American opinion on India and Indian?

American desis July 14, 2008: What are certain factors that might be shaping the American opinion on India and Indians? As the adage goes Strength recognises strength. In 1911, the LA Times published a headline ‘A Hindu apple for modern Eve: The cult of Yogis lures women to destruction’. In 2001, Time magazine did a cover story on yoga, with an opening paragraph that read: “Stars do it. Sports do it. Judges in the highest courts do it. Let us do it — that yoga thing. A path to enlightenment that winds back 5,000 years in its native India, yoga has suddenly become so hot, so cool, so very this minute.”Perceptions change with time, people and events. For two nations vast and diverse, it is difficult to summarise the “American perception of India” in a short article. In general, Americans treat its foreign population, including Indians with warmth, and my experience has not been much different. Not to deny occasional cases of racial abuses, like against Sikhs, perhaps, mistaking them for Talibans due to their turban and beard, but such incidents do not make the general rule. So what are certain factors that might be shaping the American opinion on India and Indians? As the adage goes ‘Strength recognises strength.’ India’s advances in the economic field in general and IT field in particular, has definitely contributed positively. How can one not take notice when say Tata Motors buys the prestigious Jaguar and Land Rover from Ford Motors for $ 2.3 billion? Outsourcing and call centers in India will only add to the list of recognising India’s strengths, and even though there have been critics both in media and among the policymakers, overall the American public has not yet shown an animosity and ‘You people are taking our jobs’ attitude towards Indians. In a country where four out of 10 marriages on an average are believed to end in divorce, I have felt that Indian family values is another factor that evokes respect from a good number of Americans. In fact, during a friendly chat with an American cop near my house, he asked me if I was married. Hearing a no, he said, “I am telling you, marry a girl from India, not from here. My wife is Indian and she values family so much.” It has to be mentioned, however, that most Americans find it hard to appreciate arranged marriages. American public’s general knowledge about India leaves much to be desired. Here are some samples questions and statements that have been thrown at me or my friends on various occasions — “So do you speak Hindu or Indian or Arabic?” “So where in India? Bangladesh?” “In 1947, Pakistan won Independence from India.” “I know Mahatma Gandhi and his daughter” — the last one, a reference to Indira Gandhi!! Interestingly, it was not an American but a Chinese colleague of mine who once asked me, “Do kids go to school in India on elephants?”

Sudan head accused of war crimes

Sudan head accused of war crimes July 14, 2008: Sudan says an indictment of Mr Bashir would harm any prospects of peace Sudan's president has been accused of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes in Darfur by the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court. Luis Moreno-Ocampo told judges at The Hague that Omar al-Bashir bore criminal responsibility for alleged atrocities committed over the past five years. The three-judge panel must now decide whether there are reasonable grounds for an arrest warrant to be issued. Sudan's government has warned the move will undermine peace process in Darfur. The country does not recognise the ICC and has refused to hand over two suspects who Mr Moreno-Ocampo charged last year, Humanitarian Affairs Minister Ahmad Harun and militia leader Ali Kushayb. It has also labelled Mr Moreno-Ocampo a criminal, and warned that any indictment could stall peace talks and cause mayhem in Sudan. We condemn in the strongest possible terms this move by this criminal Ocampo The BBC's Laura Trevelyan at The Hague says that while some will welcome this move as a victory for justice, others fear it may spark further violence. The UN estimates that some 300,000 people have died as a result of the conflict in Darfur since 2003, while more than two million people have fled their homes. Sudan's government is accused of mobilising Arab militias to attack black African civilians in Darfur, after rebels took up arms in 2003 - charges it denies. 'Disastrous' Speaking to reporters in The Hague, Mr Moreno-Ocampo said he had submitted a report which recommended President Bashir face three charges of genocide, five of crimes against humanity, and two of war crimes. The chief prosecutor said last month that Sudan's "entire state apparatus" had been involved in an organised campaign to attack civilians in Darfur. Thousands of pro-government protestors took to the streets On Sunday, thousands of people rallied in the Sudanese capital Khartoum to show their support for Mr Bashir and to denounce the anticipated charges. "With our souls, with our blood we die for Bashir," the demonstrators chanted outside an office where the president was chairing an emergency meeting. Sudan's representative at the United Nations told the BBC that any charges against Mr Bashir would be disastrous for the security and stability of Sudan. "We condemn in the strongest possible terms this move by this criminal Ocampo," said Abdalmahmood Abdalhaleem Mohamad. The ruling National Congress party meanwhile warned of "more violence and blood" in Darfur. Mr Bashir said he had been angered by talk of his possible arrest, but added that it made him more determined to push for peace. I'm very worried, but nobody can evade justice UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon "Our decisive response to them is that our issues are progressing and as before, our programmes are moving, and that this matter only increases our determination and seriousness to progress in the same direction," he told state radio. "This talk has angered us and prompted us to move this way. We will move forward, God willing. We are committed to remove the country from a crisis." But a leader of one of the factions of the Sudan Liberation Army rebel group told the BBC it would welcome any action by the ICC. "The regime in Khartoum committed a big crime… We think the ICC is going the right way," Abdul Khalil said. Peacekeeping fears UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon told the French newspaper, Le Figaro, that he was "very worried" about the possible impact of any indictment on peacekeeping operations and the political process, but added that "nobody can evade justice". Earlier, a UN spokeswoman said it had raised the security alert level for its staff in Darfur. The joint United Nations-African Union Mission in Darfur (Unamid), which has 9,000 troops, has been struggling to contain the violence. The joint UN-AU force has been struggling to bring peace to the region It has raised the security alert for its staff to "level four", which stops short of evacuating all staff, but relocates foreign workers who are not directly involved in relief or security operations. John O'Shea, director of Irish aid agency Goal, warned the Sudanese government and its supporters not to seek revenge against international aid agencies and peacekeepers for the ICC's moves. "Should the Sudanese government take that type of action, they're in a way shooting themselves in the foot," he told the BBC. "The NGO community and the UN agencies have done a very good job in the context of looking after hundreds of thousands of vulnerable and desperately poor people." The ICC was set up in 2002 as the world's first permanent war crimes court. Other international courts have previously indicted Serbia's President Slobodan Milosevic and President Charles Taylor of Liberia while they were in office.

Bombardier launches new C-Series jet

Bombardier launches new C-Series jet July 14, 2008: FARNBOROUGH, England — Germany's Lufthansa propelled Bombardier's long grounded, $3.3-billion C-Series jet into the air Sunday morning with a 30-plane order that will eventually create 3,500 jobs in the Montreal area. The deal, announced the day before the opening of the Farnborough air show, was smaller than many analysts had expected. But there were strong rumours, not denied by Bombardier, that the week-long show might produce many more orders for the C-Series. ”We are engaged in active discussions with a number of airlines worldwide,” Pierre Beaudoin, Bombardier's CEO, said at the news conference. The leading potential customers for the 110- to 130-seat plane are Qatar Airways and International Lease Finance Corp., the world's largest aircraft lessor. ”Qatar and ILFC are almost certain,” said Toronto analyst Jacques Kavafian of Research Capital, who is at Farnborough. ”The show's far from over yet. They'll get more.” The Bombardier C-Series: Lufthansa placed a 30-plane order Sunday that will eventually create 3,500 jobs in the Montreal area. The new plane Bombardier CSeries 130- Seats: 120 to 145- Range: 4,074 km- Max. weight: 59 tonnes- Wings: made in Belfast- Fuselage: made in China- Engine: TBA - Rear fuselage, cockpit: made in Saint-Laurent, Que.- Final assembly: Mirabel, Que. - Expected delivery: 2013 The rivals Embraer- Model: Embraer 195- Price: NA - Seats: 108 to 122- Range: 4,074 km- Max. weight: 48 tonnesAirbus- Model: A318- Price: NA- Seats: 107- Range: 5,950 km- Max. weight: 59 tonnesBoeing- Model: Boeing 737-600- Seats: 110 to 132- Range: 5,648 km- Max. weight: 66 tonnes on takeoff.Sources: Chris Hannay, company documents Lufthansa, Europe's second biggest airline, after Air France-KLM, is a loyal Bombardier customer. It was the first buyer of Bombardier's CRJ regional jet, the flying mini-van that went on to dominate the short-haul market. The 30-plane order is not guaranteed, as it is still in the ”letter of intent” stage. But Nico Buchholz, the senior vice-president of the 530-plane Lufthansa fleet, gave every indication letter would be converted to a firm order later this year. ”It's a paperwork issue,” he said. The German carrier was attracted by the 20-per-cent fuel savings over comparable aircraft promised by the new plane. Lufthansa also agreed to take an option on 30 additional aircraft. If all 60 planes are bought, the sale would be worth about $2.8-billion (U.S.) at current list prices. The price of the aircraft is $46.7-million, before any incentives and discounts. Bombardier has ambitious plans for the C-Series, a single-aisle, twin-engine plane that conceived four years ago and shelved in 2006, when the company's sinking order book and financial turmoil gave it neither the confidence nor the financial firepower to take on a bet-the-company project. Aided by booming sales for trains, Bombardier has since reversed its fortunes and is taking on new projects. Gary Scott, the former Boeing executive who is president of Bombardier's commercial aircraft division, said the company estimates the global aviation market will absorb 6,300 aircraft in the 100- to 149-seat range over the next 20 years. ”We expect to take 50 per cent of that market,” he said. In spite of Bombardier's confidence in the jet, it is laying much of the project risk on governments and suppliers. Bombardier plans to spend about $2.6-billion (U.S.) in research, development and engineering, then $700-million in working capital, taking the total to $3.3-billion. Of the $2.6-billion, roughly equal portions will come from Bombardier, suppliers (such as Pratt & Whitney, the maker of the engine for the C-Series) and governments. The Canadian government will put in $350-million, the Quebec government $118-million and the governments of Northern Ireland and Britain £155-million ($311-million Canadian). Northern Ireland and Britain put up the money to secure the right to build the plane's composite wings, a project that will create 800 jobs. The governments' assistance was described as ”repayable loans.” The governments will receive a royalty on each plane produced. If the plane is a sales dud, they will lose money. If it sells well, they will receive all their money back, and possibly more. The Quebec government was thrilled about the launch of the C-Series because of the jobs it will create – 1,000 during the research and development phase, and a total of 3,500 when production gets rolling. Final assembly will take place in Bombardier's plant at Mirabel, north of Montreal. A Saint-Laurent factory will make the aft fuselage and cockpit. Some components will be made in China, although Bombardier is waiting until Tuesday to provide details. ”This [the C-Series] is a good sign of viability across the aerospace industry,” said Claude Lajeunesse, the CEO of the Aerospace Industries Association of Canada. He said total direct aerospace employment, which now stands at 82,000, more than half of which is in Quebec, took a dip after Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. The launch of the C-Series should push the figure higher, he said, as parts suppliers set up shop in Canada. While the C-Series would compete with the Boeing 737, the Airbus 320 and their variants, Bombardier is apparently emboldened by lack of plans by either manufacturer to replace the small jets with more efficient models in the near term. Boeing did not comment on the C-Series on Sunday. But Boeing's Commercial Airplanes marketing chief, Randy Tinseth, suggested in a conference call on Wednesday that the Bombardier plane may not offer the savings that small jet customers are seeking. He said Boeing is watching the market for short-haul aircraft "very closely.”

Russia's Sukhoi Su-37

Russia's Sukhoi Su-37

July 13, 2008: A bold, new combat aircraft designed by the legendary Sukhoi Design Bureau and now undergoing tests in Russia has taken aim at America's next-generation fighter, the F-22. The Russian challenge comes in the form of the single-seat Sukhoi S-37, the world’s first combat aircraft to successfully exploit forward-swept wing (FSW) technology. First word of the S-37 leaked to the West in 1997, and took Western defense analysts by surprise. Now, after more than 120 test flights at the secret Zhukovsky Flight Test Center near Moscow, it is clear that there is nothing like this bird flying anywhere in the world today. Its creator, the Sukhoi group, is considered to be Russia's premier combat aircraft producer. Sukhoi currently produces a family of topnotch operational fighters and fighter-bombers all based on the very agile and powerful Su-27 air superiority fighter. These include such models as the Su-33 aircraft carrier-based air defense fighter and the thrust-vectoring Su-37, a fighter and ground-attack aircraft. The general director of the Sukhoi Design Bureau and the Sukhoi Aviation Military-Industrial Complex, Mikhail Pogosyan, is proud of his company’s success. But looking to the future, he sees the need to build a fifth-generation fighter and to find an eventual replacement for the Su-27. "The S-37 program [has] a critical importance for the development of our company," he tells POPULAR MECHANICS. Named Berkut, which translates to mean Golden Eagle or Royal Eagle, the S-37 bears an "S" rather than an "Su" designation because it is an experimental rather than production aircraft. Design of the aircraft, originally known as the S-32, began around 1983, and drew on many years of FSW research that had commenced in the former Soviet Union during the 1940s—initially using captured Nazi technology. The Russians were also well aware of the Grumman X-29 FSW research aircraft, as two of these single-seat, single-engine planes were being tested in America between 1984 and the early 1990s (see "The Outer Limits").

Russia’s Sukhoi Su-35

Russia's Sukhoi Su-35 July 13, 2008: This article explains the source of the widespread confusion regarding the SU-35’s layout and key characteristics, reviews what is now known about the platform, and tracks its development. The aircraft has a nominal customer in the Russian Air Force, but no large-scale orders as of yet. Nevertheless, the SU-30 family remains a strong export success for Russia, and the SU-35 is being positioned to succeed most SU-30MK variants as Russia’s fighter export of choice within the coming decade.

Canada Awards C$374M Contract for LAV Support

New Support Contract for Canada's Light Armoured Fleet July 13, 2008: GATINEAU, Quebec --- The Honourable Christian Paradis, Minister of Public Works and Government Services Canada (PWGSC) and Secretary of State (Agriculture), and the Honourable Peter Gordon MacKay, Minister of National Defence and Minister of the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency, today announced that the Government of Canada has awarded a $374 million contract to General Dynamics Land Systems Canada (GDLS-C) to provide a full range of services to the Canadian Forces Wheeled Light Armoured Vehicles fleet. "As the sole manufacturer of the Wheeled Light Armoured Vehicles, General Dynamics Land Systems Canada is the only company capable of providing the full range of services needed to maintain these state-of-the-art vehicles well into the future," said Minister Paradis, adding, "The Government of Canada is committed to ensuring that the Canadian Forces are equipped with the services they need to support their operations." "Canada's fleet of LAV III vehicles form the backbone of operations in Afghanistan," said Minister MacKay. "They continue to prove their worth in the exceptionally demanding Afghanistan environment. This contract will ensure that these vehicles receive the maintenance support needed to perform in challenging operations for years to come." The services provided for in the contract include fleet management, publication and technical data management, program management, spare parts, repair and overhaul services, training support, technical services and field service representation. The contract was awarded on a sole-source basis as GDLS-C is the designer of the Wheeled Light Armoured Vehicles and, together with its prime suppliers, owns most of the intellectual property rights or has exclusive access to all of the proprietary technical data related to this equipment. The contract period is from June 1, 2008, to March 31, 2013. GDLS-C has agreed to provide direct and indirect industrial and regional benefits equivalent to 100 percent of the value of the contract. "Through the industrial and regional benefits policy, we are ensuring that every contract dollar awarded is invested back into the Canadian economy," said Minister Paradis.

Indian Army abandons plans to order more Arjuns

Indian Army abandons plans to order more Arjuns 13 July 2008: The Indian army has confirmed that it will not place additional orders for the locally designed Arjun main battle tank (MBT) beyond the 124 already under construction. General Dalip Bhardwaj, the army's director general of mechanised infantry, said on 5 July that "the army will place no more orders for the Arjun". While the Arjun "might be used in the next decade or so", he added that it was not suitable "for next-generation warfare". "The army... is looking 20 to 25 years ahead and wants a futuristic MBT," he said. The Indian Ministry of Defence ordered 124 Arjuns in 2000 - which the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) has been developing since 1972 - to be built at the Heavy Vehicles Factory at Avadi in southern India. These were meant to be delivered by 2009 but will not be completed on time.

Mediterranean union is launched

Mediterranean union is launched July 13, 2008: Mr Sarkozy said he wanted love, not war, around the Mediterranean French President Nicolas Sarkozy has launched a new international body with 43 member nations aimed at ending conflict in the Middle East. The Union for the Mediterranean will tackle issues such as regional unrest, immigration to pollution. At the summit's opening in Paris, Mr Sarkozy said its aim was to ensure the region's people could love each other instead of making war. Israeli and Palestinian leaders earlier expressed optimism about peace talks. Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said Israel and the Palestinians have never been as close to a peace deal as they are now. He was speaking after talks with Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas, who said both sides were serious and wanted to achieve peace. Transform the region Mr Sarkozy urged Middle Eastern countries involved in long-running conflicts to end the deadly spiral of war and violence, as European nations had done by making peace which each other during the 20th Century. Mr Sarkozy says his presidency of the EU is committed to progress on Middle East peace He said the grouping "will build peace in the Mediterranean together, like yesterday we built peace in Europe". Comprising 27 EU members with states from north Africa, the Balkans, Israel and the Arab world, the union's membership will include 756m people from Western Europe to the Jordanian desert. Welcoming the presence of Arab states alongside Israel, Greece alongside Turkey and Morocco alongside Algeria, Mr Sarkozy said the group would not be "north against south, not Europe against the rest... but united". He outlined the group's determination to focus on concrete projects focusing on the environment, immigration, security cooperation, transport and education. The French president was clearly buoyed by the presence in Paris of so many Mediterranean rim leaders and said the union would be based on concrete projects, says BBC world affairs correspondent Nick Childs. Mr Sarkozy is one of those politicians who is full of surprises because he is always campaigning. But critics have dismissed the new union as lacking substance, and diplomats say there are continuing disagreements over key issues such as how to address the Middle East peace process and a possible role for the Arab League. The only leader boycotting the Paris meeting was Libyan President Muammar Gaddafi, who has described the union as a new form of colonialism. Mr Sarkozy played down the absence of Moroccan King Mohammed VI, saying he had sent his brother as a senior representative. He also dismissed suggestions the Syrian president had snubbed Israel by walking out of a speech by Ehud Olmert. Meanwhile, Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas said both he and Mr Olmert were serious and wanted peace. Israeli PM Ehud Olmert said his country had never been so close to reaching an agreement with the Palestinians as now. He added that he would like direct talks with Syria, but warned they must not hinder talks with the Palestinians.

US suffers heavy Afghan losses

US suffers heavy Afghan losses July 13, 2008: Nine US soldiers have been killed in Afghanistan in clashes with Taleban militants. US commander Daniel Dwyer told the BBC the soldiers had been killed in clashes in the north-east of the country. The BBC's Martin Patience in Kabul says it is one of the biggest single losses in a day for the coalition since the start of military operations there. The attack came as international and Afghan security forces battled militants on several fronts. On Sunday, US forces said 40 insurgents had been killed in Helmand province in the past 24 hours. Insurgents 'hiding' There are conflicting reports as to where the latest attack took place. A foreign military spokesman said US soldiers and members of the Afghan National Army came under attack at a remote base in Kunar province, near the border with Pakistan. But Afghan officials insist the fighting took place in neighbouring Nuristan province. In a statement earlier, Nato reported that a small American Combat Outpost in Dara-I-Pech district of Kunar province, came under heavy fire at around 0430 local time (2400 GMT). It said insurgents had fired "with small arms, machine guns, rocket-propelled grenades and mortars using homes, shops and the mosque in the village of Wanat for cover." Combined International Security Assistance Forces (Isaf) and Afghan National Army forces responded with small arms, machine guns, mortars and artillery, it said. Fighter jets and Apache helicopters were also brought in. Reports say that dozens of Taleban militants were also killed in the attack. There has been no confirmation of this. Our correspondent says Afghanistan's north-eastern border with Pakistan is a well-known trouble spot, and that there are frequent Taleban attacks on international and National Afghan forces. The fighting is close to where US forces were accused of killing 47 civilians in an air strike in Nangarhar province a week ago. The US military said they were militants. In a separate incident on Sunday, a suicide bomber killed at least 21 people, many of them children, in a market in the Deh Rawud district of Uruzgan province. No group has claimed responsibility for the suicide bombing.

China breaking UN embargo in Sudan

China 'is fuelling war in Darfur July 13, 2008: The BBC has found the first evidence that China is currently helping Sudan's government militarily in Darfur. The Panorama TV programme tracked down Chinese army lorries in the Sudanese province that came from a batch exported from China to Sudan in 2005. The BBC was also told that China was training fighter pilots who fly Chinese A5 Fantan fighter jets in Darfur. China's government has declined to comment on the BBC's findings, which contravene a UN arms embargo on Darfur. The embargo requires foreign nations to take measures to ensure they do not militarily assist anyone in the conflict in Darfur, in which the UN estimates that about 300,000 people have died. More than two million people are also believed to have fled their villages in Darfur, destroyed by pro-government Arab Janjaweed militia. Plates on the first truck show it was imported after the embargo Panorama traced the first lorry by travelling deep into the remote deserts of West Darfur. They found a Chinese Dong Feng army lorry in the hands of one of Darfur's rebel groups. The BBC established through independent eyewitness testimony that the rebels had captured it from Sudanese government forces in December. The rebels filmed a second lorry with the BBC's camera. Both vehicles had been carrying anti-aircraft guns, one a Chinese gun. Markings showed that they were from a batch of 212 Dong Feng army lorries that the UN had traced as having arrived in Sudan after the arms embargo was put in place. The lorries came straight from the factory in China to Sudan and were consigned to Sudan's defence ministry. The guns were mounted after the lorries were imported from China. When it is shooting or firing there is nowhere for you to move and the sound is just like the sound of the rain Hamaad Abakar Adballa describing attack by anti-aircraft gun The UN started looking for these lorries in Darfur three years ago, suspecting they had been sent there, but never found them. "We had no specific access to Sudanese government army stores, we were not allowed to take down factory codes or model numbers or registrations etc to verify these kinds of things," said EJ Hogendoorn, a member of the UN panel of experts that was involved in trying to locate the lorries. Culpability China has chosen not to respond to the BBC's findings. Its public position is that it abides by all UN arms embargoes. China has said in the past that it told Sudan's government not to use Chinese military equipment in Darfur. Sudan's government, however, has told the UN that it will send military equipment wherever it likes within its sovereign territory. An international lawyer, Clare da Silva, says China's point that it has taken measures in line with the arms embargo's requirements to stop its weapons from going to Darfur is meaningless. "It is an empty measure to take the assurances from a partner who clearly has no intention of abiding by the resolution," she said. Ms da Silva said the BBC's evidence put China in violation of the arms embargo. The UN panel of experts on Darfur has said it wants to examine the BBC's evidence. Homes scorched The BBC found witnesses who said they saw the first Dong Feng which the BBC tracked down being used with its anti-aircraft gun in an attack in a town called Sirba, in West Darfur, in December. "When it is shooting or firing there is nowhere for you to move and the sound is just like the sound of the rain. Then 'Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!'" said Hamaad Abakar Adballa, a witness in the Chadian refugee town of Birak. The Chinese are accused of training pilots to use Fantan fighter jets The lorry's powerful anti-aircraft gun fired straight into civilian houses. The gun carries high calibre shells that explode on impact, spreading hot shards of metal and causing terrible wounds Witnesses saw one hut take a direct hit from the gun: "An intense wave of heat instantly sent all the huts around up in flames," one witness, Risique Bahar, said. "There was a lot of screaming." In the attack on Sirba one woman was burnt to death, another horribly injured. Genocide accusation Sudan's government has been accused by the United States of genocide against Darfur's black Africans. The terms of the embargo cover not only just the supply of weapons, military vehicles, paramilitary equipment. It also covers training any technical assistance, so the training of pilots obviously falls within the scope of the embargo International lawyer, Clare da Silva Prosecutors at the International Criminal Court (ICC) say war crimes by Sudan's Arab-dominated government have included summary executions, rape and torture. Recently the conflict has deteriorated into more confused fighting, with rebel and militia groups also fighting each other. Two hundred thousand people have been displaced already this year. Malnutrition rates are set to soar in South Darfur later this year due to insecurity and drought. Darfur's landscape is spotted with blackened circles representing the hundreds of the villages that were burnt down by government forces and their Janjaweed allies. Air attacks In these attacks Darfur's civilians have been hunted not just from the ground, but from the sky. Most civilians who tell stories of aerial attacks talk about Russian made Antanovs and helicopter gunships. Many also talk about fighter jets being used, but no-one has ever answered the question of which type of fighter jets these are. President Bashir says facts have been distorted and exaggerated Kaltam Abakar Mohammed, a mother of seven, watched three of her children being blown to pieces as they were attacked by a fighter jet on 19 February in the town of Beybey in Darfur. The BBC has established that Chinese Fantan fighter jets were flying on missions out of Nyala airport in south Darfur in February. Panorama acquired satellite photographs of the two fighters at the airport on 18 June 2008, and its investigations indicate these are the only fighter jets that have been based in Darfur this year. When Kaltam heard the sound of fighting early that morning, she took her children and ran. "We start running near the well," she said. "We hid behind a big rock. Something that looks like an eagle started coming from over there. It looked like an eagle but it made a funny noise." Jem rebels used a BBC camera to film a truck fitted with an anti-aircraft gun When the plane unleashed two bombs Kaltam's five-year-old daughter, Nura, was dismembered from the chest up. Her eight-year-old son, Adam, was killed instantly, as was her 20-year-old daughter, Amna. Kaltam's 19-month-old grandson still has shrapnel in his head from the fighter jet bombing. He cries a lot and often calls out for his mother, but she was killed in the attack. Kaltam's 13-year-old girl, Hawa, cannot grasp what she saw happen that day to her brother and two sisters. She rarely speaks now. Pilot training The Chinese Fantan jets are believed to have been delivered to Sudan in 2003 before the current UN arms embargo was imposed on Darfur. But the BBC has been told by two confidential sources that China is training Fantan fighter pilots. Sudan imported a number of fighter trainers called K8s two years ago - they are designed to train pilots of fighters like Fantans. "Clearly this is what they used to train for operations with the Fantans," said Chris Dietrich, a former member of the UN panel on Darfur. This second truck also had plates identifying it as being from China International lawyer Ms da Silva says if China is training Fantan pilots, this represents another Chinese violation of the UN arms embargo. "The terms of the embargo cover not only just the supply of weapons, military vehicles, paramilitary equipment. It also covers training any technical assistance, so the training of pilots obviously falls within the scope of the embargo." There are strong economic ties between the China and Sudan. China buys most of Sudan's oil and believes that what Sudan needs is good business partners, help with development and a solid peace process in Darfur, instead of confrontation and sanctions from the West. So when China's President Hu Jintao visited Sudan in 2007 he wrote off millions of dollars worth of debt and donated a multi-million pound interest free loan for a new presidential palace to Sudan's President Omar al-Bashir. In April last year, China's military leaders pledged to strengthen co-operation with Sudan.