Saturday, August 08, 2009

DTN News: Pakistan Taliban Scramble To Replace Dead Leader

DTN News: Pakistan Taliban Scramble To Replace Dead Leader *CIA missile kills widely feared Baitullah Mehsud, seen as mastermind behind Bhutto assassination
*Source: DTN News / Toronto Star By Ayesha Akram in Lahore, Pakistan ~ Rick Westhead in New Delhi
(NSI News Source Info) LAHORE, Pakistan - August 8, 2009: He was one of the most wanted terrorists in the world. Although he was rarely seen, his words inspired fear and his activities made global headlines. In this made from video taken on May 24, 2008, Pakistan's top Taliban leader Baitullah Mehsud, right, talks to the media in Kotkai, a village in the Pakistani tribal area along the Afghan border. According to Kafayat Ullah, a Taliban commander and aide to Mehsud, Friday Aug. 7, 2009, Mehsud, who led a violent campaign of suicide attacks and assassinations against the Pakistani government, was killed in a U.S. missile strike on Wednesday Aug. 5, 2009. Now Baitullah Mehsud is dead, felled by a CIA missile this week in the South Waziristan tribal region. The death of the 39-year-old Taliban leader is a crucial victory for both Pakistani and U.S. forces, who have been on the hunt for him for months. Kafayut Ullah, a spokesman for Mehsud, confirmed yesterday his leader had been slain. The voice of another Taliban commander based in South Waziristan broke as he talked about the death of "Amir Sahib," as Mehsud was affectionately called. (The endearment means "beloved leader.") The commander said losing Mehsud was like losing a father, and the Taliban fighters felt like orphans without him. Mehsud, the most wanted man in the Indian subcontinent, had been accused of orchestrating suicide attacks, an assault on a police academy in Lahore, and the assassination in 2007 of former Pakistani prime minister Benazir Bhutto. "Baitullah Mehsud is somebody who has well earned his label as a murderous thug," said White House spokesman Robert Gibbs. "He has planned and helped carry out some of the most heinous acts of terrorism and violence that we have seen in Pakistan. He has killed scores of innocent men, women and children and is supposed to have plotted the assassination of Benazir Bhutto. If he is dead, without a doubt the people of Pakistan will be safer as a result." No Pakistan government officials have seen the body, and Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi said the government is trying to verify Mehsud's death. But sources said that by the time Mehsud's death was confirmed by Taliban, he had already been buried with his wife, also killed by the missile. The funeral was attended by only Mehsud's closest companions. "The site of Mehsud's grave has also been kept secret since the Tehrik-e-Taliban want to attract minimum attention to his death," said one intelligence source, who has intimate knowledge of the party. Another intelligence source said the unmarked graves are in Nargosey, near where he and his wife died. Taliban sources in South Waziristan confirm the upper echelon of the Taliban convened an important meeting late yesterday to decide on their next leader. Three names from amongst Mehsud's trusted aides have emerged so far – Hakimullah Mehsud, Wali-u-Rehman and Azmat Ullah. Of the three, Hakimullah Mehsud, a senior lieutenant in Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan, is considered the front-runner, due to his close affiliation with Baitullah Mehsud. Prior to 2008, little was known about Hakimullah. He is described as a shadowy commander, immensely loyal to Baitullah Mehsud and even more ruthless and fearless than him. He is called the "mobile commander" for his ability to turn up in various tribal regions and lead operations from there. Mehsud's death is a huge setback for the Pakistani Taliban, according to political analyst Hassan Askari. "He was seen as invincible," Askari said. "He was able to murder Benazir, stage countless suicide attacks and yet no one was able to touch him. Now his murder has sent a message to his party: intelligence is getting stronger and the next victim could be anyone." A local tribesman said Mehsud was being treated for kidney pain at his father-in-law's house on Wednesday when the missile struck, according to Dawn, a leading English newspaper in Pakistan. The U.S. had offered a $5 million reward for Mehsud and came close to killing him previously. In June, it launched a missile attack during the funeral for another Taliban leader, but Mehsud had already left. Last year, in a rare news conference in the town of Kot Kai in South Waziristan, Mehsud defended the Taliban's use of suicide bombers. "America is bombing us and we are facing cruelty, so we will support these suicide attacks," he said. "(Suicide bombers) are our atom bombs. Although the infidels have the atom bombs, our atom bombs are the finest in the world." He also talked about his death. "It is the top desire of my life to obtain martyrdom. I have strong feelings for martyrdom in my heart," he told reporters. "To be a martyr, to be wounded or arrested – we consider it as a sacrifice."

DTN News: Will Pakistan Mend its Ways?

DTN News: Will Pakistan Mend its Ways?
*Source: DTN News / Kashmir Herald By Sarla Handoo (NSI News Source Info) Kashmir, India - August 8, 2009: There could not have been a more blunt and straightforward way for Dr. Manmohan Singh to bring home the point to Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari on how serious and painful India is about the lackadaisical attitude adopted by it with regard to the terror outfits in Pakistan targeting India. One hopes Zardari took the message. Kashmiri militants shout slogans during a public meeting to mark the Kashmir Solidarity Day in Muzaffarabad, the capital of the Pakistan-administered Kashmir. Around a dozen Kashmiri militant groups gathered publicly to urge Pakistan to lift bans against the Islamist organisation India blames for the Mumbai attacks and its political arm. "We appeal on the government of Pakistan to lift the ban against Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD) because no Kashmiri jihadi organisation was involved in the Mumbai attacks," Syed Salahuddin, head of the militant Hizbul Mujahideen, told the gathering of around 1,000 people. The 40- minute meeting between Manmohan Singh and Zardari in Yekaterinburg, Russia, did break the ice in the otherwise stressful relations between the two countries following the Mumbai attacks in November last. The handshake that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and President Zardari had on Tuesday flashed across the television screens. But how firm was the handshake and whether it would be enduring is the moot point. The question now is will Pakistan act against the terror outfits, LeT and Jaish-e- Mohammad that are launching terrorist attacks against India from Pakistani soil? The Indian Foreign Secretary Mr. Shiv Shankar Menon has made it clear that it is not the beginning of the dialogue process. The two leaders will meet again on the sidelines of the Non-Aligned Movement summit at Sharma-al-Sheikh in Egypt by the end of July. In between, the Foreign Secretaries will meet to review what action has been taken by Pakistan on what Mr. Menon described as “the primary issue of terrorism” and what more can be done. The reports will be submitted to the respective governments and only after that a decision will be taken on the resumption of the composite dialogue. The blunt message which Dr. Manmohan Singh gave Mr. Zardari in his opening remarks of their meeting that followed, would obviously have set the tone for the one- on -one exchange of views. Dr. Singh made it clear that India has some expectations from Pakistan and that Islamabad has to live up to its commitment and not allow its soil to be used for terrorist activities against India, before there can be any forward movement in resuming the dialogue process. For this, Pakistan needs to take strong, effective action against the terrorist outfits focused against India, bring the perpetrators of Mumbai attacks to justice and dismantle the terrorist infrastructure within its country. Dr. Singh minced no words in pointing out that India has a strong feeling that while Pakistan has taken action against Taliban and the al-Qaeda, it is not acting against the LeT and Jaish-e- Mohammad, the outfits indulging in terrorism against India. Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mohammad Qureshi may have a point when he said that it would be the “most sensible thing” to resume the composite dialogue process as it would be beneficial to both the countries and would lead to resolution of the issues. But what pains India is that Pakistan has yet to prove its sincerity in dealing with terrorism emanating from its soil against it. If that is the case, how can the issues be resolved? Until Pakistan addressed Indian concerns no amount of talks can be purposeful. President Zardari’s plea that he has been facing problems and difficulties as he can not fight on all fronts simultaneously and therefore needed some more time may carry some weight. But, so far, he has not been able to convince India about his sincerity in dealing with terror outfits targeting India. The latest instance has been the release of LeT chief Hafiz Saeed from house arrest in the wake of a weak case presented in the Lahore High Court. India has provided heaps of evidence to Pakistan about the involvement of Hafiz and others in Mumbai attacks. In fact, Pakistan has already accepted, after a great deal of dithering that the attacks were executed and partly planned from its soil. Despite this Pakistan has not even filed an appeal in the Supreme Court so far, though Qureshi said the Provincial Punjab government is “contemplating to do so”. New Delhi has publicly expressed its disapproval of the way Pakistan has been handling the case. Even at the height of present tension and efforts to resume the dialogue process, Pakistan Foreign Minister is trying to equate the terrorism that emanates from Pakistan with that originating from India, the Briton and the US. He told reporters during the Russia visit that terrorism has to be condemned and fought “from wherever it emanates…India, Pakistan, UK and America.” It clearly indicates that Pakistan has yet to go a long way to come out of its mindset in not being honest in tackling terrorism on its own soil. That the US has welcomed the Manmohan Singh- Zardari meeting as “encouraging” is quite understandable. It has always been emphasizing that the two countries need continue their dialogue to find solutions against terrorism and to promote regional peace and stability. New Delhi will like to close the channels of communications with Pakistan though bilateral relations are under “considerable strain”. The people of the subcontinent have a huge stake in peace. That holds some prospect of more talks taking place. As the Prime Minister put it, “if Islamabad shows the courage, determination and statesmanship to take the high road to peace, India would meet it more than half way.” It is for Pakistan now to act and let the peace process move forward.

DTN News: Airbus Escapes Cancellations In July

DTN News: Airbus Escapes Cancellations In July
*Source: DTN News / Int'l Media
(NSI News Source Info) PARIS, France - August 8, 2009: booking 50 A320s, but perhaps more significantly the aircraft maker didn't suffer any additional order cancellations in July. The airframer has recorded 22 cancellations this year, but their pace has now slowed, leaving the company with 140 gross orders and 118 net orders. Company officials are hoping to secure about 300 gross orders for the year, but concede that goal could be difficult to reach. Although cancellations appear to have eased, airlines continue to ask for deliveries to be deferred across the product line, as reflected by recent decisions at Aer Lingus and Thai Airways to take aircraft planned for delivery next year at some later time. The 50 A320s booked July 1 commit to the order book aircraft that Wizz Air said in June it planned to buy. Also in July, the A320 order book grew by four units, with leasing company AerVenture offsetting the reduction of four A319s at Spirit Airlines. For the year, the A320 has secured 87 new orders, although Airbus had five cancellations in the product line. Deliveries for the first seven months reached 288 units, led again by the A320 with 126 units. So far, only four A380s have been put in customer hands, but the plan remains to deliver 14 by yearend.

DTN News: China Blames Unrest On Foreign-Based Separatists

DTN News: China Blames Unrest On Foreign-Based Separatists *Source: DTN News / AFP (NSI News Source Info) GENEVA, Switzerland - August 8, 2009: Last year's unrest in Tibet and July's violence in Xinjiang were instigated by separatists abroad, China told a United Nations human rights hearing Friday. A Muslim man watches armed Chinese paramilitary policemen in riot gear walk past the Dong Kuruk Bridge mosque in the city of Urumqi in China's Xinjiang Autonomous Region July 17, 2009. Security remains heavy in ethnic Uighur neighbourhoods of Xinjiang regional capital Urumqi after riots on July 5 between the Muslim Uighur minority and majority Han Chinese wounded more than 1,600. The official Xinhua news agency said on Wednesday that 192 people were killed in the riots, and that around 1,000 people have been detained. "Facts have fully shown that the two incidents were premeditated and organised crimes of violence, directed and instigated by separatists abroad and carried out by separatists inside China," said Duan Jielong, who led a 30-strong Chinese delegation attending a UN examination on China's record on eliminating racial discrimination. Duan accused the "separatists" of "creating ethnic splits and hatred, undermining... harmonious development in ethnic minority areas and undermining national unity and territorial integrity." He told the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination: "These violent crimes not only gravely violated Chinese law, but also gravely violated the purposes and principles of the Convention." The government had taken "prompt action according to law" to stop these acts and was supported by Chinese people of "all ethnic groups," said Duan. It had the "confidence and capacity to ... unite all ethnic groups," he added. During the hearing, some members of the UN committee sought more information on how China is dealing with the two minority populations in the wake of the unrest. Linos-Alexandre Sicilianos, who is the special rapporteur on the issue, called on China to detail measures on the treatment of those detained following the Tibet unrest. He also called on China to treat over 1,000 suspects held over the Xinjiang unrest according to "international human rights standards." Meanwhile, another member of the committee Dilip Lahiri noted that economic investments in the ethnic minority regions may have not benefited the minorities but instead had gone to the Han settlers in the regions. "The change in the demographic balance brought about by the Han settlers... and their securing the lion's share of government investments is one of the primary causes of unrest among China's ethnic minorities," he said. "Action by the government to address this trend is imperative," he added. Other committee members also asked about the teaching of ethnic minority languages in schools and issues surrounding religious freedom. The Chinese delegation is scheduled to reply to the questions when the hearing reconvenes Monday. Beijing has said that at least 197 people were killed and more than 1,600 injured in the July 5 unrest in the capital of Xinjiang, Urumqi, which pitted minority Uighurs against members of China's dominant Han ethnic group. Uighurs say the unrest was touched off when security forces responded violently to peaceful protests over a brawl at a factory in southern China that state media said had left two Uighur workers dead. The government meanwhile, has accused Uighurs, most of whom are Muslim, of going on a rampage against Han Chinese in Urumqi. The violence in Xinjiang came a year after riots in Tibet that broke out after monks led peaceful protests to mark a 1959 uprising. The unrest later spread across the Tibetan plateau. On Thursday, exiled Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama told journalists in Geneva that China's policies towards its ethnic minorities had failed to foster trust over the last six decades and need to be reviewed. "After 60 years, their policies basically failed to ... bring trust," he said, and the time had come to carry out a "scientific review of the policies."

DTN News: 'Militants' Planning Attacks In Delhi Arrested ~ Police

DTN News: 'Militants' Planning Attacks In Delhi Arrested ~ Police
*Source: DTN News / Int'l Media
(NSI News Source Info) NEW DELHI. India - August 8, 2009: Indian authorities arrested two suspected members of the outlawed Hizbul Mujahideen militant group who were allegedly planning attacks in the capital New Delhi, police said Friday. Syed Salahuddin (L), head of the militant Hizbul Mujahideen collects the donation for the Kashmiri people during a public meeting to mark the Kashmir Solidarity Day in Muzaffarabad, the capital of the Pakistan-administered Kashmir on February 4, 2009. Around a dozen Kashmiri militant groups gathered publicly to urge Pakistan to lift bans against the Islamist organisation India blames for the Mumbai attacks and its political arm. "We appeal on the government of Pakistan to lift the ban against Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD) because no Kashmiri jihadi organisation was involved in the Mumbai attacks," Syed Salahuddin, head of the militant Hizbul Mujahideen, told the gathering of around 1,000 people. The suspects, identified as Javed Ahmed and Ashiq Ali, were taken into custody in New Delhi on Thursday night, police spokesman Rajan Bhagat told AFP. "The two men are residents of Indian-administered Kashmir and had been trained in Pakistan by Hizbul Mujahideen," senior police official P.N. Aggarwal told reporters. "They were planning militant attacks in New Delhi." The Hizbul Mujahideen, the biggest militant group in disputed Kashmir, wants the region to become part of mainly Muslim Pakistan. India and Pakistan both rule the Muslim-majority Himalayan region in part but claim it in full. The arrests came amid tightened security ahead of India's Independence Day on August 15 marking the country's independence from Britain in 1947. Hundreds of extra police and paramilitary forces have been deployed across New Delhi following intelligence reports suggesting a series of possible attacks by Islamist groups. "We were working in close coordination with intelligence agencies which ultimately resulted in the arrests," a senior police officer said. The home ministry on Thursday issued a "high alert" in three cities including New Delhi. Police said they had seized weapons, explosives and fake passports from the suspects. India steps up security every year ahead of the Independence Day celebrations, especially in the capital and flashpoint areas such as Indian Kashmir where a separatist revolt has raged since 1989. India has blamed Pakistan for repeated attacks on its soil, including last year's assault on Mumbai that left 166 dead. It also accuses Pakistan of arming and training militants in Kashmir -- a charge Islamabad denies.

DTN News: Indonesian Police Exchange Gunfire With Militants

DTN News: Indonesian Police Exchange Gunfire With Militants *Source: DTN News / Int'l Media (NSI News Source Info) JAKARTA, Indonesia - August 8, 2009: - Police hunting for an alleged terror leader suspected of masterminding last month's bombings at two Jakarta hotels surrounded a house in central Indonesia on Friday and were exchanging gunfire with militants loyal to him inside, police and a witness said. Police stand guard as villagers watch a raid on a house in search of militants in Temanggung, Central Java August 8, 2009. Police from Indonesia's anti-terrorism unit exchanged gunfire on Friday with suspected militants in Central Java after a raid targeting the perpetrators behind deadly bomb attacks in Jakarta last month. Police believe the prime suspect behind the near simultaneous suicide attacks on two luxury Jakarta hotels last month, Malaysian-born militant Noordin Mohammad Top, was among those holed up at the house. Noordin Mohammad Top is suspected in all of Indonesia's major terror attacks, including the suicide bombings at the J.W. Marriott and Ritz-Carlton hotels and blasts on the resort island of Bali in 2002. Police spokesman Nanan Sukarna said a gunfight was taking place in a village in Temanggung district in central Java. He said "three or four" militants belonging to Noordin's group were believed to be inside. Sukarna declined to comment on local media reports that Noordin also was in the house. Noordin is a Malaysian citizen who claimed in a video in 2005 to be al-Qaida's representative in Southeast Asia and to be carrying out attacks on Western civilians to avenge Muslim deaths in Afghanistan. While Noordin and his associates are believed to have once had links with al-Qaida, it is uncertain whether they still do. Parwito Raffa, a local journalist in the village, said police surrounded the isolated house and were fighting people inside. He said sporadic gunfire had been continuing for several hours and was becoming more frequent. Indonesian police were met with booby traps and suicide bombers in at least one other raid on a terrorist hide-out, and were likely to approach the house with extreme caution. Metro TV reported that police arrested two suspected militants in a nearby town earlier Friday who gave them information that led them to the house. Indonesian police have arrested more than 200 militants associated with the Jemaah Islamiyah terror network since 2002, including many with ties to Noordin, who they say has narrowly escaped capture several times. Police have offered a $100,000 reward for information leading to his capture. Experts say Noordin is likely being hidden by a small network of sympathizers who might not agree with his tactics, but nevertheless believe they have a duty to shelter him. Java, home to more than half of Indonesia's 220 million people, has long been the focus in the hunt for Noordin and his associates. In November 2005, Azahari bin Husin, a top Jemaah Islamiyah bomb maker, was fatally shot by counterterrorism forces in east Java. Sariyah Jabir, another explosives expert, was killed in April 2006 during a raid on a militant hide-out in central Java. Noordin and his associates are the chief suspects in last month's hotel attacks, in which two suicide bombers killed seven people, mostly foreigners. Prosecutors say Noordin orchestrated the 2002 bombings on Bali, an earlier attack on the J.W. Marriott Hotel in 2003, a blast outside the Australian Embassy in 2004, and triple suicide bombings on restaurants in Bali in 2005. Al-Qaida is believed to have helped fund the first three attacks. Together, the four strikes killed more than 240 people, many of them Western tourists.

DTN News: Singapore TODAY August 8, 2009 ~ Singapore Seeks Someone Clean And Green To Groom For Prime Minister

DTN News: Singapore TODAY August 8, 2009 ~ Singapore Seeks Someone Clean And Green To Groom For Prime Minister
*Source: DTN News / Int'l Media
(NSI News Source Info) SINGAPORE - August 8, 2009: Singapore is looking for someone in their 30s to stand at the next election and eventually become prime minister, a former leader of the city-state said.
Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, 57, is having a difficult time finding suitable candidates and the country's fourth leader could be among new faces in an election due by early 2012, said Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong. "He is looking for someone in their early 30s or maybe late 30s. Someone who can rise to be prime minister is not easy to find," said Goh, prime minister from 1990 to 2004. "I'm not saying there is no-one in the Cabinet now who can take over. There are a few people, but they are only a few years younger." Lee, who battled cancer while deputy prime minister, is the son of independent Singapore's first prime minister Lee Kuan Yew, whose People's Action Party marked 50 years in power in June.

DTN News: Russian Warship Arrives In Bulgaria For Blackseafor Naval Drills

DTN News: Russian Warship Arrives In Bulgaria For Blackseafor Naval Drills
*Source: DTN News / RIA Novosti
(NSI News Source Info) SEVASTOPOL - August 8, 2009: The Caesar Kunikov large amphibious landing ship from Russia's Black Sea Fleet arrived on Thursday to the Bulgarian port of Varna to take part in the 14th Blackseafor naval drills. Formally established on Turkey's initiative in 2001, Blackseafor - which comprises Turkey, Bulgaria, Ukraine, Romania, Georgia and Russia - conducts search and rescue operations and environmental monitoring, and organizes goodwill visits among Black Sea countries. Its charter says Blackseafor can also be deployed for peacekeeping operations under a UN or OSCE mandate. "The Blackseafor warships will practice, in particular, monitoring of commercial shipping, interception and pursuit of suspicious vessels...communications and tactical maneuvering," a spokesman for the Black Sea Fleet said. Georgian warships have not participated in the Blackseafor exercises for a number of years, and will not take part in the upcoming drills. Russia has said it will not take part in any joint naval exercises involving Georgian warships. Diplomatic ties were cut between Russia and Georgia after last August's war over South Ossetia, which began when Georgian forces attacked the province in an attempt to bring it back under central control. The Caesar Kunikov is a Ropucha-I class large landing ship. The vessel was involved in August 2008 Russian-Georgian naval skirmish.

DTN News: South Russia Missile Radar To Be Fully Operational In October

DTN News: South Russia Missile Radar To Be Fully Operational In October *Source: DTN News / RIA Novosti (NSI News Source Info) BALASHIKHA (Moscow Region) - August 8, 2009: A radar station in the southern Russian town of Armavir will become fully operational in October-November as part of the country's missile warning system, a military official said on Thursday. "The station will be put into operation...in October-November this year," said Gen. Nikolai Abroskin, head of the Federal Agency for Special Construction, which builds radar sites and space launch centers. The station is currently operating in a test mode. The Armavir radar has been built to monitor any potential missile attacks in the south and southeast of Russia in place of the early warning facilities in Mukachevo in western Ukraine and Sevastopol in the Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea. Russia terminated a 1997 agreement with Kiev on the use of both Ukrainian radars in February 2008 on the grounds that they had become obsolete. With an effective range of 4,000 kilometers (2,500 miles) the Voronezh-type radar has capabilities similar to its predecessors, the Dnepr and Daryal, which are currently deployed outside Russia, but uses less energy and is more environmentally friendly. Russia has offered the U.S. use of radar stations at Armavir and Gabala in Azerbaijan as alternatives to a planned U.S. missile shield deployment in Central Europe, which Moscow has fiercely opposed as a security threat. Washington has since shown little interest in the Russian proposal, but with the arrival of a new administration, led by President Barack Obama, has frozen its plans to open a missile interceptor base in Poland and a radar station in the Czech Republic. During his visit to Moscow in July, Obama pledged to consider Russia's concerns and review the U.S.'s European shield plans.

DTN News: Karzai Family's Wealth 'Fuelling Insurgency'

DTN News: Karzai Family's Wealth 'Fuelling Insurgency' *Persistent allegations of corruption aimed at Hamid Karzai's family are undermining Western efforts in Afghanistan and feeding the Taliban-led insurgency, Washington policy-makers have warned.
*Source: DTN News / Telegraph.co.uk By Ben Farmer in Kabul (NSI News Source Info) KABUL, Afghanistan - August 8, 2009: The president's brothers, Mahmoud and Ahmed Wali, are accused of having amassed millions of pounds since Mr Karzai took office even as most of Afghanistan remains poverty stricken. The development has fuelled a popular disillusionment and anger with the leadership that the Taliban has exploited.
Afghan presidential candidate and current President Hamid Karzai. Persistent allegations of corruption aimed at Hamid Karzai's family are undermining Western efforts in Afghanistan and feeding the Taliban-led insurgency, Washington policy-makers have warned.
Ahmed Wali Karzai has been dogged by allegations, which he denies, of involvement in the country's $3 billion opium trade, while Mahmoud Karzai has been accused of using his brother's influence to build a business empire that has made him one of the country's wealthiest men. Max Boot, a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, a research centre, said: "There's a perception that members of his family are benefiting from his position. It's bad for our counter-insurgency efforts." The rumours of corruption and displays of obvious wealth were providing propaganda for the insurgents. One Western diplomat said: "We are losing this war to corruption." Diplomats fear that Mr Karzai shows little appetite to rein in his brothers, despite intense pressure from his international backers and attempts by Western intelligence agencies to investigate his siblings' assets. Malou Innocent, a foreign-policy analyst at the Cato Institute, a Washington-based think tank, said the Taliban was using the Karzai brothers' wealth as evidence that the president was a puppet of the Nato-led forces. "It's getting worse," she said. "There doesn't seem to be any silver bullet for getting rid of it considering how endemic it is." Ahmed Wali Karzai, 48, who has a portfolio of land, transport and private security business interests in the southern city of Kandahar, said the allegations of unproven links with the drug trade were aimed at weakening his brother. Any involvement in opium production is considered particularly harmful because the drug trade channels hundreds of millions of dollars into the insurgency each year. Taliban commanders earn huge sums from drug traffickers and growers by charging tithes or protection money and providing convoy guards. Mahmoud Karzai, 54, who has interests in mines, a cement factory and property, denied that he had capitalised on his brother's influence. A spokesman for the president said allegations that he ran the country as a "family business" were "absolute ­rubbish" and propaganda spread by his enemies. Despite the allegations, Mr Karzai remains the favourite to win the election on Aug 20. His main challenger, Abdullah Abdullah, the former foreign minister, claims to have enough support to force a second round of voting but Mr Karzai sought to strengthen his position by offering another challenger a job. The president offered to make Ashraf Ghani "chief executive" if he stood down and pledged his support. Mr Karzai and Dr Ghani are both Pashtuns from the south and the president's advisers believe an alliance could prevent a split in the ethnic vote.

DTN News: Pakistani Taliban Chief Baitullah Mehsud 'Dead'

DTN News: Pakistani Taliban Chief Baitullah Mehsud 'Dead' *Source: DTN News / AFP (NSI News Source Info) ISLAMABAD, Pakistan - August 8, 2009: Pakistan said Friday it believed Baitullah Mehsud, the charismatic commander of the Pakistani Taliban, had been killed in a US drone attack in a major blow for the Islamist militants. US and Pakistani officials accuse Mehsud of masterminding the 2007 assassination of ex-Pakistani prime minister Benazir Bhutto and blame him for the deaths of hundreds of people in bomb attacks over the past two years. Senior officials in Pakistan's powerful security establishment who supervise operations in Mehsud's Waziristan stronghold said the warlord was dead, but the government said it was seeking verification. "According to my intelligence this news is correct, but we are investigating," Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi told reporters. "To be 100 percent sure, we are going for ground verification," he added. "Information is coming from that area that he is dead," said Interior Minister Rehman Malik. "I am unable to confirm unless I have solid evidence," the cabinet minister added. The United States also said it could not confirm Mehsud had been killed, but White House spokesman Robert Gibbs conceded, "there seems to be a growing consensus among credible observers that he is indeed dead." Tribesmen said on condition of anonymity that Mehsud was killed with his wife when a US drone fired two missiles into a family home in the Laddah area of South Waziristan on Wednesday. A kinsman had initially said he was "safe". The US Central Intelligence Agency, with the tacit cooperation of Islamabad, has carried out dozens of attacks in Pakistan using unmanned Predator and Reaper drones over the past year, but declines to discuss the strikes publicly. Islamabad and Washington had said liquidating Mehsud was a strategic aim in the fight against Taliban and Al-Qaeda-linked extremists whom the United States has accused of posing an existential threat to nuclear-armed Pakistan. "I warn Baitullah Mehsud's group to end terrorism. It is a targeted operation against Baitullah Mehsud and it will continue until the group is eliminated," Malik added. Pakistan publicly opposes US drone strikes, saying they violate its territorial sovereignty and deepen resentment among the populace. Mehsud, who has a five-million-dollar US bounty on his head after Washington branded him "a key Al-Qaeda facilitator," has reportedly narrowly escaped previous attacks. US experts said Mehsud's death would be a big deal as he represented the biggest threat to Pakistan's stability. "We've buried him more than once in the past. But assuming it is right, it is a pretty significant step. He became a symbol of the Taliban's war on the Pakistani state, much more than any other figure," said Bruce Riedel, a former CIA officer and White House adviser. Taliban commanders have neither confirmed nor denied Mehsud's demise. But top militants in his umbrella group Tehreek-e-Taliban (TTP) were gathering in his South Waziristan stronghold on Friday ahead of an expected announcement. "An important announcement is expected at the end of the meeting," said one Taliban commander. Analysts said Mehsud's death, if confirmed, would deal a heavy blow to the organisation increasingly seen as the bloodiest orchestrator of extremist bombings that have killed about 2,000 people in Pakistan over two years. "It will trigger a leadership crisis, they will find it very difficult to fill the vacuum. There cannot be a bigger loss for TTP than losing Mehsud," a Pakistani expert on tribal affairs, Rahimullah Yusufzai, told AFP. Several names are touted as his possible successor but none match his stature. The US government alleges Islamist fighters hide out in the Pakistan mountains near the Afghan border, plotting attacks on Western targets and crossing the porous frontier to attack foreign troops based in Afghanistan. Washington has put Pakistan at the heart of the fight against Al-Qaeda and has ordered an extra 21,000 troops to Afghanistan in a bid to stabilise the neighbouring country for elections this month.

DTN News: India To It FLIR To C-130J Transports / FLIR Systems Announces $7.2 Million Order For The Indian Air Force

DTN News: India To It FLIR To C-130J Transports / FLIR Systems Announces $7.2 Million Order For The Indian Air Force
*Source: DTN News / FLIR Systems, Inc.
(NSI News Source Info) PORTLAND, OR - August 8, 2009: FLIR Systems, Inc. announced today that it has received a $7.2 million U.S. Government Foreign Military Sale (FMS) order for the Indian Air Force.
The order includes FLIR System's Star SAFIRE III infrared multi-sensor surveillance systems, training and related services.
The units delivered under this award will be installed on C-130J Fixed Wing Surveillance Platforms in support of Indian Ministry of Defense airborne missions.
This FMS order represents the first fixed-wing sale of FLIR's multi-sensor systems to the Indian Ministry of Defense. Work on this order will be performed at FLIR's facility in Wilsonville, Oregon and deliveries are expected to be completed by 2011.
"This order, the result of FLIR's world-class products and significant investment in regional support and training, demonstrates our ability to penetrate new international markets," said Earl R. Lewis, President and CEO of FLIR Systems.
"We are pleased the Indian Ministry of Defense has chosen FLIR products for their critical homeland security and national defense missions and look forward to collaborating with them in the future."
FLIR Systems, Inc. is a world leader in the design, manufacture and marketing of thermal imaging and stabilized camera systems for a wide variety of thermography and imaging applications including condition monitoring, research and development, manufacturing process control, airborne observation and broadcast, search and rescue, drug interdiction, surveillance and reconnaissance, navigation safety, border and maritime patrol, environmental monitoring and ground-based security.

DTN News: Israel Says Tanks To Get New Anti-Missile System

DTN News: Israel Says Tanks To Get New Anti-Missile System *Source: DTN News / Int'l Media (NSI News Source Info) JERUSALEM, Israel - August 8, 2009: The Israeli army will begin equipping its tanks with a new anti-missile system, following stinging losses due to missiles fired by Hezbollah militants in the 2006 Lebanon war, officials said. Israeli tanks drive along the Israel-Lebanon border after arriving from south Lebanon, in 2006.The Israeli army will begin equipping its tanks with a new anti-missile system, following stinging losses due to missiles fired by Hezbollah militants in the 2006 Lebanon war, officials said. The Trophy system uses radar to track incoming missiles and fires a projectile to explode the missiles before they reach their target, a military official said. Tests of the system were successful and it will be installed on the latest generation Merkava IV tanks. According the private television station Channel 10 the system is expensive, costing around 350,000 dollars (245,000 euros) per unit. Israel has been searching for a new defence against missiles after Hezbollah militants during the Second Lebanon War scored a number of damaging strikes against the Merkavas, considered one of the strongest tanks in the world. Israel media have reported that of 25 modern guided missiles fired by Hezbollah militants, a quarter penetrated the tank's formidable armour and caused death or injuries among crew members.

DTN News: Australia Begins Search For Submarine Designers

DTN News: Australia Begins Search For Submarine Designers
*Source: DTN News / Int'l Media
(NSI News Source Info) SYDNEY, Australian - August 8, 2009: Defence Minister Sen. John Faulkner announced Aug. 6 that Canberra will call for tenders in the near future to carry out a design study for the Royal Australian Navy's Future Submarine project, code-named Sea 1000. The 12-boat program is expected to be the most expensive defense procurement undertaken by Australia, with estimates ranging up to 20 billion Australian dollars ($16.8 billion). The 2009 defense white paper, published in May, revealed that the Navy's six Collins-class boats will be replaced by about 2025 by 12 conventional submarines. The white paper calls for the Future Submarine to be more capable than the current 3,500-ton Collins-class boat, with greater range and patrol endurance, and armed with land-attack cruise missiles as well as heavyweight torpedoes. A spokesman for Faulkner said the request for tenders announced by Faulkner and his deputy, Greg Combet, the defense materiel and science minister, is designed to assess whether Australian companies have the capacity to design such a submarine. The request also will help the government's defense procurement agency, the Canberra-based Defence Materiel Organisation (DMO), determine the feasibility of establishing an indigenous submarine design capability in Australia. "My interpretation of their announcement is exactly that," said Graham Bulmer, acting CEO of the Collins-class builder, ASC Pty Ltd., Port Adelaide. However, he said, the wording of the announcement is ambiguous, and until the request itself is released, Bulmer declined to speculate on what ASC's response might be. At present, there is only one company in Australia recognized as a submarine design authority, and that is ASC, which established in 2007 a research and development subsidiary, Deep Blue Tech, to carry out self-funded research and development for the next generation of submarines. Bulmer said he couldn't say whether ASC or Deep Blue Tech might respond to the request. This is the second stage of a two-part process that began earlier this year, when a team of Navy and DMO officials visited submarine construction yards in the U.S. and Europe to assess design and technology options. The request is a tacit acknowledgement that there is no submarine available off the shelf that meets the Navy's needs, said Terry Roach, vice president of the Submarine Institute of Australia, a Canberra-based group comprising many former Navy submariners. Roach himself is a former Navy submarine captain and former director of the Navy's Submarine Warfare Systems Centre here. The institute published a paper last year setting out the key design factors for the Future Submarine project and urged the government to invest in the R&D required to support the design, construction and sustainment of a new fleet of submarines. The Navy has unique requirements for range, submerged endurance, speed, stealth and payload. The Navy/DMO study tour this year confirmed that no existing conventional submarine can meet these requirements, Roach said Aug. 7. In addition, the Navy has a close strategic relationship with the U.S. Navy, with whom it collaborates on the development of the AN/BYG-1 submarine combat management system and the Mk48 Mod. 7 heavyweight torpedo. To maintain that vital relationship and protect sensitive U.S. technology, Australia must have a secure, indigenous design and project management capability, rather than working with a European designer, Roach said. All that points toward ongoing investment in indigenous submarine design capabilities. The domestic design study forms part of the initial definition phase of Project Sea 1000, which is due to end in December. It will be used to shape the design, procurement and production process for the Future Submarine, Roach said. Phase 1A of the Future Submarine project, the concept design process, is due for Cabinet approval in 2010 or 2011, with the preliminary design stage, Phase 1B, due to get underway between 2011 and 2013. The detailed design for the Future Submarine in Phase 1C will get underway in 2013. The construction of the first submarine in Phase 2 of Project Sea 1000 will commence afterward.

DTN News: Airbus Reports 118 New Orders

DTN News: Airbus Reports 118 New Orders
*Source: DTN News / Int'l Media
(NSI News Source Info) PARIS, France - August 8, 2009: European airliner manufacturer Airbus on Friday reported 118 confirmed new orders, after cancellations or postponements, for its aircraft in the first seven months of 2009. The company's stated target for 2009 is to achieve 300 new orders.
The latest figures put it ahead of US rival Boeing, which as at August 4 had achieved 40 confirmed new orders. The figures from Airbus included 50 short-haul A320s for the Hungarian low-fare carrier Wizz Air. The number of cancelled or postponed orders has become a key measure of airliner manufacturers' health during the global economic crisis. Deliveries of completed Airbus aircraft amounted to 288 over the first seven months, including 235 short-haul A320s and four long-haul A380s. The catalogue price for the workhorse A320 is about 77 million dollars (53.6 million euros). Airbus lost 22 orders to cancellations whereas Boeing lost 89 orders including 73 for its flagship long-haul 787 Dreamliners. In June, Boeing delayed the maiden test-flight for the Dreamliner, which is already two years behind schedule. Airbus expects to match in 2009 its record 2008 volume of 483 deliveries. Boeing, for its part, has to-date delivered 279 aircaft this year, 216 of them its short-haul 737s.

DTN News: Air India Aims To Turn Profitable In Three Years

DTN News: Air India Aims To Turn Profitable In Three Years
*Source: DTN News / Bloomberg By Vipin V. Nair
(NSI News Source Info) NEW DELHI, India - August 8, 2009: Air India, the state-run carrier with $1.5 billion of accumulated losses, said it will create four business units, slash capacity and pay debt to turn profitable in three years. Cargo, engineering services, ground handling and airline operations will be separate divisions, Chairman and Managing Director Arvind Jadhav said today in New Delhi. The number of employees will be “rationalized,” he said without elaborating. Air India, seeking state funds, must reorganize after the government asked it for a “time-bound program” as part of conditions for the rescue package. The carrier delayed June salaries to its 32,000 employees and plans to cancel aircraft orders after traffic slumped and debt mounted. The cost-saving measures will “be painful,” Jadhav said. “We’ve got into a cash-flow problem. We are unable to service our interest and debt liabilities with our internal resources.” The focus in the first nine months of the reorganization will be “survival,” Air India said in a statement posted on its Web site. The units will be started in the next nine months and the carrier will aim to turn around in the following 18 months and prepare for an initial public offer. Leased Aircraft Air India will return the aircraft that are on lease, Jadhav said. The airline is in talks with Boeing Co. about canceling orders for six 777 planes, spokesman Jitender Bhargava said on July 31. “We are having a re-look at all the new aircraft,” Jadhav said. “We need to work with the vendors.” Air India, which has an equity capital of 1.45 billion rupees ($30 million), more than doubled its debt to 152 billion rupees as of June 30 after increasing loans to pay for 49 of the 111 planes ordered from Airbus SAS and Boeing. The carrier had placed orders for 68 planes from Boeing and 43 with Airbus. The government may give 25 billion rupees of capital to Air India, Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel said on July 16. The airline will ask banks to defer working capital loans due for repayment, return some leased planes and seek credit extensions from state-run oil retailers on jet-fuel purchases, he said. National Aviation Co. of India Ltd., Air India’s parent, had asked for a loan of 27.5 billion rupees and equity infusion of 12.31 billion rupees in the year ended March 31 from the government. To contact the reporter on this story: Vipin V. Nair in Mumbai at vnair12@bloomberg.net

DTN News: FAA Orders Safety Fix For All U.S. Boeing 767s To Prevent Possible Fuel Tank Explosion

DTN News: FAA Orders Safety Fix For All U.S. Boeing 767s To Prevent Possible Fuel Tank Explosion
*Source: DTN News / Int'l Media
(NSI News Source Info) NEW YORK, USA - August 8, 2009: The Federal Aviation Administration does not issue airworthiness (ADs) directives lightly. The idea is to make sure airplanes don’t crash, or—in this particular case—blow up. In this instance, the object of FAA’s attention is the ubiquitous Boeing 767. In its just-released AD, FAA wants to “prevent an overheat condition outside the center [fuel] tank fuel pump explosion resistance area,” of the twin-engine widebody. FAA says in the AD that the area “is open to the pump inlet, which could cause an ignition source for the fuel vapors in the fuel tank and result in fuel tank explosions and consequent loss of the airplane.” To correct the problem, FAA is mandating that airlines install an automatic shutoff system for the auxiliary fuel tank/override jettison fuel pumps on all Boeing 767s. That means this airworthiness directive takes in a lot of airplanes. FAA estimates the AD encompasses 414 Boeing 767s registered here in the United States. Among the airlines with significant 767 fleets: American, Delta, Continental, United, and US Airways – virtually all the country’s so-called “legacy” mainline, hub-and-spoke airlines. The cost to solve the problem according to FAA: as much as $4,655,016. The airworthiness directive also calls on carriers to revise the 767’s flight manual “to advise the flight crew of certain operating restrictions for airplanes equipped with an automatic auxiliary fuel pump shutoff control.” On certain aircraft, the AD mandates that a placard be installed in the cockpit “to alert the crew of certain fuel usage restrictions.” Some context: regulators and airlines have taken fuel tank issues very seriously since the July 17, 1996 crash of TWA Flight 800. The Boeing 747-131 was en route from New York Kennedy to Paris Charles de Gaulle when it exploded in the heavens off Long Island on a hot summer’s night. The National Transportation Safety Board concluded the Probable Cause for the crash that claimed all 230 souls-on-board was “a fuel/air explosion in the airplane’s center wing fuel tank.” While NTSB couldn’t determine the specific ignition source “with certainty,” the Safety Board concluded the most likely spark came from “a short circuit outside of the [center wing tank] that allowed excessive voltage to enter it through electrical wiring associated with the fuel quantity indication system.” Much speculation surrounded the accident, with Pierre Salinger, President Kennedy’s former press secretary, contending that the aircraft was shot brought down by a U.S. Navy missile.