 2012 Olympics: UK's security preparations have been called into question by US officials. Photograph: Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images
The US has raised repeated concerns about security at the London Olympics and is preparing to send up to 1,000 of its agents, including 500 from the FBI, to provide protection for America's contestants and diplomats, the Guardian has learned.
American officials have expressed deep unease that the UK has had to restrict the scope of anti-terrorism "stop and search" powers, and have sought a breakdown of the number of British police and other security personnel that will be available next summer.
The prime minister and other senior members of the cabinet, including home secretary Theresa May and culture and sport secretary Jeremy Hunt, are taking turns to chair security meetings about the Olympics, which are often dominated by the latest questions from the US, sources said. But Washington's need for reassurance is exasperating British officials and anti-terrorism officials, who have privately raised concerns about the meddling, as well as the size of the US "footprint" in the UK during the games next year.
"We are not equal partners in this," said one security official. "They are being very demanding."
The friction is adding to the pressures on the London Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games (Locog), which is responsible for preparing and staging the event. The Guardian has learned the committee is attempting to resolve a potential crisis over venue security, after conceding it had underestimated the number of security guards needed at the 32 sites across the country. Originally it had thought 10,000 guards would be enough, but after a review over the summer it now believes it will need up to 21,000.
Venue safety is not the responsibility of the police, so the firm G4S was awarded the contract to find and train the initial group. The company will this week begin an advertising campaign to meet that target. But the organising committee does not have the money to pay G4S to make up the shortfall, and does not believe the firm has enough time to do so, forcing ministers to turn to the Ministry of Defence for help.
The MoD has offered 3,000 soldiers, and another 2,000 in reserve – half the total required. The ministry is working within its own tight budget, and the late request for help has irritated some officials.
"What have they been doing for the last five years?" asked one. "There is less than a year to go and they've only just realised they need twice the number of security guards they first thought. Where is the money to pay for this coming from? It is an extra burden on the defence budget that we could well do without."
Another source said: "Everyone has now realised 10,000 was an underestimate. This is one of the biggest problems facing the Olympic authorities because there is an absolute dearth of vetted and qualified private security guards. Senior police had advised ministers and the committee that 10,000 was too few, but nobody wanted to listen because of the cost involved.
"The military will have to stand up some people. Otherwise G4S have got the Olympic committee over a barrel."
The problem will do little to reassure Washington, which will be supplementing its FBI personnel with an equal number of diplomatic security officials, some of whom will be armed. Though the UK's Joint Terrorism Analysis Centre has lowered the threat of attack to "substantial" – the third level on the scale – western intelligence agencies remain wary.
They know it is possible that al-Qaida, or one of its affiliates, may attempt to disrupt the Olympics, with members of the US team being obvious targets.
The Home Office and Scotland Yard believe the UK has a robust security strategy, but this has not stopped American officials voicing their concerns.
The police response to the London riots, the arrest of a security guard at the London Olympics site earlier this year, and the arrests made shortly before the visit of the Pope last year have provoked anxiety among US officials. The repeal of section 44 of the Terrorism Act, which allowed police to stop and search suspects with near impunity, also raised alarm. One well-placed Whitehall source said the entire Olympic security operation was being prepared "with the US in mind", adding: "The US will have no qualms in saying it is unsafe. If something happens and we say we did not have enough people, we are finished."
Another official said: "The Americans are risk-averse, with a capital A and underlined. They want to see everything. We are not equal partners in this. They want to be on top of everything – building protection, counter-terrorism strategy and VIP security – everything." Asked about the size of the US contingent heading to London next year, the official said: "They don't do things by halves."
In addition to the official American security entourage, the sponsors of the Games, including Coca-Cola, will have their own private security details, adding to the complexity of the policing operation.
The Ministry of Defence and the Home Office said no final decisions had been taken on the number of soldiers that might be needed to beef up security at some of the Olympic sites.An official said the need for an increase at the venues had become apparent when the Olympic committee began to role-play scenarios at some of the completed sites over the summer.
"The focus of the government and everyone involved is to deliver a safe and secure Olympic and Paralympic Games that London, the UK and the world can enjoy," a government spokesman said.
"Ministers and officials from across government are working closely with the police and Locog to ensure we have a robust safety and security strategy."
Officials said ministers, the Olympic committee and G4S were working together "to finalise the requirements for Olympic venue security". "As with all significant national events, we will make the best and most appropriate use of available resources," a statement said. "The Ministry of Defence have been fully involved in supporting Olympic security planning work."
G4S said it was confident of recruiting 10,000 security guards, and could recruit more, as long as the Olympic authorities gave the company enough time. "We need to know as soon as possible," said a spokesman.
The US state department declined to comment.
Locog said detailed security plans were being drawn up in collaboration with the government and security agencies.

Muammar Gaddafi killed in gunbattle: NTC official

2011-10-20T05:37:00.001-07:00

Gaddafi killed in gunbattle: Report
TRIPOLI: Former Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi died of wounds suffered in his capture near his hometown of Sirte on Thursday, a senior NTC military official said.
National Transitional Council official Abdel Majid Mlegta told Reuters earlier that Gaddafi was captured and wounded in both legs at dawn on Thursday as he tried to flee in a convoy which NATO warplanes attacked.
"He was also hit in his head," the official said. "There was a lot of firing against his group and he died."
There was no independent confirmation of his remarks.

'US will have to think 10 times before N Waziristan offensive'

2011-10-19T06:07:00.001-07:00

Pakistan Army Chief General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani has not ruled out the possibility of an American ground offensive in North Waziristan, but told parliamentarians at a briefing that Washington will have to think many times before launching such an attack.

"They (the US) might do it but they will have to think 10 times because Pakistan is not Iraq or Afghanistan," The Express Tribune quoted Kayani.
His comments came at a rare briefing held on Tuesday for members of the standing committees on defence of the two houses of parliament at the general headquarters that went on for over three hours.
Acknowledging that the United States is pressurising Pakistan to launch a military operation in its North Waziristan region, Kayani said that the ongoing build-up of Afghan and International Security Assistance Force troops along the Pak-Afghan border is a tactic to intensify that pressure.
"We have made it clear to the US that we will decide the timing of any such action according to our situation and capabilities. We have also told them that the problem lies within Afghanistan. If anyone convinces me that everything will be sorted out if we act in North Waziristan, I will take immediate action," a parliamentarian, requesting anonymity, quoted Kayani as saying.

Kayani's statement came hours after senior Afghan defence officials said that the country's security forces and their NATO allies have launched a new push against the Haqqani network.
Kayani said that Pakistan had handed over its position on Afghanistan to the Obama administration in writing in 2010 and had asked the Americans to elaborate on their position but they had not done so.
"We have long-term interests in Afghanistan, others might have short ... For short-term gains, we cannot lose (sight of) our long-term interests," he added.
However, responding to a question on Pakistan's interests in Afghanistan, Kayani sought to dispel the perception that Pakistan was seeking so-called strategic depth in Afghanistan.

"We cannot leave both our eastern and western borders insecure. It is wishful thinking to achieve strategic depth in Afghanistan. The Russians tried, the Brits tried, the Americans are trying. We don't have a magic wand," a participant quoted Kayani, as saying in his response.
However, Kayani did not deny that Pakistani secret agencies maintained contacts with 'certain elements' within the hierarchy of Afghan insurgent groups.
"That is where we get our information, the intelligence, from," he admitted. "The important thing is how we use the information gathered from these elements. You can do it positively and negatively."
Source: ANI

Mexican cartels, C-4 explosives and the $1.5 million plot: Details emerge of 'Iranian government's' plan to kill Saudi Ambassador in Washington

2011-10-12T00:40:00.001-07:00

Ranking Iranian officials 'approved' restaurant bomb attack
Iranians offered $1.5m to fake Mexican cartel for bomb plot
One plotter still 'at large'

Details of the terror plot to assassinate the Saudi ambassador to the U.S. in Washington have begun to emerge.
In a dramatic press conference, Eric Holder spoke of how elements of the Iranian government financed and aided the plot to murder ambassador Adel al-Jubeir - offering a bounty of $1.5 million to the plotters.
Manssor Arbabsiar, a 56-year-old U.S. citizen who also holds an Iranian passport, was charged along with Gholam Shakuri, whom authorities said was a member of the Iranian regime's hard core 'Quds Force'.

Captured: Manssor Arbabsiar was arrested in September for an alleged plot to blow up the Saudi Ambassador in Washington

TIME LINE TO MURDER: HOW THE PLOT ESCALATED

May 24: Arbabsiar first meets someone posing as an associate of a drug trafficking cartel in Mexico, who was actually a U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration informant codenamed CS-1. Arbabsiar asked about the informant's knowledge of explosives and explained he was interested in attacking a Saudi embassy.
June 2: Arbabsiar returned to Mexico and held more meetings with the informant in late June and early July. He allegedly said his associates in Iran had discussed a number of 'violent missions' including the murder of the Saudi ambassador to Washington, Adel Al-Jubeir.
July 14: Arbabsiar meets CS-1 again, they discuss plot details - 4 men needed and payment of $1.5 million
July 17: The pair meet again in Mexico, CS-1 says one member of his gang has already carried out surveillance of the ambassador and they allegedly discussed bombing a restaurant in the United States where the ambassador frequently dined.
August 1 and 9: Arbabsiar makes two overseas wire transfers 'totalling approximately $100,000'
September 28: Arbabsiar flys to Mexico, refused entry and sent back to JFK
September 29: Arrested at JFK by federal agents
October 4-5: Arbabsiar, who has been in U.S. custody since his arrest, made phone calls that were monitored by U.S. law enforcement agents to Shakuri, described as a member of the Quds Force, a branch of the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. He is believed to be based in Iran.
Shakuri allegedly confirmed to Arbabsiar the plot should move forward as quickly as possible, stating 'just do it quickly, it's late'.
According to prosecutors, when asked by undercover agents about the potential loss of innocent life in the bombings, Arbabsiar replied, 'They want that guy [al-Jubeir] done.
'If the hundred go with him, f**k 'em.'
Speaking today, Attorney General Eric Holder said: 'The criminal complaint unsealed today exposes a deadly plot directed by factions of the Iranian government to assassinate a foreign Ambassador on U.S. soil with explosives.
'Through the diligent and coordinated efforts of our law enforcement and intelligence agencies, we were able to disrupt this plot before anyone was harmed.
'We will continue to investigate this matter vigorously and bring those who have violated any laws to justice,' he added.
The Justice Department said that from the spring of 2011 to October 2011, Arbabsiar and his Iran-based co-conspirators, including Shakuri of the Qods Force, had been plotting the murder of the Saudi Ambassador.
Arbabsiar was said to have unknowingly hired informant from the Drug Enforcement Administration to carry out the plot.
Posing as a member of a Mexican drug cartel, the informant [CS-1] met with Arbabsiar several times in Mexico, authorities said.
Arbabsiar was said to have first met with CS-1 in Mexico on May 24, 2011, inquiring CS-1’s knowledge of explosives before explaining that he was interested in, among other things, attacking an embassy of Saudi Arabia.
According to the charges, CS-1 allegedly indicated he had knowledge of using C-4 explosives.
Arbabsiar was then said to have returned to Mexico in June and July 2011 where he held additional meetings with CS-1.
In a July 14, 2011, meeting in Mexico, CS-1 allegedly told Arbabsiar that he would need to use four men to carry out the Ambassador’s murder and that his price for carrying out the murder was $1.5 million.
Arbabsiar then offered a $100,000 down payment and during the same meeting, he boasted to CS-1 his cousin in Iran - a 'big general' in the Iranian military according to Arbabsiar - had knowledge of the attack.
In July 17, CS-1 and Arbabsiar met again, with CS-1 saying one of his men had already carried out surveillance of the ambassador.

Charged: Holder announced that two individuals have been charged in New York for their alleged participation in a plot directed by elements of the Iranian government

Target: Saudi Ambassador Adel al-Jubeir was the intended target for the plot, according to prosecutors

WHO ARE THE SECRETIVE QUDS FORCE ?

Iran’s secretive Quds Force is an elite brigade within Iran's revolutionary Guard.
The Guards, with their own navy, air force and command structure separate from the regular armed forces, are seen as fiercely loyal to the supreme leader.
Within the Guards, Quds are tasked with 'exporting' the Iranian revolution abroad.
Said to contain 15,000 troops, the force is accused of operations in Afghanistan, Iraq, Lebanon, North Africa and now North America.
In the past, the U.S. has accused Quds of arming Iraqi militants with deadly bomb-making material, building up an extensive network in the war-torn country, recruiting Iraqis and supporting not only Shiite militias but also Shiites allied with Washington.
When CS-1 raised the possibility of mass casualties, Arbabsiar was said to say: 'They want that guy [the Ambassador] done [killed], if the hundred go with him f**k ‘em.'
On August 1, and August 9, 2011, with Shakuri’s approval, Arbabsiar allegedly made two overseas wire transfers 'totalling approximately $100,000' that prosecutors say were sent to an FBI undercover account.
After CS-1 then demanded a further down payment, Arbabsiar flew to Mexico to act as a guarantee the fee would be paid.
After being refused entry to Mexico on September 28, he was returned to New York's JFK airport, where he was arrested by federal agents on September 29.
He then, according to prosecutors: 'Told agents that he then met with the CS-1 in Mexico and discussed assassinating the Ambassador.
'According to the complaint, Arbabsiar said that, afterwards, he met several times in Iran with Shakuri and another senior Qods Force official, where he explained that the plan was to blow up a restaurant in the United States frequented by the Ambassador and that numerous bystanders could be killed, according to the complaint. '
'The plan was allegedly approved by these officials.'

Residence: The Embassy of Saudi Arabia in Washington

Gilad Shalit freed: Israel agrees to swap 1,000 Palestinian prisoners for lone captive soldier

2011-10-12T00:32:00.001-07:00

Israel has agreed to swap 1,000 Palestinian prisoners for a lone soldier held by Gaza’s Islamist rulers.
The deal to release Gilad Shalit resolves one of the most emotive issues in the Middle East.
Shalit, then 19, was captured by militants who tunnelled their way out of Gaza and forced him back over the border in 2006.

Prized prisoner: Captured Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit is to be swapped for thousands of Palestinian prisoners as part of the peace deal

Happy families: Aviva Schalit, Gilad's mother, receives the news of the exchange and, right, father Noam Shalit

Celebrations: Palestinian members of Hamas celebrate a deal that will see Palestinian detainees freed in exchange for Shalit

The pact is virtually certain to improve the climate for restarting peace talks that have been stalled for over a year.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said yesterday that the deal was 'finally summarised and both sides signed'.
In the Gaza Strip, a Hamas spokesman said: 'We are in the process of completing the technical arrangements to complete the deal within days.'

A source involved in the talks said the talks had been mediated by Egypt. The handover will be done in two stages, with the first 450 prisoners being swapped for Shalit and the remaining 550 freed later.
The exchange was sure to be greeted with relief by both sides.
A campaign by Shalit’s family has made him a cause celebre in Israel and his release a test for Netanyahu’s government. The Palestinians have long clamoured for the release of hundreds they consider political prisoners.

Hope: The family of Hassan Salame celebrates that could see the Hamas leader, imprisoned for life, released

Israeli television quoted Netanyahu as telling Shalit’s parents that ever since he took office three years ago 'I’ve been waiting for the chance to make this telephone call” to inform them of the deal.
The wife of Marwan Barghouti, a charismatic activist seen as a future Palestinian leader, told Reuters in the West Bank that she was eagerly awaiting word that he will be included in the prisoner swap.
In Gaza, the families of men jailed for life by Israel awaited word that their names would be on the list.
The main sticking point in earlier negotiations had been Israel’s reluctance to meet Hamas’ demands to free prisoners convicted of involvement in lethal attacks against Israelis.
Israel has carried out several lopsided prisoner swaps in the past, notably in 1985 when hundreds of Palestinian prisoners were freed in exchange for several soldiers captured by a guerrilla group in Lebanon.
The ordeal of Shalit, a fresh-faced corporal, transfixed Israel after the tank gunner was captured by militants who tunnelled their way out of Gaza and then forced him back over the border.

Masked men: Palestinian militants of Hamas celebrate in the streets of the Gaza Strip

He was 19 at the time and had begun his mandatory three-year army service nearly a year previously.
Shalit, a native Israeli who also holds French citizenship, was last seen in a videotape released by his captors in September 2009 showing him looking pale and thin.
He received no visits from the International Committee of the Red Cross, despite many appeals.

Defiant gesture: Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal

Britain welcomed a deal to secure the release of Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit after more than five years in captivity.
Foreign Secretary William Hague said he hoped the prisoner swap agreement between Tel Aviv and Hamas officials would help 'build confidence and trust”.
Shalit was captured in a cross-border raid by Palestinian militants in June 2006, and dragged into Gaza. Little has been known about his fate since then.
But Israeli prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu announced in a televised address this evening that the deadlock on the issue had been broken.
The soldier will reportedly be released in exchange for 1,000 Palestinian prisoners.
Egyptian and German diplomats are believed to have played a significant role in the negotiations.
Mr Hague said: 'I welcome the agreement between Israel and Hamas to release Israeli soldier, Gilad Shalit, next month as part of a prisoner exchange.
'Holding him in captivity has been utterly unjustified from the beginning and yet it has gone on for five long years.
'We have always called for his unconditional release. We are pleased that this long overdue development is finally taking place.
'Mr Shalit’s long captivity has been painful for his family and I hope that he will be reunited with them as soon as possible.
'The UK supports all such efforts to build confidence and trust between all parties.'

Al-Qaeda in Arabian Peninsula threatens to take revenge for al-Awlaki's death

2011-10-11T05:41:00.001-07:00

Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), has issued a statement claiming it will avenge the death of US-born al-Qaeda member Anwar al-Awlaki.

"The blood of the sheikh and his brethren will not go in vain," AQAP said in the statement published online today.

"Behind him stand heroes who do not sleep on any grievance and who will avenge him soon, God willing," the statement said.
Awlaki, identified by US intelligence as the'chief of external operations' for al-Qaeda's Yemen branch and a Web-savvy propagandist for the Islamist cause, was killed in a CIA drone attack in a remote Yemeni town, along with several other suspected al-Qaeda operatives, including American-born Samir Khan.

According to ABC News, AQAP also criticized the American government for killing Awlaki and Khan, 'without proving any accusation against them.'

"Where is the freedom, justice, human rights and respect of freedoms that they rant about?" the statement said.

Meanwhile, US officials believe that without Awlaki, AQAP is still a significant threat to the America.

According to earlier reports, New York City police was put on alert over fears of possible revenge attacks following the al-Awlaki's death.

Jalaluddin Haqqani, Once CIA's 'Blue-Eyed Boy,' Now Top Scourge For U.S. In Afghanistan

2011-10-08T07:07:00.001-07:00

WASHINGTON -- The U.S.'s new public enemy No. 1 in Afghanistan is one of its own making.
Ten years into the occupation of Afghanistan, American officials describe the militia led by Jalaluddin Haqqani as the country's deadliest insurgent group, responsible for a slew of particularly bold attacks, including the day-long assault three weeks ago on the U.S. embassy in Kabul.
But Haqqani's rise to power can be traced directly back to the secret, multi-billion-dollar U.S. campaign to create a radicalized and well-equipped army of Islamic jihadists -- known as the mujahideen -- to lead a war against the Soviet Union in Afghanistan in the 1980s.
Back then, when a top U.S. foreign policy goal was to bog the invading Soviets down in Afghanistan, the ferocious Haqqani was one of the CIA's favorite commanders, showered with money and shoulder-fired missiles and other weapons -- and sent out to repel the foreign occupiers.
"We facilitated his rise -- we and the Saudis and Pakistani intelligence," said Steve Coll, author of "Ghost Wars: The Secret History of the CIA, Afghanistan and Bin Laden, From the Soviet Invasion to September 10, 2001."
"In Afghanistan, what goes around comes around is sort of the lesson of the last 30 years," he said.
Haqqani was admired for being particularly tough and ruthless. "There was a bit of a racist attitude about the Afghans" among the Saudi, Pakistani and U.S. intelligence services, Coll said. Haqqani "was everybody's idea of the noble savage."
Peter Tomsen, a former ambassador to Afghanistan, told PBS Frontline in 2006 that the CIA "gave Haqqani the infrastructure" to build his network.
"It is certainly quite plausible to argue that the group is stronger today than it would have been without the assistance rendered back in the 1980s," said Paul R. Pillar, a former senior CIA analyst who now teaches at Georgetown University.
Haqqani is said to have introduced suicide bombing as a tactic in Afghanistan. But back then, Haqqani's radicalism and profoundly anti-Western views weren't a liability -- they were an asset. Set on making things as difficult for the Soviets as possible, the U.S. was pushing a militant strain of Islam into the traditionally more moderate Afghan culture, by doing such things as spending $51 million to supply Afghan schoolchildren with textbooks filled with violent images and militant Islamic teachings.
But after the Soviets left Afghanistan -- more than 22 years ago now -- so did the CIA. What the Americans left behind was a generation steeped in violence, warlords inflamed with hatred of foreign invaders -- and those schoolbooks, which for years served as the Afghan school system's core curriculum.
Then, on Oct. 7, 2001, the U.S. invaded Afghanistan in response to the 9/11 terrorist attacks; for the last 10 years, it's been the Americans' turn to be the foreign occupiers.
Now, from his base in Pakistan's North Waziristan region, an essentially ungoverned area near the border of Afghanistan, Haqqani leads the "Haqqani network," which The New York Times recently likened to "the Sopranos of the Afghanistan war."
The man who introduced suicide bombings to Afghanistan has made "complex and strategic suicide attacks" against Western targets, like embassies and hotels, the calling card of his network.
Adm. Mike Mullen, the outgoing chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, made headlines three weeks ago when he singled out the Haqqani network in his testimony before a Senate committee and then described the group as "a veritable arm" of Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) agency.
Other U.S. officials have since tried to walk back Mullen's comment, but not before it triggered a nationalist backlash in Pakistan and whipped up media fears there of an imminent U.S. invasion.
In remarks to Al Jazeera television, Pakistan's Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar fired back at Mullen. "If we talk about links, I am sure the CIA also has links with many terrorist organizations around the world, by which we mean intelligence links," she said. "And this particular network, that they continue to talk about, is a network which was the blue-eyed boy of the CIA itself for many years. I mean, it was created by the CIA, it could be said."
The charge also led the Pakistani ambassador to the U.S. to delightedly show an Indian television reporter a clip on his cell phone of President Ronald Reagan hosting Haqqani at the White House -- although it later turned out that the picture was not of Haqqani, but of a different mujahideen entirely.
Despite the crucial context it provides for the war that ensued, the history of American intervention in Afghanistan has been largely overlooked -- as it was in media coverage of the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
Paul Fitzgerald and Elizabeth Gould, a journalistic husband-and-wife-team who have reported extensively about Afghanistan, wrote in 2009 about what happened after the CIA left Afghanistan in the late 1980s: "The Afghan people were left to deal with the blowback from the mujahideen fighters who had been supported by the largest publicly known U.S. covert operation since Vietnam. Over the next few years that process would give rise to the Taliban and morph into the threat the U.S. faces today."
U.S. policy there "has been short sighted from the very beginning," Fitzgerald said in an interview. "It's a history of short-sightedness."
The problem is often whom the U.S. picks as its proxies. "I think we have a pretty good track record at picking the worst possible people," Fitzgerald said. "We never pick people who stand for our values."
"Haqqani was one of the instruments that was being used to cause problems for the Soviets in Afghan," Pillar said. "But when the Soviets were gone, both initially from Afghanistan and more broadly with the collapse of the Soviet Union, the equities were changed."
"One can sum that all up by labeling it appropriately as blowback," he added.
"The lesson is: Watch out who your friends are," Coll said. The U.S. "outsourced the politics of the war to the Pakistani ISI and they favored radical Islamist groups with an anti-American agenda. And we accepted that."
The conflict between apparent expediency on the one side and American values on the other remains vivid in current policies, he noted. Even now, Coll said, the U.S. has "empowered a lot of warlords in the country who do not share our values."
"We declare that our goal is to establish rule of law and civil society and peace," he said, "and then we work through local warlords who are not accountable to anyone and who basically control their territory by the gun."
Similarly, John Hanrahan recently wrote for the Nieman Foundation for Journalism that "we should learn the 'blowback' lessons from those earlier days and bear in mind that our actions there today -- night raids, attacks, support for a corrupt government, internment without charges of a couple thousand Afghans in Bagram prison, etc. -- can again produce negative future consequences for both the beleaguered Afghan people and the United States." (Disclosure: I also work for the Nieman Foundation.)
Meanwhile, a growing list of U.S. senators is heeding Mullen's advice and pushing to designate the Haqqani network as a terrorist organization. But that move, ironically, itself might backfire, because that designation would prevent Haqqani from ever being part of a peace process.
And as Pakistani scholar Saifullah Mahsud told the Economist last week, to their supporters, the Haqqanis are fighting an occupying force, just as they did the Soviets before.

Russia vows to scrap chemical weapons soon

2011-10-03T23:43:00.001-07:00

Moscow: Russia will do everything possible to destroy as soon as possible its remaining stockpiles of chemical weapons, the Foreign Ministry said Monday.

"The Russian Federation puts the highest priority on disarmament and non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction...We will continue to put maximum effort into the fulfillment of this labour-intensive and technically complex task in as short time as possible," the ministry said in a statement.
Russia signed the Chemical Weapons Convention banning the development, production, stockpiling, transfer, and use of chemical arms in 1993, and ratified it in 1997. The country has so far destroyed about half of its chemical weapons arsenal, which totals 40,000 tonnes.
"At the same time, there is still a large amount of work on destruction of remaining chemical weapons arsenals ahead of us, and for that purpose we are continuing to increase the capacity of existing destruction facilities...and search for additional resources," the statement said.
Moscow has allocated $7.18 billion from the federal budget for the implementation of the programme, and has built six chemical weapon destruction plants across the country.
According to previous reports, Russia aims to finish all the remaining work under the project, including decontamination and equipment dismantlement, by 2016-2017.

Strike three, you're out: Top bomb-maker was also killed in drone attack on American terrorists in devastating blow to Al Qaeda

2011-10-02T07:44:00.001-07:00

Top bomb maker Ibrahim al-Asiri 'killed' in triple hit drone strike
Anwar al-Awlaki killed by same unit that took out Osama bin Laden
Al-Awlaki first American on 'kill or capture' list
Obama says the U.S. has dealt a 'major blow' to al-Qaeda
Linked to 9/11 hijackers and the Fort Hood shooter
Officials say al-Awlaki planned to use WMDs on the U.S.

By Daily Mail Reporter

Last updated at 7:12 PM on 1st October 2011

U.S. intelligence indicates that the top al-Qaida bomb-maker in Yemen also died in the drone strike that killed radical cleric Anwar al-Awlaki, two U.S. officials said Friday.

Third? Saudi fugitive Ibrahim Hassan al-Asiri was thought to have been killed in a U.S. drone strike

Ibrahim al-Asiri is the bomb-maker linked to the bomb hidden in the underwear of a Nigerian man accused of trying to blow up a plane over Detroit on Christmas Day 2009.
The FBI pulled al-Asiri's fingerprint off that bomb. Authorities also believe he built the bombs that al-Qaida slipped into printers and shipped to the U.S. last year in a nearly catastrophic attack.
The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because al-Asiri's death has not officially been confirmed.
Al-Asiri's death would make the attack perhaps the most successful single drone strike ever. Along with al-Awlaki, the attack also killed Samir Khan, the editor of the al-Qaida propaganda magazine Inspire.
Both Khan and al-Awlaki are U.S. citizens. Al-Awlaki was the target of the attack.
Christopher Boucek, a scholar who studies Yemen and al-Qaida, said al-Asiri was so important to the organisation that his death would 'overshadow the news of al-Awlaki and Samir Khan.'
New York City police are on alert to possible revenge attacks following the U.S. killing of American-born militant Anwar al-Awlaki in Yemen, police commissioner Ray Kelly said on Friday.
Awlaki, identified by U.S. intelligence as 'chief of external operations' for al Qaeda's Yemen branch and a Web-savvy propagandist for the Islamist cause, was killed in a CIA drone attack in a remote Yemeni town, U.S. officials said.
'We know al-Awlaki had followers in the United States including New York City, and for that reason we remain alert to the possibility that someone might want to avenge his death,' Kelly said in a statement. 'He was a powerful recruiter of terrorists in the United States,' he said.

Plotter: Imam al-Awlaki with Patricia Morris inside the Dar al Hijrah Mosque in Falls Church, Virginia, in 2001, where he preached before returning to Yemen

'All American boy': Anwar al-Awlaki's was arrested in April 1997 in San Diego for soliciting prostitutes

'Determined': President Obama, pictured today, said the U.S. had dealt a major blow to al-Qaeda after killing al-Awlaki

Kelly also welcomed the reported death of a second English-speaking al Qaeda operative, Samir Khan, an American of Pakistani origin who U.S. and Yemeni officials said they believed was killed in the same drone attack.

'Khan had extensive contacts in New York City and published the English language Inspire Magazine, which instructed lone wolves on how to build bombs at home, and in the most recent issue identified Grand Central Station as a target,' he said.
Al Qaeda militants are blamed for flying hijacked planes into the World Trade Center twin towers in Lower Manhattan on September 11, 2001, causing them to collapse and killing nearly 3,000 people.
Awlaki, the first American on the CIA's kill or capture list,was killed in an airstrike when two Predator drones fired Hellfire missiles at his convoy. The mission was carried out by the CIA and the U.S. Joint Special Operations Command - who oversaw the mission that took out Osama Bin Laden.
Hisdeath represents the biggest coup for the U.S. since bin Laden was killed in May and brings to an end the extraordinary story of the 'all-American boy' with a conviction for soliciting prostitutes who wenton to become one of the most wanted men on the planet.
Thenews of his death came as more revelations exposed the chilling past ofa man who preached hate and plotted terror attacks while living under the eyes of American authorities.

Deadly: The unmanned Predator drone fired hellfire missiles on al-Awlaki's convoy killing the terror leader

Although publicly deploring the 9/11 attacks Imam al-Awlaki secretly conspired against the U.S. and soon moved to Yemen where he rose to the top of al-Qaeda.
Today President Obama, appearing at an event in Arlington, Virginia, said: 'This is a major blow to al-Qaeda's most active operational affiliate. Al-Awlaki took the lead in the planning of efforts to murder innocent Americans. He repeatedly called on people around the world to kill innocent men, women and children.'
'He directed the failed attempt to blow up an airplane on Christmas Day in 2009. He directed the failed attempt to blow up U.S. cargo planes in 2010,' Mr Obama said.
'And he repeatedly called on individuals in the United States and around the globe to kill innocent men, women and children to advance a murderous agenda.'
The President said 'it marks another significant milestone in the broader effort to defeat al-Qaeda.'
Mr Obama also said the U.S. will be 'determined, relentless and resolute' in its pursuit of terrorism.
The strike, five miles from the town of Khashef in Yemen’s northern Jawf province, 87 miles east of the capital Sanaa, hit a vehicle containing three or four suspected al-Qaeda members in addition to al-Awlaki.
Samir Khan, the co-editor of English-language al-Qaeda online magazine 'Inspire' was also killed in the attack.
The news came as it emerged that al-Awlaki was targeted by the U.S. on the tenth anniversary of the 9/11 attacks.

Lived in America: Ridgeline Apartments in Denver, Colorado - where Anwar al-Awlaki made his home in the early to mid-1990s

Institution: The Denver Islamic Society where cleric Anwar al-Awlaki served as a teacher in the 1990s

Recruiting: The Arribat al-Islami Mosque in San Diego where al-Awlaki met two of the 9/11 hijackers, Khalid al-Midhar and Nawaf al-Hazmi

Worship: The Dar Al Hijrah Islamic Center in Falls Church, Virginia, was where Anwar al-Awlaki preached before he left for the Middle East

Senior administration officials said the U.S. had been following al-Awlaki for months. A senior administration official told ABC News: 'They were waiting for the right opportunity to get him away from any civilians.'
On the tenth anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, officials 'thought they had a good opportunity to hit him. We waited, but it never materialised.'
TodayU.S. officials said the Imam planned to use WMDs in attacks on the United States. The terror leader sought to use poisons including cyanideand ricin, officials said.The cleric, known for fiery anti-American rhetoric spread on the internet, was suspected of inspiringthe mass shooting at Fort Hood Army base in Texas in 2009 and of takinga more direct role in planning the attempted Christmas bombing of a Detroit-bound jetliner and other terror attempts against Americans.
To his father Nasser al-Awlaki he was wrongly accused by the U.S. of any terrorist involvement and was simply an 'all-American boy'.
Hespent much of his life in Ameica, where he was born, studying and preaching. However behind his public profile he secretly led a life of preaching terror and had a passion for prostitutes. While living in San Diego he was arrested in 1996 and 1997 for soliciting prostitutes.

ANWAR AWLAKI'S REIGN OF TERROR

9/11: Anwar al-Awlaki preached at a mosque in San Diego in 2000 where he met Khalid al-Midhar and Nawaf al-Hazmi, two of the 9/11 hijackers. The U.S. government's 9/11 Commission report says the men 'respected al-Awlaki as a religious figure and developed a close relationship with him'. They were aboard the plane that crashed into the Pentagon killing 64, including four flight attendants and two pilots, and 125 in the Pentagon. Nearly 3,000 died in a series of four coordinated suicide attacks upon the United States ten years ago after al Qaeda hijacked four planes.

Fort Hood: U.S. army psychologist Major Nidal Malik Hasan had been receiving religious advice from al-Awlaki by email before he ran amok at a Texas military base in 2009, killing 13 and injuring 30. Witnesses said a gunman wearing an Army combat uniform shouted 'Allahu Akbar!' - Arabic for 'God is great!' - and started shooting in a small but crowded medical building where deploying soldiers are vaccinated and undergo other tests.

'Underpants' bomber: U.S. officials believe that al-Awlaki helped recruit Umar Farouk Abdul Mutallab, the Nigerian man charged with trying to blow up a transatlantic flight as it landed in Detroit on December 25, 2009.

'Shoe bomber': Al-Awlaki was connected to British-born Richard Reid who admitted in Federal court in 2002 to attempting to light a fuse which led into a shoe containing explosives on Flight 63 on December 22, 2001.

Times Square bomber: Faisal Shaizad and the Fort Dix terror suspects also said they were followers of Al-Awalki's sermons.

Along with being at the top of the CIA's most wanted list, al-Awlaki was the only man named as a major threat by the head of Britain's Secret Intelligence Service said last year.

Born in New Mexico in 1971 to Yemeni parents al-Awlaki left the U.S. as a child as his family returned to Yemen. He then came back to America in 1991 as a mosque preacher where he conducted his university studies. He was not seen by his congregations as radical.
While in San Diego, he preached at a local mosque, where in 2000 he met two of the 9/11 hijackers, Khalid al-Midhar and Nawaf al-Hazmi. The FBI questioned him at the time but found no cause to detain him.
The U.S. government's 9/11 Commission report says the men 'respected al-Awlaki as a religious figure and developed a close relationship with him.' They were aboard the plane that crashed into the Pentagon.
He then preached at a mosque in Virginia before leaving the U.S. to return to the Middle East where he rose to become one of the CIA's most wanted.

After 9/11 al-Awlaki became the public face of al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula and one of the CIA's most wanted men in the world.
Counterterrorism cooperation between the United States and Yemen has improved in recent weeks, allowing better intelligence-gathering on al-Awlaki's movements, U.S. officials said. The ability to better track him was a key factor in the success ofthe strike, U.S. officials said. Officials spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss intelligence matters.

Al-Awlaki's death is the latest in a run of high-profile kills for America under President Obama. But the killing raises questions that the death of other al-Qaida leaders, including bin Laden, did not.
Al-Awlaki is a U.S. citizen, born in New Mexico to Yemeni parents, who had not been charged with any crime. Civil liberties groups have questioned the government's authority to kill an American without trial.

U.S. officials have said they believe al-Awlaki inspired the actions of Army psychiatrist Maj. Nidal Hasan, who is charged with 13 counts of premeditated murder and 32 counts of attempted premeditated murder in the attack at Fort Hood, Texas.

In New York, the Pakistani-American man who pleaded guilty to the May 2010 Times Square car bombing attempt said he was 'inspired' by al-Awlaki after making contact over the Internet.
Al-awlaki spent 18 months in prison in Yemen between 2006 and 2007 on kidnapping charges, but was released without going to trial.
'They put him in jail for 18 months, and I detected a change after he got out of prison; he began to get away from the mainstream,' his father, Nasser al-Awlaki told CNN.

Favourite haunt: The El Cajon Boulevard in San Diego was where the terrorist picked up prostitutes before being arrested

WAS KILLING AL-AWLAKI LEGAL?

'Assassination': Ron Paul today condemned the killing of al-Awlaki

The killing of Anwar al-Awlaki raises questions that the death of other al-Qaeda leaders, including bin Laden, did not.

Al-Awlaki was a U.S. citizen, born in New Mexico to Yemeni parents, who had not been charged with any crime.
Civil liberties groups have questioned the government's authority to kill an American without trial.
Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul today condemned the Obama administration over the killing.

Paul, a Texas congressman known for libertarian views, said the attack on Yemeni soil amounts to an 'assassination' and warned the American public not to casually accept such violence against U.S. citizens, even those with strong ties to terrorism.

Paul made the comments to reporters after a campaign stop Friday at Saint Anselm College in New Hampshire. He said America's leaders must think hard about 'assassinating American citizens without charges.'
U.S. officials updated Al-Awlaki's title on the same day he was killed. The white House and CIA named al-Awkali 'chief of external operations' for the terror network in Yemen.
No U.S. court has ever ruled over whether it is legal for the government to kill an America citizen because judges consider the issue a matter exclusively for the president.
Last year al-Awlaki's father, Nasser, sued President Obama, (then) Defense Secretary Robert Gates, and (then) CIA Director Leon Panetta a year ago, after the U.S. targeted al-Awlaki.
Judge John Bates dismissed the case ruling that federal courts were in no position to evaluate whether someone was a terrorist or national security threat.
Jameel Jaffer, the ACLU lawyer who handled the case, today said the killing of al-Awlaki was a violation of both U.S. and international law.
Mr Jaffer told MSNBC: 'The government's authority to use lethal force against its own citizens should be limited to circumstances in which the threat to life is concrete, specific and imminent. It is a mistake to invest the president, any president, with the unreviewable power to kill any American whom he deems to present a threat to the country.'
However, Kenneth Anderson, an international law scholar at American University's Washington College of Law, said the U.S. was within their rights to kill al-Awlaki. He said: 'Where hostiles go, there is the possibility of hostilities," Anderson said. "The U.S. has never accepted the proposition that if you leave the active battlefield, suddenly you are no longer targetable.'

The 40-year-old was for years an influential mouthpiece for al-Qaeda's ideology of holy war, and his English-language sermons urgingattacks on the United States were widely circulated among militants in the West.
But U.S. officials say he moved into a direct operational role in organising such attacks as he hid alongside al-Qaeda militants in the rugged mountains of Yemen. Most notably, they believe he was involved inrecruiting and preparing a young Nigerian who on Christmas Day 2009 tried to blow up a U.S. airliner heading to Detroit, failing only because he botched the detonation of explosives sewn into his underpants.

Defence: Dr Nasser al-Awlaki had described his son as an 'all-American boy'

Yemen's Defence Ministry said another American militant was killed in the same strike alongside al-Awlaki - Samir Khan, a U.S. citizen of Pakistani heritage who produced 'Inspire,' an English-language al-Qaeda Web magazine that spread the word on ways to carry out attacks inside the United States.
U.S. officials said they believed Khan was in the convoy carrying al-Awlaki that was struck but that they were still trying to confirm his death. U.S. and Yemeni officials said two other militants were also killed in the strike but did not immediately identify them.
Washington has called al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, as the branch in Yemen is called, the most direct threat to the United States after itplotted that attack and a foiled attempt to mail explosives to synagogues in Chicago.
In July, U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said al-Awlaki was a priority target alongside Ayman al-Zawahri, bin Laden's successor as theterror network's leader.
The Yemeni-American had been in the U.S. crosshairs since his killing was approved by President Barack Obama in April 2010 - making him the first American placed on the CIA "kill or capture" list. At least twice,airstrikes were called in on locations in Yemen where al-Awlaki was suspected of being, but he wasn't harmed.
Friday's success was the result of counterterrorism cooperation between Yemen and the U.S. that has dramatically increased in recent weeks - ironically, even as Yemen has plunged deeper into turmoil as protesters try to oust President Ali Abdullah Saleh, U.S. officials said.

Threat: The al Qaeda magazine 'Inspire' published a picture of Grand Central station in New York in what is believed to be a warning

Apparently trying to cling to power by holding his American allies closer, Saleh has opened the taps in cooperation against al-Qaida. U.S. officials said the Yemenis have also allowed the U.S. to gather more intelligence on al-Awlaki's movements and to fly more armed drone and aircraft missions over its territory than ever before.
The operation that killed al-Awlaki was run by the U.S. military's elitecounterterrorism unit, the Joint Special Operations Command - the same unit that got bin Laden.
A U.S. counterterrorism official said American forces targeted a convoy in which al-Awlaki was travelling with a drone and jet attack and believehe's been killed. The official was not authorized to speak publicly andspoke on condition of anonymity.
The Yemeni government announced that al-Awlaki was "targeted and killed"around 9:55 a.m outside the town of Khashef in mountainous Jawf province, 87 miles (140 kilometres) east of the capital Sanaa. It gave no further details.
Local tribal and security officials said al-Awlaki was travelling in a two-car convoy with two other al-Qaeda operatives from Jawf to neighbouring Marib province when they were hit by an airstrike. They saidthe other two operatives were also believed dead. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the press.
In 2004, al-Awlaki returned to Yemen, and in the years that followed, his English-language sermons - distributed on the Internet - increasingly turned to denunciations of the United States and calls for jihad, or holy war. The sermons turned up in the possession of a number of militants in the U.S. and Europe arrested for plotting attacks.
Al-Awlaki exchanged up to 20 emails with U.S. Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, alleged killer of 13 people in the Nov. 5, 2009, rampage at Fort Hood. Hasan initiated the contacts, drawn by al-Awlaki's Internet sermons, andapproached him for religious advice.

AL-AWLAKI: AMERICA'S MOST WANTED

Terrorist: Al-Awlaki was born in the U.S. and spend much of his life living in America

Born in New Mexico in 1971, al-Awlaki was a U.S. citizen. He graduated in civil engineering from Colorado State University and was awarded a master's degree in educational leadership from San Diego State University.

Al-Awlaki's family is well-known in Yemen. His father is a former agriculture minister, Nasser al-Awlaki. The terrorist was a former imam of mosques in Denver, San Diego and Falls Church, Virginia. Two of those mosques were attended by some of the September 11, 2001, hijackers.

In 2004 he travelled to Yemen, where he taught at a university before he was arrested and imprisoned in 2006 for suspected links to al Qaeda and involvement in attacks.

In December 2007 he was released because he said he had repented, a Yemeni security official said. But he was later charged again on similar counts and went into hiding.

Last year the U.S. administration authorised operations to capture or kill al-Awlaki. 'Al-Awlaki is a proven threat,' said a U.S. official at the time. 'He's being targeted.'

At prayer: al-Awlaki was the first American on CIA's 'kill or capture' list. He was born in New Mexico and spent much of his life living in the United States

Al-Awlaki has said he didn't tell Hasan to carry out the shootings, but he later praised Hasan as a 'hero' on his Web site for killing American soldiers who would be heading for Afghanistan or Iraq to fight Muslims.

WHAT IS THE JOINT SPECIAL OPERATIONS COMMAND?

The Joint Special Operations Command, known as JSOC, overseas special operations in the U.S. military. It was established in 1980 in the aftermath of the failure of Operation Eagle Claw and is located at Pope Army Air Field and Fort Bragg in North Carolina.
The JSOC commands and controls special missions which are highly classified activities.
These have included the Army's 1st Special Forces Operational Detachment - Delta, the Navy's Naval Special Warfare Development Group, and the Air Force's 24th Special Tactics Squadron.
JSOC works closely with the CIA's elite Special Activities Division, as was the case with the strike on al-Awlaki.
JSOC was responsible for overseeing the mission that killed Osama bin Laden in May.

In New York, the Pakistani-American man who pleaded guilty to the May 2010 Times Square car bombing attempt told interrogators he was 'inspired' by al-Awlaki after making contact over the Internet.
After the Fort Hood attack, al-Awlaki moved from Yemen's capital, Sanaa,into the mountains where his Awalik tribe is based and - it appears - grew to build direct ties with al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, if he had not developed them already. The branch is led by a Yemeni militant named Nasser al-Wahishi.
Yemeni officials have said al-Awlaki had contacts with Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, the accused would-be Christmas plane bomber, who was in Yemen in 2009. They say the believe al-Awlaki met with the 23-year-old Nigerian, along with other al-Qaeda leaders, in al-Qaeda strongholds in the country in the weeks before the failed bombing.
Al-Awlaki has said Abdulmutallab was his 'student' but said he never told him to carry out the airline attack.

The cleric is also believed to have been an important middleman between al-Qaeda militants and the multiple tribes that dominate large parts of Yemen, particular in the mountains of Jawf, Marib and Shabwa province where the terror group's fighters are believed to be holed up.
Last month, al-Awlaki was seen attending a funeral of a senior tribal chief in Shabwa, witnesses said, adding that security officials were also among those attending.

Dead: Samir Khan, a U.S. citizen was killed in the same CIA drone strike that eliminated al-Awlaki in Yemen on Friday

Other witnesses said al-Awlaki was involved in negotiations with a local tribe in Yemen's Mudiya region, which was preventing al-Qaeda fighters from traveling from their strongholds to the southern city of Zinjibar, which was taken over recently by Islamic militants. The witnesses spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals and their accounts could not be independently confirmed.
Yemen, the Arab world's most impoverished nation, has become a haven forhundreds of al-Qaeda militants. The country has also been torn by political turmoil as President Saleh struggles to stay in power in the face of seven months of protests. In recent months, Islamic militants linked to al-Qaeda have exploited the chaos to seize control of several cities in Yemen's south, including Zinjibar.
A previous attack against al-Awlaki on May 5, shortly after the May raidthat killed Osama bin Laden, was carried out by a combination of U.S. drones and jets.
Top U.S. counterterrorism adviser John Brennan has said cooperation withYemen has improved since the political unrest there. Brennan said the Yemenis have been more willing to share information about the location of al-Qaeda targets, as a way to fight the Yemeni branch challenging them for power.
Yemeni security officials said the U.S. was conducting multiple airstrikes a day in the south since May and that U.S. officials were finally allowed to interrogate al-Qaida suspects, something Saleh had long resisted, and still does so in public. The officials spokes on condition of anonymity to discuss intelligence issues.

Terrorists: 9/11 hijackers Khalid al-Midhar, right, and Nawaf al-Hazmi, left, were influenced by al-Awlaki in San Diego

U.S.-Born Al-Qaeda Cleric Anwar Al-Awlaki Killed In Yemen

2011-09-30T09:06:00.000-07:00

SANAA, Yemen -- In a significant new blow to al-Qaida, U.S. airstrikes in Yemen on Friday killed Anwar al-Awlaki, an American militant cleric who became a prominent figure in the terror network's most dangerous branch, using his fluent English and Internet savvy to draw recruits for attacks in the United States.
The strike was the biggest U.S. success in hitting al-Qaida's leadership since the May killing of Osama bin Laden in Pakistan. But it raises questions that other strikes did not: Al-Awlaki was an American citizen who has not been charged with any crime. Civil liberties groups have questioned the government's authority to kill an American without trial.
The 40-year-old al-Awlaki was for years an influential mouthpiece for al-Qaida's ideology of holy war, and his English-language sermons urging attacks on the United States were widely circulated among militants in the West.
But U.S. officials say he moved into a direct operational role in organizing such attacks as he hid alongside al-Qaida militants in the rugged mountains of Yemen. Most notably, they believe he was involved in recruiting and preparing a young Nigerian who on Christmas Day 2009 tried to blow up a U.S. airliner heading to Detroit, failing only because he botched the detonation of explosives sewn into his underpants.
Yemen's Defense Ministry said another American militant was killed in the same strike alongside al-Awlaki – Samir Khan, a U.S. citizen of Pakistani heritage who produced "Inspire," an English-language al-Qaida Web magazine that spread the word on ways to carry out attacks inside the United States. U.S. officials said they believed Khan was in the convoy carrying al-Awlaki that was struck but that they were still trying to confirm his death. U.S. and Yemeni officials said two other militants were also killed in the strike but did not immediately identify them.
Washington has called al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula, as the branch in Yemen is called, the most direct threat to the United States after it plotted that attack and a foiled attempt to mail explosives to synagogues in Chicago.
In July, U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said al-Awlaki was a priority target alongside Ayman al-Zawahri, bin Laden's successor as the terror network's leader.
The Yemeni-American had been in the U.S. crosshairs since his killing was approved by President Barack Obama in April 2010 – making him the first American placed on the CIA "kill or capture" list. At least twice, airstrikes were called in on locations in Yemen where al-Awlaki was suspected of being, but he wasn't harmed.
Friday's success was the result of counterterrorism cooperation between Yemen and the U.S. that has dramatically increased in recent weeks – ironically, even as Yemen has plunged deeper into turmoil as protesters try to oust President Ali Abdullah Saleh, U.S. officials said.
Apparently trying to cling to power by holding his American allies closer, Saleh has opened the taps in cooperation against al-Qaida. U.S. officials said the Yemenis have also allowed the U.S. to gather more intelligence on al-Awlaki's movements and to fly more armed drone and aircraft missions over its territory than ever before.
The operation that killed al-Awlaki was run by the U.S. military's elite counterterrorism unit, the Joint Special Operations Command – the same unit that got bin Laden.
A U.S. counterterrorism official said American forces targeted a convoy in which al-Awlaki was traveling with a drone and jet attack and believe he's been killed. The official was not authorized to speak publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.
The Yemeni government announced that al-Awlaki was "targeted and killed" around 9:55 a.m outside the town of Khashef in mountainous Jawf province, 87 miles (140 kilometers) east of the capital Sanaa. It gave no further details.
Local tribal and security officials said al-Awlaki was traveling in a two-car convoy with two other al-Qaida operatives from Jawf to neighboring Marib province when they were hit by an airstrike. They said the other two operatives were also believed dead. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the press.
Al-Awlaki, born in New Mexico to Yemeni parents, began as a mosque preacher as he conducted his university studies in the United States, and he was not seen by his congregations as radical. While preaching in San Diego, he came to know two of the men who would eventually become suicide-hijackers in the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. The FBI questioned al-Awlaki at the time but found no cause to detain him.
In 2004, al-Awlaki returned to Yemen, and in the years that followed, his English-language sermons – distributed on the Internet – increasingly turned to denunciations of the United States and calls for jihad, or holy war. The sermons turned up in the possession of a number of militants in the U.S. and Europe arrested for plotting attacks.
Al-Awlaki exchanged up to 20 emails with U.S. Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, alleged killer of 13 people in the Nov. 5, 2009, rampage at Fort Hood. Hasan initiated the contacts, drawn by al-Awlaki's Internet sermons, and approached him for religious advice.
Al-Awlaki has said he didn't tell Hasan to carry out the shootings, but he later praised Hasan as a "hero" on his Web site for killing American soldiers who would be heading for Afghanistan or Iraq to fight Muslims.
In New York, the Pakistani-American man who pleaded guilty to the May 2010 Times Square car bombing attempt told interrogators he was "inspired" by al-Awlaki after making contact over the Internet.
After the Fort Hood attack, al-Awlaki moved from Yemen's capital, Sanaa, into the mountains where his Awalik tribe is based and – it appears – grew to build direct ties with al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula, if he had not developed them already. The branch is led by a Yemeni militant named Nasser al-Wahishi.
Yemeni officials have said al-Awlaki had contacts with Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, the accused would-be Christmas plane bomber, who was in Yemen in 2009. They say the believe al-Awlaki met with the 23-year-old Nigerian, along with other al-Qaida leaders, in al-Qaida strongholds in the country in the weeks before the failed bombing.
Al-Awlaki has said Abdulmutallab was his "student" but said he never told him to carry out the airline attack.
The cleric is also believed to have been an important middleman between al-Qaida militants and the multiple tribes that dominate large parts of Yemen, particular in the mountains of Jawf, Marib and Shabwa province where the terror group's fighters are believed to be holed up.
Last month, al-Awlaki was seen attending a funeral of a senior tribal chief in Shabwa, witnesses said, adding that security officials were also among those attending. Other witnesses said al-Awlaki was involved in negotiations with a local tribe in Yemen's Mudiya region, which was preventing al-Qaida fighters from traveling from their strongholds to the southern city of Zinjibar, which was taken over recently by Islamic militants. The witnesses spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals and their accounts could not be independently confirmed.
Yemen, the Arab world's most impoverished nation, has become a haven for hundreds of al-Qaida militants. The country has also been torn by political turmoil as President Saleh struggles to stay in power in the face of seven months of protests. In recent months, Islamic militants linked to al-Qaida have exploited the chaos to seize control of several cities in Yemen's south, including Zinjibar.
A previous attack against al-Awlaki on May 5, shortly after the May raid that killed Osama bin Laden, was carried out by a combination of U.S. drones and jets.
Top U.S. counterterrorism adviser John Brennan has said cooperation with Yemen has improved since the political unrest there. Brennan said the Yemenis have been more willing to share information about the location of al-Qaida targets, as a way to fight the Yemeni branch challenging them for power.
Yemeni security officials said the U.S. was conducting multiple airstrikes a day in the south since May and that U.S. officials were finally allowed to interrogate al-Qaida suspects, something Saleh had long resisted, and still does so in public. The officials spokes on condition of anonymity to discuss intelligence issues.
____
AP correspondent Matt Apuzzo and AP Intelligence Writer Kimberly Dozier in Washington contributed to this report.
Al Qaeda Attacks Timeline

Feb. 26, 1993 - A bomb explodes in the garage of the World Trade Center.

RED DAWN

2011-09-29T08:22:00.001-07:00

China Embarks On Ambitious New Space Program

China Space Station: Tiangong-1 Experimental Module Launched

BEIJING — China launched an experimental module to lay the groundwork for a future space station on Thursday, underscoring its ambitions to become a major space power over the coming decade.
The box car-sized Tiangong-1 module was shot into space from the Jiuquan launch center on the edge of the Gobi Desert aboard a Long March 2FT1 rocket.
It is to move into an orbit 217 miles (350 kilometers) above the Earth and conduct surveys of Chinese farmland using special cameras, along with experiments involving growing crystals in zero gravity.
China then plans to launch an unmanned Shenzhou 8 spacecraft to practice remote-controlled docking maneuvers with the module, possibly within the next few weeks. Two more missions, at least one of them manned, are to meet up with it next year for further practice, with astronauts staying for up to one month.
The 8.5-ton module, whose name translates as "Heavenly Palace-1," is to stay aloft for two years, after which two other experimental modules are to be launched for additional tests before the actual station is launched in three sections between 2020 and 2022.
"This is a significant test. We've never done such a thing before," Lu Jinrong, the launch center's chief engineer, was quoted as saying by the official Xinhua News Agency.
The space station, which is yet to be formally named, is the most ambitious project in China's exploration of space, which also calls for landing on the moon, possibly with astronauts.
In terms of technology, the launch of the Tiangong-1 places China about where the U.S. was in the 1960s during the Gemini program. While it is planning fewer launches than the U.S. carried out, the Chinese program progresses farther than the U.S. did with each launch it undertakes, said Joan Johnson-Freese, a space expert at the U.S. Naval War College in Rhode Island.
"China has the advantage, 40-plus years later, of not having to start at the bottom of the learning curve on its human spaceflight program," Johnson-Freese said.
China's authoritarian, centralized political system also offers the advantage of freedom from political wrangles over funding and clearly defines the program's long-term goals within Soviet-style five-year plans.
China launched its first manned flight in 2003, joining Russia and the United States as the only countries to launch humans into orbit and generating huge amounts of national pride for the Communist government.
However, habitual secrecy and the space program's close links with the military have inhibited cooperation with other nations' space programs – including the International Space Station.
At about 60 tons when completed, the Chinese station will be considerably smaller than the 16-nation ISS, which is expected to continue operating through 2028.
China applied repeatedly to join the ISS, but was rebuffed largely on objections from the U.S., prompting it to adopt a go-it-alone strategy.
While the program has proceeded with no apparent major problems, the launch of the Tiangong-1 module was delayed for one year for technical reasons, and then rescheduled again after a Long March 2C rocket similar to the Long March 2F failed to reach orbit in August. The incident with the rocket was investigated and problems were reportedly resolved.
Although experts see no explicit military function for the Chinese space station, the country's other space-based military programs, including the destruction of a defunct Chinese satellite with a rocket in 2007, have caused alarm overseas.
"It is a nation doing its own thing saying, 'OK, we can do what you did for our own country separate from cooperation, on Chinese terms,'" said Charles Vick, an expert on the Chinese space program with Globalsecurity.org, which tracks military and security news.
Numerous challenges lie ahead, including the attempt to dock remotely – U.S. astronauts handled the maneuver from aboard their spacecraft. The Long March 5 rocket that is being prepared to launch the 20-ton modules for the actual space station also remains untested.
Still, Beijing is expected to press ahead whatever the difficulties as long as it continues to result in international prestige, domestic credibility, technological advancement, and economic spin-offs, Johnson-Freese and Vick said.
"Basically, they will get what they want regardless of how long or what it takes for the authoritarian state to accomplish the assigned tasks," Vick said.

Is this REALLY Al Qaeda's latest weapon?

2011-09-29T02:09:00.001-07:00

FBI foils plot to attack Pentagon with toy plane packed with explosives

Rezwan Ferdaus, 26, graduated from Northeastern and is a U.S. citizen
He frequently met with 'agents of al Qaeda' for help waging his 'jihad'... but they were really undercover FBI agents
Arrested after he accepted delivery from undercover agents of grenades, six machine guns and C-4 explosive
Ferdaus 'played drums in college band and was nicknamed Bollywood'

Bomber: 26-year-old Rezwan Ferdaus has been accused of plotting to attack the Pentagon and U.S. Capitol with large remote-controlled aircraft filled with explosives
This is the face of the Massachusetts man accused of plotting to attack the Pentagon and the U.S. Capitol by using remote-controlled aircraft filled with C-4 explosives.
Musician Rezwan Ferdaus, 26, was also charged with attempting to provide support and resources to al Qaeda in order to carry out attacks on U.S. soldiers stationed overseas, U.S. attorney's office in Boston said.
He was caught as a result of an undercover operation.
He was arrested in Framingham after undercover federal agents delivered materials he'd allegedly requested for his plan, including grenades, six machine guns and what he believed was 24 pounds of C-4 explosive.
According to a federal affidavit, Ferdaus said he wanted to deal a psychological blow to Americans, the 'enemies of Allah,' by hitting the Pentagon, which he called 'head and heart of the snake.'
In a conversation with a federal informant, Ferdaus allegedly explained how in ancient times, God uses natural disasters to punish evil civilizations, and he would use them today.
'For us, we've gotta do that,' he said, according to the affidavit. 'Allah has given us the privilege... he punishes them by our hand. We're the ones.'

Terror: Rezwan Ferdaus planned to use remote control planes lined with C-4 to attack the capital before he was arrested by authorities. Here: a scale model of a U.S. Navy F-86 Sabre fighter plane similar to the remote control aircraft he planned to use

Eerie: An amateur surveillance photo of the Pentagon said to be taken by Ferdaus as he plotted during a trip to Washington D.C. in May
'The conduct alleged today shows that Mr Ferdaus had long planned to commit violent acts against our country. Thanks to the diligence of the FBI and our many other law enforcement partners, that plan was thwarted.' U.S. Attorney Carmen Ortiz said in a statement.

Musician: Ferdus studied physics at Northeastern University where he reportedly went by the name 'Bollywood' and played drums in a Massachusetts band
'In addition to protecting our citizens from the threats and violence alleged today, we also have an obligation to protect members of every community, race and religion against violence and other unlawful conduct,' Mr Ortiz said.
The Department of Justice also said that 'the public was never in danger from the explosive devices, which were controlled by undercover FBI employees.
It went on to say that Ferdaus was in contact with the undercover officers as they monitored the development of his plot.
The FBI agent in charge of the operation said that more than 30 federal, state and local agencies worked with the FBI's Joint Terrorism Task Force on this arrest.
Ferdus studied physics at Northeastern University where he reportedly went by the name 'Bollywood' and played drums in a Massachusetts band, according to CBS.
The undercover operation started in 2010 and Ferdus frequently met with officers who were pretending to be either members of or recruiters for Al Qaeda.
During their meetings, Ferdus would give the officers mobile phones that he had rigged to be the detonators for IED, that they would then bring overseas and use to kill American soldiers.
After one such meeting, the undercover officer told Ferdus that a previous device had killed three American soldiers and injured four or five more; Ferdus replied 'That was exactly what I wanted'.

A scale model of a U.S. Navy F-4 Phantom fighter plane handed out by the U.S. Justice Department similar to the one Ferdaus planned to use in his attack
According to the federal affidavit, Ferdaus began planning 'jihad' against the U.S. in early 2010.
In one meeting, he said that his desire to kill Americans was so strong that he said 'I just can't stop; there is no other choice for me'.
Ferdaus even allegedly travelled to Washington D.C. last May, gathering pictures of his proposed targets.
He discussed his plan for a massive attack on the Capitol, in which he intended to cause a high number of casualties as well as instil psychological fear, with undercover officers at great length.
Ferdaus planned to use an 'aerial assault' to 'eliminate key locations of the [Pentagon] building ...and leave one area only as a squeeze where the individuals will be isolated, they'll be vulnerable and we can dominate'.
He planned to use planes laden with C-4 and AK-47 machine guns to complete the attack.

Now even Al Qaeda tells Ahmadinejad to stop the conspiracy theories blaming the U.S. for 9/11

2011-09-29T02:08:00.000-07:00

Iranian president called it 'the September 11 mystery'
By Chris Parsons

Ridiculous: Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has been told to stop his conspiracy theories about 9/11
Outspoken controversial Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has been told by Al-Qaeda to stop his conspiracy theories claiming that the U.S. was to blame for the 9/11 attacks.
The terrorist organisation has reportedly sent a message to the Iranian president asking him to stop spreading his 'ridiculous belief' about the 2001 attacks which killed nearly 3,000 people.
According to the Guardian, Iranian media reported on Wednesday quotes from Al-Qaeda's English language magazine, criticising Ahmadinejad's latest comments.
The Iranian leader caused a U.S. delegation to walk out of his UN general assembly speech last week when he cast doubt over the official version of the 2001 attacks by referring to 9/11 as a 'mystery'.
Delegates from several other countries, including Israel Ireland and Fiji, also walked out of the speech while Ahmadinejad was still talking.
According to Iranian media, the article in Inspire said: 'The Iranian government has professed on the tongue of its president Ahmadinejad that it does not believe that Al-Qaeda was behind 9/11 but rather, the US government.
'So we may ask the question: why would Iran ascribe to such a ridiculous belief that stands in the face of all logic and evidence?'
The Guardian reported that the Al-Qaeda article insisted it was behind the terror attacks, before criticising Ahmadinejad for discrediting the terrorist group.

The Iranian president's controversial speech prompted a walkout by many in the UN last week

One protester outside the UN general assembly last week dressed as a clown wore a mask of Ahmadinejad in a red nose
The Inspire article continued: 'For them, Al-Qaeda was a competitor for the hearts and minds of the disenfranchised Muslims around the world. Al-Qaeda... succeeded in what Iran couldn't.
'Therefore it was necessary for the Iranians to discredit 9/11 and what better way to do so? Conspiracy theories.'

Publication: Inspire, the Al-Qaeda English language magazine, said the Iranian president's comments were 'ridiculous'
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad had outraged the UN last week by calling the 9/11 attack on the U.S. 'a mystery' shortly after the 10th anniversary of the atrocity.
In a speech full of questions which were no more than thinly veiled attacks on the U.S. he asked the UN who had used the 'mysterious September 11 incident' as a precursor to war and to dominate the Middle East?
He added: 'By using their imperialistic media network which is under the influence of colonialism they threaten anyone who questions the Holocaust and the September 11 event with sanctions and military actions,' he said.
When the idea of an independent fact-finding investigation of 'the hidden elements' involved in the attacks was raised last year, he said, 'my country and myself came under pressure and threat by the government of the United States.'
'Instead of assigning a fact-finding team, they killed the main perpetrator and threw his body into the sea,' Ahmadinejad said, referring to the U.S. military's killing of Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden in early May.

Controversy: Mahmoud Ahmadinejad caused outrage by referring to the 9/11 attacks as 'the September 11 mystery'
'Would it not have been reasonable to bring to justice and openly to trial the main perpetrator of the incident in order to identify the elements behind the safe space provided for the invading aircraft to attack the twin world trade towers?,' he asked.
No stranger to outrageous comments, Ahmadinejad began his speech by highlighting the plight of the world's poorest nations, but included the U.S. in that by saying the country suffered from 'inequality'.
Ahmadinejad then cryptically said this year he planned 'to analyse the current [global] situation from a different angle'.
He then went on to single out a regular target of his, blaming Zionism for the wars in the Korean peninsula and Vietnam.

Mullen sticks to his guns on ISI links with terror group

2011-09-29T01:32:00.001-07:00

Washington: The top US military officer stuck to his guns even as the White House and State Department sought to distance themselves from his remarks that Haqqani network was "a veritable arm" of Pakistan's spy agency.

Admiral Mike Mullen, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told CNN Wednesday that elements in Pakistan's Directorate for Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) were "very active" with the Haqqani network launching attacks on US forces in Afghanistan.
Mullen's remarks to the US Congress last week for the first time directly linking ISI with the militant group blamed for the attack on the US embassy in Kabul caused a diplomatic furore with Pakistan's civilian and military leaders, who have denied the accusation.
Meanwhile, the White House Wednesday distanced itself from the retiring officer's statement. Asked whether he agreed with Mullen that the Haqqani network was "a veritable arm" of the ISI, Jay Carney, the White House press secretary, told reporters, "It's not language I would use."
But the Obama administration, he said, is united in its assessment that "links" exist between the Haqqani network and the ISI, "and that Pakistan needs to take action to address that."

At the State Department too asked whether it stood behind Mullen's testimony, spokesperson Victoria Nuland said: "We stand behind his conclusion that this safe haven is extremely dangerous, that we must work on it together. Admiral Mullen also made the point that we have no choice, the US and Pakistan, but to tackle this together."
Asked how the State Department would define the relationship between ISI and the Haqqani Network, she parried: "Again, that's not an issue for this Department. That's an intelligence question."
The Washington Post reported Wednesday that an unidentified Pentagon official said Mullen had overstated the ISI link to Congress.
Asked by CNN if he overstated the situation to Congress, Mullen repeated that a link exists but referred to elements in the spy network as opposed to some kind of formal structure.
"There are elements I think of the ISI very active with Haqqani," Mullen said, adding that "the piece" of the ISI "that is so focused on sending Taliban and insurgents into Afghanistan" from safe havens in Pakistan must be addressed by both the US and Pakistan's government and military.
Source: IANS

US man held over Pentagon bomb plot

2011-09-29T01:31:00.001-07:00

US authorities have arrested a suspected follower of al-Qaeda and charged him with plotting an attack on the Pentagon with an explosive laden remote controlled aircraft.

Rezwan Ferdaus, a 26-year-old US citizen, was also charged with attempting to provide material support and resources to a foreign terrorist organisation, specifically to al-Qaeda, in order to carry out attacks on US soldiers stationed overseas, the Justice Department said today.
He was arrested in Framingham, Massachusetts.
The public was never in danger from the explosive devices, which were controlled by undercover FBI employees, an official statement said.
According to an affidavit, in recorded conversations with the cooperating witness (CW) that began in January 2011, Ferdaus stated that he planned to attack the Pentagon using aircraft similar to "small drone airplanes" filled with explosives and guided by GPS equipment.

In April 2011, Ferdaus expanded his plan to include an attack on the US Capitol. In May and June 2011, Ferdaus delivered two thumb drives to the under covers (UCs), which contained detailed attack plans with step-by-step instructions as to how he planned to attack the Pentagon and Capitol.
The plans included using three remote controlled aircraft and six people, including himself whom he described as an "amir", ie, an Arabic term meaning leader.
A Northeastern University graduate with a degree in physics, he began planning to commit a violent "jihad" against the US in early 2010, according to the affidavit.
Ferdaus obtained mobile phones, each of which he modified to act as an electrical switch for an IED. He then supplied the phones to FBI UCs, who he believed to be members of, or recruiters for, al Qaeda.
According to the affidavit, Ferdaus believed that the devices would be used to kill American soldiers overseas.

During a June 2011 meeting, he appeared gratified when he was told that his first phone detonation device had killed three US soldiers and injured four or five others in Iraq.
Ferdaus responded, "That was exactly what I wanted."
During various recorded meetings, Ferdaus envisioned causing a large "psychological" impact by killing Americans, including women and children, who he referred to as "enemies of Allah."
According to the affidavit, Ferdaus'' desire to attack the US is so strong that he confided, "I just can''t stop; there is no other choice for me."
In May 2011, Ferdaus travelled from Boston to Washington, conducted surveillance and took photographs of his targets (Pentagon and Capitol), and identified and photographed sites at the East Potomac Park from which he planned to launch his aircraft filled with explosives.
Source: PTI

Bloody 2007 attack on U.S. soldiers in village schoolhouse which claimed life of a major 'was carried out by Pakistanis'

2011-09-27T23:52:00.000-07:00

Killed: Larry Bauguess died in the shooting in the border town of Teri Mangal between Pakistan and Afghanistan

An attack on a group of U.S. soldiers in a town on the Pakistan side of its border with Afghanistan was carried out by Pakistanis, it has been revealed.
After four years of secrecy, it has finally been revealed that the nominal allies of the U.S. were behind the shooting which resulted in the death of Major Larry Bauguess in the town of Teri Mangal, according to the New York Times.

Three American officers and the group's translator were also injured in the attack which happened after U.S. troops met Afghan officials in a village schoolhouse.
Why the attack took place has never been revealed, but in the past Pakistan has reacted in such away after American soldiers have been involved the deaths of their citizens.
The revelation that it was the Pakistanis that carried out the attack is likely to worsen relations between Islamabad and the Washington which have become strained.
In May this year the U.S. went over the border to Abbotobad without telling the Pakistan authorities and assassinated Osama bin Laden. The secrecy in the operation marked the continuing distrust between the countries.
Pakistan officials initially said militants were responsible for the attack, then they blamed a rogue soldier. In fact there were intelligence agents and military officers.

There was even an attempt to kidnap the senior American and Afghan officials from the schoolhouse meeting but the U.S. soldiers retaliated and they escaped in a blood-soaked Black Hawk helicopter.
The case has been shrouded in secrecy with neither government wishing to make much information public in order to keep the relationship between the two countries intact.

Border town: Teri Mangal lies between Afghanistan and Pakistan

It has now emerged that the U.S. had been called in to help sort out an argument over a piece of land on the border.
After five hours the meeting was coming to an end and the Americans and Afghans were preparing to leave.
Once outside, Major Bauguess was shot dead by a Pakistani who was then shot dead by another U.S. soldier.
There was a fire-fight and then the American and Afghan commanders tried to escape in a car which was fired upon after the driver went past the waiting helicopter.
It was only when American commander put a gun to the driver's head that he stopped and let them out.
U.S. personnel at the scene at the time of the shooting say they believe that the attack was a set up and the meeting was all part of a Pakistani plan.
One official who did not want to be named said: 'At that time in May 2007, you had a lot of analysis pointing to the role of Pakistan in destabilising that part of Afghanistan, and here you had a case in point, and for whatever reason it was glossed over.'

THE GREAT IRAQ GIVEAWAY

2011-09-26T07:27:00.000-07:00

U.S. To Hand Over Iraq Bases, Equipment Worth Billions

WASHINGTON -- With just over three months until the last U.S. troops are currently due to leave Iraq, the Department of Defense is engaged in a mad dash to give away things that cost U.S. taxpayers billions of dollars to buy and build.
The giveaways include enormous, elaborate military bases and vast amounts of military equipment that will be turned over to the Iraqis, mostly just to save the expense of bringing it home.
"It's all sunk costs," said retired Army Maj. Gen. Paul Eaton, who oversaw the training of Iraqi soldiers from 2003 to 2004. "It's money that we spent and we're not going to recoup."
There were 505 U.S. military bases and outposts in Iraq at the height of operations, said Col. Barry Johnson, a spokesman for U.S. forces in Iraq. Only 39 are still in U.S. hands -- but that includes each of the largest bases, meaning the most significant handovers are yet to come.
Those bases didn't come cheap. Construction costs exceeded $2.4 billion, according to an analysis of Pentagon annual reports by the Congressional Research Service. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers alone was responsible for $1.9 billion in base construction contracts between 2004 and 2010, a spokesman told HuffPost.
Rather than strip those bases clean and ship everything home, Defense Department officials tell The Huffington Post that over 2.4 million pieces of equipment worth a total of at least $250 million -- everything from tanks and trucks to office furniture and latrines -- have been given away to the Iraqi government in the past year, with the pace of transfers expected to increase dramatically in the coming months.
THE U.S. BASES
The most colossal relics of the U.S. invasion of Iraq will be the outsize military bases the Bush administration began erecting not long after the invasion, under the never explicitly stated assumption that Iraq would become the long-term staging area for U.S. forces in the region.
As a recent Congressional Research Service report noted, the Department of Defense "built up a far more extensive infrastructure than anticipated to support troops and equipment in and around Iraq and Afghanistan."
The biggest push came in 2005, with over $1.2 billion in base-building contracts signed in that fiscal year alone, according to CRS.
"How did we come to be wasting that much money?" asked Heather Hurlburt, executive director of the progressive National Security Network. The answer, she said, is that dissenting voices weren't heeded when Bush administration officials were pushing their hugely overambitious agenda.
"The problem that is often cited in the run-up to the war continued afterward," she said. "The political and media elite weren't paying attention."
It wasn't until late in Bush's second term that "cooler heads prevailed," Hurlburt said, and it became apparent that there was no political will in either country for the U.S. to keep permanent bases in Iraq, and therefore no need to spend so much to build them.
But by then, the plans had already been set in motion. As Stars and Stripes reported last year, major construction continued even after November 2008, when then-President George W. Bush and Iraqi officials signed a security agreement calling for all U.S. troops to leave Iraq by the end of 2011.
Most of the $2.4 billion was spent building about a dozen huge outposts that, in addition to containing air strips and massive fortifications also have all the comforts of home. The Al-Asad Airfield in Anbar province, for example, covers 25 square miles -- about the size of Boulder, Colo. -- and is known as "Camp Cupcake" due to its amenities.
The 15-square-mile Joint Base Balad, as Whitney Terrell wrote earlier this year for Slate, is "home to three football-field-sized chow halls, a 25-meter swimming pool, a high dive, a football field, a softball field, two full-service gyms, a squash court, a movie theater, and the U.S. military's largest airfield in Iraq."
Despite the media's elegiac obituaries for these major bases -- like the prematurely named "Camp Victory", with its palace, its lake, and its giant, killer carp -- the fact is that not one major base has yet been evacuated.
And it's not clear just what the Iraqis will do with some of those bases, once they get them.
One U.S. officer whose unit turned over a military outpost in a Baghdad neighborhood to the Iraqi Army in 2009 told the Washington Post that Iraqi soldiers looted it within hours of the U.S. departure. "When we returned to the outpost the next morning, most of the beds had already been taken, wood walls and framing had been pulled and several air-conditioning units had been removed from the walls, leaving gaping holes," the officer told the Post. Weeks later, he added, the power generator the Americans had left behind was barely working.
One Iraqi entrepreneur indicated to NPR last year that there's a thriving black market in U.S. items. "The Americans turn over every base to the Iraqi army and police -- and they are all thieves," he said.
SO MUCH EQUIPMENT
Much of the U.S.'s most lethal and valuable military equipment is being shipped out of Iraq, in one of the military's biggest logistical efforts in history. Johnson, the spokesman for U.S. forces in Iraq, said that 1.5 million items have been removed in the past 12 months, with about 800,000 to go. "It's an enormous task, but we have no major concerns on our ability to meet the necessary timelines." Johnson wrote in an email to HuffPost.
But whenever a big army moves out, there's always a lot left behind -- what Stephen Biddle, a defense expert at the Council on Foreign Relations likens to an "iron mountain."
The Pentagon can legally transfer four different categories of equipment to the Iraqi government: "excess personal property," such as generators and mattresses, air conditioners and latrines; excess defense articles; sales from stock, including spare parts and ammunition; and non-excess military items deemed particularly useful for the Iraqi security forces.
Various Department of Defense officials provided not entirely consistent data on exactly how much has been given away thus far in each category. But the man in charge, Maj. Gen. Thomas Richardson, the chief logistics officer in Iraq, told reporters last month that U.S. forces had given away equipment with a fair market value of $247 million between Sept. 1, 2010, and August of this year -- on top of items worth $157 million that had been transferred before the withdrawal officially started.
The lion's share of donated items falls into the category of excess, non-military property. Major Kimbia Rey, a spokesperson for the U.S. forces in Iraq, told The Huffington Post this week that more than 2.4 million such items have been transferred to the government of Iraq since last September.
Richardson explained that much of that category consists of what they call "FOB in a box." When the Iraqis take over a Forward Operating Base, he said, they also get the things that go with it, such as containerized housing units, water and fuel tanks, air conditioning units, generators, refrigerators, porta-johns, beds and mattresses, office equipment, fences, dining facilities and so on.
According to Lt. Col Melinda F. Morgan, a Pentagon spokeswoman, some 12,490 excess defense items worth $70.5 million have been turned over to the Iraqis, with 7,000 more, worth about $40 million, to go. That category includes such things as older versions of weapons, vehicles, and body armor.
Finally, U.S. forces have also given the Iraqis 1,251 non-excess military items worth $47.7 million, Morgan said. That category includes such items as up-armored Humvees and 50-caliber machine guns, Richardson said.
All of the dollar figures are for what the military calls "fair market value"; the purchase price of those items could, of course, have been much higher.
And Morgan noted that the "heaviest volume of future property transfers" is expected to occur between September and December of this year, although the "quantity and value" of what is still to come has not yet been determined.
Indeed, a Government Accountability Office report issued earlier this month raised concerns that military officials will suddenly find a lot of equipment they didn't expect -- right at the last minute, just when everybody's leaving.
After one of the largest base transitions to date, the GAO reported, "officials said that they were surprised at the amount of unaccounted-for equipment that was left over at the end of the transition process." Senior military officials told the GAO they were particularly worried that unexpected or abandoned contractor equipment -- including expensive and much-in-demand materiel-handling equipment, like forklifts and pallet trucks -- would suddenly show up "likely at the last minute."
Some equipment has simply piled up in Iraq since combat operations began in 2003 and may not be properly logged, the GAO warned, pointing out, for example, that "units sometimes turn in such equipment without paperwork and have even removed identifying markings such as serial numbers to avoid retribution."
And while leaving the equipment in Iraq, especially if it's worn out or particularly bulky, is much cheaper and more expedient than shipping it home, there's no getting around the enormous expense of purchasing it in the first place -- and that some of it is precisely the kind of equipment that was in such desperately short supply when state National Guards tried to respond to domestic natural disasters like Hurricane Katrina in 2005, or the Greensburg, Kansas, tornado in 2007.
Hurlburt's concern is not so much that the U.S. is giving away the bases and the equipment, but that all these things that so much money was spent on aren't necessarily going to do their new owners much good. "At least, you would like if we were leaving them there, they would be useful to Iraqis," she said.
And it's an awful lot of stuff. "I'm thinking about the size of what was wasted there, and thinking about how what we spent in Iraq was all borrowed," she said. "In a crazy way, what we left in Iraq was our good credit rating."

When an IED explodes: The shocking pictures of what really happens when the Taliban attacks

2011-09-21T01:00:00.000-07:00

WARNING: GRAPHIC CONTENT

Rarely has the casual brutality of the Taliban’s favourite weapon been so vividly illustrated as in these remarkable pictures. Taken by an ex-SAS officer turned photographer, they will reshape your perception of true courage

DATELINE: FIREBASE TAMBA, HELMAND PROVINCE, APRIL 7 2011

A huge CH47 'Casevac' Chinook helicopter appears from the south; its rotor beat a heart-warming sound. We know there is a field surgical team on board, ready to work life-saving magic on our wounded
It is a windless, overcast morning as we leave Firebase Tamba. Our 25-man patrol force, comprising a squad of United Arab Emirates (UAE) Special Forces, a dozen Afghan commandos (ANA) and U.S. Special Forces (the elite Green Berets) is scheduled to conduct a ‘hearts and minds’ visit to the villages that sprawl along our segment of the Helmand Valley.
It is almost impossible to get an embed with Special Forces. I am tolerated only because, having served in the SAS for nine years, I can be expected to hold my own if things ‘go south’ outside the wire. The temperature is comfortably warm and our progress north is observed by villagers either too old or too young to be out labouring in the fields.
Our force moves with practised ease. The Green Berets have done a good job instructing and mentoring these Afghan commandos. There is a ripple of banter along the ranks as one of the Green Berets, who has a habit of re-naming the Afghans, calls out: ‘Justin! Yes you… Justin Bieber. Keep in formation!’
The ANA commandos stand out from the local Pashtun. Recruited from other provinces, they have paler complexions and a different bone structure. Their presence is a reminder to the peasant farmers here that there might be unfinished business when the coalition finally departs.
The Emirati troops are no more popular than the native Afghan troops, yet just 20km away is a UAE firebase with a clinic, a radio station and a telecommunications mast. These men come from a nation which is seen as a force for stability in the Arab world.
On a patrol a week earlier, I observed the Emiratis unsheathe possibly the most effective weapon I have seen in nine years of observing the war in Afghanistan: a modest invitation by the senior officer to village elders to join them at midday prayer.
Whenever we pause a crowd gathers. The presence of Muslim troops provokes curiosity among the Afghans, who are willing to shake hands with these men from ‘Arabstan’. The Emiratis hand out Korans as well as notebooks, pens and chocolate. This is a potent force at work – one the Taliban dare not challenge and one the coalition cannot wield.
At midday, the American captain decides three hours is long enough for the patrol, so we swing our formation south. Our firebase is within sight, a little more than 500m away.
One burly Green Beret throws his head back and yells: ‘And so ends… the most boring…’ he pauses to inflate his lungs then barks, ‘******* patrol…’ – another lungful – ‘in the history of Afghanistan.’
There are smiles all around. But his words must have carried further than he imagined, for a moment later, a whiplash cracking overhead tells us we are in contact with the enemy...

1. CONTACT WITH THE ENEMY - 14:30 -

Justin Bieber's Afghan namesake is returning fire with a long burst from his machine gun. A Green Beret yells at him to save ammo and advance into enemy fire
The volley of Taliban bullets cracking past sends every man scurrying for whatever cover the bare ground can offer. We are down before the echo of high-velocity rounds and swear words die in the air. Justin Bieber’s Afghan namesake is returning fire with a long burst from his machine gun. A Green Beret yells at him to save ammo and advance into enemy fire. My body armour and helmet no longer feel uncomfortable. In an extended line and at a crouched scurry, we retrace our way to a vantage point on high ground. I take cover by a wrecked British Viking troop carrier and we pause before moving north again. We have halved the distance to our opponents who, if they are still there, can only be 200 or 300 metres away.

2. TELL-TALE SIGNS OF DANGER - 15:15 -

The shots came from the north-west and the U.S. 'K9' tracker-dog team is on the scent of two men. Confident the situation is under control, I join a group of soldiers relaxing along the earth bank protecting the canal
Radios crackle with American voices discussing options. The shots came from the north-west and the U.S. ‘K9’ tracker-dog team is on the scent of two men. We consolidate at a narrow bridge across a deep irrigation channel flanked by high earth banks, a natural choke point for foot and vehicle traffic and also for an IED. I spot scraps of burned yellow plastic, tell-tale residue from an earlier IED blast, and the dog becomes excited, indicating a spot where the earth looks freshly disturbed. The flanking pursuit group has detained two suspects; we are ordered to wait. ‘The EOD (Explosive Ordnance Disposal) guys are on task,’ the captain says. ‘They’ll get to us next.’ Confident the situation is under control, I join a group of soldiers relaxing along the earth bank protecting the canal.

3. AN IED EXPLODES... - 15:38 -

Screams of pain start instantly as the cloud of soil and dust subsides to reveal three prostrate figures. I recognise the black hair of an Afghan commando as he lies in a fresh IED crater
An ear-splitting crack stuns me and I whirl round to see a geyser of earth erupting from where I’d been sitting moments before. Screams of pain start instantly as the cloud of soil and dust subsides to reveal three prostrate figures. I recognise the black hair of an Afghan commando as he lies in a fresh IED crater. The U.S. captain is swearing loudly, lying on the bank, clutching his right hand and covered in dirt. Another American is lying yards from me. Both are groaning but their curses are almost heartening, whereas the wounded Afghan is silent. He is face down but conscious and struggling to raise himself on his elbows. As I drop my camera and run to drag him clear of the crater I see he no longer has legs.

4. ... QUICKLY FOLLOWED BY A SECOND - 15:53 -

The American captain materialises from the settling cloud, covered in earth, dust and grit, lying at the foot of the earth bank. He has taken the full blast against his back but his body armour has saved him
The Green Beret medic has just begun working on the casualty when there’s a second blast so close it rocks me with a concussive punch. Another brown cloud kicks up and we all seem suspended, breathless in a second of dazed silence. A renewed stream of ripe profanity and indignation tells me that, unbelievably, the American captain is still with us. He materialises from the settling cloud, covered in earth, dust and grit, lying at the foot of the earth bank. He has taken the full blast against his back but his body armour has saved him. He drops his trousers and underpants; his skin is flayed from backside to ankle. The medic and the badly wounded Afghan have also been caught in a storm of gravel. It seems they were the intended target of the second blast. Take out a medic and you take out a whole patrol. He knows it and, deafened by the blast and peppered with gravel, waves away a colleague in case there is more punishment to follow.

5. THE MEDIC WORKS FRANTICALLY - 16:03 -

The medic is yelling, maybe because he is almost deaf, maybe because adrenaline is surging but mainly because he needs to believe. 'Hang in there, buddy,' he urges his Afghan colleague. 'You're gonna make it!'
The American Green Beret medic cannot cope alone and is now calling for help with the wounded Afghan. He tosses me a tourniquet and points to the man’s shattered legs. The feet and lower legs have gone. The bone has been skinned clean, showing ivory and pink. I get the tourniquet on over the left thighbone and I pull it to the man’s groin to get purchase against whole flesh. The medic is yelling, maybe because he is almost deaf, maybe because adrenaline is surging but mainly because he needs to believe. ‘Hang in there, buddy,’ he urges his Afghan colleague. ‘You’re gonna make it!’ Within minutes he has worked magic. The bleeding has been stopped, and painkillers flood the man’s system. His shattered thighs are swathed in clean, white bandages that cover and protect the pulped limbs. The Afghan was planning to get married on his next leave.

6. INJURED, THE CAPTAIN REMAINS CALM AND IN CONTROL

- 16:10 -

The young Green Beret captain (left) has been caught in two blasts, is lacerated and bleeding. Jeroo the interpreter (right), untreated from the first blast and caught in the second, is sobbing
The young Green Beret captain, a man I’d nicknamed the Quiet American, gives a lesson in leadership – even for an SAS veteran like me. He has been caught in two blasts, is lacerated and bleeding, has a serious injury to his right hand, is in shock, and perhaps permanently deafened. Being closest, I unzip his medical pouch, rip open the field dressing and work it around his bloodied hand. His face is a mask of pain and dust but he is amazingly rational, calling in instructions on the radio and issuing orders to his men.
As I tie off the captain’s dressing, Jeroo the interpreter, untreated from the first blast and caught in the second, is sobbing. His left arm hangs limp and bloodied from his ripped uniform. I get to him with a spare dressing, wrap it round his arm and tie it off to his right shoulder strap.
I tell Jeroo he should send his shattered watch back to the manufacturer claiming it is not shockproof in spite of the guarantee. He is too exhausted for humour. His eyes barely register. The huge medic, shaking gravel from his hair, is still working on the Afghan.
The captain remains composed, leading the rescue operation and commanding his men. He seems to have been constantly calculating the odds against us – knowing that to back off would have meant losing face with the Afghan community he was trying so hard to influence. He is clearly a soldier who understands the bigger picture.

7. HELP ARRIVES AND THE INJURED 7 ARE FERRIED TO THE HELICOPTER - 16.25 -

Minutes later, the CH47 'Casevac' Chinook will be loaded and its twin turbines will howl into lift-off. It will surge forward, dip its nose to gather speed and streak for Camp Bastion and the field hospital
Mine roller vehicles from our base have blazed a mine-free route to us and are standing by, gun crews offering us all-round protection. Flying low and coming in fast, a huge CH47 ‘Casevac’ Chinook helicopter appears from the south; its rotor beat a heart-warming sound. We know there is a field surgical team on board, ready to work life-saving magic on our wounded. Above too, silhouetted against the sky, attack helicopters orbit, like angry hornets. Minutes later, the Chinook will be loaded and its twin turbines will howl into lift-off. It will surge forward, dip its nose to gather speed and streak for Camp Bastion and the field hospital. It has reached us in just 30 minutes, halfway through the so-called ‘golden hour’, the 60-minute target medics set themselves to collect their casualties and stabilise them.

8. TEMPERS BOIL OVER AS EVIDENCE IS UNCOVERED - 16:30-

Having watched their comrade lose his legs, the Afghans' simmering fury boils over and two more suspects are ejected from a nearby house (one is pictured with the evidence)
The rest of us prepare for the walk back down the mine-free route. The Afghan commandos have searched houses and come up with the incriminating paraphernalia of IED triggers – batteries, mobile phone parts and circuit boards – as well as drugs. Our minds flash back to the choke point where we spotted the debris of an IED and where, as we now know to our cost, others were buried. Having watched their comrade lose his legs, the Afghans’ simmering fury boils over and two more suspects are ejected from a nearby house (one is pictured with the evidence, above). Women shriek in terror as they watch a son or a brother stagger and fall under a hail of blows and kicks as he is dragged into our column. I watch dispassionately. The evidence is bagged and will be handed to Afghan police.

9. ANOTHER REMINDER OF THE BRUTAL SIMPLICITY OF IEDS

- 16:33 -

A powerful man, maybe even two, could never match an M4 carbine, making them the perfect weapon in an insurgency such as the one in Helmand
The injured Afghan commando’s weapon, an M4 carbine, which has been smashed, twisted and bent in a split second by the gases that tore off his legs, illustrates the power of even a small IED, one which weighs no more than a few pounds. A powerful man, maybe even two, could never match such explosive force, making them the perfect weapon in an insurgency such as the one in Helmand. They remain the Coalition’s deadliest threat – although I am grateful to say everyone caught in this contact survived.
On the long walk back to the firebase I come to realise we’d been watched all the way and that the Taliban had judged their moment with military precision. The gauntlet, thrown down by that first burst of AK-47 fire over our heads, was the baited challenge. In accepting, we had been lured to a choke point and onto a killing ground.
The hidden Taleb who detonated the devices, probably with fingers skipping over a mobile phone, would have had a marker, a tree or perhaps a feature on the skyline, as accurate as any cross-hairs on a scope. He had guaranteed a casualty with his first IED, using his victim as a magnet to draw in a medic and maybe a commander – two key players in any small unit – for his second bomb. He succeeded on both counts.
The IED is perhaps the most formidable weapon in any terrorist arsenal: low-cost, low-maintenance, constructed by willing or intimidated proxies. When armed and well sited it is a weapon that never sleeps. IEDs positioned individually or in multiples can either warn off or draw into a spectacular web. They wreak havoc with lives, morale and matériel, civilian as well as military. That night, sleep is difficult and I wander up to the roof of our tiny firebase, to smoke and enjoy the cool and a night sky bright with countless stars. To the east an electrical storm is in full swing. To the west another kind of storm rages.
The Helmand Valley, a trophy U.S. irrigation project in the Sixties, is now the scene of a more deadly American effort. My mind churns through the day’s images – the Afghan peasants, their children, desperate for books and a chance in life, the seeming hopelessness of an existence torn between their Taliban tormentors and the American-led effort to bring enlightenment and a future.
The Afghan commandos, with few if any Pashtun in their ranks, are strangers in their own land and are as unwelcome in Helmand as the rest of the Coalition. Yet from somewhere they summon the courage to try.
The Americans, in spite of their heroism, commitment and bravery, are surely much misunderstood. I recall the giant Green Beret medic, working like a mad angel and in pain himself, screaming: ‘Hang on, buddy, you’re going to be fine, just fine,’ as he strove to keep life flickering in someone he hardly knew nor would likely see again. Both he and the captain, caught in the eye of the storm, had the wellspring of their courage tapped deeply on this day. All of the Green Berets would, if needed, have gone straight back out on patrol to set the example to their Afghan compatriots.
And soon they will be beyond the wire again, repeating the ‘spiel’, whether they believe it or not, and ‘walking the walk’, as the odds against their survival narrow daily.

U.S. assembling secret drone bases in Africa, Arabian Peninsula, officials say

2011-09-21T00:56:00.000-07:00

By Craig Whitlock and Greg Miller

The Obama administration is assembling a constellation of secret drone bases for counterterrorism operations in the Horn of Africa and the Arabian Peninsula as part of a newly aggressive campaign to attack al-Qaeda affiliates in Somalia and Yemen, U.S. officials said.

One of the installations is being established in Ethiopia, a U.S. ally in the fight against al-Shabab, the Somali militant group that controls much of that country. Another base is in the Seychelles, an archipelago in the Indian Ocean, where a small fleet of “hunter-killer” drones resumed operations this month after an experimental mission demonstrated that the unmanned aircraft could effectively patrol Somalia from there.

The U.S. military also has flown drones over Somalia and Yemen from bases in Djibouti, a tiny African nation at the junction of the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden. In addition, the CIA is building a secret airstrip in the Arabian Peninsula so it can deploy armed drones over Yemen.

The rapid expansion of the undeclared drone wars is a reflection of the growing alarm with which U.S. officials view the activities of al-Qaeda affiliates in Yemen and Somalia, even as al-Qaeda’s core leadership in Pakistan has been weakened by U.S. counterterrorism operations.

The U.S. government is known to have used drones to carry out lethal attacks in at least six countries: Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, Pakistan, Somalia and Yemen. The negotiations that preceded the establishment of the base in the Republic of Seychelles illustrate the efforts the United States is making to broaden the range of its drone weapons.

The island nation of 85,000 people has hosted a small fleet of MQ-9 Reaper drones operated by the U.S. Navy and Air Force since September 2009. U.S. and Seychellois officials have previously acknowledged the drones’ presence but have said that their primary mission was to track pirates in regional waters. But classified U.S. diplomatic cables show that the unmanned aircraft have also conducted counterterrorism missions over Somalia, about 800 miles to the northwest.

The cables, obtained by the anti-secrecy group WikiLeaks, reveal that U.S. officials asked leaders in the Seychelles to keep the counterterrorism missions secret. The Reapers are described by the military as “hunter-killer” drones because they can be equipped with Hellfire missiles and satellite-guided bombs.

To allay concerns among islanders, U.S. officials said they had no plans to arm the Reapers when the mission was announced two years ago. The cables show, however, that U.S. officials were thinking about weaponizing the drones.

During a meeting with Seychelles President James Michel on Sept. 18, 2009, American diplomats said the U.S. government “would seek discrete [sic], specific discussions . . . to gain approval” to arm the Reapers “should the desire to do so ever arise,” according to a cable summarizing the meeting. Michel concurred, but asked U.S. officials to approach him exclusively for permission “and not anyone else” in his government, the cable reported.
Michel’s chief deputy told a U.S. diplomat on a separate occasion that the Seychelles president “was not philosophically against” arming the drones, according to another cable. But the deputy urged the Americans “to be extremely careful in raising the issue with anyone in the Government outside of the President. Such a request would be ‘politically extremely sensitive’ and would have to be handled with ‘the utmost discreet care.’ ”
A U.S. military spokesman declined to say whether the Reapers in the Seychelles have ever been armed.
“Because of operational security concerns, I can’t get into specifics,” said Lt. Cmdr. James D. Stockman, a public affairs officer for the U.S. Africa Command, which oversees the base in the Seychelles. He noted, however, that the MQ-9 Reapers “can be configured for both surveillance and strike.”
A spokeswoman for Michel said the president was unavailable for comment.
Jean-Paul Adam, who was Michel’s chief deputy in 2009 and now serves as minister of foreign affairs, said U.S. officials had not asked for permission to equip the drones with missiles or bombs.
“The operation of the drones in Seychelles for the purposes of counter-piracy surveillance and other related activities has always been unarmed, and the U.S. government has never asked us for them to be armed,” Adam said in an e-mail. “This was agreed between the two governments at the first deployment and the situation has not changed.”
The State Department cables show that U.S. officials were sensitive to perceptions that the drones might be armed, noting that they “do have equipment that could appear to the public as being weapons.”
To dispel potential concerns, they held a “media day” for about 30 journalists and Seychellois officials at the small, one-runway airport in Victoria, the capital, in November 2009. One of the Reapers was parked on the tarmac.
“The government of Seychelles invited us here to fight against piracy, and that is its mission,” Craig White, a U.S. diplomat, said during the event. “However, these aircraft have a great deal of capabilities and could be used for other missions.”
In fact, U.S. officials had already outlined other purposes for the drones in a classified mission review with Michel and Adam. Saying that the U.S. government “desires to be completely transparent,” the American diplomats informed the Seychellois leaders that the Reapers would also fly over Somalia “to support ongoing counter-terrorism efforts,” though not “direct attacks,” according to a cable summarizing the meeting.
U.S. officials “stressed the sensitive nature of this counter-terrorism mission and that this not be released outside of the highest . . . channels,” the cable stated. “The President wholeheartedly concurred with that request, noting that such issues could be politically sensitive for him as well.”
The Seychelles drone operation has a relatively small footprint. Based in a hangar located about a quarter-mile from the main passenger terminal at the airport, it includes between three and four Reapers and about 100 U.S. military personnel and contractors, according to the cables.
The military operated the flights on a continuous basis until April, when it paused the operations. They resumed this month, said Stockman, the Africa Command spokesman.
The aim in assembling a constellation of bases in the Horn of Africa and the Arabian Peninsula is to create overlapping circles of surveillance in a region where al-Qaeda offshoots could emerge for years to come, U.S. officials said.
The locations “are based on potential target sets,” said a senior U.S. military official. “If you look at it geographically, it makes sense — you get out a ruler and draw the distances [drones] can fly and where they take off from.”
One U.S. official said that there had been discussions about putting a drone base in Ethiopia for as long as four years, but that plan was delayed because “the Ethiopians were not all that jazzed.” Other officials said Ethiopia has become a valued counterterrorism partner because of threats posed by al-Shabab.
“We have a lot of interesting cooperation and arrangements with the Ethiopians when it comes to intelligence collection and linguistic capabilities,” said a former senior U.S. military official familiar with special operations missions in the region.
An Ethiopian Embassy spokesman in Washington could not be reached for comment Tuesday night.
The former official said the United States relies on Ethiopian linguists to translate signals intercepts gathered by U.S. agencies monitoring calls and e-mails of al-Shabab members. The CIA and other agencies also employ Ethiopian informants who gather information from across the border.
Overall, officials said, the cluster of bases reflects an effort to have wider geographic coverage, greater leverage with countries in the region and backup facilities if individual airstrips are forced to close.
“It’s a conscious recognition that those are the hot spots developing right now,” said the former senior U.S. military official.

Invisible 'Chameleon' Tank Finally Revealed at World's Largest Weapons Fair

2011-09-16T01:53:00.001-07:00

Invisible tanks seem far-fetched? Not anymore. At least not to adversaries using infrared to see.
Adaptiv -- an armor encasing that looks and feels as one imagines a dragon's scales to -- turns tanks into chameleons, allowing them to disappear into the environment behind them or to even look like a snow drift, trash can, crowd, or a soccer mom’s station wagon.
A product of BAE working alongside the Swedish Defence Material Administration, Adaptiv flaunts the very latest in camouflage technology -- and FoxNews.com was given an exclusive look at the technology at the biannual 2011 Defense and Security Equipment International (DESi) conference, the world's largest weapons show, where it's on display for the first time.
Research began at the end of the nineties in Sweden to look at the proliferation of sensors on the battlefield and to consider how they could meet this threat and defeat the advantage those sensors could give the enemy. The team looked at the best thermals to date and reverse engineered them focusing on 500 meters.
Infrared, used by devices such as night-vision goggles or aircraft, essentially sees in hot and cold, unlike the human eye. Adaptiv uses the reliance on thermals in the battlefield against adversaries by manipulating these hot and cold readings to deceive the surveillant.
A system of more than 1,000 5.5-inch hexagonal tiles made of thermo-electric material gives the tank its chameleon-like capability, which can confuse (if not convince) an adversary into thinking it is looking at something it is not. Hesitation can give the warfighters a few more seconds -- which may be the difference on the battlefield.
The tiles or pixels can rapidly change temperature directed by thermal cameras that monitor and quickly project adjustments onto them to conform with the tank’s immediate environment.
In its blending mode, it matches the temperature of its surroundings melding into the background to avoid detection.
“If you can’t see it, you can’t kill it," said Hakan Karlsson, director of marketing communications at BAE Systems. Blending can even be achieved when the tank is moving, and initial trials suggest that blending is at its best at 300 to 400 meters.
The blogosphere has been a buzz about Adaptiv’s invisibility power, but arguably even cooler is its ability to shapeshift to the eyes of infrared. Disguising vehicles as tanks with paint or netting is nothing new, but Adaptiv does it in a far smarter way.
To transform into an entirely different object, Adaptiv draws from its pattern library organized by terrain and projects itself as something native to the immediate area. For example, if it enters an Artic environment it can conjure up a polar bear and project itself as one so sensors scanning for a tank see a harmless animal.

Adaptiv is not limited by its pattern library however, and can even go chameleon on the spot shifting into something it has come across in its immediate terrain. For example, if it is entering an urban environment it can take a snapshot of an object on the street like a dumpster and then immediately change its appearance to be read as one to scanners.
Mounted on the tank is a large-ish ball with infrared cameras; press a button to capture an image and another to push that image out to the scales of the tank to go chameleon.
The armor also serves another very important purpose. Friendly fire is always a concern, and demarcating to your force as a friendly and not hostile is key. This signal needs to be discreet as well, so that you are not advertising to the enemy.

Planes, for example, sometimes use a method of radiating their identity in all directions; Adaptiv is capable of signaling its identity to only the friendly side.
By projecting onto its skin a marker similar to a barcode, it can indicate it is a friendly in a way that is only readable to its force.
Balancing weight with protection is always a challenge. Heavy armor may seem to make soldiers safer but the additional weight can slow a vehicle down and reduce its agility -- thereby increasing possible risk.
The CV90 tank Adaptiv has on display was a smart choice. It carries the punch of a tank while weighing approximately half of the average tank. Adaptiv adds armor, can withstand ordnance and physical impact, consumes low power and is relatively light weight so it does not affect agility or movement. If a pixel is damaged, it can easily be removed and replaced.
The pixels can be scaled up or down so there is a range of other applications as well, from taking helicopters and warships stealth to rendering fixed installations invisible. Adaptiv could be a game changer.
What’s next for Adaptiv? I hear they are playing with other light frequencies such that invisibility to the naked eye is in the pipeline -- very cool indeed.

Al Qaeda operations chief killed in Pakistan

2011-09-15T22:56:00.000-07:00

In what the US officials called a 'blow' to the core of Al Qaeda, Abu Hafs al-Shari, identified as the terrorist network's chief of operations in Pakistan, has been killed.

Al-Shari was killed in Waziristan, according to a source cited by CNN. While there was no explanation how he was killed, it is known armed predator drones have been used to kill suspected terrorists.

"The loss of their chief of operations in Pakistan, an individual who played a key operational and administrative role for the group, will pose a challenge for (top Al Qaeda leaderAyman) al-Zawahiri," an unnamed official was quoted as saying.

"Abu Hafs was a contender to assume some of [recently killed Atiyah abd al-Rahman's] duties, coordinated Al Qaeda's anti-US plotting in the region, and worked closely with the Pakistani Taliban to carry out attacks inside Pakistan."

The strike will "further degrade" Al Qaeda's ability to recover from the Rahman killing in August because of his operations experience and connections within the group," a senior administration official said.

Earlier this week, the top Pentagon intelligence official said the pressure on Al Qaeda has left it in a "precarious" postiion and predicted that at this rate the group could be eliminated within the next two years.

"Its senior leaders are being eliminated at a rate far faster than Al Qaeda can replace them, and the leadership replacements the group is able to field are much less experienced and credible," said Michael Vickers, Under Secretary for Defense Intelligence Tuesday.

This year alone the terror group has lost eight of its 'top 20' leaders and of all its top leaders from 2001 only one, Ayman al-Zawahiri, remains, he said. The killing of al-Shari raises the total to nine.

Pak heaps praise on itself in US paper ad on 9/11 anniversary

2011-09-12T00:30:00.001-07:00

Pakistan has made an attempt to reach out to the American public, telling them that it has been a victim, not the perpetrator of terrorism.

As the United States observes the 10th anniversary of the Sept 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, Pakistan has availed this opportunity to tell the Americans that it was with them in the fight against terrorists.

"Which country can do more for your peace? Since 2001, a nation of 180 million has been fighting for the future of the world's 7 billion," said an advertisement published in The Wall Street Journal.

Pakistan had first offered this ad to The New York Times, but they refused to publish it, forcing Pakistani officials to go to a business newspaper with a specialised but influential readership, the Dawn reports.

The ad informs the American public that since 9/11, 21,672 Pakistani civilians have lost their lives or have been seriously injured in an ongoing fight against terror.

The Pakistan Army also has lost 2,795 soldiers, while 8,671 soldiers have been wounded. There have been 3,486 bomb blasts and 283 major suicide attacks.

More than 3.5 million have been displaced, while the country has lost 68 billion dollars due to terrorism.

The Pakistani nation is "making sacrifices that statistics cannot reflect", says a caption above a picture of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, who was also assassinated by terrorists in December 2007. "The promise of our martyrs lives on," it adds.

Despite these sacrifices, the Pakistan stays engaged in "the war for world peace", with 200,000 troops deployed at the frontline and 90,000 soldiers fighting on the Afghan border, the ad says.

"Can any other country do so? Only Pakistan," says the advertisement published as an official notice from the Government of Pakistan.

CIA greatest concentration of talent and capability: David Petraeus

2011-09-06T23:17:00.001-07:00

WASHINGTON: The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) is the "greatest" concentration of talent and capabilities that the US has, the spy agency's director, David Petraeus has said.

Petraeus said this in a town hall with the agency staff after he was sworn in as the CIA's 20th director by the vice-president, Joe Biden.

"I have the absolute highest regard for you and for this Agency. I believe it's one of the greatest concentrations of talent and capability that our country has," Petraeus said in his address to the Agency's global workforce from the auditorium at CIA Headquarters in Langley, Virginia.

In his speech, Petraeus emphasised importance of independent analysis, agile operations, and cutting-edge technology in meeting the challenges of the Agency's worldwide mission.

"I respect the intellectual firepower as well as the courage, initiative, and selfless commitment that are the hallmarks of this organisation. And I truly feel very privileged to be part of such a legendary institution," he said.

Petraeus answered questions from the standing-room-only crowd about topics such as his leadership style, his goals for the Agency, and the CIA's relationship with partner agencies around the Intelligence Community.

No pleasure in Osama death: Bush

2011-09-06T04:14:00.001-07:00

Washington: Former president George W. Bush says he experienced no pleasure when he heard about the death of Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, mastermind of September 11, 2001 terror attacks.

"He was sitting in a restaurant in Dallas when the Secret Service told him that President (Barack) Obama wanted to speak to him. He then learned about the assassination," documentarian Peter Schnall told CNN Monday.
Bush, "said to us certainly there was no sense of jubilation (and) certainly no sense of happiness," Schnall stressed. "If anything, he felt that finally there was a sense of closure."

"We could see in the interview that the president was very taken by the events of that day," said Schnall, who interviewed Bush as part of a documentary on the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. "He was very emotional."
Bush, who was in a Florida classroom for an education event when he first heard about the attacks told Schnall that initially he thought a small plane had hit one of the towers at New York's World Trade Centre.
"First, I thought it was a light aircraft, and my reaction was, man, either the weather was bad or something extraordinary happened to the pilot," Bush said.

But then - White House Chief of Staff "Andy Card's Massachusetts accent was whispering in my ear -'A second plane has hit the second tower. America is under attack.' "
In light of the intense controversy surrounding the invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan, asked if he had any regrets, Bush "kind of looked at me ... and said, 'I hate that damn question,' " Schnall said.
"He did not ever use the word regret. He did not ever say he would do anything differently." But Bush did acknowledge the controversy and division created by his decisions.
Source: IANS

NATO woos India, says ties important

2011-09-02T23:52:00.001-07:00

Stepping up its efforts to woo India as a partner nation in a post-Cold War world, NATO says its fledgling relations with New Delhi are "important" to ensure global safety and security.

"I think it is important to have a dialogue (with India) and deepen that dialogue," US Permanent Representative to NATO Ivo H. Daalder told a group of Indian journalists on a tour of the 28-nation military alliance's headquarters here.
"It is through dialogue, through understanding each other's perceptions and perhaps by working on misperceptions that may exist that we can strengthen the relations between India and NATO.
NATO was originally formed as a military alliance to counter Russia and the east European Warsaw Pact countries. It has undergone a sea-change after the end of the Cold War beginning with the demolition of the Berlin Wall in 1989. The alliance, which now includes many of the erstwhile Warsaw Pact countries, has an established dialogue with India, with its secretary general holding talks with Indian leaders in recent years and its deputy secretary general visiting New Delhi in 2010.
Daalder left it to India's political leadership to give a direction to the dialogue and relationship.
"Ultimately, the decision of what India's role with respect to NATO is going to be is India's decision...So the relationship that India wants with NATO is for India to decide," he said when asked about what he thought about the ties.
"Where this relationship will go will largely depend on where India would like it to go," he added.
The importance of the relationship, according to him, was that the concepts of national and international security of both India and the alliance were in consonance with each other.
"What I think is it is important for India and the countries of NATO -- and indeed of this alliance as an organisation -- to have a dialogue at every level...societal, opinion forming at official level.
"The dialogue should be on how India's concept of its own security and of international security fits in with NATO's concept of international security and how NATO as an actor and India as a country can work together to promote security," he said.
Daalder cited the example of troubled Afghanistan, where India had committed $2 billion for development works and NATO is spearheading an international security forces operation, and the anti-piracy measures in the Indian Ocean, where the Indian Navy has an active role and NATO has a task force.
"We already do so (cooperate) in places like Afghanistan, where NATO has a presence and India has a presence. We can think about other places we may be doing that.
"We do it in the Indian Ocean, when we are dealing both with the scourge of piracy and we cooperate actively. There your ships are part of the effort to deal with pirates and NATO has an operation there," he said.
Noting that NATO's relationship with other nations was not limited to the group's geographical area, Daalder said the alliance had relations with Australia, which is far away from Europe and the Americas.
"The NATO has relations with countries further away from where we are, like Australia. That relationship has evolved over time. That relationship was quite stand-offish until quite recently.
"Today, Australia is the 10th largest contributor to our operations in Afghanistan and a very active participant in the day-to-day operations," he said, indicating that future ties with India for the alliance had a lot of potential.

US issues travel alert ahead of 9/11 anniversary

2011-09-02T23:51:00.001-07:00

The US has issued a worldwide travel alert for American nationals ahead of the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 terror attacks.

The warning - issued by the State Department - said no specific threats had been identified, but terrorist groups had a tendency to launch attacks on significant dates in the past, Xinhua reported.
The State Department urged Americans overseas to take precautions, encouraging them to register with the State Department website to receive the latest security information.
America remains at heightened vigilance against possible threats, Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano said Friday.
"As we approach the 10th anniversary of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, the safety and security of the American public remains our highest priority," Napolitano said in a statement.
"While there is no specific or credible intelligence that Al Qaeda or its affiliates are plotting attacks in the US to coincide with the 10-year anniversary of 9/11, we remain at a heightened state of vigilance and security measures are in place to detect and prevent plots against the US should they emerge," she said.
Nearly 3,000 people were killed Sep 11, 2001 when Al Qaeda terrorists hijacked four passenger planes and crashed them into the twin towers of the World Trade Center in New York City, and the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia. One plane crashed in Shanksville, Pennsylvania after passengers attempted to retake control of the aircraft.

China confronted India warship off Vietnam: report

2011-09-01T00:44:00.001-07:00

An unidentified Chinese warship demanded that an Indian naval vessel identify itself and explain its presence in South China Sea waters off Vietnam in July, the Financial Times said on Thursday.

The London-based newspaper reported that five people familiar with the incident said it occurred in international waters shortly after India's amphibious assault ship INS Airavat completed a scheduled port call in Vietnam.

It is the latest in a series of actions this year that have caused concern about Beijing's maritime assertiveness among regional nations - particularly Vietnam and the Philippines.

China says it has sovereignty over essentially all of the South China Sea, a key global trading route, where its professed ownership of the potentially oil-rich Spratly archipelago overlaps with claims by Vietnam, the Philippines, Taiwan, Brunei and Malaysia.

Vietnam and China have a separate long-standing dispute over the more northerly Paracels archipelago.

The INS Airavat visited Nha Trang in south-central Vietnam and the northern port of Haiphong in the second half of July.

"Something did happen," one source familiar with the incident told AFP, adding it was unclear exactly how far off Vietnam's coast it occurred.

"This is a typical Chinese approach," said the source, adding that Chinese enforcement vessels try to assert 'that this is their territory and what are you doing in their territory?'.

Vietnam's foreign ministry could not immediately respond to a request for comment, and the Indian ambassador in Hanoi was out of the country.

In recent months, the Philippines and Vietnam have objected to what they said was Chinese harassment of oil exploration vessels and fishermen in the South China Sea.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in July condemned acts of 'intimidation' in the waters, where it says it has a national interest in free navigation.

A Pentagon report on Wednesday last week said China is increasingly focused on naval power, as it places a growing priority on securing strategic shipping lanes and mineral-rich areas in the South China Sea.

Chinese leaders have insisted their military modernisation programme is aimed solely at 'self-defence'.

WikiLeaks Leak: Thousands Of Dangerous Documents Accidentally Released Online

2011-08-30T01:04:00.001-07:00

WikiLeaks has accidentally released thousands of dangerous U.S. State Department cables.
From Der Spiegel:

Since the beginning of the year, an encrypted file has been circulating on the Internet containing the collection of around 251,000 US State Department documents that WikiLeaks obtained in spring 2010 and made public in November 2010.

The cables contained the names of confidential sources and agents, whose revealed identities could put their lives in jeopardy.
The leak, first reported by German newspaper der Freitag, was the indirect result of a rift between founder Julian Assange and spokesperson Daniel Domscheit-Berg.
As the Washington Post reports, the cables were never supposed to have been released with names unredacted. When Domscheit-Berg left Wikileaks in the end of 2010, he took a collection of Wikileaks material, including the sensitive cables, with him. He eventually gave everything back, but Assange hadn't realize the classified information was part of the assortment. So, when Assange released all the documents to the web last year, the cables were unleashed as well.
"It never should have been available," former WikiLeaks staffer Herbert Snorrason told Wired.

Is Gaddafi hiding in Zimbabwe?

2011-08-29T23:48:00.000-07:00

Zimbabwe: Libya’s strongman Muammar Gaddafi is still untraceable but a British media report has claimed that the Libyan leader might be hiding in Zimbabwe.

The Daily Mail, a United Kingdom newspaper, yesterday claimed that Gaddafi arrived in Zimbabwe last week aboard Mugabe’s private jet.

But President Robert Muga-be’s spokesman George Charamba has dismissed reports that Libyan leader, Muammar Gaddafi could be in Zimbabwe, implying that the brother leader may not be welcome.

“If you see him, greet him for me,” quipped Charamba, implying that Gaddafi might not be heading to Zimbabwe after all.

Charamba declined to answer subsequent questions on what Zimbabwe’s response would be in case Gaddafi asked for asylum.

Minister of State in the Prime Minister’s Office, Jameson Timba said his party could not be drawn into commenting on speculation but rather they would be guided by a decision of the African Union and Sadc.
Speculation has been mounting in recent days that Zimbabwe could provide a safe haven for the ousted leader, with others already claiming that he could have arrived in Harare last Wednesday.
Others claimed that the power cut that hit Harare on Wednesday was meant to ease Gaddafi’s arrival so that he would not be seen.
Gaddafi reportedly owns Rainfield Farm, 20km from Chinhoyi and 50km outside Lion’s Den.
According to the Daily Mail, Mugabe’s political opponents spotted Gaddafi arriving in the country, while some tried to give chase to the motorcade taking the embattled Libyan leader to Gunhill suburb.
Zimbabwe was seen as a destination of choice as it is already home to Mengistu Haile Mariam, the former Ethiopian strongman, wanted for prosecution in his home country.
US Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton had, in March, intimated that Gaddafi could be coming to Zimbabwe, although the idea of Mugabe and the Libyan leader together rendered her “speechless”.
Meanwhile, Italian news agency has claimed that Muammar Gaddafi and his sons Saadi and Seif al-Islam are in the town of Bani Walid south of Tripoli, citing "authoritative Libyan diplomatic sources".

ANSA cited the same sources in Rome saying that Gaddafi's wife Safiya and three of his other children, Aisha, Hannibal and Mohammed were in Algeria.
The Algerian foreign ministry later confirmed the four crossed into Algeria earlier today.
ANSA said another Gaddafi son, Khamis, had "almost certainly" been killed on the way from Tripoli to Bani Walid.
Libya's rebel leadership on Sunday said that Khamis, whose death has been announced several times since the conflict erupted, may have been killed in a clash with rebel fighters in the city of Tarhuna southeast of Tripoli.
Bani Walid is about 100 kilometres (62 miles) from the Libyan capital.
Libya's defected former prime minister Abessalam Jalloud, who has fled to Rome, last week said Gaddafi could be hiding south of Tripoli.
"There are two possibilities: either he is hiding south of Tripoli or he left some time ago," Jalloud told reporters. The leader of the rebel National Transitional Council, Mustafa Abdel Jalil, today cautioned against a let-up in international action against Gaddafi saying he "still poses a danger, not only for Libya but for the world."
"That is why we are calling for the coalition to continue its support," Abdel Jalil said at a meeting of chiefs of staff in Doha of countries militarily involved in Libya.
Italy is Libya's former colonial ruler and enjoyed close diplomatic and economies ties with Gaddafi's regime before the start of a popular uprising this year. It has since joined the international coalition against Gaddafi.

China deploys advanced CSS-5 MRBMs on Indian border: US

2011-08-25T09:03:00.000-07:00

China has deployed more advanced and survivable solid-fuel nuclear capable CSS-5 MRBM missiles against India as a 'deterrent posture', Pentagon has said warning that a high degree of mistrust continues to strain their bilateral ties.
The PLA has replaced liquid-fueled, nuclear-capable CSS-2 IRBMs with more advanced and survivable solid-fueled CSS-5 MRBM systems to strengthen its deterrent posture relative to India, the Pentagon has said in its annual report on Chinese military build up to the Congress.
The report also says that Beijing is pumping in huge investments on border infrastructure developments laying more roads and rail network along the Sino-Indian border.
"Although this construction is primarily aimed at facilitating economic development in western China, improved roads could also support PLA border defense operations," it said.
Pentagon said that New Delhi remains concerned by China's close military ties with Pakistan and its growing footprints in the Indian Ocean, Central Asia and Africa.
The report noted that Pakistan continued to be China's primary customer for conventional weapons and sales to Islamabad included newly rolled out JF-17 fighters with production facilities, F-22P frigates with helicopters, early warning and control aircraft, tanks, K-8 trainers, F-7 fighters, air-to-air missiles, anti-ship cruise missiles and missile technologies.
On Sino-Indian ties, Pentagon said, that though bilateral dialogue between the two nations increased, border tensions remained an irritant.
"China deepened its ties with India through increased trade and high-level dialogues in 2010, though border tensions remained an irritant in the bilateral relationship. Bilateral trade in 2010 reached nearly USD 60 billion," Pentagon said.
The two neighbours have held several rounds of dialogue over disputed territorial claims. Sino-Indian defense ties were institutionalised in 2007 with the establishment of an Annual Defense Dialogue, the report said.
"Though India cancelled high-level military exchanges following China's denial of visa to a senior Indian general in 2010, both sides agreed to resume exchanges in April 2011," the Pentagon said.
The US Defence Department in its assessment said that Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao's trip to New Delhi in 2010 attempted to smooth over differences following a year of uneasy relations, but he did not address serious irritants.
"A high degree of mistrust continues to strain the bilateral relationship," it said.

NYPD CIA Anti-Terror Operations Conducted In Secret For Years

2011-08-24T20:40:00.001-07:00

MATT APUZZO and ADAM GOLDMAN

NEW YORK — Since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, the New York Police Department has become one of the nation's most aggressive domestic intelligence agencies, targeting ethnic communities in ways that would run afoul of civil liberties rules if practiced by the federal government, an Associated Press investigation has found.
These operations have benefited from unprecedented help from the CIA, a partnership that has blurred the line between foreign and domestic spying.
The department has dispatched undercover officers, known as "rakers," into minority neighborhoods as part of a human mapping program, according to officials directly involved in the program. They've monitored daily life in bookstores, bars, cafes and nightclubs. Police have also used informants, known as "mosque crawlers," to monitor sermons, even when there's no evidence of wrongdoing.
Neither the city council, which finances the department, nor the federal government, which has given NYPD more than $1.6 billion since 9/11, is told exactly what's going on.
Many of these operations were built with help from the CIA, which is prohibited from spying on Americans but was instrumental in transforming the NYPD's intelligence unit.
A veteran CIA officer, while still on the agency's payroll, was the architect of the NYPD's intelligence programs. The CIA trained a police detective at the Farm, the agency's spy school in Virginia, then returned him to New York, where he put his new espionage skills to work inside the United States.
And just last month, the CIA sent a senior officer to work as a clandestine operative inside police headquarters.
In response to the story, the Council on American-Islamic Relations, a leading Muslim civil rights organization, called on the Justice Department to investigate. The Justice Department said Wednesday night it would review the request.
"This is potentially illegal what they're doing," said Gadeir Abbas, a staff attorney with the organization.
The NYPD denied that it trolls ethnic neighborhoods and said it only follows leads. Police operations have disrupted terrorist plots and put several would-be killers in prison.
"The New York Police Department is doing everything it can to make sure there's not another 9/11 here and that more innocent New Yorkers are not killed by terrorists," NYPD spokesman Paul Browne said. "And we have nothing to apologize for in that regard."
AP's investigation is based on documents and interviews with more than 40 current and former New York Police Department and federal officials. Many were directly involved in planning and carrying out these secret operations for the department. Though most said the tactics were appropriate and made the city safer, many insisted on anonymity, because they were not authorized to speak with reporters about security matters.
In just two episodes showing how widely the NYPD cast its net, the department sought a rundown from the taxi commission of every Pakistani cab driver in the city, and produced an analytical report on every mosque within 100 miles, officials said.
One of the enduring questions of the past decade is whether being safe requires giving up some liberty and privacy. The focus of that debate has primarily been federal programs like wiretapping and indefinite detention. The question has received less attention in New York, where residents do not know for sure what, if anything, they have given up.
The story of how the NYPD Intelligence Division developed such aggressive programs begins with one man.
___
David Cohen arrived at the New York Police Department in January 2002, just weeks after the last fires had been extinguished at the debris field that had been the twin towers. A retired 35-year veteran of the CIA, Cohen became the police department's first civilian intelligence chief.
Cohen had an exceptional career at the CIA, rising to lead both the agency's analytical and operational divisions. He also was an extraordinarily divisive figure, a man whose sharp tongue and supreme confidence in his own abilities gave him a reputation as arrogant. Cohen's tenure as head of CIA operations, the nation's top spy, was so contentious that in 1997, The New York Times editorial page took the unusual step of calling for his ouster.
He had no police experience. He had never defended a city from an attack. But New York wasn't looking for a cop.
"Post-9/11, we needed someone in there who knew how to really gather intelligence," said John Cutter, a retired NYPD official who served as one of Cohen's top uniformed officers.
At the time, the intelligence division was best known for driving dignitaries around the city. Cohen envisioned a unit that would analyze intelligence, run undercover operations and cultivate a network of informants. In short, he wanted New York to have its own version of the CIA.
Cohen shared Commissioner Ray Kelly's belief that 9/11 had proved that the police department could not simply rely on the federal government to prevent terrorism in New York.
"If anything goes on in New York," one former officer recalls Cohen telling his staff in the early days, "it's your fault."
Among Cohen's earliest moves at the NYPD was making a request of his old colleagues at CIA headquarters in Langley, Va. He needed someone to help build this new operation, someone with experience and clout and, most important, someone who had access to the latest intelligence so the NYPD wouldn't have to rely on the FBI to dole out information.
CIA Director George Tenet responded by tapping Larry Sanchez, a respected veteran who had served as a CIA official inside the United Nations. Often, when the CIA places someone on temporary assignment, the other agency picks up the tab. In this case, three former intelligence officials said, Tenet kept Sanchez on the CIA payroll.
When he arrived in New York in March 2002, Sanchez had offices at both the NYPD and the CIA's station in New York, one former official said. Sanchez interviewed police officers for newly defined intelligence jobs. He guided and mentored officers, schooling them in the art of gathering information. He also directed their efforts, another said.
There had never been an arrangement like it, and some senior CIA officials soon began questioning whether Tenet was allowing Sanchez to operate on both sides of the wall that's supposed to keep the CIA out of the domestic intelligence business.
"It should not be a surprise to anyone that, after 9/11, the Central Intelligence Agency stepped up its cooperation with law enforcement on counterterrorism issues or that some of that increased cooperation was in New York, the site of ground zero," CIA spokeswoman Jennifer Youngblood said.
Just as at the CIA, Cohen and Sanchez knew that informants would have to become the backbone of their operation. But with threats coming in from around the globe, they couldn't wait months for the perfect plan.
They came up with a makeshift solution. They dispatched more officers to Pakistani neighborhoods and, according to one former police official directly involved in the effort, instructed them to look for reasons to stop cars: speeding, broken tail lights, running stop signs, whatever. The traffic stop gave police an opportunity to search for outstanding warrants or look for suspicious behavior. An arrest could be the leverage the police needed to persuade someone to become an informant.
For Cohen, the transition from spying to policing didn't come naturally, former colleagues said. When faced with a decision, especially early in his tenure, he'd fall back on his CIA background. Cutter said he and other uniformed officers had to tell Cohen, no, we can't just slip into someone's apartment without a warrant. No, we can't just conduct a search. The rules for policing are different.
While Cohen was being shaped by the police department, his CIA background was remaking the department. But one significant barrier stood in the way of Cohen's vision.
Since 1985, the NYPD had operated under a federal court order limiting the tactics it could use to gather intelligence. During the 1960s and 1970s, the department had used informants and undercover officers to infiltrate anti-war protest groups and other activists without any reason to suspect criminal behavior.
To settle a lawsuit, the department agreed to follow guidelines that required "specific information" of criminal activity before police could monitor political activity.
In September 2002, Cohen told a federal judge that those guidelines made it "virtually impossible" to detect terrorist plots. The FBI was changing its rules to respond to 9/11, and Cohen argued that the NYPD must do so, too.
"In the case of terrorism, to wait for an indication of crime before investigating is to wait far too long," Cohen wrote.
U.S. District Judge Charles S. Haight Jr. agreed, saying the old guidelines "addressed different perils in a different time." He scrapped the old rules and replaced them with more lenient ones.
It was a turning point for the NYPD.
___
With his newfound authority, Cohen created a secret squad that would soon infiltrate Muslim neighborhoods, according to several current and former officials directly involved in the program.
The NYPD carved up the city into more than a dozen zones and assigned undercover officers to monitor them, looking for potential trouble.
At the CIA, one of the biggest obstacles has always been that U.S. intelligence officials are overwhelmingly white, their mannerisms clearly American. The NYPD didn't have that problem, thanks to its diverse pool of officers.
Using census data, the department matched undercover officers to ethnic communities and instructed them to blend in, the officials said. Pakistani-American officers infiltrated Pakistani neighborhoods, Palestinians focused on Palestinian neighborhoods. They hung out in hookah bars and cafes, quietly observing the community around them.
The unit, which has been undisclosed until now, became known inside the department as the Demographic Unit, former police officials said.
"It's not a question of profiling. It's a question of going where the problem could arise," said Mordecai Dzikansky, a retired NYPD intelligence officer who said he was aware of the Demographic Unit. "And thank God we have the capability. We have the language capability and the ethnic officers. That's our hidden weapon."
The officers did not work out of headquarters, officials said. Instead, they passed their intelligence to police handlers who knew their identities.
Cohen said he wanted the squad to "rake the coals, looking for hot spots," former officials recalled. The undercover officers soon became known inside the department as rakers.
A hot spot might be a beauty supply store selling chemicals used for making bombs. Or it might be a hawala, a broker that transfers money around the world with little documentation. Undercover officers might visit an Internet cafe and look at the browsing history on a computer, a former police official involved in the program said. If it revealed visits to radical websites, the cafe might be deemed a hot spot.
Ethnic bookstores, too, were on the list. If a raker noticed a customer looking at radical literature, he might chat up the store owner and see what he could learn. The bookstore, or even the customer, might get further scrutiny. If a restaurant patron applauds a news report about the death of U.S. troops, the patron or the restaurant could be labeled a hot spot.
The goal was to "map the city's human terrain," one law enforcement official said. The program was modeled in part on how Israeli authorities operate in the West Bank, a former police official said.
Mapping crimes has been a successful police strategy nationwide. But mapping robberies and shootings is one thing. Mapping ethnic neighborhoods is different, something that at least brushes against what the federal government considers racial profiling.
Browne, the NYPD spokesman, said the Demographic Unit does not exist. He said the department has a Zone Assessment Unit that looks for locations that could attract terrorists. But he said undercover officers only followed leads, disputing the account of several current and former police and federal officials. They do not just hang out in neighborhoods, he said.
"We will go into a location, whether it's a mosque or a bookstore, if the lead warrants it, and at least establish whether there's something that requires more attention," Browne said.
That conflicts with testimony from an undercover officer in the 2006 trial of Shahawar Matin Siraj, who was convicted of planning an attack on New York's subway system. The officer said he was instructed to live in Brooklyn and act as a "walking camera" for police.
"I was told to act like a civilian – hang out in the neighborhood, gather information," the Bangladeshi officer testified, under a false name, in what offered the first narrow glimpse at the NYPD's infiltration of ethnic neighborhoods.
Officials said such operations just made sense. Islamic terrorists had attacked the city on 9/11, so police needed people inside the city's Muslim neighborhoods. Officials say it does not conflict with a 2004 city law prohibiting the NYPD from using religion or ethnicity "as the determinative factor for initiating law enforcement action."
"It's not profiling," Cutter said. "It's like, after a shooting, do you go 20 blocks away and interview guys or do you go to the neighborhood where it happened?"
In 2007, the Los Angeles Police Department was criticized for even considering a similar program. The police announced plans to map Islamic neighborhoods to look for pockets of radicalization among the region's roughly 500,000 Muslims. Criticism was swift, and chief William Bratton scrapped the plan.
"A lot of these people came from countries where the police were the terrorists," Bratton said at a news conference, according to the Los Angeles Daily News. "We don't do that here. We do not want to spread fear."
In New York, current and former officials said, the lesson of that controversy was that such programs should be kept secret.
Some in the department, including lawyers, have privately expressed concerns about the raking program and how police use the information, current and former officials said. Part of the concern was that it might appear that police were building dossiers on innocent people, officials said. Another concern was that, if a case went to court, the department could be forced to reveal details about the program, putting the entire operation in jeopardy.
That's why, former officials said, police regularly shredded documents discussing rakers.
When Cohen made his case in court that he needed broader authority to investigate terrorism, he had promised to abide by the FBI's investigative guidelines. But the FBI is prohibited from using undercover agents unless there's specific evidence of criminal activity, meaning a federal raking program like the one officials described to the AP would violate FBI guidelines.
The NYPD declined to make Cohen available for comment. In an earlier interview with the AP on a variety of topics, Police Commissioner Kelly said the intelligence unit does not infringe on civil rights.
"We're doing what we believe we have to do to protect the city," he said. "We have many, many lawyers in our employ. We see ourselves as very conscious and aware of civil liberties. And we know there's always going to be some tension between the police department and so-called civil liberties groups because of the nature of what we do."
The department clashed with civil rights groups most publicly after Cohen's undercover officers infiltrated anti-war groups before the 2004 Republican National Convention in New York. A lawsuit over that program continues today.
During the convention, when protesters were arrested, police asked a list of questions which, according to court documents, included: "What are your political affiliations?" "Do you do any kind of political work?" and "Do you hate George W. Bush?"
"At the end of the day, it's pure and simple a rogue domestic surveillance operation," said Christopher Dunn, a New York Civil Liberties Union lawyer involved in the convention lawsuit.
___
Undercover agents like the rakers were valuable, but what Cohen and Sanchez wanted most were informants.
The NYPD dedicated an entire squad, the Terrorist Interdiction Unit, to developing and handling informants. Current and former officials said Sanchez was instrumental in teaching them how to develop sources.
For years, detectives used informants known as mosque crawlers to monitor weekly sermons and report what was said, several current and former officials directly involved in the informant program said. If FBI agents were to do that, they would be in violation of the Privacy Act, which prohibits the federal government from collecting intelligence on purely First Amendment activities.
The FBI has generated its own share of controversy for putting informants inside mosques, but unlike the program described to the AP, the FBI requires evidence of a crime before an informant can be used inside a mosque.
Valerie Caproni, the FBI's general counsel, would not discuss the NYPD's programs but said FBI informants can't troll mosques looking for leads. Such operations are reviewed for civil liberties concerns, she said.
"If you're sending an informant into a mosque when there is no evidence of wrongdoing, that's a very high-risk thing to do," Caproni said. "You're running right up against core constitutional rights. You're talking about freedom of religion."
That's why senior FBI officials in New York ordered their own agents not to accept any reports from the NYPD's mosque crawlers, two retired agents said.
It's unclear whether the police department still uses mosque crawlers. Officials said that, as Muslims figured out what was going on, the mosque crawlers became cafe crawlers, fanning out into the city's ethnic hangouts.
"Someone has a great imagination," Browne, the NYPD spokesman, said. "There is no such thing as mosque crawlers."
Following the foiled subway plot, however, the key informant in the case, Osama Eldawoody, said he attended hundreds of prayer services and collected information even on people who showed no signs of radicalization.
NYPD detectives have recruited shopkeepers and nosy neighbors to become "seeded" informants who keep police up to date on the latest happenings in ethnic neighborhoods, one official directly involved in the informant program said.
The department also has a roster of "directed" informants it can tap for assignments. For instance, if a raker identifies a bookstore as a hot spot, police might assign an informant to gather information, long before there's concrete evidence of anything criminal.
To identify possible informants, the department created what became known as the "debriefing program." When someone is arrested who might be useful to the intelligence unit – whether because he said something suspicious or because he is simply a young Middle Eastern man – he is singled out for extra questioning. Intelligence officials don't care about the underlying charges; they want to know more about his community and, ideally, they want to put him to work.
Police are in prisons, too, promising better living conditions and help or money on the outside for Muslim prisoners who will work with them.
Early in the intelligence division's transformation, police asked the taxi commission to run a report on all the city's Pakistani cab drivers, looking for those who got licenses fraudulently and might be susceptible to pressure to cooperate, according to former officials who were involved in or briefed on the effort.
That strategy has been rejected in other cities.
Boston police once asked neighboring Cambridge for a list of Somali cab drivers, Cambridge Police Chief Robert Haas said. Haas refused, saying that without a specific reason, the search was inappropriate.
"It really has a chilling effect in terms of the relationship between the local police department and those cultural groups, if they think that's going to take place," Haas said.
The informant division was so important to the NYPD that Cohen persuaded his former colleagues to train a detective, Steve Pinkall, at the CIA's training center at the Farm. Pinkall, who had an intelligence background as a Marine, was given an unusual temporary assignment at CIA headquarters, officials said. He took the field tradecraft course alongside future CIA spies then returned to New York to run investigations.
"We found that helpful, for NYPD personnel to be exposed to the tradecraft," Browne said.
The idea troubled senior FBI officials, who saw it as the NYPD and CIA blurring the lines between police work and spying, in which undercover officers regularly break the laws of foreign governments. The arrangement even made its way to FBI Director Robert Mueller, two former senior FBI officials said, but the training was already under way and Mueller did not press the issue.
___
NYPD's intelligence operations do not stop at the city line.
In June 2009, a New Brunswick, N.J., building superintendent opened the door to apartment No. 1076 and discovered an alarming scene: terrorist literature strewn about the table and computer and surveillance equipment set up in the next room.
The panicked superintendent dialed 911, sending police and the FBI rushing to the building near Rutgers University. What they found in that first-floor apartment, however, was not a terrorist hideout but a command center set up by a secret team of New York Police Department intelligence officers.
From that apartment, about an hour outside the department's jurisdiction, the NYPD had been staging undercover operations and conducting surveillance throughout New Jersey. Neither the FBI nor the local police had any idea.
The NYPD has gotten some of its officers deputized as federal marshals, allowing them to work out of state. But often, there's no specific jurisdiction at all.
Cohen's undercover squad, the Special Services Unit, operates in places such as New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Massachusetts, officials said. They can't make arrests and, if something goes wrong – a shooting or a car accident, for instance – the officers could be personally liable. But the NYPD has decided it's worth the risk, a former police official said.
With Police Commissioner Kelly's backing, Cohen's policy is that any potential threat to New York City is the NYPD's business, regardless of where it occurs, officials said.
That aggressiveness has sometimes put the NYPD at odds with local police departments and, more frequently, with the FBI. The FBI didn't like the rules Cohen played by and said his operations encroached on its responsibilities.
Once, undercover officers were stopped by police in Massachusetts while conducting surveillance on a house, one former New York official recalled. In another instance, the NYPD sparked concern among federal officials by expanding its intelligence-gathering efforts related to the United Nations, where the FBI is in charge, current and former federal officials said.
The AP has agreed not to disclose details of either the FBI or NYPD operations because they involve foreign counterintelligence.
Both Mueller and Kelly have said their agencies have strong working relationships and said reports of rivalry and disagreements are overblown. And the NYPD's out-of-state operations have had success.
A young Egyptian NYPD officer living undercover in New Jersey, for example, was key to building a case against Mohamed Mahmood Alessa and Carlos Eduardo Almonte. The pair was arrested last year at John F. Kennedy Airport en route to Somalia to join the terrorist group al-Shabab. Both pleaded guilty to conspiracy.
Cohen has also sent officers abroad, stationing them in 11 foreign cities. If a bomber blows himself up in Jerusalem, the NYPD rushes to the scene, said Dzikansky, who served in Israel and is the co-author of the forthcoming book "Terrorist Suicide Bombings: Attack Interdiction, Mitigation, and Response."
"I was there to ask the New York question," Dzikansky said. "Why this location? Was there something unique that the bomber had done? Was there any pre-notification. Was there a security lapse?"
All of this intelligence – from the rakers, the undercovers, the overseas liaisons and the informants – is passed to a team of analysts hired from some of the nation's most prestigious universities. Analysts have spotted emerging trends and summarized topics such as Hezbollah's activities in New York and the threat of South Asian terrorist groups.
They also have tackled more contentious topics, including drafting a report on every mosque in the area, one former police official said. The report drew on information from mosque crawlers, undercover officers and public information. It mapped hundreds of mosques and discussed the likelihood of them being infiltrated by al-Qaida, Hezbollah and other terrorist groups.
For Cohen, there was only one way to measure success: "They haven't attacked us," he said in a 2005 deposition. He said anything that was bad for terrorists was good for NYPD.
___
Though the CIA is prohibited from collecting intelligence domestically, the wall between domestic and foreign operations became more porous. Intelligence gathered by the NYPD, with CIA officer Sanchez overseeing collection, was often passed to the CIA in informal conversations and through unofficial channels, a former official involved in that process said.
By design, the NYPD was looking more and more like a domestic CIA.
"It's like starting the CIA over in the post-9/11 world," Cohen said in "Securing the City," a laudatory 2009 book about the NYPD. "What would you do if you could begin it all over again? Hah. This is what you would do."
Sanchez's assignment in New York ended in 2004, but he received permission to take a leave of absence from the agency and become Cohen's deputy, former officials said.
Though Sanchez's assignments were blessed by CIA management, some in the agency's New York station saw the presence of such a senior officer in the city as a turf encroachment. Finally, the New York station chief, Tom Higgins, called headquarters, one former senior intelligence official said. Higgins complained, the official said, that Sanchez was wearing both hats, sometimes acting as a CIA officer, sometimes as an NYPD official.
The CIA finally forced him to choose: Stay with the agency or stay with the NYPD.
Sanchez declined to comment to the AP about the arrangement, but he picked the NYPD. He retired last year and is now a consultant in the Middle East.
Last month, the CIA deepened its NYPD ties even further. It sent one of its most experienced operatives, a former station chief in two Middle Eastern countries, to work out of police headquarters as Cohen's special assistant while on the CIA payroll. Current and former U.S. officials acknowledge it's unusual but said it's the kind of collaboration Americans expect after 9/11.
Officials said revealing the CIA officer's name would jeopardize national security. The arrangement was described as a sabbatical. He is a member of the agency's senior management, but officials said he was sent to the municipal police department to get management experience.
At the NYPD, he works undercover in the senior ranks of the intelligence division. Officials are adamant that he is not involved in actual intelligence-gathering.
___
The NYPD has faced little scrutiny over the past decade as it has taken on broad new intelligence missions, targeted ethnic neighborhoods and partnered with the CIA in extraordinary ways.
The department's primary watchdog, the New York City Council, has not held hearings on the intelligence division's operations and former NYPD officials said council members typically do not ask for details.
"Ray Kelly briefs me privately on certain subjects that should not be discussed in public," said City Councilman Peter Vallone. "We've discussed in person how they investigate certain groups they suspect have terrorist sympathizers or have terrorist suspects."
The city comptroller's office has audited several NYPD components since 9/11 but not the intelligence unit, which had a $62 million budget last year.
The federal government, too, has done little to scrutinize the nation's largest police force, despite the massive federal aid. Homeland Security officials review NYPD grants but not its underlying programs.
A report in January by the Homeland Security inspector general, for instance, found that the NYPD violated state and federal contracting rules between 2006 and 2008 by buying more than $4 million in equipment through a no-bid process. NYPD said public bidding would have revealed sensitive information to terrorists, but police never got approval from state or federal officials to adopt their own rules, the inspector general said.
On Capitol Hill, where FBI tactics have frequently been criticized for their effect on civil liberties, the NYPD faces no such opposition.
In 2007, Sanchez testified before the Senate Homeland Security Committee and was asked how the NYPD spots signs of radicalization. He said the key was viewing innocuous activity, including behavior that might be protected by the First Amendment, as a potential precursor to terrorism.
That triggered no questions from the committee, which Sanchez said had been "briefed in the past on how we do business."
The Justice Department has the authority to investigate civil rights violations. It issued detailed rules in 2003 against racial profiling, including prohibiting agencies from considering race when making traffic stops or assigning patrols.
But those rules apply only to the federal government and contain a murky exemption for terrorism investigations. The Justice Department has not investigated a police department for civil rights violations during a national security investigation.
"One of the hallmarks of the intelligence division over the last 10 years is that, not only has it gotten extremely aggressive and sophisticated, but it's operating completely on its own," said Dunn, the civil liberties lawyer. "There are no checks. There is no oversight."
The NYPD has been mentioned as a model for policing in the post-9/11 era. But it's a model that seems custom-made for New York. No other city has the Big Apple's combination of a low crime rate, a $4.5 billion police budget and a diverse 34,000-person police force. Certainly no other police department has such deep CIA ties.
Perhaps most important, nobody else had 9/11 the way New York did. No other city lost nearly 3,000 people in a single morning. A decade later, police say New Yorkers still expect the department to do whatever it can to prevent another attack. The NYPD has embraced that expectation.
As Sanchez testified on Capitol Hill: "We've been given the public tolerance and the luxury to be very aggressive on this topic."
____
Associated Press writers Tom Hays and Eileen Sullivan in Washington contributed to this report.
____
Matt Apuzzo and Adam Goldman can be reached at dcinvestigations(at)ap.org or and
Links:
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Gaddafi son Seif al-Islam not arrested, appears at Tripoli hotel

2011-08-22T21:23:00.001-07:00

Muammar Gaddafi's son, Seif al-Islam, center, waves to troops loyal to his father in Tripoli, Libya - AP
Muammar Gaddafi's son Seif al-Islam, wanted by the International Criminal Court for crimes against humanity, has not been arrested by rebels despite earlier reports and is still in Tripoli, a journalist said on Tuesday.
Several journalists saw Seif al-Islam in Muammar Gaddafi's residential complex in the capital. ICC prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo had earlier said the 39-year-old was arrested and in detention.
"I am here to refute the lies," Gaddafi's son said, referring to reports of his arrest. Three journalists were taken by car to Gaddafi's Bab al-Azizya compound by representatives of the regime.
Seif told the journalists, when asked if his father was safe and well in Tripoli, 'Of course'.
Tripoli is 'under control' of the regime, Seif claimed. "Tripoli is under our control. Everyone should rest assured. All is well in Tripoli," he told journalists outside Gaddafi's compound at Bab al-Azizya.
Seif al-Islam arrived in a vehicle in front of the building complex, which was bombed by the Americans in 1986. He was greeted by several dozen supporters waving his portrait and that of his father, as well as Libyan flags.
He told a journalist that he had been travelling around Tripoli in an armored convoy the whole time.
Discussions on Seif's transfer were underway
Moreno-Ocampo had said Seif al-Islam was arrested and in detention, calling for his swift transfer. 'We hope he can soon be in The Hague' to face judgement, Moreno-Ocampo said as he indicated he was planning to contact the 'Libyan transitional government' later in the day.
An ICC spokesman said on Monday that the court is seeking Seif al-Islam's transfer to The Hague to face charges of crimes against humanity.
"The court as a whole is involved," Fadi El-Abdallah told the media, answering 'yes' when asked if that meant discussions were underway with the Libyan rebel National Transitional Council (NTC) over Seif al-Islam's transfer.
Seif al-Islam is accused together with his father with orchestrating a plan to put down the Libyan revolt by ‘any means necessary’ since it was sparked in mid-February.
This included the murder of hundreds of pro-freedom Libyan protestors and injuring hundreds of others when security forces shot a crowds using live ammunition, as well as the arrest and torture of numerous others.
'Seif executed father's plans'
Before the revolt erupted, Seif al-Islam was increasingly seen as a successor to his father, despite publicly ruling out any dynastic ambitions in the North African country.
Described as the Libyan strongman's de facto prime minister and most influential person within his inner circle, Seif al-Islam is wanted because he ‘espoused and executed Muammar Gaddafi's plan which led to the commission of the crimes', a court document stated.
"Relevant to the prosecutor's application, Seif al-Islam exercised control over crucial parts of the state apparatus, including finances and logistics," said the ICC's decision to grant arrest warrants against Gaddafi, his son and Libyan spymaster Abdullah al-Senussi on June 27.
"There are reasonable grounds to believe that Muammar Gaddafi and Seif al-Islam's orders to any branch of the state apparatus automatically activated the state machinery," the court document added.

T-50 stealth fighter makes public debut

2011-08-17T20:55:00.001-07:00

Vladimir Radyuhin

Being jointly developed by India and Russia in $10-billion project
The Sukhoi fifth-generation stealth fighter, which Russia is jointly developing with India, made its public debut at a Moscow airshow on Wednesday.
Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, accompanied by federal Ministers and military brass, looked on as two T-50 prototype aircraft soared into the air, performing aerobatic manoeuvres and skimming low over the runway in a 15-minute demonstration flight.
The T-50 has been making test flights since January 2010, but it is the fighter's first appearance at an airshow. After the demonstration flight the fighter jets were whisked away as they are still classified and are not displayed on the ground. The T-50 resembles Russia's best-selling Su-30 fighter jet but will have all its weapons hidden inside its body and wings to avoid radar detection and will fly at supersonic cruising speeds. The aircraft will also boast ultra manoeuvrability and high-technology avionics.
The Russian Air Force will begin testing the Perspective Frontline Aviation Complex, as the plane is called in Russia, in 2013 and will start inducting its mass-produced version from 2014, said the Russian Air Chief at the show.
It is India's biggest-ever defence project and its largest defence deal with Russia. India and Russia are jointly designing two versions of the plane — a single-seater for the Russian Air Force and a two-seat version for the IAF. India will contribute about 30 per cent of the total design in the project, including composite components with the stealth function and some avionics, electronic warfare systems and cockpit displays. The total cost of the project is estimated at $10 billion.
The Indo-Russian fighter jet is expected to rival the U.S. F-22 Raptor and will cost just over half its price — less than $100 million apiece.
PTI reports from Moscow:
BrahMos agreement
Working on the hypersonic version of its supersonic cruise missile, BrahMos Aerospace on Tuesday signed a MoU with Russian aviation institutions to establish a centre of excellence for developing technology for high-speed aircraft and missiles.
The MoU was inked here with the Moscow Aviation Institute (MAI) and NPO Mashinostroyeniya (NPOM) corporation on the first day of the MAKS, 2011 (Moscow air show). The MoU was signed by BrahMos CEO A. Sivathanu Pillai, Rector of MAI A.N. Geraschenko and Chief of NPOM Corporation Alexander Leonov.
Speaking on the occasion, Mr. Pillai said: “It is a remarkable step for BrahMos, NPOM and MAI to come together and work in this field.”

Al Qaeda trying to harness toxin for bombs, U.S. officials fear

2011-08-13T02:09:00.000-07:00

Yemen affiliate seeks castor beans to make ricin for attacks on America

AFP/Getty Images file
Yemeni soldiers seek al Qaida militants last year. The Yemeni branch is said to be seeking castor beans for making ricin.
By ERIC SCHMITT and THOM SHANKER

WASHINGTON — American counterterrorism officials are increasingly concerned that the most dangerous regional arm of Al Qaeda is trying to produce the lethal poison ricin, to be packed around small explosives for attacks against the United States.
For more than a year, according to classified intelligence reports, Al Qaeda's affiliate in Yemen has been making efforts to acquire large quantities of castor beans, which are required to produce ricin, a white, powdery toxin that is so deadly that just a speck can kill if it is inhaled or reaches the bloodstream.
Intelligence officials say they have collected evidence that Qaeda operatives are trying to move castor beans and processing agents to a hideaway in Shabwa Province, in one of Yemen’s rugged tribal areas controlled by insurgents. The officials say the evidence points to efforts to secretly concoct batches of the poison, pack them around small explosives, and then try to explode them in contained spaces, like a shopping mall, an airport or a subway station.
President Obama and his top national security aides were first briefed on the threat last year and have received periodic updates since then, top aides said. Senior American officials say there is no indication that a ricin attack is imminent, and some experts say the Qaeda affiliate is still struggling with how to deploy ricin as an effective weapon.
These officials also note that ricin's utility as a weapon is limited because the substance loses its potency in dry, sunny conditions, and unlike many nerve agents, it is not easily absorbed through the skin. Yemen is a hot, dry country, posing an additional challenge to militants trying to produce ricin there.
But senior American officials say they are tracking the possibility of a threat very closely, given the Yemeni affiliate’s proven ability to devise plots, including some thwarted only at the last minute: a bomb sewn into the underwear of a Nigerian man aboard a commercial jetliner to Detroit in December 2009, and printer cartridges packed with powerful explosives in cargo bound for Chicago 10 months later.
"The potential threat of weapons of mass destruction, likely in a simpler form than what people might imagine but still a form that would have a significant psychological impact, from Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula in Yemen, is very, very real," Michael E. Leiter, who retired recently as director of the National Counterterrorism Center, said at a security conference last month. "It’s not hard to develop ricin."
A range of administration officials have stated that the threat of a major attack from Al Qaeda’s main leadership in Pakistan has waned after Osama bin Laden’s death in May, on top of the Central Intelligence Agency's increasing drone assaults on Qaeda targets in Pakistan's tribal areas over the past three years.
But the continuing concern over a ricin plot underscores the menace that regional Qaeda affiliates, especially Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, now pose to the United States and American interests overseas.
"That line of threat has never abated," said a senior American official, who referred to the terrorist group by its initials. "That’s been taken seriously by this government. What we know about A.Q.A.P. is that they do what they say."
'Basic scientific knowledge' Al Qaeda’s arm in Yemen has openly discussed deploying ricin and other deadly poisons against the United States. "Brothers with less experience in the fields of microbiology or chemistry, as long as they possess basic scientific knowledge, would be able to develop other poisons such as ricin or cyanide," the organization posted to its online English-language journal, Inspire, last fall, in an article titled "Tips for Our Brothers in the United States of America."
Senior administration officials say ricin is among the threats focused on by a secret government task force created after the printer-cartridge plot. The task force is working closely with Saudi intelligence officials and the remnants of Yemen's intelligence agencies, and it is using information gleaned from the shipboard interrogation of a Somali terrorist leader with ties to the Yemeni branch of Al Qaeda, who was captured by Navy Seal commandos in April.
The intelligence reports indicating ricin plots by Al Qaeda's Yemeni affiliate were first uncovered during reporting for a book, “Counterstrike: The Untold Story of America’s Secret Campaign Against Al Qaeda.” It will be published next week by Times Books, an imprint of Henry Holt & Company.
American officials now say that Al Qaeda’s most direct threat to the United States comes from the Yemeni affiliate. These officials have also expressed growing alarm at the way the affiliate is capitalizing on the virtual collapse of Yemen’s government to widen its area of control inside the country, and is strengthening its operational ties to the Shabab, the Islamic militancy in Somalia, to exploit the chaos in both countries.
"It continues to demonstrate its growing ambitions and strong desire to carry out attacks outside its region," Daniel Benjamin, the State Department’s counterterrorism coordinator, said in a speech last month, referring to Al Qaeda’s Yemeni branch.
The affiliate has also become a magnet for terrorists fleeing the increasing pressure from drone strikes in Pakistan, and is recruiting specialists in bomb-making and other skills. "These guys have got some notoriety," said a senior United States official who follows Al Qaeda and its affiliates closely. "They have a natural, charismatic attraction value for people who want to be jihadists and plot against the West."
"A.Q.A.P.'s senior leaders are a lot like an organization that's largely a brain that exists on its own and has to recruit its arms and legs to actually execute things," the official continued.
Largely because of the Americans in the Yemeni affiliate's top leadership, including Anwar al-Awlaki, a cleric born in New Mexico who is in hiding in Yemen, American counterterrorism and intelligence officials fear the affiliate’s innovative agility. "The fastest-learning enemy we have is A.Q.A.P.," said the senior United States official.
In recent months, as the Yemeni government has become nearly paralyzed, the Obama administration has stepped up pressure on the Qaeda affiliate there. It has escalated a campaign of airstrikes carried out by the Pentagon’s Joint Special Operations Command with the C.I.A.'s help. The C.I.A. is building a base in the region to serve as a hub for future operations in Yemen.
The Pentagon's air campaign in Yemen was renewed in May after a nearly yearlong hiatus; since then the military has carried out at least four airstrikes in the country.
Unconventional weapons The ricin plots believed to be emanating from Yemen are the latest example of terrorists' desire to obtain and deploy unconventional weapons in attacks. In 1995, the Aum Shinrikyo cult released sarin nerve gas on underground trains in Tokyo, killing 12 people and injuring more than 5,000, and nearly paralyzing one of the world's leading economies for weeks.
In 2003, British and French operatives broke up suspected Qaeda cells that possessed components and manuals for making ricin bombs and maps of the London subway system.
A ricin-dispersing bomb detonated in a major subway system or in a mall or at a major airport would not result in mass destruction on the scale of the attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, counterterrorism specialists said. But it could inflict disproportionate psychological terror on big-city transportation systems. "Is it going to kill many people? No," said Mr. Leiter, the former counterterrorism official. "Is it going to be a big news story and is it going to scare some people? Yes."
Months after the initial ricin intelligence reports surfaced last year, Saudi intelligence officials revealed a twist to the ricin plot: Qaeda operatives were trying to place the toxin in bottles of perfume, especially a popular local fragrance made of the resin of agarwood, and send those bottles as gifts to assassinate government officials and law enforcement and military officers. There is no indication that Al Qaeda ever succeeded with this approach, intelligence officials said.
This article, "Qaeda Trying to Harness Toxin for Bombs, U.S. Officials Fear," first appeared in The New York Times.

'Pakistan sheltered Osama in return for Saudi cash'

2011-08-11T00:38:00.001-07:00

Islamabad: Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden was protected by elements of Pakistan's security apparatus in return for millions of dollars of Saudi cash, an American security analyst has claimed.

Raelynn Hillhouse's version, based on evidence from sources in what she calls the "intelligence community", contradicts the official account that bin Laden was tracked down through his trusted courier, The Telegraph reports.

Hillhouse, a former professor and Fulbright fellow and also an ex-rum and jewel smuggler, cited sources that contend it was an Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) officer who came forward to claim the approximately 25-million-dollar bounty on bin Laden's head and to broker US citizenship for his family.

"My sources tell me that the informant claimed that the Saudis were paying off the Pakistani military and intelligence (ISI) to essentially shelter and keep bin Laden under house arrest in Abbottabad, a city with such a high concentration of military that I'm told there's no equivalent in the US," Hillhouse wrote on her intelligence blog.

After confirming bin Laden's presence in the military town, the US approached Pakistan's military leaders securing their co-operation in return for cash and a chance to avoid public humiliation.

Hillhouse, who is known for her links to private military contractors that work extensively with the CIA, says Pakistan gave permission for a covert mission which would then be covered up by claiming bin Laden had been killed in a drone strike.

"Things went south when the helicopter crashed. The White House freaked and the cooperating Pakistanis were thrown under the bus. Splat," she added.

The theory, if true, would explain how American black hawk helicopters were able to fly deep into Pakistani territory in May without encountering any resistance.

However, a senior Pakistani security official denied that the ISI had sheltered bin Laden.

"We don't use toilet paper - we wash," he said. "But toilet paper is all this theory is good for."

A spokesman for the US Department of Defense said: "We have no additional operational details, or comments on operational details, to make at this time."
Source: ANI

Stop slaughter: US to Assad

2011-08-02T02:19:00.001-07:00

Washington: The United States is ratcheting up its condemnation of Syrian President Bashar Assad’s violent crackdown on pro-reform protesters, calling on the regime to “stop the slaughter” of its own citizens.

President Barack Obama on Monday met with US Ambassador to Syria Robert Ford, who is in Washington for consultations.
Obama said the latest attacks on demonstrators, launched as the Muslim holy month of Ramadan began, were "outrageous." Secretary of State Hillary Rodham called on Assad "to stop the slaughter now" and urged UN Security Council action.
Earlier, Syrian forces shelled the city of Hama for a second day and fired at worshippers heading to Ramadan prayers. Violence on Sunday left 74 people dead throughout the country, 55 of them from Hama and nearby, according to rights groups.

China blames terror camps in Pak as 20 killed in Xinjiang

2011-08-01T02:24:00.000-07:00

Chinese soldiers march behind a flag near the central mosque in Kashgar in China's farwest Xinjiang region hit by a wave of violence in recent times - AFP file photo

China on Monday blamed 'extremists' trained in terror camps in Pakistan for orchestrating attacks on civilians in the troubled Xinjiang province, where 20 people, including alleged militants, were killed in violent incidents over two days.
While nine people were killed in a violent attack on Saturday, another 11, including five suspected militants, were killed in another attack last night.
A statement by the Kashgar municipal government said militants trained by the 'East Turkistan Islamic Movement' in Pakistan were responsible for the recent flare up in violence.
"A group of religious extremists led by culprits trained in overseas terrorist camps were behind the weekend attack on civilians in China's far-western Xinjiang," state run Xinhua news agency quoted the statement as saying.
"Initial probe has shown that the heads of the group had learned skills of making explosives and firearms in overseas camps of the terrorist group East Turkistan Islamic Movement (ETIM) in Pakistan before entering Xinjiang to organise terrorist activities," it said.
The Xinjiang region witnessed massive riots in 2009, when almost 200 people were killed in its capital Urumqi, following which China launched a major crackdown against Uyghur Muslim separatists.
On July 18 this year, 14 'rioters' were killed when they reportedly attacked a police station and killed four people in the province's Hotan city.
This is perhaps the first time that China has pointed fingers at its close ally Pakistan while referring to ETIM camps there.
Xinjiang shares its borders with Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (POK) and a lot of trade between China and Pakistan is routed through Kashghar as it is located close to the border.
There was panic in Kashgar city after militants attacked a restaurant last evening before setting it on fire. The incident left six civilians and five militants dead.
The attack came after nine people were killed in another incident on Saturday. While five 'suspects' were shot dead by police last night, four others were caught.
Fifteen persons, including three policemen, were injured in the attack, Xinhua reported.
The regional publicity department said in a statement that a "group of armed terrorists" broke into a restaurant in the city centre in Kashghar about 4 pm yesterday and killed the restaurant owner and a waiter besides setting fire it.
"They then ran out and hacked civilians indiscriminately, leaving four dead and 12 injured, while police and fire fighters were striving to put out the fire," it said.
Terming it a "premeditated terrorist attack", it said police opened fire and killed four suspects at the scene, while another suspect died later in hospital.
The area was cordoned off and traffic restrictions were imposed on major roads and squares.
Many people were seen fleeing in horror from the downtown area as police cars, fire engines and ambulances whizzed by to tackle the second violent incident within a day.
The attacks resembled the 2009 riots and following up incidents in which Uyghurs had attacked Chinese Han settlers in Urumqi in what police called "a severely violent terrorism case" organised and premeditated by terrorist groups.
A crackdown ensued by security forces on ETIM, which China accuses of fomenting trouble in the region, besides Uyghur leader Rebiya Kadeer, who lives in US in exile.
Sunday's attacks were also reportedly directed against Han settlers, and the attacks left the mainland Chinese scared to do business in the province.

NATO oil tankers torched in Pak

2011-08-01T02:07:00.001-07:00

Islamabad: At least 10 NATO oil tankers were torched in Pakistan's Sindh province on Monday morning, a media report said.

According to Geo News, the incident took place around 2 am, when unidentified gunmen opened fire at a NATO supply convoy on the national highway near Khairpur city.
The convoy was on its from Karachi to Peshawar when it came under attack. The oil tankers caught fire and four people, including three drivers, were seriously injured.
One hotel and three nearby shops also caught fire, police said.Six fire tenders were called in to put out the blaze.

Libya rebel general Abdel Fatah Younes killed: head of NTC

2011-07-28T22:38:00.001-07:00

the Chief of Staff to the Commander in Chief of the rebel Libyan armed forces, General Abdul Fatah Younes, gives a press briefing at the Independant Libyan Foundation office in Brussels - AFP
General Abdel Fatah Younes, a former senior official in Muammar Gaddafi's regime who defected to lead rebel forces, has been killed, the head of the rebel National Transitional Council has said.
"With all sadness, I inform you of the passing of Abdel Fatah Younes, the commander-in-chief of our rebel forces," NTC chief Mustafa Abdel Jalil said late yesterday.
"The person who carried out the assassination was captured," Abdel Jalil said without elaborating. Younes was shot and killed by an armed group while he was on his way to Benghazi after he had been called in from the front to answer questions over the military situation, Abdel Jalil said. He said there would be three days of mourning in Younes's honour.
Rumours circulated in Benghazi earlier yesterday that Younes, known as the number two in Gaddafi's regime prior to his defection in the early days of Libya's revolt, was arrested but they could not be confirmed by AFP.
Abdel Jalil said he was giving a final warning to armed groups to either join the rebel armed forces on the front or NTC security forces in the cities. Moments after the announcement, two vehicles loaded with an anti-aircraft gun and at least a dozen armed men came into the driveway of the Tibesti hotel, where the announcement had been made, an AFP reporter witnessed.
A witness said that they managed to enter the hotel with their weapons but security forces calmed them down and convinced them to leave.
"They shouted 'You killed him,'" in reference to the NTC, he added.

U.S. Spy Plane Shot Down In Iran

2011-07-20T09:48:00.000-07:00

TEHRAN, Iran -- Iran's Revolutionary Guard shot down an unmanned U.S. spy plane that was trying to gather information on an underground uranium enrichment site, a state-owned news site said Wednesday.

Lawmaker Ali Aghazadeh Dafsari said the drone was flying over the Fordo uranium enrichment site near the holy city of Qom in central Iran, the state TV-run Youth Journalists Club said.

The report did not say when the plane was shot down.
Iran is locked in a dispute with the U.S. and its allies over Tehran's disputed nuclear program, which the West believes aims to develop nuclear weapons.

Iran denies the accusations, saying its nuclear program is aimed at generating electricity and producing isotopes to treat medical patients.

Long kept secret, the Fordo site is built next to a military complex to protect it in case of attack. Iran only acknowledged Fordo's existence after Western intelligence agencies identified it in September 2009. The facility is reportedly located 295 feet (90 meters) underneath a mountain.

Iran says it is planning to install advanced centrifuges at Fordo to speed up its nuclear activities.

U.S. nuclear experts say by increasing the enrichment level and its stock of nearly 20 percent low-enriched uranium, Iran could reach a "break out" capability that would allow it to make enough weapon-grade uranium for a nuclear weapon.

Iran has claimed to shoot down U.S. spy planes in the past. Earlier this month, Iranian military officials showed Russian experts several U.S. drones they said were shot down in recent years.

Gen. Petraeus Steps Down

2011-07-18T03:50:00.001-07:00

He's off to CIA following troubling assassinations

The outgoing US and NATO led International Security Assistance Force commander in Afghanistan Gen. David Petraeus claps as he welcomes his replacement, US Gen. John Allen. (AP Photo/Musadeq Sadeq)

Gen. David Petraeus has stepped down as commander in chief in Afghanistan in preparation for taking over the CIA, leaving a bit of a mess behind. He turned the reins over to US Gen. John Allen in a Kabul ceremony the same day a top aide to Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai was shot dead in his home, and just days after Karzai's younger brother was killed in his house by a family bodyguard, notes the BBC.

Petraeus espressed a "profound and lasting" gratitude to Afghan and coalition forces.

"You have shown enemies of Afghanistan that you are willing and able to resist a campaign of violence and intimidation," he added in remarks aimed at the Afghanistan people. Allen, who made a reputation in Iraq forging alliances with Sunni leaders, warned of "tough times" ahead.

"I have no illusions about the challenges we will face," he added.

Brazil to build nuclear submarines which will dramatically alter balance of power in South America

2011-07-18T01:46:00.000-07:00

The Brazilian government has started work on a submarine programme which will include the construction of South America's first nuclear subs.
The move will boost Brazil's claim to be the strongest force in the region, and strengthen the country's military assertiveness.
This new-found power may harm Britain in the event of another flare-up over the Falklands, according to U.S. news agency Global Post, as Brazil thinks the islands should belong to Argentina.

Sub: Brazil plans to build its first nuclear submarine in the next few years
The defence plan was announced in 2008, and will eventually involve the construction of five new submarines. Each will cost around $565 million.
The first, being built in collaboration with a French contractor, is due to come into service in 2016.
By the time the programme is complete, Brazil will have four extra conventional submarines as well as a nuclear-powered model. It would be only the seventh country in the world to build a nuclear sub.

'A necessity': Former president Lula says the country needs new subs to protect its oilfields
Former president Luiz Inacio 'Lula' da Silva, who commissioned the programme, described the submarines as 'a necessity'.
Government officials claim that the subs will be used to protect the country's offshore oil reserves, and the exploration platforms which are intended to expand those reserves.
However, Brazil is an outspoken advocate of Argentina's right to claim the Falkland Islands - or Las Malvinas, as they are known in South America.
Tensions over the islands have risen in recent years as oil has been discovered close to the shore, making the tiny outcrop not only crucial to Argentinian national pride but also financially lucrative.
If the disagreement develops into military action, as it did in 1982, Brazil's new submarines would significantly reinforce the position of Argentina's closest ally.

Karzai advisor, lawmaker shot dead in Kabul

2011-07-18T01:10:00.001-07:00

Kabul: Jan Mohammad Khan, an advisor to Afghan President Hamid Karzai and a former provincial governor, was shot dead along with a visiting lawmaker during a raid on his home here by gunmen, Xinhua reported.

The attack occurred around 8.00 p.m. Sunday. MP Hashim Watanwal who was visiting Khan's home in Kabul's kartai Char area was also killed, an official said requesting anonymity.

One of the attackers died in the firefight between his guards and the militants. A police officer was injured.

Witnesses said there were two or three attackers. Afghan and NATO-led troops cordoned off the area.

Zabiullah Mujahid, purported Taliban spokesman, said in an email statement to the media that his group carried out the attack. He said Khan was killed as he was helping the coalition forces in carrying out raids against the group.

Khan, a member of Popolzai Pashtun tribe, was governor of southern Uruzgan province from January 2002 to March 2006.

Khan's killing comes less than a week after Karzai's half-brother Ahmed Wali Karzai was assassinated by Taliban militants at his home in Kandhar last Tuesday.

Taking down terrorists

2011-07-16T09:38:00.001-07:00

Via PajamaPundit.

Ilyas Kashmiri is alive: Report

2011-07-16T00:16:00.000-07:00

Islamabad: Mohammad Ilyas Kashmiri, the Al Qaeda commander who was believed to have been killed last month in a US drone attack in Pakistan, is alive, a media report said Saturday.

Kashmiri is still active in the border areas of Pakistan and Afghanistan, Dawn said on its website quoting unnamed sources.

Media reports had earlier said that Kashmiri was killed in a US drone attack in Pakistan's South Waziristan tribal region.
The US and the Pakistani government however could not confirm his death.

Anti-terrorism experts describe Kashmiri as one of Al Qaeda's main commanders. He was held responsible for a number of attacks in Pakistan, including the May 22 attack on a navy airbase in Karachi and the 2009 attack on the army headquarters in Rawalpindi.
The US believe that Kashmiri, who is also a member of the terror group Harkat-ul Jihad al Islami (HuJI), was behind the March 2006 suicide bombing of the US consulate in Karachi that killed four people and wounded 48 others.

The US State Department designated him as a "global terrorist".

Pentagon to treat cyberspace as 'operational domain'

2011-07-15T00:10:00.001-07:00

Washington: The US Defence Department unveiled a new strategy for protecting military computer networks from hackers on Thursday, designating cyberspace as an "operational domain" US forces will be trained to defend.
US Deputy Defence Secretary William Lynn said the Pentagon wanted to avoid militarising cyberspace, but aimed to secure strategic networks with the threat of retaliation, as well as by mounting a more robust defence.
"Our strategy's overriding emphasis is on denying the benefit of an attack," Lynn said in a speech at the National Defence University. "If an attack will not have its intended effect, those who wish us harm will have less reason to target us through cyberspace in the first place."

Identifying intruders and responding to serious cyber attacks are part of the strategy, he said. But the military now focuses its strongest deterrent on other nation states, not transnational groups.
"Terrorist groups and rogue states must be considered separately," Lynn said.
"They have few or no assets to hold at risk and a greater willingness to provoke. They are thus harder to deter. If a terrorist group gains disruptive or destructive cyber tools, we have to assume they will strike with little hesitation."
Lynn said currently the most sophisticated attacks come from other nations. Nation states are the most sophisticated intruders at this point but can be deterred by the threat of military power, he said, whereas transnationational groups have less fear of military retaliation.
"There will eventually be a marriage of capability and intent, where those who mean us harm will gain the ability to launch damaging cyber attacks," Lynn said. "We need to develop stronger defences before this occurs."
Protecting its systems has become increasingly critical and complicated for the Pentagon. Defence Department employees operate more than 15,000 computer networks and 7 million computers at hundreds of installations around the world. Defence Department networks are probed millions of times a day and penetrations have caused the loss of thousands of files.
$1 TRILLION IN ECONOMIC LOSSES
Lynn said in one intrusion in March, 24,000 files at a defence company were accessed, and over the past decade terabytes of data have been taken from military and defence company computers by foreign intruders.
He said a recent estimate pegged economic losses from cybertheft of intellectual property, loss of competitiveness and damage to defence industries at over $1 trillion.
The cybersecurity strategy calls for the Pentagon to treat cyberspace as an "operational domain" - like air, land and sea - where the military must organise, train and equip to take advantage of its full capabilities.
Lynn said as part of its active defences, the Pentagon would introduce new operating concepts and capabilities on its networks, such as sensors, software and signatures to detect and stop malicious code before it affects US operations.
General James Cartwright, vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said the Pentagon must shift its thinking on cybersecurity from focusing 90 per cent of its energy on building better firewalls and only 10 per cent on preventing hackers from attacking US systems.
"If your approach to the business is purely defensive in nature, that's the Maginot line approach," he said, referring to the French fixed defensive fortifications that were circumvented by the Nazis at the outset of World War Two.
"If it's OK to attack me and I'm not going to do anything other than improve my defences every time you attack me, it's very difficult to come up with a deterrent strategy," he said.
Cartwright said most viruses are only a couple hundred lines of computer code, but the patches to fix the holes they exploit can run into millions of lines of code.
"Every time somebody spends a couple hundred dollars to build a virus, we've got to spend millions. So we're on the wrong side of that. We've got to change that around," he said.
He said part of the answer was in building up the military's offensive response capabilities.
"How do you build something that convinces a hacker that doing this is going to be costing them and if he's going to do it, he better be willing to pay the price and the price is going to escalate, rather than his price stays the same and ours escalates," Cartwright said.
"We've got to change the calculus."

Rebels-in-waiting: The children as young as SEVEN being trained to fight on the front lines against Gaddafi

2011-07-13T05:27:00.000-07:00

With smiles on their faces, these young boys could be playing soldiers with their friends.
But the youngsters are in fact helping rebel fighters in Libya to overcome Colonel Gaddafi's troops as the bitter civil war rumbles on.
Boys as young as seven have been pictured carrying automatic weapons and cleaning rifles in Misrata as rebel forces battle loyalist troops in the outskirts of Zlitan.

Crossfire: Boys help rebel fighters carry automatic weapons in Misrata, Libya, after a gun battle with Gaddafi troops

Defiance: The boys, some as young as seven, are being taught to clean and operate firearms as the civil war rumbles on in Libya
Although they do not appear to have been involved on the front line, the boys are clearly being trained to operate the weapons.
Since the uprising broke out in February, armed rebels have seized control of much of Libya's east - where they set up an administration in Benghazi.
They also control the coastal city of Misrata and much of the Nafusa mountain range south-west of the capital Tripoli.
After a string of victories in recent months, rebel forces have expanded the area under their control in the mountains.

Death dealing: This boy concentrates as he cleans the breach of a rifle

Training: The boys strip and clean the guns in a base in Misrata

Lost innocence: Misrata has seen some of the worst fighting during the five months of conflict, with heavy shelling by Gaddafi troops
Rebel fighters have also begun constructing makeshift weapons to take on the better-equipped loyalist troops.
Heavy weapons are in short supply in Misrata, but ingenius fighters have created workshops where impromptu missile launchers and machine guns are being welded from spare parts.
Sadiq Mubakar Krain, a former oil company foreman, is busy welding some of the weapons using scavenged equipment.
Pointing to a 16-tube rocket launcher, he said: 'This is the first time I make one of these.
'I have learned to make other things and to weld, so God willing, I have got this one right.'

Battle: A Libyan boy gives a victory sign after a firefight near Zlitan

Conflict: The Libyan government has trained up women and re-enlisted retired army personnel to battle rebel fighters

Chop shop: A rebel mechanic welds a weapon shield to a pick-up truck in a Misrata workshop

Heavy weapons: This machine gun has been welded on to the back of a pick-up truck as rebels attempt to oust Colonel Gaddafi
The workshop is busy manufacturing new housings for heavy machine guns and anti-aircraft guns that will be mounted on the back of pickup trucks.
Nato air raids on military targets have decreased, leaving rebel forces with a lack of firepower to combat the better-equipped Gaddafi troops.
It comes after the Human Rights Watch condemned rebels for looting shops, homes and medical facilities in towns seized in the western mountains.
Homes belonging to Gaddafi supporters are also believed to have been torched.
A report by the New-York based group called on rebel commanders to hold their forces responsible for damaging civilian property.
Joe Stork, deputy director for the Middle East and North Africa in the group, said: 'Opposition forces have an obligation to protect civilians and their property in the areas they control so people feel they can return home safely and rebuild their lives.'

Repairs: Mechanics work on an anti-aircraft gun before installing it on a pick-up truck in Misrata

Makeshift: A puff of smoke rises after a test fire of a vehicle-mounted missile launcher

Al Qaeda manual tells terrorists to pretend to be gay to avoid female spies

2011-07-04T03:50:00.000-07:00

Place: London

Al-Qaeda fanatics in Britain were told to lie about their sexuality in an attempt to avoid women who may be spies, it has emerged

According to Mirror.co.uk, a new terror-training manual told Islamic extremists to pretend to be gay if a woman approaches them in case she is a "honeytrap" spy sent by security services.

"Many hotels - especially in busy UK cities - have women hanging around the lobby areas in order to attract men," said the manual.

"A young beautiful woman may come and talk to you. The first thing you do to protect yourself from such a situation is to make dua (prayers) to Allah for steadfastness," it said.

"The second thing is to find an excuse to get away from her that is realistic and sensible, such as you having a girlfriend for the past few years and you are loyal to her or you are homosexual," it added.

The 64-page guide in English was written to try to stop the police and MI5 from uncovering the identity of terrorists plotting attacks on British soil, the report said.

It was produced by Taliban warlords in Afghanistan and was discovered by Mirror investigators on a Jihadist website used by UK cells.

It has emerged just months after MI5 launched a recruitment drive for women to work as spies.

The guide was placed online after Osama Bin Laden was killed, suggesting Al Qaeda and Taliban leaders are determined to launch revenge attacks on the UK.

NATO helicopters end Kabul hotel siege, 7 dead

2011-06-29T02:31:00.001-07:00

Kabul: NATO helicopters fired rockets at gunmen on the rooftop of a besieged Kabul hotel early on Wednesday, ending a more than four-hour standoff between militants and police that left at least seven dead and eight others wounded, Afghan officials said.
Interior Ministry spokesman Sediq Sediqqi said six suicide bombers attacked the Inter-Continental hotel frequented by Afghan officials and foreign visitors. He said two were killed by hotel guards at the beginning of the attack and four others either blew themselves up or were killed in the airstrike or by Afghan security forces.
The Taliban claimed responsibility for the rare, nighttime attack in the capital - an apparent attempt to show that they remain potent despite heavy pressure from coalition and Afghan security forces.

The attackers were heavily armed with machine guns, anti-aircraft weapons, rocket-propelled grenades, hand grenades and grenade launchers, the Afghan officials said. Afghan police rushed to the scene and firefights broke out. They battled for hours with gunmen who took up positions on the roof.
Some Afghan provincial officials were among the 60 to 70 guests staying at the hotel.
Abdul Zahir Faizada, who is head of the local council in Herat province in western Afghanistan, was staying at the hotel. He planned to attend a conference in Kabul on Wednesday to discuss plans for Afghan security forces to take the lead for securing an increasing number of areas of the country between now and 2014 when international forces are expected to move out of combat roles. Afghans across the country were in the city to attend.
"We were locked in a room. Everybody was shooting and firing," said Faizada who was staying at the hotel with the mayor of Herat city and other officials from the province. "I heard a lot of shooting."
Deputy police chief in Kabul, Daoud Amin, said seven people died in the attack and eight other people - two policemen and six civilians - were wounded. The attackers are not counted in that death toll.
Nazar Ali Wahedi, chief of intelligence for Helmand province in the south, called the assailants "the enemy of stability and peace" in Afghanistan.
Wahedi, too, was in town to attend Wednesday's transition conference, which was being held at a government building in the capital.
"Our room was hit by several bullets," Wahedi said. "We spent the whole night in our room."
The attack began around 10:30 pm local time on Tuesday and ended around 3 am on Wednesday.
US Army Maj. Jason Waggoner, a spokesman for the US-led coalition fighting in Afghanistan, said the helicopters fired on the roof where militants had taken up positions. He said they killed three gunmen and that Afghan security forces clearing the hotel worked their way up to the roof and engaged the remaining insurgents.
As the helicopters attacked and Afghan security forces moved in, four massive explosions rocked the hotel. Officials at the scene said the blasts occurred when security forces either fired on suicide bombers or they blew themselves up.
After the gunmen were killed, the hotel lights that had been blacked out during the attack came back on. Afghan security vehicles and ambulances were removing the dead and wounded from the area.
Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid quickly claimed responsibility for the attack in a telephone call to the AP, then later issued a statement claiming that Taliban attackers killed guards at a gate and entered the hotel.
"One of our fighters called on a mobile phone and said: 'We have gotten onto all the hotel floors and the attack is going according to the plan. We have killed and wounded 50 foreign and local enemies. We are in the corridors of the hotel now taking guests out of their rooms - mostly foreigners. We broke down the doors and took them out one by one.'"
The Taliban often exaggerate casualties from their attacks. The statement did not disclose the number of attackers, but only said one suicide bomber had died.
A few hours into the clashes, an Afghan National Army commando unit arrived at the scene.
Initially, the US-led military coalition said the Afghan Ministry of Interior had not requested any assistance from foreign forces. But later, the NATO helicopters arrived on the scene at the hotel on a hill overlooking the capital.
Guests inside the hotel said they heard gunfire echoing throughout the heavily guarded building.
Jawid, a guest at the hotel, said he jumped out a one-story window to flee the shooting.
"I was running with my family," he said. "There was shooting. The restaurant was full with guests."
The attack occurred nearly a week after President Barack Obama announced he was withdrawing 33,000 US troops from Afghanistan and would end the American combat role by the end of 2014.
Before the attack began on Tuesday, officials from the US, Pakistan and Afghanistan met in the capital to discuss prospects for making peace with Taliban insurgents to end the nearly decade-long war.
"The fact that we are discussing reconciliation in great detail is success and progress, but challenges remain and we are reminded of that on an almost daily basis by violence," Jawed Ludin, Afghanistan's deputy foreign minister, said at a news conference. "The important thing is that we act and that we act urgently and try to do what we can to put an end to violence."
The Inter-Continental - known widely as the "Inter-Con" - opened in the late 1960s, and was the nation's first international luxury hotel. It has at least 200 rooms and was once part of an international chain. But when the Soviets invaded Afghanistan in 1979, the hotel was left to fend for itself.
It was used by Western journalists during the US-led invasion of Afghanistan in 2001.
On Nov. 23, 2003, a rocket exploded nearby, shattering windows but causing no casualties.
Twenty-two rockets hit the Inter-Con between 1992 and 1996, when factional fighting convulsed Kabul under the government of Burhanuddin Rabbani. All the windows were broken, water mains were damaged and the outside structure pockmarked. Some, but not all, of the damage was repaired during Taliban rule.
Attacks in the Afghan capital have been relatively rare, although violence has increased since the May 2 killing of Osama bin Laden in a US raid in Pakistan and the start of the Taliban's annual spring offensive.
On June 18, insurgents wearing Afghan army uniforms stormed a police station near the presidential palace and opened fire on officers, killing nine.
Late last month, a suicide bomber wearing an Afghan police uniform infiltrated the main Afghan military hospital, killing six medical students. A month before that, a suicide attacker in an army uniform sneaked past security at the Afghan Defense Ministry, killing three people.
Other hotels in the capital have also been targeted.
In January 2008, militants stormed Kabul's most popular luxury hotel, the Serena, hunting down Westerners who cowered in a gym during a coordinated assault that killed eight people. An American, a Norwegian journalist and a Philippine woman were among the dead.
A suicide car bomber in December 2009, struck near the home of a former Afghan vice president and a hotel frequented by Westerners, killing eight people and wounding nearly 40 in a neighborhood considered one of Kabul's safest.
And in February 2010, insurgents struck two residential hotels in the heart of Kabul, killing 20 people including seven Indians, a French filmmaker and an Italian diplomat.

Fears of world war in Asia

2011-06-28T09:34:00.000-07:00

South China Sea disputes could lead to war in Asia - report

June 28, 2011

Missile destroyer USS Chung Hoon arrives in Puerto Princesa before the US-Philippine joint naval military exercise entitled 'Cooperation Afloat Readiness Training' (CARAT) near the disputed Spratly islands, in Puerto Princesa on the western Philippine island of Palawan. The Philippines and the United States will launch naval exercises as the long-time allies seek to deepen defence ties amid tensions with China over a maritime dispute - Reuters
Risks are growing that incidents at sea involving China could lead to war in Asia, potentially drawing in the United States and other powers, an Australian think tank warned on Tuesday.
The Lowy Institute said in a report that the Chinese military's risk-taking behaviour in the South and East China Seas, along with the country's resource needs and greater assertiveness, had raised the chances of an armed conflict.
"The sea lanes of Indo-Pacific Asia are becoming more crowded, contested and vulnerable to armed strife. Naval and air forces are being strengthened amid shifting balances of economic strategic weight," report authors Rory Medcalf and Raoul Heinrichs wrote.
"China's frictions with the United States, Japan and India are likely to persist and intensify. As the number and tempo of incidents increases, so does the likelihood that an episode will escalate to armed confrontation, diplomatic crisis or possibly even conflict," they said.
The study on major powers and maritime security in Indo-Pacific Asia was published as China prepares to unveil its first aircraft carrier, perhaps this week, a development that has added to worries in the region about China's military expansion and reach.
This month, China sent its biggest civilian patrol ship to the South China Sea. That rattled the Philippines, which makes competing claims to some waters thought to hold vast oil and gas reserves.
On Monday, the U.S. Senate passed a resolution that deplored China's use of force against Vietnamese and Philippine ships in the South China Sea.
Senator Jim Webb, chair of an east Asian and Pacific affairs subcommittee of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said 'a growing number of nations around the South China Sea are now voicing serious concerns about China's pattern of intimidation'.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei, speaking at a regular news briefing in Beijing, said the U.S. resolution 'did not hold water' and that countries not directly involved in the dispute should not interfere.
"Countries not involved should respect the hard work of countries actually involved to peacefully resolve the dispute bilaterally through dialogue," Hong said.
Danger zone
Ian Storey, an expert on maritime security in Asia, said the report was a 'balanced and credible assessment' of the risks of a clash in the South China Sea as 'competition over territorial claims, maritime boundaries and natural resources heats up, and as China adopts more aggressive tactics'.
"The complete absence of confidence-building measures and conflict prevention mechanisms between the various claimants suggests that it is only a question of time before an incident at sea escalates into a more serious confrontation, with worrying implications for regional stability," said Storey, a security analyst at the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies in Singapore.
Medcalf and Heinrichs said more maritime patrols and intrusive surveillance, nationalism and resources disputes would together make it harder to manage arguments over maritime sovereignty.
"All of these factors are making Asia a danger zone for incidents at sea: close-range encounters involving vessels and aircraft from competing powers, typically in sensitive or contested zones," the authors said.
The report detailed tension between Beijing and Tokyo, which stemmed from an April 2010 Chinese naval exercise near the Japanese islands of Okinawa and were exacerbated by Japan's arrest of a Chinese fisherman whose trawler had rammed a coastguard vessel.
Those incidents provoked a diplomatic crisis during which China cut its exports of crucial rare earth minerals to Japan, the United States' closest ally in the region.
Despite initial signs of warmer bilateral ties following the March tsunami and nuclear crisis in Japan, a long-running dispute over a chain of isles which are close to potentially significant oil and gas reserves simmers.
"Helicopter buzzing incidents have continued, with Japan deploring as especially insensitive an instance that occurred in the weeks following the March disaster," the authors said.
They said Beijing has caused concern in Southeast Asia over its 'core interest' claim on the South China Sea and in Australia about its possible future security behaviour, while the emergence of competition between India and China at sea is 'only a matter of time'.
New efforts were needed to build regional confidence and to involve China in a continued military dialogue with the United States and Japan, they said.
They also said maritime security hotlines were needed between the United States and China, and Japan and China, to allow real-time responses to any incidents.

Kids as suicide bombers matter of concern: Pakistani daily

2011-06-28T07:01:00.001-07:00

Islamabad: Children being used as suicide bombers was a matter of "deep concern", a leading Pakistani daily said Tuesday and warned that women and children being used as tools posed a tough new challenge for security forces.

An editorial in the Dawn Tuesday said recent incidents in Pakistan and Afghanistan suggest that militants "may increasingly be resorting to using women and children in suicide attacks".
An eight-year-old girl was killed in Afghanistan Sunday when a bag she was given by Taliban militants exploded. And in Pakistan, a nine-year-old girl raised an alarm when she was strapped with an explosive vest and was being forced to carry out a suicide bombing.
The newspaper said a woman was one of two suicide bombers who carried out an attack against a police station in Dera Ismail Khan Saturday.
"The use of female suicide bombers is not new; it has been employed by various groups for several decades, including militias in Lebanon, Chechen militants in Russia, Palestinian fighters, the Tamil Tigers and Kurdish separatists in Turkey.

"It is, however, a relatively new development in this region. And the apparent willingness to use children as suicide bombers is, of course, cause for deep concern."
The editorial said that terrorists were using women and children as they were desperate to try new methods.
"Stopping a suicide bomber is a near-impossible task as it is; the fact that women and children are being used as tools poses a tough new challenge for security forces. The only way to check this evil trend is to track down and dismantle the networks that plan and execute suicide bombings.
"It is especially vital that children be saved from being exploited in this heinous manner," it added.
Source: IANS

Hezbollah members confess to spying for CIA: Nasrallah

2011-06-24T20:51:00.000-07:00

An image grab taken from Lebanon's Hezbollah-run Manar TV shows Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah delivering a televised speech at an undisclosed location in Lebanon – AFP
Two Hezbollah members have confessed to working for the US Central Intelligence Agency and a third is still under interrogation, the militant group's leader Hassan Nasrallah said on Friday.
"When the Israeli enemy failed to infiltrate Hezbollah, it turned to the most powerful intelligence agency," Nasrallah said in a closed-circuit television speech broadcast in Lebanon, referring to the CIA.
"Our investigation has found that... intelligence officers (in the CIA) have recruited two of our members separately, whom we shall not name out of respect for the privacy of their families," he added.
Nasrallah also said the group was investigating whether a third member of the party had been recruited by the CIA, Israel's Mossad or the intelligence service of a European country.
The United States blacklists Hezbollah, arguably the most powerful armed force in the Arab world, as a terrorist organisation.
The Syrian- and Iranian-backed Shiite movement last fought a deadly war with its arch-enemy Israel in 2006.

US missile strike kills three in Pakistan: officials

2011-06-20T02:33:00.001-07:00

Representative image - Reuters
A US missile strike destroyed a vehicle in Pakistan's lawless tribal district of Kurram on Monday, killing three militants near the border with Afghanistan, security officials said.
US drone strikes routinely target Taliban and Al-Qaeda militants holed up in Pakistan's tribal belt, but the operations are normally concentrated on insurgent strongholds in Waziristan, rather than Kurram.
Monday's strike targeted a vehicle travelling through the Kharh Dhand area of Kurram, which borders Afghanistan's eastern province of Paktia. Local officials said it was only the third US drone strike reported in Kurram.
"The American drone fired two missiles. Three militants were killed and the vehicle was completely destroyed," a Pakistani security official said on condition of anonymity.

The most ill-conceived weapons ever built

2011-06-19T02:26:00.000-07:00

Thousands of new weapons are designed every year, and chances are most of them are profoundly stupid. That's OK, though, because there are people whose entire job is to make sure the ridiculous weapons don't get built. However, every once in a while someone manages to sneak one past the reality checkers, and right onto the production line. Weapons such as ...
#6.
The Bob Semple Tank
armor.kiev.ua
Back in World War II, New Zealand and Australia found themselves in an awkward position: They were technically part of the British Empire -- which meant they were at war with Japan. But they were also far enough away from England that the British couldn't afford to send them any tanks. With the Japanese advancing and conquering island after island across the Pacific, New Zealand decided to take matters into its own hands and build its own damn tanks. Thus, the Bob Semple tank was born.
Via Wikipedia Commons
We've seen more menacing Micro Machines.
Besides having the least-threatening name ever bestowed upon a tank, the Bob Semple barely qualified as one. It was little more than a farm tractor -- and due to several design flaws, it was about as useful as one in a war zone.
The designers based it on an American tractor tank, but the problem was that they had no blueprints, no building materials outside those found in a farm and no idea what the hell they were doing. They literally designed the Bob Semple by looking at a postcard of the original tank. By that logic, half of us should be able to reconstruct the Eiffel Tower.
Via National Library of New Zealand
Also, apparently some of the workers were under the impression that they were building a small house.
The tank was made by placing an armored box on top of a tractor -- and by "armored" we mean "made from roofing material." Supposedly, the corrugated surface would deflect bullets by virtue of its curviness. Since they also lacked artillery in any numbers, they outfitted the Bob Semple with as many machine guns as it could hold. Six to be exact.
Unfortunately, that last part meant having to cram at least six people into that piece of junk. One of the machine gunners had to lie on a mattress in the belly of the tank, right on top of the burning hot engine. The other five had to stand on the first one's back, presumably. And then they needed someone else to drive the damn thing. According to Wikipedia, the total crew consisted of eight people.
Via armor.kiev.ua
In other words, New Zealand had all the military acumen of Hobbiton.
The Bob Semple was also extremely top heavy and slow -- it couldn't even change gears without coming to a full stop. Also, the vibrations from the tractor rumbling down the grassy plain caused the machine guns to jam, and when someone managed to squeeze off some shots, they tended to be horribly inaccurate. Though it made up for all that by looking ridiculous.
The New Zealand Army rejected the Bob Semple tank for use in their forces, and the units that had already been built were dismantled ... but not before they were paraded in the streets of New Zealand as a way to boost morale.
Via armor.kiev.ua
The Japanese canceled the invasion when they realized that the island had already been taken by their oldest, and dearest ally: ridiculous robots.
#5.
The "Sticky" Grenade
millsgrenades.co.uk
This won't be our last stop in World War II on this list; that war may not have been a great time for a lot of people, but it was fantastic time for crazy weapons. With the Nazis breathing down Great Britain's neck, the British army faced a shortage of anti-tank guns. So, some creative improvisation was called for. One of the solutions for this problem was the Anti-Tank Hand Grenade #74, commonly known as "the sticky grenade."

AKA "Satan's Maraca."
While most insane weapons at least have a good idea behind them, the sticky grenade was crazy in both theory and practice. The most impressive thing about it was that it managed to get produced without anyone noticing how ridiculous it was.
The very idea of a sticky grenade sounds like something you'd find in a Wile E. Coyote cartoon: They called it "sticky" because it was literally covered in a powerful adhesive, and then encased in a metal ball that would fall apart after removing a pin. It also had a handle which, when released, would activate a five-second fuse. The way it worked is that a soldier had to sneak up on an enemy tank, stick the grenade to it, release the handle and run like hell before it exploded.
Mills Grenades
"OK, so, first you release the handle, THEN you-" -- the last words of several British soldiers
So basically, in order for it to work, the sticky grenade required a soldier to expose himself to enemy fire, run up to a tank while wielding a wad of explosive chewing gum and hope it sticks to the damn thing -- which it wouldn't if the tank was dusty or muddy. One thing it loved to stick to, however, was the soldier's uniforms. Like in this real story from British Home Guard member Bill Miles:
"It was while practicing that a Home Guard bomber got his sticky bomb stuck to his trouser leg and couldn't shift it. A quick thinking mate whipped the trousers off and got rid of them and the bomb. After the following explosion, the trousers were in a bit of a mess -- though I think they were a bit of a mess prior to the explosion."
Via Dad's Home Guard
"He pooped himself, is what I'm trying to say."
The sticky grenade was originally rejected for use by the Army, but personal intervention by Winston Churchill himself put them into production (because apparently he hated soldiers). They were mostly used by the Home Guard and the French Resistance, but they also found their way into the hands of British soldiers in North Africa, where they claimed a grand total of six German tanks and an undisclosed number of British trousers.
#4.
The 18th Century Machine Gun (was Racist)
Navy Department Library
In 1718 Britain, a guy named James Puckle patented the world's first rapid fire weapon: the Defense Gun, also known as the Puckle Gun. Resembling a giant revolver on a tripod, this gun claimed to be able to fire 63 shots in seven minutes (which in modern mathematics is known as "nine shots a minute"). That may not seem like much, but when you consider that the most skilled musketeers at the time could only fire three shots a minute, it was a vast improvement.

"Kills three times as many Frenchmen!"
The official reason why the Puckle Gun never caught on with the British Army is that it had way too many cylinders -- like three or four. Clearly this was more cylinders than British gunsmiths could keep track of.

"We're soldiers, blast it, not wizards!"
And the reason why the Puckle Gun had so many cylinders, by the way, was its blatant racism. Wait, what?
You see, included in the patent for the gun was the concept of interchangeable cylinders: one shot regular musket balls meant for "civilized" people, and the other shot square bullets at Muslim Turks. Why? According to the patent, the square bullets hurt more and were meant to teach the Turks the "benefits of Christian civilization."

"A square hole in my chest! This completely changes my attitude on religion!"
There were several reasons why this was a bad idea: First of all, there's no way to test whether a square bullet hurts more than a round bullet without actually shooting one at a volunteer, and that would require finding someone who was willing to convert to Islam beforehand. Secondly, the unnecessary number of extra parts made the gun harder to manufacture, which is why it was never mass produced.
Also, this was pretty impractical for the shooters as well, since they had to make sure to change the cylinder depending on the religious convictions of the enemy in front of them -- lest they accidentally condemn a Christian to eternal damnation by killing him with a bullet meant for a Turk. The Puckle Gun was primarily intended for shipboard use -- but what if the ship should ran into a gang of multi-ethnic pirates? What then, Mr. Puckle?
#3
The Ridiculous FP45 Liberator
Rama
The French Resistance is one of the most famous guerilla organizations in history, and the one thing keeping the French from looking totally incompetent during the biggest war the world has ever known. The United States really wanted to help them out, but they also wanted to not spend a lot of money doing it. Thus, the FP45 Liberator was born: a weapon specifically designed to be low in cost and easy to mass produce.

The average cap gun today has a higher build quality.
The Liberator was also seemingly designed to suck balls.
First of all, the gun had an effective range of about 25 feet, which coincidentally is about as far as you could throw it. The idea behind it was that a resistance fighter could use it to sneak up on an unsuspecting Nazi, shoot him at close range and then steal a weapon that didn't completely suck.
Getty
If all the Nazi was carrying was a corkscrew and some lint, you were still trading up.
However, if you missed that first shot then you were completely fucked, because the Liberator was a single-shot gun. In order to reload it, you needed to force a wooden dowel down the barrel of the gun and retrieve the spent shell casing, which is never something easy to accomplish when there's a pissed off German coming directly at you.
To top it all off, the gun was shipped in a cardboard box with a comic strip instruction manual:
Via Genitron.com
And a little sign saying "Ages 4 and Up."
It's like they took some cheap toy guns from the dollar store and retrofitted them to fire live ammo. Despite all the obvious shortcomings, the U.S. government actually produced a million of these guns with plans to secretly drop them all over occupied Europe. Historians claim that only a few were actually used by resistance fighters, probably because it was very hard to carry one of these things without feeling like someone at the other side of the Atlantic was laughing at you.
Getty
"Hahahahahahahahaha, oh shit, hahahaha"
#2.
Canada's Useless World War I Rifle

It turns out a lot of the world's most inept weapons are a direct result of England being a jerk to its colonies. When Great Britain told Canada to provide troops for the war effort back in World War I, Canada happily obliged. When the Canadians asked the British for weapons to equip themselves with, however, they were told to bugger off. So, with no other choice, they sent their forces into battle equipped with a gun 100 percent made in the land of the maple leaf: the Ross Rifle.
Via Vaarok
The hollow stock holds a small, emergency supply of poutine.
The Ross Rifle was a fine, reliable weapon ... as long as it didn't get dirty or wet. Then, because of various design flaws, it turned into a useless piece of shit and a serious threat to the life of the person who fired it.

"We're proud of you! But we still buy our weapons from the lowest bidder."
Like many weapons of the day, the Ross Rifle didn't handle dirt and grime in its inner workings very well. Unfortunately for the Canadian troops, wars tend to be fought in rather messy places, which meant that their rifles were constantly jamming and misfiring. Cleaning the rifle required the soldier to completely dismantle the mechanism -- which sucked for them, because the parts were extremely difficult to take apart, even more difficult to put back together and remarkably easy to break. For instance, when the rifle was fired, the bayonet on the end would often go with the bullet, falling right the fuck off.

If that soldier had been using a Ross, the bayonet would have ended up in his foot.
And that's not even the most dangerous thing about the Ross Rifle: it could also end up shooting the soldier in the face (the wrong one, that is). You see, when the gun was dissembled for routine cleaning, it could be put back together so that the bolt would fail to lock, but a round could still be fired from it. This horrifying design flaw could result in the bolt flying out the back of the barrel at about the same speed as the bullet.
Via Service Publications
And you can see how this could be a problem.
In the end, most of the Canadian troops ended up dumping their useless rifles in the battlefield and scavenging the weapons of dead British soldiers. The Ross was still favored by snipers, though, since under good conditions they were very accurate -- and also because snipers have a death wish, anyway.

The only job sexier than "sniper" is "astronaut sniper."
#1.
The Gun Shield
The Walters Museum
In the mid 1500s, Italian gunsmith Giovanni Battista believed he finally answered the question men had been asking themselves since the invention of guns: "How can I shoot the bastard in front of me without giving him a chance to shoot me back?" In 1544, Battista displayed his fantastic invention to King Henry VIII, who was so impressed that he immediately ordered 100 of them for use by his personal bodyguards.
The fantastic invention? A shield with a pistol sticking out of it
Via Royal Armouries, The Independent
Needs more barrels.
On one hand, the obvious advantage of shaping your gun like a shield is that it offers you the same protection as one. On the other hand, shields are also heavy as fuck. They have to be in order to accommodate all that armor that's keeping you from being dismembered. That's one thing they never tell you in the movies, probably because they can't risk giving Brad Pitt a hernia with a realistic prop.

Most of the weight in that fake shield comes from the little motor massaging Pitt's back.
So it's pretty hard to aim a pistol when you're holding up a 30-pound shield, especially when that pistol is the shield. The Gun Shield proved to be impossible to aim unless it was set down on a hard surface ... defeating its whole purpose. Also, all guns back in those days were muzzle-loaded. Once you blew your load, how are you even supposed reload the thing without exposing yourself? The logical solution was to carry an additional shield for those occasions -- and if it came equipped with some sort of gun, even better.
Via Higgins Armory
Behold the Gun Shield ... Shield.
Despite the King's enthusiasm, the Gun Shield was never a hit -- perhaps because it relied way too much on your opponent walking in a straight line as you shot him and agreeing to give you arbitrary time outs.

Hunt for bin Laden's Body Is Futile

2011-06-19T01:45:00.000-07:00

Bill Warren will almost certainly return empty-handed

A Pakistani soldier and policeman stand in a cordoned-off street as they look at the final hideout of Osama bin Laden. (Getty Images)

Treasure-hunter Bill Warren has caused a stir with his plan to find Osama bin Laden’s remains in the Arabian Sea. But as Brian Palmer explains in Slate, Warren has almost no shot of succeeding.

For one thing, he is trying to find treasure without a map. Unless he’s got an inside scoop as to where bin Laden’s remains were deposited, they’ll be near impossible to find in the vastness of the Arabian Sea. "Legitimate treasure hunters start an active search only after months, and often years, of exhaustive research."

Warren also plans to use sonar, would be great for finding a hard object like a treasure chest, but not so much for a soft body on the sea floor. Another obvious obstacle is time. After a month’s dip in the salty ocean, would we even recognize the body? If bin Laden landed in just the right spot with low temperatures and few scavengers, it's possible little decay has begun.

On the other hand, "it's equally possible that bin Laden has already been reduced to bones."

How Many Nuclear Weapons Still Threaten Humanity?

2011-06-12T10:43:00.001-07:00

by David KriegerJune 09, 2011

The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) is one of the most authoritative institutes in the world on issues of war and peace. The recently-released 2011 SIPRI Yearbook provides estimates of the number of nuclear weapons in the world. It finds that only four countries have deployed nuclear warheads, by which it means warheads placed on missiles or located on bases with operational forces. Two of these countries are the US and Russia, which have 2,150 and 2,427 deployed nuclear weapons, respectively. Under the terms of the New Start agreement, ratified in 2010, each country is required to reduce the number of deployed strategic warheads to 1,550 by the year 2017. The other two countries with deployed nuclear weapons, according to SIPRI, are the UK with 160 deployed weapons and France with 290 deployed weapons.
The total number of deployed nuclear weapons in the world stands at 5,027 in 2011. Of these, SIPRI estimates that some 2,000 are kept on high operational alert, ready to be fired within moments of an order to do so.
In addition to its deployed nuclear weapons, the US has 6,350 additional weapons for a total of 8,500. Russia has 8,570 additional weapons for a total of 11,000. The UK has an additional 65 weapons for a total of 225. France has an additional 10, for a total of 300. Four other countries have only non-deployed nuclear weapons, according to SIPRI: China with 240; India with 80-100; Pakistan with 90-110; and Israel with 80.
SIPRI does not list North Korea among the countries having a stockpile of nuclear weapons, although relatively small nuclear devices have been tested by North Korea in 2006 and 2009. SIPRI acknowledges that there is a widespread belief that North Korea has separated enough plutonium for a small number of nuclear weapons, but indicates there is controversy over the amount of plutonium they have separated and the yield of their nuclear tests. They also point out that “doubts persist about whether North Korea has the design and engineering skills needed to manufacture a fully functional operational nuclear weapon.” It seems highly likely to me, however, that North Korea possesses a small number of nuclear weapons and is the ninth nuclear weapon state.
Between 2010 and 2011, the US reduced its nuclear stockpile from 9,600 to 8,500. During the same period, Russia reduced its stockpile from 12,000 to 11,000. While the US and Russia were reducing their arsenals, the UK, France, China and Israel were holding steady at lower levels. India and Pakistan, on the other hand, were increasing the sizes of their arsenals: India from 60-80 to 80-110, and Pakistan from 70-90 to 90-110. Overall, the total number of nuclear weapons in the world decreased from 22,600 to 20,530.
The trends are these: modest reductions by the US and Russia, indicating a continuing commitment to maintaining their nuclear arsenals at a relatively high level of overkill; no reductions by the UK, France, China and Israel, indicating a continuing commitment to retaining their arsenals at current levels, at least until more substantial progress in reductions is made by the US and Russia; and increases in the arsenals of India and Pakistan, indicating a continuing nuclear arms race in South Asia.
The modest reductions made by the US and Russia and the further reductions agreed to by the two countries in the New START agreement are offset by their commitments to modernizing their nuclear arsenals and improving their systems of delivery. A SIPRI media statement pointed out that “both countries currently are deploying new nuclear weapon delivery systems or have announced programs to do so, and appear determined to retain their nuclear arsenals into the indefinite future.”
Regarding India and Pakistan, the SIPRI statement pointed out that they “continue to develop new ballistic and cruise missile systems capable of delivering nuclear weapons” and that both countries “are also expanding their capacities to produce fissile material for military purposes.” Other experts have done simulations of a nuclear exchange between India and Pakistan with 50 to 100 Hiroshima-size nuclear weapons and have estimated that it could lead to a blocking of sunlight and lowering of temperatures, causing widespread drought and crop failure, resulting in some one billion deaths in the region.
While there are some ten percent fewer nuclear weapons in the world from 2010 to 2011, it is not time to breathe a sigh of relief at what has been accomplished. The overall trend is toward fewer nuclear weapons, but weapons and delivery systems that are more highly modernized – what the US refers to for itself as a “safe, secure and effective nuclear stockpile.” In reality, the only type of stockpile that will meet the criteria of being “safe, secure and effective” will be a global stockpile of zero nuclear weapons. Any number other than zero will continue to present unacceptable risks to humanity. What is needed now is a new treaty, a Nuclear Weapons Convention, for the “safe, secure and effective” elimination of all nuclear weapons. The US and Russia, the countries with the largest nuclear arsenals, should be providing the leadership to achieve this goal.

David Krieger is president of the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation (www.wagingpeace.org). His book, The Challenge of Abolishing Nuclear Weapons, was released in paperback in 2010.

Gaddafi gave sex drugs, ordered rape of women?

2011-06-09T04:46:00.001-07:00

Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi - AP
Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi ordered mass rape and gave sex drugs to his troops to encourage them to attack women, the chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court has said.
Luis Moreno-Ocampo said witnesses confirmed the Libyan government was buying a Viagra-type drug for its soldiers, Sky News reported.
The chief prosecutor has already requested arrest warrants against Gaddafi and his son Saif al-Islam on charges of crimes against humanity.
Judges are considering this request. The prosecutor said fresh charges of mass rape may now be brought against the Libyan leader.
Moreno-Ocampo said there was information that Gaddafi had authorised the rapes.
"It never was the pattern he used to control the population. The rape is a new aspect of the repression. Apparently, he decided to punish using rapes," he said.
The prosecutor, however, said it was difficult to know how widespread such rapes were.
There was no immediate comment from Gaddafi's government.

Taliban Executes New Tactic: High-Profile Inside Jobs

2011-05-29T08:30:00.000-07:00

KABUL, Afghanistan — A car with the license plate of a high-ranking Afghan general approached the gates of the Defense Ministry in Kabul last month. A special "A" pass also was on its windshield, so guards quickly waved it through.
Once inside, a man in an army uniform jumped from the car and stormed the ministry's main office building, an Afghan government official said. He gunned down two Afghan soldiers before being killed. The gunman also wounded an Afghan army officer, who died later at a hospital.
The April 18 attack – brazen and cleverly orchestrated by insurgents – is indicative of the high-profile yet small-scale attacks that are trademarks of the Taliban's spring campaign. Unable to match the firepower of the U.S.-led coalition and Afghan forces, insurgents conduct suicide bombings and assaults on government buildings, figuring these types of attacks will prove their resilience.
On Saturday, a suicide bomber wearing a police uniform detonated a vest laden with explosives at a provincial governor's compound in northern Afghanistan, killing two top Afghan police commanders and wounding the German general who commands NATO forces in the north. Two Germans and two other Afghans died.
It's unclear how deep of a dent the U.S.-led military campaign made in the insurgency over the winter or if these attacks are preludes to more widespread fighting by the Taliban this summer. Insurgents need to take back part of the southern provinces of Kandahar and Helmand, their traditional strongholds, if they hope to retain their power base and the opium fields that fund their movement.
"Certainly the types of attacks they are now doing is an indicator they don't want to send a large number of fighters against coalition or Afghan National Security Forces because they know they will get the worse of that," said Lt. Col. John Dorrian, a spokesman for the coalition. "The types of attacks they are doing are intended to create a propaganda flash and try to discredit the Afghan government."
Military and NATO officials, including the top commander in Afghanistan, Gen. David Petraeus, have predicted heavy fighting this summer. They have also predicted the Taliban will continue its campaign of terror and assassination. That campaign targets anyone who backs the Afghan security forces, peace talks with insurgents, or the Afghan government's reintegration program designed to lure Taliban foot soldiers back into their communities with offers of economic development for their villages.
"This is going to be a tough fighting season. The Talibs are not going to take these security gains laying down, and we have already seen them trying to come back. There are no certainties here," said British Maj. Gen. Phil Jones, a veteran of four tours in Afghanistan and NATO's point man on efforts to reintegrate Taliban fighters back into society.
Nearly all the Taliban's recent attacks have been on a small scale, with one or two notable exceptions in the mountainous northern province of Nuristan – a remote area where no permanent NATO or Afghan forces are deployed. Insurgents, however, have increased the tempo of assaults with attacks conducted by disgruntled Afghan soldiers and police or militants impersonating soldiers.
"The enemy is making huge efforts to infiltrate Afghan security organizations," Gen. Abdul Rahim Wardak, the Afghan defense minister, recently told parliament.
The Taliban claim that indirect tactics, such as suicide attacks, assassinations and infiltration, are part of their new strategy against the government.
"The mujahedeen are able to infiltrate into the ranks of the enemy and are using these opportunities to attack," Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid said after the attack.
Since September 2007, the coalition has recorded 21 incidents in which a member of the Afghan security forces – or someone in a uniform used by them – have killed coalition forces. Forty-nine coalition troops, including at least 35 Americans, have been killed. At least six members of the Afghan security forces also died in the incidents.
Of the 21 incidents, eight were attributed to combat stress or personal disagreements; seven were due to unknown motives; four involved members of the Afghan security forces who were co-opted by insurgents or sympathetic to the insurgency, and two involved attackers who were impersonating Afghan police or soldiers.
The sale of Afghan security force uniforms is banned in Afghanistan, but they are still easily obtained.
While insurgents have claimed credit for nearly all the attacks, no evidence has been found suggesting they have successfully embedded individuals in the Afghan security forces with the intent to attack coalition forces, training mission officials said.
In the two most recent attacks in Kabul, however, militants had inside help.
In the attack on the Defense Ministry, the man who drove the car with heavily tinted windows into the facility was the nephew of the general, the government official told The Associated Press. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to disclose the information.
The Afghan army would never stop or search a vehicle driving into the ministry with a special pass on its windshield, the official said, adding that the general had not yet been told about the car or the involvement of his nephew, who is believed to have fled to Pakistan where many insurgent groups have safe havens.
The official said the investigation was still under way, and he would not elaborate as to why the general had not been questioned, or whether he even knew that a vehicle assigned to him by the ministry was used in the attack.
A month later, on May 21, the Afghan intelligence service said a soldier serving with the security unit at the main military hospital in Kabul picked up a Pakistani national and drove him to a mosque in the capital. There, inside a restroom, the man slipped an Afghan army uniform over a suicide explosives vest and got back into the soldier's official vehicle.
He was then easily driven through the gates. The attacker blew himself up in a tent being used as a cafeteria. The explosion killed six Afghan students and wounded 23 others. No foreigners were injured.
Police later arrested the driver – a soldier who had been in the army for eight months. NATO said the Taliban-affiliated Haqqani network was responsible.

Bin Laden Killing Settled Score For CIA

2011-05-29T08:29:00.000-07:00

Osama Bin Laden Raid Avenged Deaths Of CIA Members Tom Shah And Molly Huckaby Hardy

MATT APUZZO and ADAM GOLDMAN 05/29/11 07:40 AM ET

WASHINGTON — For a small cadre of CIA veterans, the death of Osama bin Laden was more than just a national moment of relief and closure. It was also a measure of payback, a settling of a score for a pair of deaths, the details of which have remained a secret for 13 years.
Tom Shah and Molly Huckaby Hardy were among the 44 U.S. Embassy employees killed when a truck bomb exploded outside the embassy compound in Kenya in 1998.
Though it has never been publicly acknowledged, the two were working undercover for the CIA. In al-Qaida's war on the United States, they are believed to be the first CIA casualties.
Their names probably will not be among those read at Memorial Day memorials around the country this weekend. Like many CIA officers, their service remained a secret in both life and death, marked only by anonymous stars on the wall at CIA headquarters and blank entries in its book of honor.
Their CIA ties were described to The Associated Press by a half-dozen current and former U.S. officials who spoke on condition of anonymity because Shah's and Hardy's jobs are still secret, even now.
The deaths weighed heavily on many at the CIA, particularly the two senior officers who were running operations in Africa during the attack. Over the past decade, as the CIA waged war against al-Qaida, those officers have taken on central roles in counterterrorism. Both were deeply involved in hunting down bin Laden and planning the raid on the terrorist who killed their colleagues.
"History has shown that tyrants who threaten global peace and freedom must eventually face their natural enemies: America's war fighters, and the silent warriors of our Intelligence Community," CIA Director Leon Panetta wrote in a Memorial Day message to agency employees.
These silent warriors took very different paths to Nairobi.
Hardy was a divorced mom from Valdosta, Ga., who raised a daughter as she travelled to Asia, South America and Africa over a lengthy career. At the CIA station in Kenya, she handled the office finances, including the CIA's stash of money used to pay sources and carry out spying operations. She was a new grandmother and was eager to get back home when al-Qaida struck.
Shah took an unpredictable route to the nation's clandestine service. He was not a solider or a Marine, a linguist or an Ivy Leaguer. He was a musician from the Midwest. But his story, and the secret mission that brought him to Africa, was straight out of a Hollywood spy movie.
"He was a vivacious, upbeat guy who had a very poignant, self-deprecating sense of humor," said Dan McDevitt, a classmate and close friend from St. Xavier High School in Cincinnati, where Shah was a standout trumpet player.
Shah – his given name was Uttamlal – was the only child of an Indian immigrant father and an American mother, McDevitt said. He had a fascination with international affairs. He participated in the school's model United Nations and, in the midst of the Cold War, was one of the school's first students to learn Russian. From time to time, he went to India with his father, giving him a rare world perspective.
"At the time, that was unheard of. You might as well have gone to Mars," said McDevitt, who lost touch with his high school friend long before he joined the agency.
Shah graduated from Berklee College of Music in Boston and Ball State University's music school. He taught music classes and occasionally played in backup bands for entertainers Red Skelton, Perry Como and Jim Nabors. His doctoral thesis at Indiana's Ball State offered no hints about the career he would pursue: "The Solo Songs of Edward MacDowell: An Examination of Style and Literary Influence."
"He was one of our outstanding people," said Kirby Koriath, the graduate student adviser at Ball State.
Shah and his wife, Linda, were married in 1983, the year he received his master's degree. In 1987, after earning his doctorate, Shah joined the U.S. government. On paper, he had become a diplomat. In reality, he was shipped to the Farm, the CIA's spy school in Virginia.
He received the usual battery of training in surveillance, counterespionage and the art of building sources. The latter is particularly hard to teach, but it came naturally to Shah, former officials said. Shah was regarded as one of the top members of his class and was assigned to the Near East Division, which covers the Middle East.
He spoke fluent Hindi and decent Russian when he arrived and quickly showed a knack for languages by learning Arabic. He worked in Cairo and Damascus and, though he was young, former colleagues said he was quickly proving himself one of the agency's most promising stars.
In 1997, he was dispatched to headquarters as part of the Iraq Operations Group, the CIA team that ran spying campaigns against Saddam Hussein's regime. Around that time, the CIA became convinced that a senior Iraqi official was willing to provide intelligence in exchange for a new life in America. Before the U.S. could make that deal, it had to be sure the information was credible and the would-be defector wasn't really a double agent. But even talking to him was a risky move. If a meeting with the CIA was discovered, the Iraqi would be killed for sure.
Somebody had to meet with the informant, somebody who knew the Middle East and could be trusted with such a sensitive mission. A senior officer recommended Shah.
The meetings were set up in Kenya, former officials said, because it was considered relatively safe from Middle East intelligence services. It was perhaps the most important operation being run under the Africa Division at the time, current and former officials said. Among the agency managers overseeing it was John Bennett, the deputy chief of the division. He and his operations chief, who remains undercover, were seasoned Africa hands and veterans of countless spying operations.
Because of the mission's sensitivity, Shah bottled up his normally outgoing and friendly personality while at the embassy.
"This is the glory and the tragedy of discreet work," said Prudence Bushnell, the former ambassador to Kenya. "You keep a very low profile and you don't do things that make you memorable."
Officials say Shah was among those who went to the window when shooting began outside the embassy gates. Most who did were killed when the massive bomb exploded. He was 38. Hardy was also killed in the blast. She was 51.
The U.S. government said both victims were State Department employees. But like all fallen officers, they received private memorial services at CIA headquarters. Every year, their names are among those read at a ceremony for family members and colleagues.
Hardy's daughter, Brandi Plants, said she did not want to discuss her mother's employment. Shah's widow, Linda, sent word through a neighbor that the topic was still too painful to discuss.
Shah's death did not stall his mission. The Africa Division pressed on and confirmed that the Iraqi source was legitimate, his information extremely valuable. He defected and was re-located to the United States with a new identity.
Bennett later went on to be the station chief in Islamabad, where he ran the agency's effort to kill al-Qaida members by using unmanned aircraft. He now sits in one of the most important seats in the agency, overseeing clandestine operations worldwide. His former Africa operations chief now runs the agency's counterterrorism center. Both have been hunting for bin Laden for years. Both were directly involved in the raid.
Shah and Hardy are among the names etched into stone at a memorial at the embassy in Nairobi, with no mention of their CIA service. Shah is also commemorated with a plaque in a CIA conference room at its headquarters. Both were among those whose names Panetta read last week at the annual ceremony for fallen officers.
"Throughout the effort to disrupt, dismantle and defeat al-Qaida, our fallen colleagues have been with us in memory and in spirit," Panetta said. "With their strength and determination as our guide, we achieved a great victory three weeks ago."
Bin Laden said the embassy in Nairobi was targeted because it was a major CIA station. He died never knowing that he had killed two CIA officers there.
___
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Film on Black Ops Hunt for Bin Laden Set for 2012 Release

2011-05-29T07:55:00.001-07:00

Kathryn Bigelow is working on a film about a mission to kill bin Laden. (Reuters)

Kathryn Bigelow and Mark Boal's movie about the Black Ops hunt for Osama Bin Laden is set for release next year.
Columbia Pictures, which acquired the domestic distribution rights to the film earlier this week, says the untitled movie will come out at the end of 2012.
Bigelow and Boal each won a pair of Oscars for producing, directing and writing last year's best picture, "The Hurt Locker." The two began developing the film about the Black Ops' mission to capture Bin Laden in 2008.
Co-Chairman of Sony Pictures Entertainment Amy Pascal says Bigelow and Boal "have an outstanding perspective on the team that was hunting the most wanted man in the world."

Suspected Qaeda gunmen seize city: Yemen official

2011-05-29T06:18:00.001-07:00

Armed tribesman loyal to Sheik Sadeq al-Ahmar, the head of the powerful Hashid tribe, patrol around his house, in Sanaa, Yemen - AP
Suspected Al-Qaeda gunmen have taken control of the south Yemen city of Zinjibar, capital of Abyan province, after heavy fighting with security forces that left 16 dead, an official said on Sunday.
The fighters "were able to gain control of the city of Zinjibar ... and took over all government facilities," except for the headquarters of the the 25th mechanised brigade, which is besieged by militants, the security official said.
Two other security officials said that fighting raged in the city on Friday and Saturday.
Five soldiers and a civilian were killed on Friday, they said, while residents of Zinjibar said they found the bodies of 10 soldiers, bringing the toll from the fighting there to at least 16.
One of the officials said that another two soldiers were killed Friday in clashes with suspected Al-Qaeda fighters in the town of Loder, also in Abyan province.

The bullet-proof dogs who helped kill Bin Laden

2011-05-26T11:10:00.000-07:00

BY Elbert ChuMon May 16, 2011
If you see this dog coming for you, run. Thanks to his extensive training--and customized body armor that can cost upwards of $30,000--he's bulletproof, can hear through concrete, and can record high-def video of missions, even in the dead of night.

171digg Since the moment it was revealed that the "nation's most courageous dog" [Update: named "Cairo"] served alongside the 80 Navy SEALs who took out Osama bin Laden, America's fascination with war dogs has hit a fevered pitch. And while the heart-tugging photos of these four-legged heroes are worth a look, so is the high-tech gear that helps them do their job.
Last year, the military spent $86,000 on four tactical vests to outfit Navy Seal dogs. The SEALs hired Winnipeg, Canada-based contractor K9 Storm to gear up their four-legged, canine partners, which it has used in battle since World War I. K9 Storm’s flagship product is the $20,000-$30,000 Intruder, an upgradeable version of their doggie armor (you can check out the full catalogue here). The tactical body armor is wired with a collapsible video arm, two-way audio, and other attachable gadgets.
"Various special ops units use the vest, including those in current headlines," says Mike Herstik, a consultant with International K-9, who has trained dogs from Israeli bomb-sniffing units to the Navy SEALSs. "It is much more than just body armor."
The big idea behind the armor add-ons boils down to a simple one: the key to any healthy relationship is communication. Each dog is assigned one human handler. To operate efficiently in a tactical situation, they need to be connected.
So how much high-tech connectivity does a dog get for $30,000 anyway?
Using a high-def camera mounted on the dog's back, handlers can see what the dog sees, using handheld monitors. Jim Slater, who cofounded K9 Storm with his wife Glori, says footage is stable because the entire module is sewn into the vest. With unpredictable light conditions, like middle-of-the-night missions, the camera adjusts automatically to night vision. The lens is protected by impact-resistant shielding. And since we're talking about SEALs notorious for amphibious assaults, the system is waterproof.
In Abbottabad, the patented load-bearing harness would have enabled a Navy SEAL handler to rappel from the helicopter with his dog strapped to his body. Once in the compound, the dog could run ahead to scout as the handler issued commands through an integrated microphone and speaker in the armor. The proprietary speaker system enables handlers to relay commands at low levels to the dog. "Handlers need to see and hear how their dog is responding," said Slater. "In a tactical situation, every second counts." The encrypted signal from dog to handler penetrates fortified barriers like concrete, steel-fortified ships, and tunnels. That translates to standard operating ranges up to four football fields.
The armor itself protects against shots from 9mm and .45 magnum handguns. Slater is a veteran police dog trainer and built the first vest after a prison riot. He realized he wore full riot gear, while his K9 partner, Olaf, was basically naked. So he started making vests. The weave technology catches bullets or ice picks like a mitt wrapping around a baseball; knives and sharpened screw drivers wielded by prisoners require tighter weaves.
Keeping the armor strong, but light, is a priority. "Every gram counts for our clients. So we prefer advanced fibers and innovative textiles," said Slater. "The entire communication module is 20 ounces." The average armor weighs between three to seven pounds, depending on the size of the dog and the level of protection.
They’ve even gone stealth. A silent hardware system prevents any metal to metal contact--you won't hear any jangling or see any reflective give-aways. K9 took the average 150-gram V-ring and developed a 5-gram version made of a Kevlar, poly-propylene, and nylon fiber blend. "It’s actually stronger, rated to 2,500 pounds. Completely silent, and ultralight," said Slater.

Of course, these systems don't come cheap--and it's the dogs themselves that are the real investment. The Navy’s first Master Military Working Dog Trainer (a trainer of other dog trainers), Luis Reyes emailed from Afghanistan: "There are many products that help MWDs [military work dogs] and many are ‘cool’ but not necessary. No amount of money can replace the life of a canine that saves the precious lives of our troops in harm's way."
Although new tech is the buzz, what put K9 Storm on the map is dedication to customization. Its mainstay dog armor is the more-affordable $2,000-$3,000 base model. Each vest they make is custom sized for the dog. "The fit has to be perfect or it will flop around," said Slater. That hinders mobility, or worse, can cause injury.
Clients can measure dogs themselves, or Slater will fly out for dog fittings. They’ve done 15-pound West Highland Terriers--which look like playful white puffballs but were bred to scare badgers out of holes, and are helpful in drug raids with confined spaces like air ducts. On the other end are St. Bernards, which push 240 pounds.
K9's client list spans 15 countries, from China to Switzerland. Buyers include SWAT teams, police and corrections agencies, security firms, search and rescue units, and border patrols. Slater and 12 employees spent years developing a proprietary computer-assisted design program to translate measurements into accurate patterns, which are hand sewn. However, it's as much a tech company as it is an armor manufacturer.
The next phase of development includes plans for remote-delivery systems and enhanced accessory functionality. They describe a system that would help dogs transport medical supplies, walkie-talkies, or water into constricted areas like rubble. They're also planning new appendages like air-level quality meters for mines.
No word on mounting mini heat-seeking missiles just yet. So, for now, bad guys will only have to tussle with highly-trained fangs exerting 700 pounds of pressure per square inch.

Serbian genocide suspect Ratko Mladic arrested in tiny village by police after 16 years on the ru

2011-05-26T10:53:00.000-07:00

Serbian special forces capture former general at relative's home 60 miles north of Belgrade
Mladic believed to be behind the Srebrenica massacre where 8,000 Muslim men and boys were killed
US had offered $5million bounty, Serbia €10million
Arrest paves the way for Serbia's admission to the EU
This offers a chance for justice to be done, says triumphant Nato secretary-general

Wanted: General Ratko Mladic is alleged to have been involved in the Srebrenica massacre
General Ratko Mladic, the ruthless Bosnian Serb leader charged with orchestrating Europe's worst massacre of civilians since World War II, has been arrested.
The most prominent Bosnian war crimes suspect still at large, Mladic was wanted for his alleged involvement in the Srebrenica massacre and the siege of Sarajevo.
He has been on the run since 1995, after he was indicted on charges of crimes against humanity by the United Nations war crimes tribunal at the Hague.
Serbian special forces swooped on a relative of Mladic's home in a tiny Serbian village at dawn.
The raid ended a 16-year hunt for the alleged architect of what have been dubbed 'scenes from hell.'
His capture was confirmed by Serbian president Boris Tadic in a triumphant press conference this afternoon.
'On behalf of the Republic of Serbia I can announce the arrest of Ratko Mladic,' Mr Tadic told reporters.
'We have ended a difficult period of our history and removed the stain from the face of Serbia and the members of our nation wherever they live.'
Mr Tadic said Serbia had begun the process of extraditing Mladic to the UN war crimes tribunal in The Hague.
A bullnecked field commander with narrow, piercing blue eyes, Mladic, now 69, faces life imprisonment if tried and convicted of genocide and other charges.
The UN court has no death penalty.

Triumphant: Serbia's President Boris Tadic announces the capture of Ratko Mladic during a media conference in Belgrade

Rural hideout: The village Lazarevo close to the northern Serbian town of Zrenjanin, 60 miles north of Belgrade, where special forces arrested Mladic
Before sunrise, agents of Serbia's domestic intelligence agency moved quietly on Mladic's hideout.
He was hiding in a single-story yellow brick house owned by a relative, said Radmilo Stanisic, the de facto mayor of Lazarevo, a village of some 2,000 residents about 60 miles (100 kilometers) northeast of Belgrade.
'They didn't even wake us up,' said a resident who identified himself only as Zoran.
Serbia's B-92 radio said Mladic did not resist the arrest and 'was cooperative.'
Serbian state TV said Mladic was bald and appeared 'worn out.'

Army chief: Ratko Mladic was in charge of the Bosnian Serb army during the Balkan wars
Mladic was the leader of Bosnian Serb forces during the bloody 1992 - 1995 Balkan wars.
He was the military chief of Radovan Karadzic, the wartime Bosnian Serb political leader, who was captured in Belgrade in July 2008 and remains in detention pending trial for crimes against humanity.
Foremost among the horrors Mladic is charged with is the July 1995 slaughter of up to 8,000 Muslim men and boys in the Bosnian town of Srebrenica, which was supposed to be a safe zone guarded by Dutch peacekeepers.
Bosnian Serb forces seized the town and Mladic was seen handing candy to Muslim children in the town's square.
He assured them everything would be fine and patted one boy on the head. Hours later, his men began an orgy of killing, rape and torture.
War crimes tribunal judge Fouad Riad said during Mladic's 1995 indictment in absentia that the court had seen evidence of 'unimaginable savagery: thousands of men executed and buried in mass graves, hundreds of men buried alive, men and women mutilated and slaughtered, children killed before their mothers' eyes, a grandfather forced to eat the liver of his own grandson.'
'These are truly scenes from hell, written on the darkest pages of human history,' he said.

Europe's worst atrocity since World War Two: Forensic experts examine a mass grave in Bosnia near the site of the notorious 1995 Srebrenica massacre

Reward: Although a hefty bounty had been offered for Mladic's arrest it is thought he had been living openly in Serbia for a long time

THE CHARGES AGAINST MLADIC

General Ratko Mladic has been on the run since 1995, when the UN war crimes tribunal at the Hague indicted him on 15 counts of war crimes.
These are the counts.

Count 1: genocide
Count 2: complicity in genocide
Count 3: Persecutions on political, racial and religious grounds
Count 4: Extermination
Count 5: Murder
Count 6: Murder
Count 7: Deportation
Count 8: Inhumane acts (forcible transfer)
Count 9: unlawfully inflicting terror upon civilians
Count 10: murder
Count 11: murder
Count 12: cruel treatment

But even as Balkan war-crimes fugitives such as Radovan Karadzic and Slobodan Milosevic were brought to The Hague, Mladic was idolized and sheltered by ultranationalists and ordinary Serbs.
This was despite a €10million ($14 million) Serbian government bounty, plus $5 million offered by the U.S. State Department.
He was known to have made daring forays into Belgrade to watch soccer games and feast on fish at an elite restaurant.
In a particularly brazen touch, he had been using the alias Milorad Komadic, an anagram of his true identity, police said.
Justice officials in The Hague said it will take at least a week before Mladic is handed over.
Regular reports on Serbia's compliance with the chief U.N. war crimes prosecutor are crucial for its efforts to become an EU member candidate.
The prosecutor, Serge Brammertz, had long complained that authorities were not doing enough to capture Mladic and other war-crimes fugitives.
On Thursday, Brammertz called justice for the victims of Mladic's alleged crimes in Bosnia 'long overdue.'

Folk hero: A boy walks pass graffiti of Mladic in Belgrade. He is a hero to Serbian ultra-nationalists
In Bosnia, the arrest was welcomed by the head of a group of victims' family members formed to keep the pressure on war crimes investigators.
But, added Munira Subasic, 'I'm sorry for all the victims who are dead and cannot see this day.'
In Brussels, NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said the arrest 'finally offers a chance for justice to be done.'
The White House said Mladic's capture shows that justice eventually will come to those who perpetrate crimes against humanity.
Croatian media, which first broke the story, said police there got confirmation from their Serbian colleagues that DNA analysis confirmed Mladic's identity.

Justice: Bosnian Muslim woman from Srebrenica Zumra Sahomerovic, center, watches TV in Sarajevo about the arrest of Europe's most wanted war crimes suspect Ratko Mladic

'Burn their brains': The ruthlessness of the Serbian god

General Ratko Mladic's ruthlessness was legendary: 'Burn their brains!' he once bellowed as his men pounded Sarajevo with artillery fire.
Mladic, the wartime Bosnian Serb military chief wanted for genocide for Europe's worst massacre of civilians since the Second World War, was the UN war crimes tribunal's No 1 co-fugitive with his partner in crime, Radovan Karadzic.
The 69-year-old had eluded capture since he was indicted by the tribunal in 1995.
But his days as a fugitive were numbered after Serbian security forces captured Karadzic on July 21, 2008, in Belgrade. Today, Serbia's president announced that Mladic is in custody.

Serbian 'God': Bosnian Serb wartime leader, Radovan Karadzic, second right, and his general Ratko Mladic, first left, walk accompanied by bodyguards on Mount Vlasic frontline in this April 15,1995 file photo
Known for personally leading his troops in the 1995 Serb onslaught against the UN-protected enclave of Srebrenica - where thousands of Muslim men and boys were killed - Mladic was indicted for genocide against the Bosnian town's population.
Just hours before the massacre, Mladic had handed out sweets to Muslim children rounded up at the town's square and assured them that all would be fine - even patting one child on the head. That sinister image is forever imprinted in the minds of Srebrenica survivors.
Born on March 12, 1942, in the south-eastern Bosnian village of Bozinovci, Mladic graduated from Belgrade's prestigious military academy and joined the Yugoslav Communists in 1965.
Mladic embarked on his army career when Yugoslavia was a six-state federation. He rose steadily through the military ranks, making general before the country's break-up in 1991.
At the start of the Balkan bloodbath, he was in Croatia leading Yugoslav troops in Knin and was believed to have played a crucial role in the army bombardment of the coastal city of Zadar.
A year later, he assumed command of the Yugoslav Army's 2nd Military District, which effectively became the Bosnian Serb army.
Appointed in 1992 by Karadzic, Mladic led the Bosnian Serb army until the Dayton accords brought peace to Bosnia in 1995.

Genocide: Bosnian Muslim civilan prisoners taken from Srebrenica and transported to a location somewhere on Mount Treskavica
As military leaderships go, his was omnipresent, from front-line trenches to chess games on high-altitude outlooks.
He was known for ordering press-ups as a prelude to battle, and he enjoyed reviewing pompous military parades and rubbing shoulders with UN commanders in Bosnia.

MLADIC TIMELINE

1942: Born in south-eastern Bosnian village of Bozinovci.
1945: His father, a Second World War guerrilla fighter, is killed, allegedly by Croat pro-Nazi forces.
1961: Ratko Mladic starts military education.
1992: Having risen through the ranks to become a general, he takes command of newly formed Serb army in Bosnia. Launches siege of Sarajevo; moves to take control of large swath of Bosnia where Serbs established their self-styled rebel republic.
1994: Splits from Bosnian Serb political leader Radovan Karadzic.
1995: Launches operation to capture UN-protected enclave of Srebrenica, allegedly orders massacre of some 8,000 Muslim boys and men in Europe's largest massacre of civilians since Second World War. Indicted by UN war crimes tribunal in The Hague, Netherlands, for genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity.
1997: Replaced as commander of Bosnian Serb army. Assumes low profile but is often seen in Belgrade and elsewhere in Serbia, where he enjoys protection from the military and the government of President Slobodan Milosevic.
2002: Goes into hiding after Milosevic is ousted. Serbia's new pro-Western authorities revoke his military escort.
2010: Serbia's government increases its reward for the capture Mladic from one million euro (£870,000) to 10 million euro (£8.7 million).
May 26, 2011: Mladic is arrested in Serbia.
Obsessed with his nation's history, Mladic saw Bosnia's war - which killed more than 100,000 people and displaced another 1.8 million - as a chance for revenge against 500 years of Turkish-Ottoman occupation of Serbia. He viewed Bosnian Muslims as Turks and called them that as an insult.
Convinced of the power of his army, he was known for telling his soldiers: 'When I give you guarantees, it's as if they are given by God.'
Once, asking air traffic control to clear the way for his helicopter to land, he declared: 'Here speaks Ratko Mladic - the Serbian God.'
Sarajevans never forgot his commands to the Serb gunmen pounding the Bosnian capital in early 1992. Mladic issued his orders through a military radio system, not bothering to scramble his words, which would be picked up, taped and broadcast on television the next day.
'Burn their brains!' he ordered as his gunners trained their artillery on one suburb.
Mladic's short temper only added to his popularity among Bosnian Serbs, who appeared to like him all the more when the general reportedly fell out with Karadzic in 1994.
With Karadzic, Mladic shares a tribunal indictment for genocide linked to the Srebrenica massacre, as well as numerous counts of crimes against humanity.
The allegations include the taking of UN peacekeepers as hostages, the destruction of sacred places, the torture of captured civilians and the wanton destruction of private property.
During the shelling of Sarajevo, Mladic was said to have commanded: 'Scorch and destroy!' He denied ever giving such an order.
The US government offered $5million dollars (£3.2 billion) for information leading to Mladic's arrest or conviction in any country.

Field commander: In this September 1, 1995 file photo, Bosnian Serb commander Ratko Mladic plays pool during the pause in talks with UN commander Bernard Janvie
Mladic was dismissed from his post in December 1996 by Biljana Plavsic, then president of the Bosnian Serb republic. In 2003, Plavsic was sentenced to 11 years in prison in her own war crimes trial on a reduced charge of persecution.
In firing Mladic and his entire general staff, Plavsic cited their indictments for war crimes. But her main aim was to sever links with the late Serbian strongman Slobodan Milosevic, with whom Mladic was close.
During the war, Milosevic - who died in 2006 while on trial in The Hague for genocide and crimes against humanity - was revered as the Bosnian Serbs' chief patron. But he later abandoned them when he signed the Dayton agreement, a deal intensely disliked by both Karadzic and Mladic.
Mladic began his fugitive years in Han Pijesak, a military compound in eastern Bosnia built for former Yugoslav leader Josip Broz Tito.

Impunity: Ratko Mladic dancing with his wife while on the run in Serbia
With his wife, Bosa, Mladic settled down to domesticity, passing the time caring for bees and goats. His 23 goats reputedly bore the names of foreign dignitaries he despised, such as Madeleine Albright, the former US secretary of state.
Surrounded by security guards, he occasionally ventured out of the dense pine forest to mark events such the anniversary of the Bosnian Serb army and St Vitus Day, a religious festival marking the 1389 Serb defeat by the Turks at Kosovo.
When in the late 1990s his trail grew too hot in Bosnia, Mladic moved with family into a posh suburban villa in the Yugoslav capital, Belgrade.
In Belgrade, he was seen attending his son's wedding. He showed up at football games, dined in plush restaurants and frequented elite cafes, refusing to give interviews and smiling quizzically when he happened to be photographed.
When Milosevic was ousted from power in October 2000, and Yugoslavia's new pro-democracy authorities signalled they might hand Mladic over to the tribunal, tabloids had him leaving Belgrade for Bosnia.
But true to his style, Mladic countered those rumours and others that had him terminally ill in Belgrade. Before going underground in 2002, he was repeatedly seen in public - sometimes with his guards, sometimes without them.

Diplomats: IAEA fears Iran hackers

2011-05-24T06:05:00.000-07:00

By GEORGE JAHN

FILE - In this Tuesday, April 8, 2008 file photo released by the Iranian President's …

The U.N. nuclear agency is investigating reports from its experts that their cellphones and laptops may have been hacked into by Iranian officials looking for confidential information while the equipment was left unattended during inspection tours in the Islamic Republic, diplomats have told The Associated Press.
One of the diplomats said the International Atomic Energy Agency is examining "a range of events, ranging from those where it is certain something has happened to suppositions," all in the first quarter of this year. He said the Vienna-based nuclear watchdog agency was alerted by inspectors reporting "unusual events," suggesting that outsiders had tampered with their electronic equipment.
Two other diplomats in senior positions confirmed the essence of the report but said they had no further information. All three envoys come from member nations of the International Atomic Energy Agency and spoke on condition of anonymity because their information was privileged.
Agency spokeswoman Gill Tudor said the IAEA had no comment on the issue. IAEA inspectors are in Iran touring various facilities every other week.
A woman answering the cell phone of Ali Asghar Soltanieh, Iran's senior envoy to the agency, said Soltanieh "wishes to give no interviews" after the caller identified himself as an AP reporter and before the reporter could say what the call was about.
An agency official, who also spoke on condition that he not be identified, said strict security measures included inspectors' placing their cellphones into seamless paper envelopes, then sealing these and writing across the seal and the envelope to spot any unauthorized opening while they were away.
He said inspectors are not allowed to take their cellphones with them while touring Iran's uranium enrichment facilities and other venues. Laptops, he said, are either locked in bags or sealed the same way as cellphones when they are left temporarily unattended by inspectors. The computers also are sometimes left unattended in hotel rooms at the end of a work day, he said.
But the diplomat who spoke at greatest length about the reported breach said the Iranians had found ways to overcome the security measures. He said he had no further details.
Iran has been under IAEA inspections for nearly a decade after revelations that it was running a secret uranium enrichment program and has been hit with four rounds of U.N. Security Council sanctions over its refusal to halt the activity.
Tehran insists it wants only to provide peaceful nuclear energy for its rising population and notes that the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty allows for enrichment as a source of fuel.
But international concerns have grown. The uranium enrichment program could also make fissile warhead material. Also, Iran refuses to cooperate with U.N. investigations of suspicions that it ran alleged experiments related to making nuclear weapons.
Low-enriched uranium can be used to fuel a reactor to generate electricity, which Iran says is the intention of its program. But if uranium is further enriched to around 90 percent purity, it can be used to develop a nuclear warhead.
Olli Heinonen, who stepped down last year as the IAEA's deputy director general in charge of investigating Iran's nuclear program, said information on the laptops is encrypted — and therefore difficult to decipher. Anybody gaining access to information on cellphones would find little sensitive material, he said.
Heinonen speculated that any attempt to access such equipment might have been meant to plant spyware designed to infect the IAEA computer network once the cellphones or laptops are connected and siphon off information.
"It's possible if there is tampering that something is planted in the computer and when you work with sensitive data it transmits it or it contaminates other computers with sensitive information — like Stuxnet," he said.
IAEA officials attribute a temporary breakdown of Iran's enrichment program late last year to the Stuxnet computer worm, and Tehran has acknowledged that Stuxnet affected a limited number of centrifuges — a key component in uranium enrichment — at its main uranium enrichment facility in the central city of Natanz. Tehran blames the United States and Israel for creating and planting the malware.
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George Jahn is at http://twitter.com/georgejahn

Gaddafi Will 'Inevitably' Leave Power In Libya, Says Obama

2011-05-20T11:00:00.000-07:00

By Alister Bull and Joseph Logan

WASHINGTON/TRIPOLI, May 20 (Reuters) - Muammar Gaddafi will inevitably leave power, U.S. President Barack Obama said, as NATO intensified its weeks-long bombing of government targets and said on Friday it had sunk eight Libyan warships.
Obama was speaking in an address on the Middle East where a series of uprisings this year governments in Tunisia and Egypt, and inspired a three-month-old revolt in Libya that aims to overthrow Gaddafi.
"Time is working against Gaddafi. He does not have control over his country. The opposition has organised a legitimate and credible Interim Council," Obama said in Washington on Thursday.
"When Gaddafi inevitably leaves or is forced from power, decades of provocation will come to an end and the transition to a democratic Libya can proceed," he said, defending his decision to take military action against the Libyan leader's government.
His comments echoed NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen who said military and political pressure were weakening Gaddafi and would eventually topple him.
The Libyan leader remained defiant.
"Obama is still delusional," Libyan government spokesman Mussa Ibrahim said. "He believes the lies that his own government and media spread around the world ... It's not Obama who decides whether Muammar Gaddafi leaves Libya or not. It's the Libyan people."
Acting under a U.N. mandate, NATO allies including France, Britain and the United States are conducting air strikes that aim to stop Gaddafi using military force against civilians.
NATO aircraft sank the eight warships in overnight attacks on the ports of Tripoli, Al Khums and Sirte, the alliance said in a statement.
"Given the escalating use of naval assets, NATO had no choice but to take decisive action to protect the civilian population of Libya and NATO forces at sea," said Rear-Admiral Russell Harding, deputy commander of NATO's Libyan mission.
Libyan officials took journalists to Tripoli port where a small ship spewed smoke and flames, and cast doubt on whether boats targeted by NATO had been involved in fighting.
Mohammad Ahmad Rashed, general manager of Tripoli's port, said six boats had been hit by missiles.
The boats, five belonging to the coastguard and a larger naval vessel, had been undergoing maintenance since before the start of the fighting, he told reporters, adding that the port was still functional and capable of handling commercial traffic.
NATO bombs struck Tripoli, Gaddafi's hometown of Sirte and Zlitan east of the capital, state TV said late on Thursday.
Rebels control eastern Libya and pockets in the west but the conflict has reached a stalemate as rebel attempts to advance on Gaddafi's stronghold of Tripoli have stalled.
Western governments, under pressure from sceptical voters, are counting on Gaddafi's administration to collapse.
"We have significantly degraded Gaddafi's war machine. And now we see results, the opposition has gained ground," Rasmussen told a news conference in the Slovak capital, Bratislava.
"I am confident that a combination of strong military pressure and increased political pressure and support for the opposition will eventually lead to the collapse of the regime."
LIBYA TV SHOWS GADDAFI
Libyan state TV showed footage of Gaddafi meeting a Libyan politician in Tripoli. Government spokesman Ibrahim said the politician had been in a delegation that met Russian officials in Moscow this week to explore possibilities for a ceasefire.
The footage zoomed in on a TV screen in the room that showed Thursday's date displayed in the corner. Gaddafi wore a brown robe with a hat and sunglasses.
Gaddafi was last seen on May 11 when state TV showed him meeting tribal leaders in Tripoli. NATO bombed his compound the next day, and a day later TV broadcast an audio clip in which he taunted NATO and said the alliance could not kill him.
The last few days have seen a flurry of diplomatic activity focusing on a possible ceasefire deal.
But Western powers are likely to stress their determination to keep the pressure on Gaddafi when heads of state from the Group of Eight industrialised nations meet on May 27-28.
In an attempt to raise pressure on Tripoli, the European Union is considering tightening sanctions by blacklisting some Libyan ports to prevent exports of oil and imports of fuel, a Western diplomatic source told Reuters. (Additional reporting by David Brunnstrom in Brussels; Martin Santa in Bratislava, Isabel Coles in Cairo, Souhail Karam in Rabat, Tarek Amara and Sylvia Westall in Tunis and Emma Farge, Peter Apps, Dmitry Zhdannikov and William Maclean in London, Writing by Matthew Bigg; Editing by David Stamp and Miral Fahmy)

Porn stash found at Osama bin Laden compound

2011-05-14T08:01:00.000-07:00

Washington: A sizeable stash of pornography was among the items seized when US Navy SEALs raided the Pakistani hideout of Osama bin Laden, almost two weeks ago, US officials say.

The officials said it was unclear who the material belonged to, and there was no way to know whether bin Laden had viewed it.

Bin Laden's son and two other adult male couriers lived at the compound, the officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss matters of intelligence.

The pornography was among the computer materials confiscated in the raid after the SEALs killed bin Laden, ending an almost 10-year manhunt for the terrorist behind the 9/11 terror attacks.

The disclosure that US investigators found pornography — which provoked ridicule among bloggers on Friday — fuels the US narrative that bin Laden was not the respectable or noble figure that his supporters embraced. The US government previously asserted that bin Laden hid behind a woman in the compound as a "human shield" on the night of the raid but later revised its account of the deadly shooting inside the compound and said she rushed at one of the Navy SEALs and was shot in the calf.

The SEALs fatally shot bin Laden in a post-midnight raid on May 02 at his hidden compound in the Pakistani Army town of Abbottabad, shooting him in the head and chest when he ducked away from the raiders into his bedroom — they thought, reaching for a weapon.

After they killed him, they confiscated what US officials call a "treasure trove" of information from bin Laden's second-floor office. The items included a handwritten journal, five computers, 10 hard drives and 110 thumb drives seized at the site.

All the media taken from the site is now being analysed by a CIA-led team.

The material includes a record of e-mails that were sent by flash or thumb drives, carried out by couriers on foot, and transmitted at Internet cafes, giving bin Laden access to al Qaeda's offshoots inside Pakistan, and as far away as Yemen and Europe. The e-mails show he helped chose target cities and guide overall the overall militant strategy, encouraging followers to attack soft US targets like smaller, less protected cities in the American heartland, aiming to take as many casualties as possible.

Bin Laden's handwritten journal includes his own philosophical debates over how to force the US government to withdraw from the Arab world, and included musings over how to kill President Barack Obama, US officials say. Bin Laden concluded he was too well protected.

So far, none of the information has tipped them off to new plots under way, or to suspects against whom they could take quick action, one of the officials said.

Osama was communicating with other terrorists: US

2011-05-12T08:49:00.000-07:00

Washington: A handwritten journal taken from Osama bin Laden's hideout in Pakistan show that the slain Al Qaeda leader was communicating with other members of the terrorist group, US media reports citing officials say.

"There are strong indications there is back and forth with other terrorists," CNN reported citing a US official. "These are not just the writings of an elderly jihadi."
There is evidence of two-way written communications demonstrating that not only was bin Laden sending messages, he was getting responses as well, he said.
US officials cited by the WashingtonPost said bin Laden was in touch with frequently and directly with among others Ayman al-Zawahiri, his long time second in command, as well as Atiyah Abd al-Rahman, a Libyan operative who is the latest to fill the organization's No. 3 slot.
Bin Laden's personal journal, which was seized during the US raid, includes information about the importance of attacking the US and lists key dates on the American calendar-including July 4, Christmas and the 10th anniversary of Sep 11, 2001 attacks.
At this point, the official said, there is no indication of a time, date or place for any specific attack, and much of what has been seen is more bin Laden ideas than actual plans.
The Post citing US intelligence officials analysing the seized material from the bin Laden, said he was preoccupied with attacking the United States over all other targets, a fixation that led to friction with followers.
Even while sealed inside a cement compound in a Pakistani city, bin Laden functioned like a crime boss pulling strings from a prison cell, it said.
"Bin Laden is saying, 'You've got to focus on the US and the West,' " a senior US intelligence official was quoted as saying.
Bin Laden served as a "chief executive who is giving fairly generic, broad instructions and guidance rather than tactical orders," the official said.
Source: IANS

Muammar Gaddafi Makes First Appearance Since Son's Death

2011-05-12T08:29:00.000-07:00

TRIPOLI (Reuters) – Libyan television showed Muammar Gaddafi meeting officials in a Tripoli hotel, ending nearly two weeks of doubt over his fate since a NATO air strike that killed his son.
The Libyan leader, who had not been seen in public since an April 30 strike killed his youngest son and three grandchildren, made his appearance on Wednesday in trademark brown robe, dark sunglasses and black hat.
Gaddafi was shown greeting a group of tribal leaders who support him. "You will be victorious," an old man told Gaddafi.
Four months into a revolt against his rule, Gaddafi is still holding doggedly onto power despite weeks of NATO strikes on his military and command structures.
The conflict has now entered stalemate, with Gaddafi in control of most of the west of the country, while the rebels are hemmed in to their stronghold in the east and a few pockets in the west.
State television reported that the North Korean embassy in Tripoli had suffered major damage in a NATO strike.
"We have seen these reports. We cannot verify them independently. NATO conducts all its strikes with the greatest precision to avoid damage to the civilian population, unlike the Gaddafi regime and its forces," a NATO official said.
The report is likely to revive uncomfortable memories for the alliance of an incident in 1999 when it bombed the Chinese embassy in Belgrade during a campaign against Serbian leader Slobodan Milosevic.
The rebel leadership in the eastern city of Benghazi -- having seen attempts to advance west on the capital bogged down in the desert -- is now focusing on drumming up more international support.
Mustafa Abdel Jalil, chairman of the Libyan National Transitional Council, met British Prime Minister David Cameron in London and received a pledge of help.
"The government is today inviting the council to establish a formal office here in London," Cameron told reporters. "We will work with you to ensure that the international community increases the diplomatic, the economic and the military pressure on this bankrupt regime."
The United States has also been providing the rebels with help, delivering its first shipment of food rations as part of a $25 million non-lethal aid package.
Offering a glimmer of encouragement for Western governments which hope Gaddafi's rule will collapse from within, Tripoli's consul in Cairo said he was quitting his post to join rebel ranks.
He joined a string of senior Libyan officials who have broken ties with Gaddafi's government.
WINDOWS RATTLED
NATO air strikes, which have now become an almost daily occurrence in Tripoli, hit the city again overnight.
A Reuters correspondent said he heard at least two blasts early on Thursday. The explosions were powerful enough to rattle the windows of the hotel just south of the city center where foreign media are staying.
Libyan officials said two people had been killed in NATO strikes and showed foreign journalists two bodies at a hospital.
Staff at the hospital said they had treated more than 20 people who had been wounded.
Western governments say they are carrying out their military intervention in Libya to stop Gaddafi's forces killing civilians who rose up against his rule in a rebellion which took its lead from uprisings elsewhere in the Arab world.
Libyan officials deny killing civilians, saying instead they are fighting criminal armed gangs and al Qaeda militants. They say the NATO air strikes are an act of colonial aggression by countries that want to grab Libya's oil wealth.
REBEL GAIN
Rebels in the city of Misrata, their only major stronghold in the west of Libya, hailed an important victory on Wednesday, saying they had seized the city airport from pro-Gaddafi forces.
The rebels said they had also seized large quantities of weapons and munitions. No independent verification of the rebels' account was available.
Taking the airport would be a psychological boost for rebels who have been grimly defending the besieged city for weeks, but it was unlikely to change the military balance of power.
The city, Libya's third largest, is still encircled by pro-Gaddafi forces and cut off from other rebel holdouts by thousands of kilometers of desert.
On another front in the rebels' conflict with Gaddafi loyalists, in the barren Western mountains region south-west of Tripoli, anti-Gaddafi fighters are holding off attempts by loyalists to take their mountain-top positions.
Government forces lob rockets and artillery from the plains below, yet apart from areas on the eastern edge of the mountain range, they have been unable to gain much ground.
At a training session on Wednesday in the mountain town of Kabaw, rebel fighters chanted "We're coming, Muammar!".
But the reality is there is little prospect of them breaking out of their mountain haven and advancing on the capital.
"Now, we are just defending," said one of the their commanders, British-educated Tarek Zanbou. "If we get weapons, we can push them (pro-Gaddafi forces) to Tripoli. But now we are in a defensive situation."
Thousands of people have been killed since the revolt broke out against Gaddafi's rule in late February.
(Reporting by Matt Robinson in Zintan, Hamid Ould Ahmed in Algiers, Deepa Babington in Benghazi, Isabel Coles in Cairo, David Brunnstrom in Brussels, Peter Griffiths and Stefano Ambrogi in London; writing by Sylvia Westall and Christian Lowe, editing by Ralph Boulton)

US had authorised SEALs to fight Pak forces

2011-05-10T00:53:00.000-07:00

Washington: US President Barack Obama had authorised Navy SEAL commandos, on mission to capture or kill al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden, to engage the Pakistani police or forces if confronted while carrying out the operation.
As against the wishes of some of his advisors, President Obama insisted to increase the size of his combat team so as that they would be able to successfully handle the Pakistani forces if confronted during the mission, 'The New York Times' reported.
Pakistan has already said it had scrambled its jets and forces to tackle the foreign forces at Abbottabad, but the US Special Forces left the compound after successfully carrying out the operation in about 40 minutes.

"As the Abbottabad episode illustrates our Military responded to the US Forces covert incursion. The Air Force was ordered to scramble. Ground units arrived at the scene quickly. Our response demonstrates that our armed forces reacted, as was expected of them," Pakistan Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani told Parliament yesterday.
The New York Times said Obama's decision to increase the size of the force sent into Pakistan shows that he was willing to risk a military confrontation with a close ally in order to capture or kill the leader of al-Qaeda.
"Such a fight would have set off an even larger breach with the Pakistanis than has taken place since officials in Islamabad learned that helicopters filled with members of a Navy Seals team had flown undetected into one of their cities, and burst into a compound where bin Laden was hiding," it said.
"Their instructions were to avoid any confrontation if at all possible. But if they had to return fire to get out, they were authorized to do it," a senior Obama Administration official was quoted as saying.
"The planning also illustrates how little the administration trusted the Pakistanis as they set up their operation. They also rejected a proposal to bring the Pakistanis in on the mission," the newspaper reported.
While two helicopters were sent to Abbottabad, under the original plan, two assault helicopters were going to stay on the Afghanistan side of the border waiting for a call if they were needed.
But the aircraft would have been about 90 minutes away from the bin Laden compound, it said.
"Some people may have assumed we could talk our way out of a jam, but given our difficult relationship with Pakistan right now, the president did not want to leave anything to chance," one senior administration official was quoted as saying.
"He wanted extra forces if they were necessary," the official added.
If a confrontation appeared imminent, there were contingency plans for senior American officials, including Admiral Mike Mullen, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, to call their Pakistani counterparts to avert an armed clash.
But when he reviewed the plans about 10 days before the raid, Obama voiced concern that this was not enough to protect the troops on the mission, administration officials said, according to the newspaper.
That resulted in the decision to send two more helicopters carrying additional troops.
These followed the two lead Black Hawk helicopters that carried the actual assault team. While there was no confrontation with the Pakistanis, one of those backup helicopters was ultimately brought in to the scene of the raid when a Black Hawk was damaged while making a hard landing.
The New York Times said two teams of specialists were on standby during the entire operation: One to bury bin Laden if he was killed, and a second composed of lawyers, interrogators and translators in case he was captured alive.
"That team was set to meet aboard a Navy ship, most likely the aircraft carrier Carl Vinson in the North Arabian Sea," the daily said.
With tensions between the US and Pakistan escalating since the raid, American officials yesterday sought to tamp down the divisions and pointed to some encouraging developments, the paper said.
It quoted a US official as saying that American investigators would soon be allowed to interview bin Laden's three widows, now being held by Pakistani authorities, a demand that Obama's national security adviser Thomas Donilon made on television last week.

Pakistani Media Outs CIA Chief

2011-05-09T08:47:00.000-07:00

Some cite 'retaliation' for bin Laden killing

Local residents gather to view the house of Osama bin Laden, in Abbottabad, Pakistan, on Sunday, May 8, 2011. (AP Photo/Aqeel Ahmed)

Pakistan’s media has unveiled the name of the man who it says is the CIA's Islamabad station chief, and some say the Pakistani government is behind the leak. If that’s the case, it would mark the second outing of a CIA agent in Pakistan in six months and point to an increasingly strained relationship with the US in the wake of Osama bin Laden's death, the Wall Street Journal reports. The name was reported on Friday by a private TV station in a story about a meeting between the director of Pakistan's spy agency and the station chief.
The TV station said it had “one-plus” sources on the name, but didn’t reveal them. “If we did not mention the man's name, the credibility of the story would have been reduced,” said a rep. The name “has to have been released by some government agency,” said the editor of a right-wing newspaper. “Who else would know such information?" It could be Pakistan's "own little way of retaliating" for the raid, said a former US intelligence official. In December, a lawsuit in Pakistan revealed the name of the former station chief, prompting the US to remove him from the post.