Thursday, July 15, 2010

DTN News: Iran TODAY July 16, 2010 - Two Suicide Attacks On Iran Mosque Kills More Than 20

DTN News: Iran TODAY July 16, 2010 - Two Suicide Attacks On Iran Mosque Kills More Than 20
Source: DTN News / AFP
(NSI News Source Info) TEHRAN, Iran - July 16, 2010: Two suicide bombings at a Shiite mosque in heavily Sunni southeast Iran killed more than 20 people Thursday, including worshippers and members of the Revolutionary Guards, state media reported.
The attack came as people celebrated the birthday of Imam Hussein, grandson of the Muslim Prophet Mohammed, a day also set apart each year to honour the Revolutionary Guards. More than 100 people were wounded in the attacks, which came only minutes apart, at the Jamia mosque in the restive city of Zahedan, capital of southeastern Sistan-Baluchestan province bordering Afghanistan and Pakistan. "Two explosions in front of the Zahedan Jamia mosque left more than 100 wounded and more than 20 martyred," Fariborz Rashedi, the head of the emergency services of Sistan-Baluchestan province, told state news agency IRNA. Zahedan MP Hossein Ali Shahriari told Fars news agency the attacks were carried out by suicide bombers, with the first by a man dressed as a woman. "The attacker, dressed in women's clothing, was trying to get into the mosque, but was prevented," Shahriari said. "When people came to rescue those hit in that blast, another bomber blew himself up." IRNA said the first attack was around 9:20 pm (1650 GMT). Deputy Interior Minister Ali Abdollahi said it was carried out by a suicide bomber where worshippers were being frisked before entering the mosque. "That attack resulted in the martyrdom of several, including some of the Revolutionary Guards," he said. Abdollahi said the second attack took more casualties as people rushed to the site of the first bombing. IRNA said the explosions were powerful because its reporter covering the blasts could see parts of bodies scattered in and around the mosque as medical workers collected them. Window panes of nearby buildings were shattered from the impact of the explosions and two vehicles close to the mosque were also damaged, the agency said. The head of Guards political bureau, Yadollah Javani, pointed the finger at United States, Israel and other Western countries as possible planners of Thursday's bombings. "One cannot rule out the direct intervention of America, Zionists and other Western countries in the explosions at Jamia mosque of Zahedan," he told Fars. In a joint statement Ayatollah Abbas Ali Sulemani, the local representative of Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and the provincial governor general Ali Mohammad Azad urged the residents to be "calm but alert against the enemies who wanted to divide the people," IRNA said. Zahedan has been repeatedly hit by attacks blamed on Sunni rebel group Jundallah (Soldiers of God), which plays on feelings of resentment among ethnic Baluchis in the province. The group's leader, Abdolmalek Rigi, was hanged on June 20 after he was captured in a dramatic operation by Iranian agents. Iranian officials maintain he had received support from US and British intelligence services for carrying out attacks against Iran. Soon after his death, the group vowed to avenge his execution. Jundallah says it has been fighting for nearly a decade to secure rights for Sunni Baluchis who form a significant proportion of the population in the province. It claimed a suicide bombing last October that killed at least 42 people, including seven Revolutionary Guards commanders, in the town of Pisheen in Sistan-Baluchestan. Jundallah also claimed a May 28, 2009 bombing against Shiite Amir al-Momenin mosque in Zahedan in which more than 20 people were killed and 50 wounded. That attack came in the run-up to Iran's hotly disputed June presidential election which saw hardline incumbent Mahmoud Ahmadinejad win a second term. Jundallah is also accused of a 2007 attack that killed 13 Guards. Analysts estimate that the group was formed somewhere between 2000 and 2003 and has about 1,000 militants trained in small arms and explosives. In recent years the Iranian authorities have resorted to increasingly tough measures against the outfit. In July 2009 they hanged 13 of its members in a mass prison execution, terming them "enemies of God" after convicting them of a string of offences, including kidnapping foreigners. The Revolutionary Guards were formed shortly after the 1979 revolution to defend the purity of the country's Islamic system. They have since become a major military, political and economic force in Iran.

DTN News: Shebab Threaten More Attacks After Uganda Bombings

DTN News: Shebab Threaten More Attacks After Uganda Bombings
Source: DTN News / AFP
(NSI News Source Info) KAMPALA, Uganda - July 16, 2010: Somalia's Al-Qaeda-linked Shebab Thursday vowed further attacks after two deadly bombings in Uganda, as Kampala said it would send more troops to boost the African Union force in Mogadishu.
Sunday's bomb attacks on entertainment spots in Kampala where crowds were watching the World Cup final killed at least 73 people and underscored the risk posed by the Somali rebel movement to the entire region. "What happened in Kampala is just the beginning," elusive Shebab leader Mohamed Abdi Godane said in an audio message broadcast on several Mogadishu radio stations. The Shebab -- fighting Somalia's Western-backed transitional government -- said the blasts were in retaliation for the presence of more than 3,000 Ugandan troops in the embattled African Union mission in Somalia (AMISOM). "We are telling all Muslims and particularly the people of Mogadishu that those martyred in AMISOM shelling will be avenged," he added. Godane said the Kampala attacks were carried out by a unit named the Saleh Nabhan Brigade after a Kenyan-born Al-Qaeda operative allegedly behind 2002 anti-Israeli attacks in Mombasa and killed in a suspected US air raid last year. Uganda could provide 2,000 more soldiers for the African Union force, an army spokesman said Thursday, following a decision this month by a regional body to bring AMISOM to its full strength of 8,100. "We are capable of providing the required force if other countries fail to do so," spokesman Felix Kulayigye told AFP. "I should say, however, that I think it is appropriate that other countries contribute." The United States welcomed Uganda's decision and pledged to boost its own aid to the force, the main obstacle preventing the Shebab from seizing full control of Mogadishu. "We have reviewed, since Sunday, the support that we're providing to AMISOM. We are going to beef that up," State Department spokesman Philip Crowley said. He also said 63 FBI agents assisting in the probe of Sunday's attacks had arrived in the region. The Kampala attacks, the deadliest in the region since the 1998 bombings against the US embassies in Nairobi and Dar es Salaam, spoiled the continent's World Cup party and drew global condemnation. Analysts said they further raised the Shebab's jihadist profile but their immediate objective was to force a withdrawal of AMISOM, which also has 2,500 troops from Burundi. With fewer than 7,000 troops on the ground, AMISOM has enabled the tenuous survival of Somalia's Western-backed President Sharif Sheikh Ahmed but failed to weaken the insurgents. "We are going to go on the offensive for all those who did this," Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni said Wednesday of the weekend attacks. "We can join to build up the strength of that force to 20,000 so that working with the Transitional Federal Government of Somalia we can eliminate the terrorists," he said. "We were just in Mogadishu to guard the port, the airport and the State House. Now they have mobilised us to look for them." Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi, whose 2006 invasion of Somalia failed to suppress the Shebab before withdrawing early last year, has said he would not send troops back in but nevertheless advocated a tough approach. "There is absolutely no hope of engaging in negotiations with this group. There is no option but to work for their total annihilation," Meles told state television Thursday. Ugandan investigators were meanwhile still trying to determine the exact circumstances of Sunday's attacks in Kampala and identities of all the victims. A senior official has said that at least one of the blasts was a suicide attack while police said they had already arrested six suspects.

DTN News: Russia Plans To Seal SSJ 100 Deal At Farnborough Air Show

DTN News: Russia Plans To Seal SSJ 100 Deal At Farnborough Air Show
Source: DTN News / Ria Novosti
(NSI News Source Info) MOSCOW, Russia - July 16, 2010: The Russian Sukhoi Aircraft Design Bureau plans to conclude a contract with a South-East Asian air company on the delivery of 30 Sukhoi Superjet 100s at the U.K. Farnborough Air Show (FIA), the bureau's press service said on Thursday. Superjet-100 is a family of medium-haul passenger aircraft developed by Sukhoi in cooperation with U.S. and European aviation corporations, including Boeing, Snecma, Thales, Messier Dowty, Liebherr Aerospace and Honeywell. Specific details of the potential deal have not been released. FIA, one of the most preeminent global aviation events, will be held from July 19 - 25 this year near London. The first five days of the show will be dedicated to concluding deals and the exhibition will then be open to the public over the weekend. Mikhail Pogosyan, head of the Sukhoi and MiG corporation, said the air show would reassure the global aviation community that the Russian airliners meet global requirements and show potential buyers that the company has the potential to implement the project successfully. Russia will also showcase its Su-35 Flanker and MiG-35 Fulcrum-F multirole fighters, as well as the Su-32 fighter-bomber (an export version of the Su-34 Fullback aircraft in service with the Russian Air Force) and MiG-29 Fulcrum combat aircraft.

DTN News: Russian Defense Ministry Lukewarm On South Korean Warship Deal

DTN News: Russian Defense Ministry Lukewarm On South Korean Warship Deal
Source: DTN News / Ria Novosti
(NSI News Source Info) MOSCOW, Russia - July 16, 2010: The Russian Defense Ministry has effectively dismissed the idea of buying a South Korean warship in place of a French Mistral-class amphibious assault ship, a Russian business daily reported on Thursday. According to Kommersant, the United Shipbuilding Corporation proposed the purchase of a $650 million Dokdo helicopter carrier from South Korea. In a letter to Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov, USC CEO Roman Trotsenko said his corporation could buy a license to build a Dokdo-class ship at a Russian shipyard within three years. The Defense Ministry is skeptical about the ability of Russian shipyards to build such ships in principle or their ability to build them on time, Kommersant wrote. "The USC's proposal merits attention, but then you can declare just about anything," a ministry spokesman told the paper. Commenting on the Kommersant report for RIA Novosti, an USC executive who insisted on anonymity confirmed that Trotsenko had indeed sent a letter to Serdyukov. "I confirm that such letters were sent to Navy chief Vladimir Vysotsky and Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov a long time ago, but we have not as of yet received a reply," the executive said. He said Dokdo-class ships (designed and built by Hanjin Heavy Industries) were a more cost effective proposition than the Mistral. The USC has complained to the Federal Antitrust Service about the Defense Ministry's reluctance to allow Russian shipyards to compete with foreign shipbuilders on an equal footing, but the service has dismissed its complaints, saying state arms procurements did not fall within its purview. ROKS Dokdo (LPH 6111) is the lead ship of the LPX class of amphibious landing ships of the Republic of Korea Navy, commissioned into the ROK Navy in July 2007, with specifications comparable to the French Mistral-class ship Russia is negotiating the purchase of. The Mistral class ship is capable of transporting and deploying 16 helicopters, four landing barges, up to 70 armored vehicles including 13 battle tanks, and 450 personnel. Many Russian military and industry experts have questioned the financial and military sense of the purchase, and some believe that Russia simply wants to gain access to advanced naval technology that could be used in the future in potential conflicts with NATO and its allies.

DTN News: Russia Pacific Fleet Warships Return From U.S.

DTN News: Russia Pacific Fleet Warships Return From U.S.
Source: DTN News / Ria Novosti
(NSI News Source Info) VLADIVOSTOK, Russia - July 16, 2010: A group of Russia's Pacific Fleet warships led by the missile cruiser Varyag on Thursday returned from the United States to the Russian port of Vladivostok. The group, including the missile cruiser Varyag, the rescue tugboat Foty Krylov and the tanker Boris Butoma commanded by Rear Admiral Vladimir Kasatonov, visited San Francisco, California, on June 21 -July 26. The voyage to California and back was held as part of an effort to promote U.S.-Russian military cooperation. On June 23, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev visited the missile cruiser Varyag in San Francisco when he was on an official visit to the United States. He met with California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and visited the Silicon Valley before heading off to Washington, DC, to meet with President Barack Obama. The sailors were met in Vladivostok by the fleet commander, relatives, friends and military musicians. "The friendly visit to San Francisco was a success," Adm. Konstantin Sidenko, commander of Russia's Pacific Fleet, said and welcomed the sailors home with the Russian tradition of three roast piglets symbolizing a successful mission. Russia's Pacific Fleet press service said that mutual friendly visits and joint Russian-U.S. visits have become common.

DTN News: Saudi Arabia King 'Takes Charge Of Arms Sales' Due To Royal Family Agenda

DTN News: Saudi Arabia King 'Takes Charge Of Arms Sales' Due To Royal Family Agenda
Source: DTN News - this article / report compiled by Roger Smith from reliable sources including UPI
(NSI News Source Info) MANAMA, Bahrain, - July 15, 2010: King Abdallah of Saudi Arabia has taken charge of arms negotiations with the United States and is seeking to downgrade the power of the defense ministry, which is run by his ailing designated heir, Prince Sultan, Paris's Intelligence Online says. The cancer-stricken Sultan, who is the monarch's half-brother but from a rival branch of the royal family, is reported to be "enfeebled and unable to comprehend government affairs," says Simon Henderson, an expert on Saudi Arabia with the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.Intelligence Online, a Web site that monitors global security affairs, noted when Abdallah toured the United States, Canada and France in June his 200-person entourage didn't include anyone from the defense ministry even though his talks in Washington involved arms procurement. Abdallah was accompanied by his sons, Mansour, Mohammed and Mashour, Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal and Prince Miqrin bin Abdulaziz, director of the General Intelligence Presidency, the principal Saudi intelligence service. Abdallah appointed Miqrin, his younger half-brother, to that powerful and prestigious post on Oct. 22, 2005, part of the monarch's shake-up of the Saudi intelligence establishment only weeks after Abdallah succeeded King Fahd, another half-brother who died Aug. 1 that year after a lengthy illness. "Abdullah's advisers, who used to take a back seat in arms deals negotiated by the Ministry of Defense and Aviation, have stepped into the breach caused by the deteriorating health of Prince Sultan and are taking charge not only of procurement but also the appointment of military commanders," Intelligence Online said. In recent weeks, Abdallah appointed Gen. Mohammed bin Abdullah al-Ayish, as commander of the 20,000-strong air force, one of the most potent in the Arab world. Ayish had been commander of the vast King Khalid air base at Khamis Mushayt near the Yemen border in the southwest since 2007. Before that he had been in charge of the executive committee that monitored the al-Yamamah contract between Saudi Arabia and Britain signed in 1985. Under that landmark deal, at the time considered the biggest arms contract ever, the Saudis bought 96 British Aerospace -- now BAE Systems -- Tornado strike aircraft, 50 Hawk trainers, 50 Pilatus PC-9s and other hardware in exchange for 600,000 barrels of oil a day. It involved massive commissions for Saudi officials. BEA Systems said in 2005 that it had earned $66 billion over 20 years from these deals, and could earn $60 billion more. In August 2007, the Saudis ordered 72 Eurofighter Typhoon strike aircraft from BAE Systems worth $8 billion. Overall, with associated services and maintenance, the contract could reach as much as $10 billion. One of the topics Abdallah discussed with U.S. President Barack Obama in Washington was the sale of up to 72 advanced-model Boeing F-15 Eagle strike aircraft worth around $10 billion. Israel wants to block that, claiming it would erode its military's qualitative edge that successive U.S. administrations, including Obama's, have vowed to maintain. Abdallah reportedly had hoped to sign an agreement in principle to purchase the F-15s, which, with the 154 the Saudi air force already has, would give Riyadh a strong force to confront Iran, its regional rival and nuclear wannabe. Obama wants to build up the military power of Saudi Arabia and its Persian Gulf allies against Iran but may be reluctant to ignore the Israelis' request at a time when relations between the two longtime allies has been strained. But a substantial new F-15 sale, on top of a major upgrade of the Saudis older F-15s, would be a big boost for Boeing, whose military aircraft sales are expected to dip. The F-15, its main military aircraft, barely sells any more and the company is promoting a new stealthy variant, the F-15 Silent Eagle, as an alternative to the problem-plagued F-35 Joint Strike Fighter being developed by Lockheed Martin. "In another sign of the royal Cabinet taking defense matters into its hands, all of the Saudi defense companies that have joint ventured with Western groups are currently targeted by fiscal and administrative probes," Intelligence Online reported. "A foreign contractor must have one of these Saudi groups on board if it wishes to do business in the country. All of them are sponsored by Saudi royals."