DTN News: Global Zero Commission to Make Recommendations Before President Barack Obama/President Dmitry Medvedev Nuclear Weapons Summit
Commission Meeting in Washington, D.C. June 28-29
*Source: Defense Media
(NSI News Source Info) WASHINGTON - June 18, 2008: The Global Zero Commission, a group of political and military leaders from the U.S., Russia and other key countries, will outline a step-by-step process to achieve the elimination of
nuclear weapons -- a goal called for by Presidents Obama and Medvedev at their first meeting on April 1. The outline will include specific recommendations for the Obama and Medvedev administrations in advance of the July 6-8 Moscow Summit.The press briefing will take place Monday, June 29 at 1:30 pm EDT at the St. Regis Hotel, 923 16th St. NW, Washington, DC, in the Astor Ballroom on the first floor.
The Commission is part of the Global Zero initiative (globalzero.org) -- an international, non-partisan effort formed in response to the growing threats of proliferation and nuclear terrorism and dedicated to achieving the phased, verified elimination of all nuclear weapons. Global Zero is spearheaded by a group of more than 100 leaders worldwide, including many who have worked at senior levels with issues of national security such as former heads of state, former foreign ministers, former defense ministers, former national security advisors, and more than 20 former top military commanders.
Global Zero Commissioners
Dr. Jacques Attali, Honorary Member, Council of State, and Fmr. Advisor to the President, Republic of France
Amb. K. Shankar Bajpai, Chairman, National Security Advisory Board, Fmr. Secretary of the Ministry of External Affairs, India
Amb. Alexander Bessmertnykh, Fmr. Foreign Minister, the Soviet Union
Amb. Richard Burt, Fmr. United States Chief Negotiator, Strategic Arms Reduction Talks (START)
P.M. Yasuo Fukuda, Fmr. Prime Minister, Japan
Sen. Chuck Hagel, Fmr. United States Senator
Amb. Wolfgang Ischinger, Fmr. Ambassador of Germany to the United Kingdom and the United States
Gen. (Ret.) Jehangir Karamat, Fmr. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and Fmr. Ambassador of Pakistan to the United States
Amb. Shaharyar Khan, Fmr. Foreign Secretary and Ambassador of Pakistan to Jordan, the United Kingdom and France
Anthony Lake, Fmr. National Security Advisor, the United States
Sen. Mikhail Margelov, Senator and Chairman, Committee for Foreign Affairs, Council of Federation, Federal Assembly of the Russian FederationCol. Gen. (Ret.)
Evgeny Maslin, Fmr. Chief of the Main Directorate, Ministry of Defense, Russian Federation
Amb. Brajesh Mishra, Fmr. National Security Advisor, India
Maj. Gen. (Ret.) Guangqian Peng, Strategist, Academy of Military Science, the People's Republic of China
Amb. Thomas Pickering, Fmr. Ambassador of the United States to the United Nations, Russia and India
Sir Malcolm Rifkind, Fmr. Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, and Fmr. Secretary of Defense, the United Kingdom
Amb. Yukio Satoh, Fmr. Ambassador of Japan to the United Nations
Gen. (Ret.) Jack Sheehan, Fmr. Commander in Chief, United States Atlantic Command
Air Chf. Mshl. (Ret.) SP Tyagi, Fmr. Chief of the Air Staff, Indian Air Force
Dr. Evgeny Velikhov, President, Kurchatov Institute
Amb. Jianmin Wu, Fmr. Permanent Representative of the People's Republic of China to the United Nations, and Ambassador to France and the Netherlands
Dr. Jiemian Yang, Senior Fellow and President, Shanghai Institute for International Studies, the People's Republic of China
Mr. Igor Yurgens, Chairman of the Management Board, Institute of Contemporary Development
Source: DTN News / Taipei Times
(NSI News Source Info) TAIPEI, Taiwan - May 10, 2010: The Air Force may file a case with the international commercial arbitration court to seek the return of kickbacks that were allegedly paid during the procurement of French Mirage 2000 
jet fighters in 1992.
In the wake of a ruling handed down on Monday by an international court of arbitration in Paris ordering French company Thales (formerly known as Thompson-CSF) to repay the Taiwanese government about US$861 million in kickbacks involved in the scandal-plagued Lafayette frigate deal, the Air Force said on Wednesday it was reviewing the Mirage deal.
If the Air Force decides that kickbacks were paid during the procurement of the fighter jets, it would decide whether to file a case with the international court, it said.
The court in Paris ordered Thales to repay the money given in unauthorized commissions to help Thomson-CSF win a deal to sell the six frigates for US$2.5 billion in 1991.
Taiwan ordered 48 single-seat Mirage 2000-5EI interceptors and 12 Mirage twin-seat 2000-5DI trainers in 1992. The first squadron became operational in 1997.
French newspaper Le Monde reported on Nov. 30, 2001, that a French judicial probe was opened that year to investigate claims that much of the money paid by Taiwan during the Lafayette deal went to commissions for middlemen, politicians and military officers in Taiwan, China and France.
However, an investigation by the judiciary in Taiwan alleged Andrew Wang, the main figure in the Lafayette scandal, might have received US$260 million in kickbacks over the course of the Mirage deal.
In August 2004, the Control Yuan announced that the Mirage deal was “suspicious” because the Air Force had originally reported the cost as 22.8 billion francs (worth US$4.3 billion in 1992), but then 6 billion francs was added to the bill at a later date. The Control Yuan requested a judicial probe be opened into the Mirage deal.
“The price of the procurement of the Mirage aircraft is obviously much more than their market price,” Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Chang Hsien-yao said on Wednesday.
He said he suspected the kickbacks paid in the deal were higher than those in the Lafayette deal. In the Lafayette case, Taiwanese investigators said Thompson-CSF paid US$495 million to Wang and US$25 million to Alfred Sirven, a former vice chairman of French oil firm Elf-Aquitaine.
Wang fled Taiwan in late 1993 following the death of Navy Captain Yin Ching-feng, whose body was found in the sea off the east coast of Taiwan. Yin was believed to have been ready to blow the whistle on those who received kickbacks in the deal.
