DTN News: Sweden’s SAAB Offers India Advanced Radar With Gripen Combat Jet

DTN News: Sweden’s SAAB Offers India Advanced Radar With Gripen Combat Jet

*Source: DTN News / Int'l Media

(NSI News Source Info) NEW DELHI, India - September 11, 2009: The race for an Indian Air Force (IAF) order for 126 combat jets in a deal worth $10 billion just got more interesting with Swedish plane maker SAAB offering an advanced version of a state-of-the-art radar with its Gripen fighter and also the wherewithal to enable its programming here.

The Gripen is a contender in the Indian MRCA Competition for 126 multi-role combat aircraft. Gripen International handed over its proposal on 28 April 2008. The company is offering the Gripen IN, a version of the Gripen NG for India's tender, and has opened an office in New Delhi in order to support its efforts in the Indian market. On 4 February 2009, it was announced that Saab had partnered with the Indian Tata Group to develop a new Gripen variant to fit India's needs. The aircraft is in service with the Swedish Air Force, the Czech Air Force, the Hungarian Air Force and the South African Air Force, and has been ordered by the Royal Thai Air Force. A total of 236 Gripens have been ordered as of 2008.

“What we are offering is a second generation AESA (advanced extended search array radar) that incorporates a swishplate that enables it to rotate and considerably enhances its capabilities over the existing radar,” Gripen International’s India director Eddy de la Motte told reporters Wednesday.

“The radar will come with its software source code.” The software source code has been a sticky point, with at least two of the six manufacturers in the race for the IAF order, which could go up to 200 planes, expressing reservations on transferring this to India. Without the code, the IAF would be dependent on the manufacturer who is selected for the order for programming the radar, thus impinging on the country’s national security, a defence analyst pointed out. Listing the other advantages of the single-engined Gripen, whose IN version is currently on offer to be followed by the NG (next generation) version, de la Motte pointed to its low lifecycle costs, quick turnaround time, quick engine replacement time, advanced avionics and the fact that the IAF could install a weapons suite of is choice on the aircraft. “In terms of costs, including the life cycle cost, the Gripen is 50 percent cheaper that the other single-engined aircraft (in the fray) and 25 percent cheaper that the double-engined aircraft (in contention),” the SAAB official pointed out. While the IAF has already begun its flight evaluation trials of the six jets in the running, it is yet to resolve the contentious issue of whether it wants a single-engined or a twin-engined aircraft. When the IAF first floated its Request For Information (RFI), it was looking for a replacement for its aging Soviet-era Mig-21, a single engined fighter. Of the six aircraft now in contention, only two - the Gripen and the Lockheed Martin F-16IN Super Viper - are single engined. The other four - the Boeing F/A-18 Super Hornet, the French Rafale, the Eurofighter Typhoon built by a European conglomerate and the Russian Mig-35 - are twin-engined. The SAAB official pointed out that the Gripen was the only aircraft that provided the IAF the opportunity to select the weapons of its choice. “With the other manufacturers, the IAF will have to take the weapons the aircraft comes with. With the Gripen, the IAF can chose from the best that is available in the international market,” de la Motte maintained. The flight trials, being conducted in humid conditions in Bangalore, desert conditions in Jaisalmer and high-altitude conditions in Leh, will conclude in March 2010. Thereafter, the field will be narrowed down to two or three aircraft, after which the price negotiations will begin, with the first of the planes arriving in 2012-13. Eighteen of the aircraft will be purchased in flyaway condition and the remaining will be manufactured by state-owned Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) under a transfer of technology agreement.

DTN News: Pakistan's Ex-Leader In Exile ~ Pervez Musharraf's Quiet New Life In London

DTN News: Pakistan's Ex-Leader In Exile ~ Pervez Musharraf's Quiet New Life In London

Retired military ruler living in unassuming flat amid the kebab joints of Edgware Road

*Should deposed dictator Musharraf enjoy exile in the UK? ~ The former Pakistani leader is alive and well, living in London. But many don't welcome his presence (Click here for link)

*Source: DTN News / guardian.co.uk, Declan Walsh (Click here for link)

(NSI News Source Info) LONDON, England - September 11, 2009: From the sweeping presidential palace of Islamabad to an unassuming three-bedroom flat behind the shisha bars and kebab joints of London's Arabic quarter – one might have expected Pervez Musharraf to do better. But retirement has been an unsettling experience for Pakistan's former military ruler who, hounded by the threat of prosecution at home, finds himself living in the traditional bolthole of Pakistan's political class. His simple apartment in a red-brick complex off Edgware Road is a sobering change from the pomp of Musharraf's nine-year rule. Gone are the legions of political acolytes; gone, too, are the liveried soldiers who snap to attention. But security remains tight. The retired general is guarded by a small team of retired Pakistani commandos, which he pays for himself, and – more controversially – a protection detail from Scotland Yard. The retired dictator's digs are not cheap – the apartment, thought to cost over £1m, is furnished with fine silk carpets and leather sofas – but neither are they large. A modest living room overlooks rain-laden skies. A small study contains mementoes of past and present: a framed Time magazine cover picturing the bluff general under the headline The Toughest Job in the World; a model cruise ship from a recent holiday; a biography of London. The question is how long he will stay. The retired ruler, looking relaxed in a cardigan and with his black hair newly dyed, declined to comment on the furore surrounding him in Pakistan. But he was clear about one thing: "I am not in exile." Back home in Islamabad, the opposition is baying for his blood. Nawaz Sharif, the former prime minister Musharraf ousted in a coup in 1999, wants him tried for treason, a charge that carries the death penalty. The supreme court is also controlled by an enemy, the chief justice, Iftikhar Chaudhry. Yet few pundits believe Musharraf will face trial in the near future. The army, led by General Pervez Kayani, opposes a treason charge. So does the civilian president, Asif Zardari, who fears it could upset fragile civil-military relations. Nevertheless, they consider it wiser if the general, who resigned 13 months ago, stays away for now. The general finds himself in a city where he once banished rivals such as Sharif and Benazir Bhutto. His three-bedroom apartment is a far cry from the Park Lane penthouses owned by Sharif – proof, supporters say, that he did not greatly enrich himself in office. Still, he lives well, dining at the Dorchester hotel, playing golf and hosting musical evenings at home. A recent YouTube video revealed him to be an accomplished Urdu singer. He regularly plays bridge with his confidante, Brigadier Niaz Ahmed, a retired arms dealer, and insists on protocol. A senior Pakistani official said that Musharraf pays £450 to hire an official VIP lounge every time he flies from or to Heathrow airport, and travels in a bulletproof vehicle. However, it is the nature and cost of his taxpayer-funded protection that is most controversial. Lord Nazir Ahmed, a trenchant critic in the House of Lords, tabled a parliamentary question about the cost of these security arrangements in July. The government replied that it was "established Home Office policy not to comment on protective security arrangements and their related costs". Nazir said: "Our old age pensioners don't get security, so how can we pay for an old general who wants to enjoy himself in London?" The Pakistan-born peer said he was collecting evidence for a possible war crimes prosecution through Bindmans solicitors, who pursued the retired Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet through the British courts in the late 1990s. Perhaps recognising that a prolonged stay in London could be problematic, government officials do not want Musharraf to remain for long. A senior official said he was on a visitor's visa and predicted he would take up permanent residence in the Middle East or in the US, where his son Bilal lives. For now, though, Musharraf is polishing his public speaking: he starts a 40-day lecture tour of the US next Tuesday. He has said the talks will focus on his expertise about Islamic militancy, but also seek to redress Pakistan's poor international image. "Pakistan is a most misunderstood country," he said. "I enjoy the opportunity to clear up misperceptions." In particular, he is expected to be critical of Washington's close relationship with India – reflecting a view widely held in Pakistani military circles. Some journalists have already dubbed Musharraf the "army ambassador" to London. The 16 lectures are organised by the Harry Walker Agency, whose other speakers include Musharraf's erstwhile partner in the "war on terror", former US vice-president Dick Cheney. Among the organisations he will address is the Young Presidents' Organisation, a forum for putative American leaders. Musharraf will certainly have some insider tips for the power-hungry students – although whether his method constitutes best practice is likely to trigger debate. Allegations, intrigue and al-Qaida Did the Pakistani opposition leader Nawaz Sharif meet the al-Qaida leader, Osama bin Laden, five times in 1989? So says Khalid Khawaja, a retired spy with Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) agency. "I should know," he told the Guardian. "I arranged those meetings." The prospect of Pervez Musharraf being tried for treason has stirred a storm of spicy political allegations in Pakistan. While the retired general has few public supporters, his side has been bolstered by a series of damaging allegations against his arch-nemesis, Sharif. Last month a former ISI general said the spy agency gave Sharif a large cash bribe to help scupper Benazir Bhutto's chances in the 1990 election. Two days ago came the Osama allegation. "This is a character assassination campaign," said a Sharif spokesman, Asif Kirmani, who denied the accusations. "It could be those forces who do not want Musharraf on trial." Many see the hand of the military, which wants to avoid a Musharraf trial, behind the publicity. Others blame the rivalry with President Asif Ali Zardari, who is deeply unpopular. Either way, Musharraf enjoys the protection of powerful allies – some outside the country. During a visit to Pakistan last month, a senior British diplomat, Sir Mark Lyall Grant, issued a statement denying press reports that he had been "meddling" in Musharraf's future. Last week the king of Saudi Arabia, Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud, sent a private jet to London to collect Musharraf and bring him to the kingdom for a three-day visit. The unspoken message, Pakistani analysts say, was clear: don't mess with Musharraf.

DTN News: U.A.E. Plane Arms-Laden Released From India

DTN News: U.A.E. Plane Arms-Laden Released From India *Source: DTN News / Int'l Media (NSI News Source Info) KOLKATA, India - September 11, 2009: The United Arab Emirates Air Force C-130 J Super Hercules aircraft, which had been held up at the Kolkata airport since Sunday evening following the discovery of arms, ammunition and explosives in its cargo, finally took off for Xiangyang in China at 9.24 am on Thursday. A United Arab Emirates Air Force C-130 transport aircraft is seen at the international airport in Kolkata. Indian authorities have detained a United Arab Emirates airforce plane that landed in Kolkata on its way to China after discovering arms and explosives on board, airport officials said.

The nine crew members left by the flight as well. Though there were speculations on whether the plane would be escorted back to Sunday's entry point into Indian airspace over the Arabian Sea, the defence ministry and Indian Air Force allowed it to take its original path.

The plane reached Xiangyang around noon after flying over Dhaka, Chittagong and Kunming. The plane had been seized by Customs authorities on Sunday night as the documentation submitted prior to its arrival did not disclose the cargo.

The technical halt for refuelling and giving the crew rest was originally scheduled to last 13 hours, but stretched to 88 hours.

Though crew members had been cleared by the immigration department on Tuesday and the ministry of external affairs (MEA) and ministry of defence (MoD) indicated they would allow the aircraft to proceed the day after, the flight was held up due to delay in applying for Air Defence/AOR clearance by the UAE government.

The crew had gone down to the airport on Wednesday afternoon, expecting a clearance to take off, but had to return to the hotel after a four-hour wait. They heaved a sigh of relief when the permissions arrived late on Wednesday.

It was learnt that the UAE government has admitted to a mistake in the documentation and apologized for failing to report the weapons. Since UAE has friendly relations with India, the government considered the matter sympathetically to avoid a diplomatic row.

The matter could have been resolved earlier had conventional weapons been on board. But the presence of three boxes, marked "combat missiles", led to the logjam. Sleuths suspected that deadly US-made Harpoon missiles were being channelized to China from UAE and Egypt.

If that suspicion were proved true, the unauthorized proliferation could lead to regional imbalances and trigger a crisis, felt experts.

"The presence of missiles on board made the situation grave. Already, there are reports of Pakistan having modified Harpoon missiles to strike land targets in India," an analyst pointed out.

DTN News: Russia Ready To Supply T-72 Tanks To Venezuela Says Russian President Dmitry Medvedev

DTN News: Russia Ready To Supply T-72 Tanks To Venezuela Says Russian President Dmitry Medvedev

*Source: DTN News / Int'l Media

(NSI News Source Info) MOSCOW, Russia - September 11, 2009: Russia is ready to supply Venezuela with tanks and other types of military equipment, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said Thursday at a joint news conference with his Venezuelan counterpart, Hugo Chavez. (Image: T-72 Tanks ~ Russia ready to supply tanks to Venezuela) "Russia will supply Venezuela with arms on Venezuela's request. We will supply tanks as well," Medvedev said. "Military and technical cooperation is an important block of our relations. I will not be insincere, such contracts are seldom signed in public," he said. Earlier a Russian defense official told RIA Novosti that a contract worth as much as $500 million for the delivery of up to 100 T-72 and T-90 tanks would be signed during Chavez's visit to Moscow. Chavez said his country had no aggressive intentions, but would strengthen its defenses. "We need to increase our defense potential," he said. "A blockade is closing in around us." Since 2005, Venezuela has bought Russian armaments, including helicopters, combat aircraft and Kalashnikov assault rifles, worth $4 billion. Chavez said during talks with Medvedev in the Kremlin earlier Thursday that his country recognized the independence of the former Georgia republics of Abkhazia and South Ossetia. "I want to take the opportunity to announce that Venezuela is joining those recognizing the independence of South Ossetia and Abkhazia," he said, adding that Venezuela was starting the relevant procedures.

DTN News: Uganda Troops Catch Top Rebel In Central African Republic

DTN News: Uganda Troops Catch Top Rebel In Central African Republic

*Source: DTN News / Int'l Media

(NSI News Source Info) NAIROBI, Kenya - September 11, 2009: The Ugandan military said on Thursday it had captured a feared senior rebel from the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) who is accused of leading the massacre of 250 villagers more than 14 years ago. Okot Atiak was apparently detained last month during a campaign against the guerrillas by Ugandan forces in southeast Central African Republic (CAR). Uganda's army spokesman said he was providing intelligence to troops in the field. Atiak is not one of three top LRA commanders wanted for war crimes by prosecutors at the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague, but he has held several senior positions in one of Africa's most brutal rebel movements. (Image: Uganda troops catch top rebel in Central African Rep.) He is blamed for leading the fighters who slaughtered 250 civilians at Atiak village in northern Uganda's Gulu District in April 1995. The attack was seen as an LRA reprisal against fellow ethnic Acholis who failed to support their rebellion.

The multinational assault on Kony's fighters has only served to sow more chaos, with fleeing rebels attacking more villages and kidnapping hundreds of children, mostly to serve as porters. Kulayigye said most civilians rescued by the military from the LRA in recent weeks were from Congo, CAR and southern Sudan. "(Kony's guerrillas) have been trying to look for survival by spreading their tentacles in the region," he said. "Our forces came into contact with the rebels in CAR and we captured him in action," Ugandan army spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Felix Kulayigye told Reuters by telephone from Kampala. The militaries of Uganda, Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) have been fighting the LRA in remote south Sudan, northeastern DRC and southern CAR since two years of peace talks collapsed last year. The negotiations stalled amid mutual mistrust after Joseph Kony, the rebels' elusive leader, refused to sign a final peace agreement that the Ugandan government said would have given him and his top deputies immunity from ICC prosecution. More than two decades of rebellion by the LRA have killed tens of thousands of civilians and a large swathe of central Africa has been destabilised by marauding LRA guerrillas who are notorious for slicing off body parts and abducting children.

DTN News: Taliban Presence Seen Across Almost All Afghanistan

DTN News: Taliban Presence Seen Across Almost All Afghanistan

*Source: DTN News / Reuters By Paul Tait

(NSI News Source Info) SINGAPORE - September 11, 2009: The Taliban have a significant presence in almost every corner of Afghanistan, data from a policy think tank showed on Thursday, as the country lurches into political uncertainty after a disputed presidential election. A political standoff has deepened since the August 20 poll, with President Hamid Karzai defending the ballot as honest but a U.N.-backed election watchdog invalidating some votes and ordering a partial recount amid widespread accusations of fraud. (Image: Taliban militants are seen in an undisclosed location in Afghanistan in a photo released to Reuters May 9, 2009.) The uncertainty coincides with the most violent period since the Taliban were toppled by U.S.-backed Afghan forces in 2001, with record military and civilian deaths testing the resolve of U.S. and European leaders. The election, initially hailed a success after the Taliban failed to disrupt it, has since become a major headache for Washington and a test of President Barack Obama's new regional strategy to defeat the militants and stabilize Afghanistan. A security map by policy research group the International Council on Security and Development (ICOS) however showed a deepening security crisis with substantial Taliban activity in at least 97 percent of the country. The ICOS data, obtained by Reuters before its release on Thursday, painted an even darker picture than an Afghan government map last month that showed almost half of Afghanistan at either a high risk of attack or under "enemy control." Based on reports of an average of one or more insurgent attacks a week since January 2009, it showed heavy Taliban activity across 80 percent of Afghanistan. A substantial Taliban presence -- one or more attacks per month -- was seen in another 17 percent of the country. "DRAMATIC INCREASE" A similar map released by ICOS researchers in Afghanistan late last year noted a permanent Taliban presence in 72 percent of the country and a substantial presence in another 21 percent. In the most significant difference to previous security assessments, the latest ICOS map shows a heavy increase in areas of the north previously regarded as relatively safe such as Balkh and Kunduz provinces. The Afghan government map, drawn up with the help of the United Nations and dated four months before the election, showed large areas of the north as either low- or medium-risk areas. "Across the north of Afghanistan, there has been a dramatic increase in the rate of insurgent attacks against international, Afghan government, and civilian targets," said ICOS policy analyst Alexander Jackson. A NATO air strike in a Taliban-controlled area of Kunduz killed scores of people this month, angering many Afghans and adding to tensions between Kabul and Western countries with troops in Afghanistan. The Taliban-led insurgency has grown this year out of traditional strongholds in the south and east and has even hit the capital, Kabul. Violence escalated further before the poll. U.S. officials are debating whether to send even more troops to Afghanistan but uncertainty over the election results and accusations that Karzai's camp has been involved in widespread fraud have made relations even icier.

Preliminary results from about 92 percent of polling stations show Karzai has passed the 50 percent threshold needed to avoid a second-round run-off against his main rival, former Foreign Minister Abdullah Abdullah. Abdullah has warned a fraudulent outcome "was a recipe for instability." A second round was due to be held on October 1 if needed, but that would now be almost impossible to stage before the onset of winter. ICOS President Norine MacDonald said this meant a constitutional vacuum and "government paralysis" lasting months were possible. (Editing by Alex Richardson)

DTN News: European Missile Defense Reviewed

DTN News: European Missile Defense Reviewed

*Source: DTN News / POLITICO

(NSI News Source Info) WASHINGTON, DC - September 11, 2009: Supporters of basing a U.S. missile defense system in Europe are trying to determine whether the words “under review” mean “all but dead.” A Standard Missile-3 is launched from the guided-missile destroyer Hopper on July 30 in the latest Missile Defense Agency test in conjunction with the Navy. The missile intercepted a short-range ballistic missile target launched a few minutes earlier from the Pacific Missile Range Facility, Barking Sands, Kauai, Hawaii. It was the 19th successful intercept in 23 at-sea firings by the Missile Defense Agency's Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense Program, the sea-based element of the Ballistic Missile Defense System. The Obama administration is expected to wrap up its examination of the nation’s ballistic missile defense programs this month, including the controversial proposal to place a missile defense system in Europe that NATO and some governments there embrace over the strong opposition of their citizens. While arms control advocates are eager for President Barack Obama to end the effort that was a signature defense initiative of President George W. Bush, they’re reluctant to read too much into a trail of actions that seem to point toward canceling the program, which calls for missile interceptors in Poland and a radar site in the Czech Republic. “Certainly the Bush administration was very enthusiastic, and the Obama administration is less so,” said John Isaacs, executive director of Council for a Livable World. He didn’t mince words about his own preference: “I hope they kill the system.” Defense industry insiders also are reading tea leaves and largely coming away with a feeling of doom. Here are a few reasons why: • The initial outpouring of love for European missile defense from the administration, the military and supporters in Congress has dried up. Even its biggest boosters have fallen silent. Shortly after a Polish newspaper reported the U.S. would not proceed with the European sites, State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley dismissed the article as “inaccurate.” Later, Marine Gen. James Jones, national security adviser, sought to reassure Polish officials about America’s “firm and unwavering commitment to Poland’s security and defense.” For defense contractors, a commitment to Poland’s security is a far cry from putting U.S. missiles on the country’s soil. The Pentagon’s brass, including Lt. Gen. Trey Obering, the former Missile Defense Agency director, used to be the missile program’s biggest backers. But during a recent Space and Missile Defense Conference in Huntsville, Ala., the new powers-that-be at the Pentagon — including Gen. James Cartwright, vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and Lt. Gen. Patrick O’Reilly, director of the Missile Defense Agency — didn’t mention European missile defense. Not once. “For those generals not to mention it, when they have every year for the last five or six years — they’re not going there,” said Riki Ellison, chairman of the Missile Defense Advocacy Alliance, who attended the conference. And even champions on Capitol Hill, such as Sens. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.), Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.) and Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.), have gone quiet, a defense lobbyist pointed out. • Instead of continuing discussions about Bush’s plans for European missile defense, Pentagon officials are focusing on other options for defending Europe against missile attacks, such as combining sea-based Aegis destroyers with land-based missiles under development. In the past year, the Navy has wholeheartedly embraced sea-based missile defense, setting up a new Air and Missile Defense Command in Dahlgren, Va., and adjusting its weapons investments accordingly. Adm. Gary Roughead, chief of naval operations, laid the groundwork last year when he opted to stop making a next-generation destroyer in favor of outfitting an older model with a missile defense capability: the DDG-51. This year, the Navy is stepping up that effort, and Roughead has said the Navy could retrofit the entire fleet of Arleigh Burke destroyers with missile defense systems.

Read more: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0909/26938.html#ixzz0QkmkUFTa

DTN News: U.S. Stance Toward Russia Again Divides Europe

DTN News: U.S. Stance Toward Russia Again Divides Europe

*Source: DTN News / The New York Times By Judy Dempsey

(NSI News Source Info) BERLIN, Germany - September 11, 2009: Twenty years after the fall of the Berlin Wall, new fissures are emerging between Western and Eastern Europe — this time over President Obama’s policy toward Russia, according to an international survey published Wednesday. The survey, Transatlantic Trends, an annual poll of European and American public opinion conducted for the German Marshall Fund of the United States, found that Europeans, far from speaking with one voice on foreign policy issues, are divided over the role of the United States and how to respond to the growing assertiveness of Russia. The report also revealed big differences among the East Europeans themselves over their attitudes on the United States and Russia. (Image: A German police officer watched President Obama’s helicopter arrive in Baden-Baden in April.) During the closing years of the Bush administration, the trans-Atlantic relationship, including European support for the United States-led NATO military alliance, had reached a low in opinion polls. After Mr. Obama’s first half year in office, he has “nearly reversed the collapse in public support for the United States,” the report says. About 77 percent of respondents in the European Union and Turkey supported Mr. Obama’s handling of international affairs — a quadrupling of support compared with opinions of the Bush administration. But in Eastern Europe, more than 60 percent of respondents said they were skeptical about Mr. Obama’s foreign policy, especially regarding Russia, Iran, Afghanistan and the Middle East. And just over half of the respondents in that part of Europe said they saw the United States in a positive light, compared with 63 percent of West Europeans. The difference among individual European Union countries is even greater. In France, President Obama’s popularity is 77 percentage points higher than President George W. Bush’s rating. Yet in Romania and Poland, Mr. Obama’s popularity over Mr. Bush is just 14 percentage points and 11 percentage points, respectively. Even more striking, only 25 percent of Central and East Europeans said they believed that relations between the United States and Europe had improved under Mr. Obama, compared with 43 percent of West Europeans. The survey says the disparity between Eastern and Western Europe could be attributed to the fact that the Bush administration embraced Eastern Europe by encouraging NATO’s enlargement in 2004 and that it took a more aggressive stance toward Russia. The Bush administration also proposed placing the Pentagon’s antiballistic missile shield in Poland and the Czech Republic, a move that was strongly opposed by Russia and several West European nations. It was staunchly supported by most East European countries because they saw the shield as a defense against Russia, not missiles from Iran. The Europeans are still divided over how to deal with Russia, particularly regarding the issue of whether to further enlarge NATO — which Russia opposes — and the European Union’s growing dependence on Russia for its energy. Yet the survey found that even those divisions are complicated. “The popular image of a Russia-phobic Central and Eastern Europe and a more Russia-friendly Western Europe was not found in Transatlantic Trends 2009 data,” the report says. On economic issues, the report says that 43 percent of Americans supported closer economic ties with the European Union, compared with 37 percent of the population in the European bloc. Majorities all over Europe are worried about Russia as an energy provider. But when respondents were asked if they would abandon certain Western alliance policies, like NATO enlargement, to secure energy supplies from Russia, only 28 percent of East Europeans said they would consider that, compared with 41 percent of West Europeans. The Transatlantic Trends survey included random samples of approximately 1,000 adults in the United States and 12 European countries — Portugal, Spain, Germany, Britain, France, Turkey, the Netherlands, Romania, Italy, Poland, Bulgaria and Slovakia — from June 9 to July 1. It had a margin of sampling error of plus or minus three percentage points in each of the 13 countries surveyed.

DTN News: War On Terror TODAY September 11, 2009 ~ Photos Released Of Terrorist Mastermind At Gitmo

DTN News: War On Terror TODAY September 11, 2009 ~ Photos Released Of Terrorist Mastermind At Gitmo

*Source: DTN News / AP By Mike Melia

(NSI News Source Info) SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico - September 11, 2009: The first photographs of the self-proclaimed 9/11 mastermind at Guantanamo Bay have cropped up on the Internet, and experts say the images of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed are being used by terrorist groups to inspire attacks against the United States. This photo downloaded from the Arabic language Internet site www.muslm.net and purporting to show a man identified by the Internet site as Khalid Sheik Mohammed, the accused mastermind of the Sep. 11 attacks, is seen in detention at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. The picture was allegedly taken in July 2009 by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and released only to the detainee's family under a new policy allowing the ICRC to photograph Guantanamo inmates, ICRC spokesman Bernard Barrett said Wednesday, Sept. 9, 2009. (AP Photo/www.muslm.net) The photographs, taken in July by the Red Cross at the detention center on a U.S. naval base in Cuba, show Mohammed sitting serenely wearing a white robe, a red-patterned headdress and a long salt-and-pepper beard. They are the first known images of Mohammed since a widely distributed shot taken upon his capture in Pakistan in March 2003 showing him in a stretched white T-shirt, with disheveled hair and a mustache. Since then, only courtroom sketches from his war-crimes trial have been available. The International Committee of the Red Cross, which photographs Guantanamo prisoners as part of its mission to monitor their treatment, confirmed on Wednesday that it took the images in July and sent them to his family. Spokesman Bernard Barrett did not identify the location of the family or specify their relationship. Barrett said the photos were given only to the family and were not intended for public release, but the organization does not impose conditions on detainee families. The military began to allow the Red Cross to photograph Guantanamo detainees in February and the group has taken pictures of 107 inmates. Detainees are allowed to select two shots and the ICRC sends five prints to their families, along with personal messages. Mohammed's photos began appearing in recent days on Internet sites that have previously been used by al-Qaida and sympathizers to communicate with each other, said Jarret Brachman, the former research director at the Combating Terrorism Center of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. Brachman, now an independent terrorism researcher based in Fargo, North Dakota, said he fears the photos could breed sympathy for a man who has proudly proclaimed his role in the Sept. 11 attacks, as well as other incidents of terrorism, while also alleging he has been tortured by the U.S. "What's problematic for me is it really humanizes the guy," Brachman said. "I understand the value of these photos for family members, but at the same time this is the guy who planned 9-11." An Australian counter-terrorism expert, Leah Farrall, said she first noticed one of the photographs on Sept. 3 on an Internet forum that al-Qaida has used to communicate messages. She said it has since "gone viral," with some users posting online statements of support for Mohammed. "'We'll come and get you' is one message that I saw," said Farrall, a former terrorism analyst with the Australian federal police. Navy Lt. Cmdr. Brook DeWalt, a spokesman for the prison where the U.S. holds about 225 men, said the military is not concerned with distribution of the images and takes no position on how families of prisoners handle their photos. Mohammed faces the death penalty if convicted by the military tribunal at Guantanamo. But his trial has been suspended as President Barack Obama, who said he wants to close Guantanamo in January, decides how to proceed with the war crimes prosecutions begun under his predecessor. The terrorist leader, who is from Pakistan and believed to be in his mid-40s, is held in Camp 7, an ultrahigh security section of Guantanamo reserved for "high value detainees." Even the location of the unit on the base in Cuba is classified and not publicly known.

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DTN News: India's Jet Airways Pilots 'Ill' For Second Day

DTN News: India's Jet Airways Pilots 'Ill' For Second Day *Source: DTN News / Int'l Media (NSI News Source Info) MUMBAI, India - September 10, 2009: Hundreds of pilots of India's private airline Jet Airways have reported sick for a second day, leading to the cancellation of more than 100 flights. Hundreds of passengers have been stranded at various airports, leading to angry confrontations. On Tuesday, 13,000 passengers were stranded as 154 domestic and 32 international flights were cancelled. The pilots are protesting against the dismissal of two senior pilots last month by the airline. The pilots' union, the National Aviator's Guild, has been demanding the reinstatement of the pilots. 'Damage the airline' Most morning flights operated by Jet Airways - India's second largest private airline - were cancelled on Wednesday. A spokesman said their flights to Europe, the United Kingdom and North America were, however, on schedule. India's national airline Air India lent a helping hand by flying the Sri Lanka-bound national cricket team to Colombo for a tri-series, the Air India said in a statement. The protest has stranded thousands of passengers at airports across India. On Tuesday, Jet Airways went to court in an attempt to get its pilots back to work. The airline says the protest will "damage the airline's operations and inconvenience the travelling public". A spokesman for the pilots' union has said the protest would continue until their demand was met. The airline has been mired in controversies in recent months. Last year, it announced plans to lay off 1,900 staff to cut costs. But after days of protests by employees, the government persuaded the airline to take them back. India's once-booming aviation sector has been hard hit by soaring costs, mainly due to global fuel-price rises.