DTN News: Britain Pledges $1 Billion To Stabilize Pakistan

DTN News: Britain Pledges $1 Billion To Stabilize Pakistan

*Source: DTN News / Int'l Media

(NSI News Source Info) LONDON, England - August 29, 2009: Britain has pledged $1 billion in aid to Pakistan to help stabilize its violent border regions and to address the underlying causes of extremism.

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown bids Pakistan's President Asif Ali Zardari farewell after a press conference at Downing Street on August 28, 2009 in London, England. Asif Ali Zardari arrived in Downing Street while on a three day tour of the UK, where the ongoing Taliban insurgence in Afghanistan were expected to top the talks agenda.

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown confirmed the pledge Friday during a meeting in London with Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari.

Mr. Brown's office said the prime minister offered support for Pakistan's intensified military battle against the Taliban.

A spokesman for Mr. Zardari, Farhatullah Babar, emphasized that Pakistan needs more help in building its security forces. He also called for better access to European Union markets to help boost Pakistan's economy.

The Pakistani Taliban claimed responsibility for an attack near the Afghan border Thursday that killed 22 policemen. The group said the suicide bombing was the first act of retaliation for the death of their leader Baitullah Mehsud, who was killed in a U.S. drone (pilotless aircraft) strike earlier this month.

Also, al-Qaida's second-in-command, Ayman al-Zawahiri, called on Pakistanis to support the militants.

In a video released on jihadist Web sites Thursday, Zawahiri accused Pakistan's government of colluding with the American government in a crusade against Islam.

DTN News: Technology TODAY August 29, 2009 ~ Apple Does Deal To Sell iPhones In China

DTN News: Technology TODAY August 29, 2009 ~ Apple Does Deal To Sell iPhones In China *Source: DTN News / Int'l Media (NSI News Source Info) BEIJING, China - August 29, 2009: China Unicom and U.S. electronics giant Apple announced Friday they have reached a deal to launch Apple's popular iPhone in China later this year. China is the world's biggest mobile phone market with more than 650 million mobile phone accounts. Unicom would be the first Chinese phone company to formally support the iPhone network, although thousands of counterfeit iPhones have been smuggled into the country. Details of the agreement are yet to be announced, but news reports say the sales will start in the last quarter of this year. Reports also say the iPhone version for the Chinese market will be modified to satisfy a government rule that requires the removal of the phone's wireless Internet function. China Unicom expects to attract some of the users from rivals China Mobile and China Telecom. Apple is competing in the market for touch-pad smart phones with rival Blackberry (by Research in Motion) and devices that use Google's Android software.

DTN News: Philippines TODAY August 29, 2009 ~ US Denies Troops Involved In Combat In Philippines

DTN News: Philippines TODAY August 29, 2009 ~ US Denies Troops Involved In Combat In Philippines

*Source: DTN News / Int'l Media

(NSI News Source Info) MANILA, Philippines - August 29, 2009: U.S. officials on Friday denied American troops were violating Philippine laws by engaging in combat against Muslim militants, saying they were only training Filipino soldiers and their mission was temporary. Humvees with US soldiers on board secure the bomb blast site at a commercial center in Jolo, on the island of Mindanao on July 7, 2009. At least six people were killed and more than 40 wounded by twin bomb blasts in the Philippines Tuesday, in what officials described as coordinated attacks by Al Qaeda-linked militants. The first bomb exploded in a commercial area on Jolo island, killing six people and wounding around 30, police said. It was followed around two hours later by car bomb blast next to a parked military patrol jeep in Iligan city. Allegations that U.S. troops in the southern Philippines are building permanent structures and joining the fight against al-Qaida-linked Abu Sayyaf militants have roiled nationalist and left-wing forces opposed to the American presence. A retired Philippine navy lieutenant, Nancy Gadian, testified at a congressional hearing Thursday that U.S. troops were embedded with Filipino units in combat situations in violation of the Philippine Constitution, which bars foreign troops from fighting in the country. "U.S. forces are not involved in combat operations," U.S. Embassy spokeswoman Rebecca Thompson said in a statement Friday. She said American troops were on temporary deployment at the invitation of the Philippine military and government. Several hundred U.S. troops have been stationed in several southern posts since 2002, training Filipino counterparts and sharing intelligence in their fight against the Abu Sayyaf, blamed for kidnappings, beheadings of hostages and bomb attacks that have victimized Filipinos and Americans. Gadian was a planning officer for an annual U.S.-Philippine military exercise and was facing an investigation for alleged embezzlement when she accused her superiors of pocketing money. She later accused U.S. troops of violating Philippine laws. U.S. Army Col. William Coultrup, commander of the Joint Special Operations Task Force in the Philippines, said the charges concerning U.S. troops were false and that he had never met Gadian. The U.S. operation has a successful community development and humanitarian component, including dental and medical missions and projects to rebuild schools, roads, wells, and seaports and airports _ part of efforts to convince the local Muslim population to turn its back on militants. The Pentagon cites the southern Philippines as an example of where U.S. efforts to train and advise other nations' militaries work well. The left-wing group Bayan, which has led anti-U.S. protests, and former Senate President Jovito Salonga have asked the Supreme Court to reconsider a decision to uphold the Visiting Forces Agreement, which governs the conduct of U.S. troops. They say the agreement infringes on Philippine sovereignty and violates a constitutional prohibition of foreign military bases. Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita, President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo's top Cabinet aide, defended the 1998 agreement, saying it was key to the defense of the Philippines. The U.S. military presence is a sensitive issue in the former American colony. In 1991, the Philippine Senate under Salonga voted to close down two major U.S. bases.

DTN News: Pakistan TODAY August 29, 2009 ~ 71 Percent Want Former President Gen (Retd) Pervez Musharraf To Pay For Crimes: Gallup Survey

DTN News: Pakistan TODAY August 29, 2009 ~ 71 Percent Want Former President Gen (Retd) Pervez Musharraf To Pay For Crimes: Gallup Survey *DTN News: Syed Kabir Ali Wasti Wants Former President Gen (Retd) Pervez Musharraf ’s Arrest In Nawab Akbar Bugti Murder Case *Source: DTN News / Int'l Media (NSI News Source Info) ISLAMABAD, Pakistan - August 29, 2009: Around 71 per cent Pakistanis want “harsh or mild punishment” to former president Gen (retd) Pervez Musharraf for his unconstitutional steps on November 3, 2007, says a survey conducted by Gallup Pakistan. Pakistan's former President Pervez Musharraf gestures as he talks to media in Islamabad, Pakistan. Pakistan's top court on Wednesday, July 22, 2009 summoned Musharraf to explain his 2007 firing of several dozen independent-minded judges. The court notice allows Musharraf to send a lawyer in his place. “About 52 per cent favour harsh while 19 per cent support mild punishment to the former president, and 15 per cent favour no punishment and the remaining 14 per cent did not give a view,” says the survey launched by Gilani Research Foundation. A nationally representative sample of men and women from across the country were asked “recently the Supreme Court has termed the enforcement of emergency on November 3, 2007 illegal”. Some people believed Musharraf should be punished for this, while some believe he should not. When asked the punishment should be harsh, mild, or none, Majority, 52 per cent, said he (Musharraf) should be punished harshly and 19 per cent believed he should be given a mild punishment for this crime. Fifteen per cent of the respondents did not support punishing Musharraf for enforcing emergency on November 3, 2007 while 14 per cent did not give any response. The survey findings also showed that while there are no significant differences in views on punishing Gen (retd) Musharraf across gender and age, there are notable differences across political affiliations. Those intending to vote for the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz, the MMA, the JUI and the ANP have higher support for punishing Musharraf, above 80 per cent, followed by the PPP voters and the PML-Q voters (around 60 per cent) and the support is the lowest amongst the MQM voters at only 19 per cent. Related Story....Former President General (R) Pervez Musharraf’s Arrest DTN News: Syed Kabir Ali Wasti Wants Former President Gen (Retd) Pervez Musharraf ’s Arrest In Nawab Akbar Bugti Murder Case (NSI News Source Info) ISLAMABAD, Pakistan - August 29, 2009: Senior leader of the PML-Q like-minded group Syed Kabir Ali Wasti Thursday demanded former President General (R) Pervez Musharraf’s arrest in the murder of Nawab Akbar Bugti to calm down the sentiments of people of Baluchistan. Talking to The News, Syed Kabir Ali Wasti said he hold the telephonic contact with Talal Bugti, son of late Nawab Akbar Bugti, and Senator Shahid Bugti, son-in-law of Nawab Bugti, and condole with them on the third martyrdom anniversary of Nawab Akbar Bugti. He said the killing of Nawab Akbar Bugti was conspiracy to weaken the federation. “I told Talal Bugti that the federation will not be weaken in the presence of family of Nawab Akbar Bugti,” he added. Wasti said Talal Bugti told him that the arrest of General (R) Pervez Musharraf is only solution to keep the sentiments of people of Balochistan in control; otherwise, they will not be satisfied. He said he has invited Talal Bugti to Islamabad, but he refused the invitation, saying that he will not come to Islamabad during the tenure of present government. When asked about the reports about his party Secretary General Hamayun Akhtar Khan’s meeting with General (R) Pervez Musharraf in London, Wasti said, “If the reports of his meeting with General (R) Pervez Musharraf are true, then he might have met Musharraf without the mandate of party.”

DTN News: Singapore TODAY August 29, 2009 ~ Five Men Arrested For Illegal Loanshark Activities

DTN News: Singapore TODAY August 29, 2009 ~ Five Men Arrested For Illegal Loanshark Activities

*Source: DTN News / Int'l Media

(NSI News Source Info) SINGAPORE - August 29, 2009: Five men, aged between 23 and 36, were arrested for loanshark activities in a police operation on Thursday evening. They are believed to be members of a syndicate with more than 130 cases of loanshark harassment incidents islandwide. This is also the tenth loanshark syndicate crippled by the police this year. In the operation conducted by officers from the Criminal Investigation Department, various premises in Hougang, Tampines, Upper Bukit Timah, Woodlands and Punggol were raided. In the course of the raids, items including mobile phones, ATM cards and cash of about S$8,000 were seized. The syndicate was found to have used electronic means to issue loans and collect repayments from debtors.

DTN News: Afghanistan TODAY August 29, 2009 ~ In meeting with Richard Holbrooke, Afghan President Hamid Karzai Accused US Of Pushing For Runoff

DTN News: Afghanistan TODAY August 29, 2009 ~ In meeting with Richard Holbrooke, Afghan President Hamid Karzai Accused US Of Pushing For Runoff *Source: DTN News / Int'l Media

(NSI News Source Info) KABUL, Afghanistan - August 29, 2009: Afghan President Hamid Karzai angrily accused the United States of pushing for a runoff in the Afghan presidential election during a heated meeting with the special envoy to the region, officials familiar with the encounter said on Friday. Afghan President Hamid Karzai speaks with Richard Holbrooke, U.S. special envoy to Pakistan and Afghanistan, during a meeting at the presidential palace in Kabul, Afghanistan. The reported exchange was another sign of strains between the US and Afghan authorities. An Afghan lawmaker accused the US of violating international and Islamic law by firing on a clinic where a wounded Taliban commander had taken refuge. US officials said they attacked only after taking gunfire and determining there were no civilians inside. The verbal exchange occurred the day after the August 20 election during a meeting in Kabul between Karzai and US special envoy to the region Richard Holbrooke, said two officials. They said Karzai assured Holbrooke that he would accept the poll results, but bristled when the envoy asked if he would also agree to a runoff if none of the 36 candidates won over 50 per cent, officials said.

An angry Karzai accused the US of pushing the idea of a second round even before all the votes had been counted and he would accept the Election Commission’s tabulation as long as they reflected the facts. The US Embassy confirmed the August 21 meeting and said the two discussed the election but would not go into details. “There was no shouting and no one stormed out,” said Caitlin Hayden, an embassy spokeswoman. She noted that Holbrooke and Karzai met again a few days later. “Whether there is a runoff is an issue for the Afghan electoral bodies to determine,” she added. Karzai’s office also confirmed the meeting but gave no further details.

“We are not discussing the contents of discussions that take place between the Afghan President and a foreign representative,” said spokesman for Hamid Karzai Humayun Hamidzada.

DTN News: Medical Science TODAY August 29, 2009 ~ Tick Saliva Could Hold Cancer Cure By Brazilian Scientists

DTN News: Medical Science TODAY August 29, 2009 ~ Tick Saliva Could Hold Cancer Cure By Brazilian Scientists

*Source: DTN News / Int'l Media (NSI News Source Info) SAO PAULO, Brazil - August 29, 2009: It may be one of nature's repulsive little blood-sucking parasites, but the humble tick could yield a future cure for cancers of the skin, liver and pancreas, Brazilian researchers have discovered. View of an Amblyomma cajennense. Brazilian reasearchers have identified a protein in the saliva of the South American tick that apparently reduces and can even eradicate cancerous cells while leaving healthy cells alone. They have identified a protein in the saliva of a common South American tick, Amblyomma cajennense, that apparently reduces and can even eradicate cancerous cells while leaving healthy cells alone. "This is a radical innovation," said Ana Marisa Chudzinski-Tavassi, the molecular biologist at the Instituto Butantan in Sao Paulo who is leading the research. "The component of the saliva of this tick... could be the cure for cancer," she told AFP. She said she stumbled on the properties of the protein, called Factor X active, while testing the anti-coagulant properties of the tick's saliva -- the way it stops blood thickening and clotting so the tick can keep gorging itself on its host. The protein shares some characteristics with a common anti-coagulant called TFPI (Tissue Factor Pathway Inhibitor), specifically a Kunitz-type inhibitor which also has been shown to interfere with cell growth. A theory that the protein might have an effect on cancerous cells led to laboratory tests on cell cultures -- which exceeded all expectations. "To our surprise it didn't kill normal cells, which were also tested," Chudzinski-Tavassi said. "But it did kill the tumorous cells that were being analyzed." In her modest lab in the institute, housed in a rundown building, a line of immobile bloated ticks could be seen lined up with straws under their heads. The small amounts of saliva captured that way was reproduced many times over in yeast vats so that tests could be carried out on lab rats with cancer. The results have been more than promising. "If I treat every day for 14 days an animal's tumor, a small tumor, this tumor doesn't develop -- it even regresses. The tumor mass shrinks. If I treat for 42 days, you totally eliminate the tumor," the scientist said. Producing a medicine from the find, though, will require years of clinical tests and a significant financial investment -- neither of which Brazil is geared to provide. Chudzinski-Tavassi has applied for a patent on the tick protein, and is presenting her team's discovery in medical journals and conferences around the world. But she says moving beyond her lab "proof of concept" will be frustratingly difficult. "To discover this is one thing. To turn it into a medicine is a whole other thing entirely," she said.

DTN News: Mahindra-BAE Joint Venture On Marksman Light Armoured Vehicle To Counter Insurgency

DTN News: Mahindra-BAE Joint Venture On Marksman Light Armoured Vehicle To Counter Insurgency

*Source: DTN News (NSI News Source Info) TORONTO, Canada - August 29, 2009: India's leading military vehicle producer, Mahindra Defence Systems (MDS), has opened a 6-acre facility in Faridabad near here, where it will produce specialized vehicles for defense applications. Mahindra Marksman is India’s first armoured capsule based light bullet proof vehicle to provide protection to the personnel of Defence, Para Military and Police forces against small arms fire and under belly grenade attacks. It has capability to be used in counter terrorist as well as conventional roles. "The Mahindra Special Military Vehicles Facility will manufacture specialized vehicles for the armed forces, paramilitary forces and police and is also designed to undertake vehicle development, armoring and conversions," said Khutub Hai, chief executive of Mahindra Defence Systems.

The factory initially will build armored versions of Scorpio and Bolero special utility vehicles and Rakshak bulletproof vehicles, Mahindra said. Later, it will produce the Axe military vehicle as well as a mine-resistant vehicle that is part of Mahindra's joint venture with Britain's BAE Systems. The joint venture, which the Indian partner controls, is scheduled to begin production by June. Aside from manufacturing, Hai said, the plant has an advanced facility for research and development, product development, design and prototyping of vehicles to meet specific customer requirements - a first for the Indian defense industry's private sector. The new plant will include a prototype shop, a 40,000-square-foot armored vehicles production floor, and a fabrication area. It will roll out 500 uparmored vehicles per year, including bulletproof Scorpios, Boleros, Rakshaks, Tourister Buses, riot intervention vehicles and Marksman light armored vehicles. Mahindra Defence Systems, a division of the $6.7 billion Mahindra Group, is India's leading provider of high-mobility and light bulletproof vehicles to the Indian military, paramilitary and police forces.

DTN News: Yemen Rebuffs Shiite Zaidi Rebels' Claim Of Royal Saudi Air Force RSAF Air Raids

DTN News: Yemen Rebuffs Shiite Zaidi Rebels' Claim Of Royal Saudi Air Force RSAF Air Raids *Source: DTN News / Int'l Media (NSI News Source Info) SANAA, Yemen - August 29, 2009: Yemen rebuffed claims by Shiite rebels that the airforce from neighbouring Saudi Arabia has been aiding the army in its offensive against rebels in the north of the country. President Ali Abdullah Saleh recently said that the army will change its fighting tactics in Saada. A video grab from Yemen's state television shows army soldiers firing machine guns and rocket launchers on rebel targets in Saada province August 17, 2009. Yemen's latest assault on Shi'ite rebels in the north seems unlikely to end a conflict that has flickered for five years and inflicted thousands of casualties. It may only deepen instability in an impoverished country also struggling with southern separatists, al Qaeda militants and a disastrous mismatch between fast-depleting oil and water resources and explosive population growth, analysts say. "These fabricated claims are baseless. We have become familiar with such lies from those elements, as they overtly try to embroil our Saudi brothers in the confrontations," an unnamed official spokesman said in a statement carried by Saba state news agency early on Friday. The Shiite Zaidi rebels -- also known as Huthis -- had claimed that Saudi warplanes bombed districts in the rugged mountainous Saada province, near the Saudi border. "Saudi military aircraft executed several sorties on Thursday morning over the area of Malaheez and bombed the area before returning to Saudi Arabia," said a rebels' statement on Thursday. "We consider this action a flagrant intervention in Yemeni affairs... It is a continuation of the Saudi interference in the conflict, which has now got to the point of attacking Yemen (territory) directly," it added. Meanwhile, a military official told AFP that the army made major advances around Malaheez, aided by Yemeni warplanes which bombed rebel garrisons. "We are continuing the mopping-up operation in Malaheez and advancing toward the main stronghold of Marran Mountain," in the west of Saada, said the official who requested anonymity. President Ali Abdullah Saleh vowed on Thursday to crush the rebellion within weeks, saying that the army will change its fighting tactics. A video grab released by the Houthi rebel group August 28, 2009 shows members of the group standing on armoured personnel carriers seized from the army during the ongoing operation on their strongholds in northwestern Yemen. Banner on the vehicles reads "Death to America, death to Israel, a curse on the Jews, victory to Islam." "I am sure that we will manage, in the weeks to come, to clean up these regions... I am sure we will bring an end to this sedition... We will change our tactics and our military strategies in order to root out the rebels and put a final end to their criminal acts," he said. There have been no reliable casualty figures since Yemen launched "Operation Scorched Earth" against the rebels more than two weeks ago, but the rebels say that dozens of civilians have been killed. The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said last week that around 35,000 people have been displaced by the clashes. The government had offered a six-point plan to end the fighting, but the rebels dismissed the offer, recalling that a Qatari-brokered peace deal reached in June 2007 had never been implemented. An offshoot of Shiite Islam, the Zaidis are a minority in mainly Sunni Yemen but form the majority community in the north and want to establish anew the imamate overthrown in a 1962 coup. Thousands of people have been killed since the conflict first erupted in 2004.

DTN News: Somali Pirates Open Fire On US Navy Helicopter

DTN News: Somali Pirates Open Fire On US Navy Helicopter *Source: DTN News / Int'l Media

(NSI News Source Info) MANAMA, Bahrain - August 29, 2009: Somali pirates aboard a captured vessel have opened fire on a US navy helicopter on the high seas as it carried out a surveillance mission over the boat, the navy said on Thursday. There were no reported casualties or damage from the incident which occurred on Wednesday morning off the pirate-infested coast of Somalia, said a statement from the Bahrain-based US Naval Forces Central Command. "Somali pirates aboard the motor vessel (M/V) Win Far fired what appeared to be a large calibre weapon at a US navy SH-60B helicopter," the statement said. "The helicopter was conducting a routine surveillance flight of M/V Win Far, currently held at anchorage by Somali pirates south of Garacad, Somalia, when the incident occurred," it added. The shooting came as the helicopter returned to the USS Chancellorsville, where a video recording of the incident was noted, it said, adding that during the flight the crew was unaware of the attack. The navy identified the Win Far as a Taiwanese-flagged vessel which was seized by pirates earlier this year. "Over the past 135 days it has been used as a 'mother ship' to conduct other known pirate attacks, most notably the US-flagged Maersk-Alabama in April," it said. According to the US navy, the pirates are holding hostage more than 30 crew members of the Win Far. So far this year, there have been 114 attempted attacks on merchant vessels in the region, 29 of them successful, according to the US navy. The world's naval powers have deployed dozens of warships to the lawless waters off Somalia over the past year to curb attacks by pirates threatening one of the world's busiest maritime trade routes.

DTN News: Sri Lanka TODAY August 29, 2009 ~ Sri Lanka Navy SLNS Sayurala Becomes The Newest Commissioned Ship In The SLN Fleet

DTN News: Sri Lanka TODAY August 29, 2009 ~ Sri Lanka Navy SLNS Sayurala Becomes The Newest Commissioned Ship In The SLN Fleet

*Source: DTN News / Sri Lanka Navy

(NSI News Source Info) COLOMBO, Sri Lanka - August 29, 2009: SLNS ‘Sayurala’, an Off Shore Patrol Vessel acquired in August 2008 was commissioned at the Sri Lanka Navy Dockyard, Trincomalee today (28th August 2009) by the Secretary, Ministry of Defence, Public Security, Law & Order Mr.Gotabaya Rajapaksa. The Commissioning Ceremony was attended by the Commander of the Navy Vice Admiral Thisara Samarasinghe and large number of Naval Personnel with traditional Naval Customs and Ceremonies taking precedence.

The former Indian Coast Guard Ship ‘Vigraha’ joined the Sri Lanka Navy fleet on 23rd August 2008 and was assigned Pennant Number P 623. The OPV was built by Mazagon Dockyard Ltd, of Mumbai in India in 1990.

With a length of 74.10m and breath of 11.40m, it has a speed of a maximum 21.5 Knots. Its draught is 3.58m maximum. The Net registered tonnage is 750 Tons and Gross registered tonnage is 1247 Tons.

The Vessel is equipped with Marine Surveillance Radar and Communication equipment for the assigned role in Sri Lanka’s Exclusive Economic Zone.The Commissioning Ceremony began at 0845hrs with the arrival of invitees and guests.

The Chief Guest, Secretary of Defence Mr. Gotabaya Rajapaksa handed over the Commissioning Warrant to the Commanding Officer of the Vessel Captain SA Weerasinghe. The Commissioning Warrant was read by the Commanding Officer followed by the ceremonial breaking of the Commissioning Pennant.

The Chief Guest then boarded the Vessel with the Commander of the Navy for inspection. Religious dignitaries representing Buddhist, Hindu, Christianity and Islam showered their blessings on the newly commissioned Vessel.

The Chief Guest in his message praised the effort and dedication shown by the Sri Lanka Navy in protecting the territorial integrity, sovereignty and unity of the motherland. He also thanked the Government of India for facilitating the acquisition of this vessel for the Government of Sri Lanka.

He also said that this gesture of goodwill by the Government of India will strengthen the bilateral relations and build better cooperation between the two neighboring countries. With the addition of SLNS Sayurala to its formidable fleet, Sri Lanka Navy will grow from strength to strength. Endowed with the unenviable task of protecting the Maritime Jurisdiction including the Territorial Waters, Exclusive Economic Zone and resources of the country, Sri Lanka Navy plays a crucial role in the development of this peace loving and sovereign nation.

These vessels will keep vigilance far over the horizon day and night, rough or good weather to ensure that national interests are safe and secure. Far from the eyes of the Countrymen the crew onboard these vessels maintain their vigil over the vast Oceanic frontier of this Island nation. Sri Lanka Navy is truly the Golden Fence around.

DTN News: Russian President Dmitry Medvedev Proposes Islamic Channel To Counter Extremism

DTN News: Russian President Dmitry Medvedev Proposes Islamic Channel To Counter Extremism

*Source: DTN News / Int'l Media

(NSI News Source Info) SOCHI, Russia - August 29, 2009: Russian President Dmitry Medvedev proposed on Friday setting up a digital TV channel dedicated to Islamic themes, as a counterbalance to extremism. Russia's President Dmitry Medvedev smiles in front of a board of rules in the Russian language as he visits the branch of the G.V. Plekhanov Russian Economic Academy in Ulan Bator, August 25, 2009. Islam is the second most widespread religion in Russia, with around 20 million followers. During a meeting in Sochi with muftis and regional officials from the North Caucasus, Medvedev said: "We are now switching to digital broadcasting, which will broaden our possibilities, and I think that under the new broadcasting structure we will be able to think about finding a channel teaching and explaining Islam." The president said television should be "modern and moral", and that an Islamic channel would provide a good alternative to extremist websites disseminating false ideas about Islam. "Sometimes I read what they write on those sites - it makes my hair stand on end. It has nothing to do with Islam," Medvedev said. The president also said he objected to the media use of the term "Islamic extremist", which has also been criticized by Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov. A militant "has no religion, even if somewhere in his head he thinks he is a true Muslim. He is no Muslim, just a bandit," Medvedev said.