DTN News: Algeria Military Is Targeting At Active Pockets Of al-Qaeda

DTN News: Algeria Military Is Targeting At Active Pockets Of al-Qaeda

(NSI News Source Info) May 31, 2009: The rural areas along Algeria's Mediterranean coast has become a dangerous place for police and army patrols. In the past two weeks, there have been two instances where large (twenty or more gunmen) groups of Islamic terrorist gunmen have ambushed these patrols, killing five police in one and seven soldiers in another.

Algerian soldiers and municipal workers stand at site of a car bomb attack which targeted the local military commander in Bouira, 150 km (90 miles) east of Algiers. Two car bombs in Algeria killed at least 11 people on Wednesday, the day after an attack that left 43 dead at a military academy, Algerian press agency APS said quoting the Interior Ministry.* These attacks are believed to be proof that at least two separate gangs of terrorists are operating out there. One attack was a hundred kilometers south of the capital, and the other was 500 kilometers east, along the coast. The U.S. is Algeria's largest trading partner (and for the U.S., Algeria is the second largest trading partner among Arab countries.) This brings a lot of Americans to Algeria, but some of them are also working on cooperation in counter-terror operations. This includes exchanges of information. The U.S. tracks Islamic terrorist communications worldwide, as well as financial transactions through the international banking system.

This fills in important gaps in the Algerian governments knowledge of what their domestic terrorists are up to, and who they are. This has forced the Algerian terrorists to adapt, communicate less, and limit their operations. But these terrorists keep at it, a constant reminder that there are some unhappy Algerians who are willing to kill for their beliefs. May 30, 2009: Police found, cornered and killed five of the Islamic terrorists who had ambushed a police patrol outside the capital ten days ago. That terrorist group, of more than twenty men, apparently dispersed after the encounter. The group the police tracked down south of the capital, contained two al Qaeda leaders, and information taken from the bodies indicated arms caches in the area, and approximate locations of the other 4-5 terrorist cells connected with this one. While the government has been successful in wiping out most of the Islamic terrorists, there are always more. The families of the 1960s era revolution leaders, who took over after independence from France was achieve, show no interest in sharing power, much less giving it up. This oligarchy, which is so common in the Arab world, is corrupt and incompetent (especially when it comes to running the economy.)

High unemployment among young men, and disgust with the corrupt and inept government, provides a steady stream of recruits. Most of them are not too bright (the smarter young guys either immigrate, or figure out how to work the corrupt system). The government has had its most success in hunting down the terrorist leadership.

These men are either killed, or convinced (with the help of some economic inducements) to quit their terrorist activity, denounce Islamic terrorism and behave. While the government has been winning, they have not won. Until the governance problems are solved, there will always be Islamic terrorists out and about.

DTN News: Russian Weapons Are In High Demand And Still Being Smuggled From Origin

DTN News: Russian Weapons Are In High Demand And Still Being Smuggled From Origin

(NSI News Source Info) MOSCOW - May 31, 2009: For the second time in the last three months, Russian customs officials have announced the cracking of a ring of retired and active duty military personnel caught smuggling weapons. In this case, the gang had been operating for about two years and were stealing components for S-75 (a fifty year old system), S-125, S-200 and S-300 (a 1990s design) anti-aircraft missile systems, and smuggling them to neighboring countries (that used to be part of the Soviet Union), where they were sold, or exported to more distant nations that used these missile systems, and were interested in less expensive spare parts.

At the time of the arrests, some 22 tons of missile parts were seized. This gang had apparently sold parts that returned to the thieves at least $10 million. Over a dozen officers were involved in the theft and smuggling of these items. Back in March, Russian police caught a group of naval officers (including at least two admirals) trying to smuggle 30 anti-submarine missiles and 200 bombs to China. The shipment itself was caught at the Tajikistan border, mislabeled as older, obsolete, weapons.

The shipment was actually new models, and the plot was apparently meant to enable China reverse-engineer the weapons and produce their own versions. The smugglers were apparently being paid $18 million for the shipment. The Russian admirals had arranged for the weapons to be classified as obsolete and eligible for disposal, but word of the scheme leaked out. This theft and smuggling has been going on for nearly two decades, and became most rampant after the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991. It was even more common in other former communist countries, leading to a flood of AK-47s, machine-guns and RPG onto the black market. In Africa, this sudden appearance of cheap weapons eventually fueled fighting that killed millions of people. These days, the theft is more often of high tech, or rare, components, and weapons technology.

DTN News: NATO TODAY May 31, 2009 - Georgian Soldiers In Joint NATO Military Exercises

DTN News: NATO TODAY May 31, 2009 - Georgian Soldiers In Joint NATO Military Exercises

(NSI News Source Info) TBILISI, Georgia - May 31, 2009: Georgian soldiers participate in NATO training exercises on May 30, 2009, at the military base of Vaziani, 30 km from Tbilisi. Russia has sternly criticized NATO for carrying out exercises this month in the ex-Soviet republic of Georgia, saying such activity less than a year after Russia and Georgia fought a war was highly destablizing.

DTN News: Airbus Eyes Production In U.S., India

DTN News: Airbus Eyes Production In U.S., India

(NSI News Source Info) PARIS - May 31, 2009: Weeks before the first China-built Airbus rolls off the assembly line near Beijing, the European planemaker's top official has pulled out the map and targeted future jetliner production in the United States and India. Airbus Chief Executive Tom Enders, writing 40 years after the birth of the first plane project by a four-nation European consortium, said Airbus must become global to stay competitive. "We have to leave national sentiment behind us," Enders wrote in a column in Friday's edition of the Financial Times. "Airbus will only remain competitive in the long term if it develops resources and markets globally and becomes a genuinely international company, with development and production also in the U.S., China, India and elsewhere." Airbus agreed in 2006 to set up an assembly line for the A320 family of jets, its most popular model, at Tianjin in China to reduce costs and gain an edge over rival Boeing in one of the world's largest aviation markets. The first plane will be delivered by end-June, the first time an Airbus has been assembled outside its two main host countries, France and Germany, supported by Britain and Spain. India has pressed Airbus to consider opening a production line there also, but so far the European company has been tied up in domestic restructuring and a series of aircraft production delays, as well as fierce union opposition to offshoring jobs. When India's civil aviation minister floated the idea of an Indian assembly line at an Airbus ceremony at the Paris air show two years ago, Airbus officials cautiously welcomed the concept but said the costs might outweigh the benefits. The economic crisis has since threatened planemakers' orders.

In the United States, Airbus considered assembling freighters in Alabama as part of a deal to sell mid-air refuelling tankers built from the same fuselages to the Pentagon. But the plans were suspended when Boeing appealed against the contract. U.S. production is attractive to firms whose costs are in euros but whose products, like aircraft, are priced in dollars. Unions and politicians in Europe, however, are concerned about job losses. Writing days before European parliamentary elections, Enders said shutting trade borders was no fix to the economic crisis. "Next month in Tianjin we shall deliver the first Airbus made in China ... No one will benefit more from this than Europeans." He also blamed European governments for hobbling Airbus's first major military project, the A400M airlifter, with a wish list for customisation that only added to production delays. The four-year setback has usually been blamed on engine problems. "Too often there has been a reversion to defending diverse national requirements that offer little in terms of performance but impact significantly on cost and deliverability," he said. "That certainly has been the case with the A400M, and we have asked the European partners in the programme for a greater degree of realism in order to enable delivery of the aircraft we all want at a sensible price." Parent EADS is trying to negotiate contract changes to rescue the 20 billion euro project by an end-June deadline. (Editing by Marcel Michelson/Will Waterman)

DTN News: Russian, Japanese Leaders Urge Serious Response To North Korean Tests

DTN News: Russian, Japanese Leaders Urge Serious Response To North Korean Tests

(NSI News Source Info) MOSCOW/TOKYO - May 31, 2009: Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso held a phone talk and urged a response to North Korea's nuclear test, the Kremlin said Saturday. Since the start of the week Pyongyang has conducted an underground nuclear test explosion and test-launched at least six short-range surface-to-air and anti-ship missiles in defiance of previous UN resolutions. "The sides were united that it is necessary to react seriously to these steps, which are a challenge to the system of international security," the Kremlin said. Pyongyang is already under a number of UN sanctions over its first nuclear test, carried out in 2006.

DTN News: Extra U.S. Troops In Afghanistan By Mid-July

DTN News: Extra U.S. Troops In Afghanistan By Mid-July

(NSI News Source Info) KABUL - May 31, 2009: The majority of the 17,000 extra U.S. troops being sent to fight a growing Taliban-led insurgency in southern and western Afghanistan should be on the ground by mid-July, the U.S. military said on Sunday. A further 4,000 troops are arriving to train Afghan security forces and they will be deployed by August. Washington pledged to send 21,000 additional troops to Afghanistan to reinforce security ahead of presidential elections scheduled for August 20 and to support NATO-led troops which have struggled to fight an escalating insurgency there. "10,000 Marines are beginning to arrive now and will continue to arrive for the next month and a half or so and they will be principally located in Helmand but also in Farah," said Colonel Greg Julian, spokesman for U.S. forces. Helmand province, in southern Afghanistan and Farah in the west are among the areas that have seen the fiercest fighting as insurgents gathered strength in recent years, despite the presence of a growing number of foreign troops. "Everyday we are faced with suicide bombers, an increased number of improvised explosive devices," said General Zaher Azimy, spokesman for the Ministry of Defense. "If the violence wasn't increasing there would be no need for the presence of foreign forces and Afghan forces themselves could handle this issue." Some 7,000 U.S. army troops are also being deployed to southern Kandahar province. "3,500 are already on the ground in Kandahar with additional helicopters. Following that an additional 3,500 army troops will arrive in Kandahar and will be located in rural areas of that province," Julian told a news conference. All 21,000 troops will be deployed by August, another U.S. military spokesman said, but declined to comment further. The 4,000 training troops will be sent mainly to south and west Afghanistan and more than half will train and mentor Afghan police, who are a younger force than the Afghan army and have suffered from poor training, illiteracy and corruption. The Afghan National Army (ANA) has also expanded its forces to 90,0000 troops from about 83,000, and will boost numbers further for the August poll, Azimy said. "Currently we have 90,000 ANA forces and we expect to increase this number during the elections to 95,000 forces as well as the additional forces of the Afghan National Police and the international forces," he told journalists. The Afghan army, described by U.S. military officials as a success story, now leads more than twice as many military operations per week in Afghanistan, compared with this time last year, a spokesman for NATO-led forces said.

President Barack Obama Outlines Coordinated Cyber-Security Plan

DTN News: President Barack Obama Outlines Coordinated Cyber-Security Plan

(NSI News Source Info) WASHINGTON - May 30, 2009: President Obama declared Friday that the country’s disparate efforts to “deter, prevent, detect and defend” against cyberattacks would now be run out of the White House, but he also promised that he would bar the federal government from regular monitoring of “private-sector networks” and the Internet traffic that has become the backbone of American communications. Mr. Obama’s speech, which was accompanied by the release of a long-awaited new government strategy, was an effort to balance the United States’ response to a rising security threat with concerns — echoing back to the debates on wiretapping without warrants in the Bush years — that the government would be regularly dipping into Internet traffic that knew no national boundaries. One element of the strategy clearly differed from that established by the Bush administration in January 2008. Mr. Obama’s approach is described in a 38-page public document being distributed to the public and to companies that are most vulnerable to cyberattack; Mr. Bush’s strategy was entirely classified. But Mr. Obama’s policy review was not specific about how he would turn many of the goals into practical realities, and he said nothing about resolving the running turf wars among the Pentagon, the National Security Agency, the Homeland Security Department and other agencies over the conduct of defensive and offensive cyberoperations. The White House approach appears to place a new “cybersecurity coordinator” over all of those agencies. Mr. Obama did not name the coordinator Friday, but the policy review said that whoever the president selects would be “action officer” inside the White House during cyberattacks, whether they were launched on the United States by hackers or governments. In an effort to silence critics who have complained that the official will not have sufficient status to cut through the maze of competing federal agencies, Mr. Obama said the new coordinator would have “regular access to me,” much like the coordinator for nuclear and conventional threats. Many computer security executives had been hoping that Mr. Obama’s announcement would represent a turning point in the nation’s unsuccessful effort to turn back a growing cybercrime epidemic. On Friday, several said that while the president’s attention sounded promising, much would depend on whom he chose to fill the role. James A. Lewis, a director at the Center for Strategic & International Studies, a Washington group that published a bipartisan report last year calling on the president to appoint a cyberczar, said that the White House had now narrowed the list of candidates for the position to fewer than 10, but that choosing the right person would be difficult. “There aren’t a lot of people who have the policy and the strategy skills and the technological knowledge to carry this out,” Mr. Lewis said. “If you’re talking about missiles and space, there are a lot of people who know policy and technology, but in cyber its such a new field we’re talking about a really small gene pool.” For the first time, Mr. Obama also spoke of his own brush with cyberattacks, in the presidential campaign. “Between August and October, hackers gained access to e-mails and a range of campaign files, from policy position papers to travel plans,” he said, describing events that were known, though sketchily, at the time. “It was,” he said, “a powerful reminder: in this information age, one of your greatest strengths — in our case, our ability to communicate to a wide range of supporters through the Internet — could also be one of your greatest vulnerabilities.” Mr. Obama’s speech delved into technology rarely discussed in the East Room of the White House. He referred to “spyware and malware and spoofing and phishing and botnets,” all different approaches to what he called “weapons of mass disruption.” Although the president did not discuss details of the expanding role for the military in offensive and pre-emptive cyberoperations, senior officials said Friday that the Pentagon planned to create a new cybercommand to organize and train for digital war, and to oversee offensive and defensive operations. A lingering disagreement has been how to coordinate that new command with the work of the National Security Agency, home to most of the government’s expertise on computer and network warfare. One plan now under discussion would put the same general in charge of both the new cybercommand and the N.S.A. Currently, the security agency’s director is Lt. Gen. Keith B. Alexander, who would be expected to be the leading contender for the new, dual position. Industry executives were generally supportive of the initiative Mr. Obama announced, but also cautious. “There was nothing I was disappointed in,” said Mark Gerencser, a cybersecurity executive at Booz Allen Hamilton, a consulting firm that deals extensively in the government’s cybersecurity strategy. Mr. Hamilton noted that the United States had separated defense and offense in the cybersecurity arena, while its opponents, including Russia and China, had a more fluid strategy. “It’s like we’re playing football and our adversaries are playing soccer,” he said. Thom Shanker contributed reporting from Washington.

DTN News: Colombian Rebels Seek Farc Truce

DTN News: Colombian Rebels Seek Farc Truce (NSI News Source Info) May 30, 2009: The leader of Colombia's second-largest rebel group has appealed to the country's largest, the Farc, to end fighting between them. "We must order a stop to fratricidal war between our two forces," wrote the National Liberation Army (ELN) chief Nicolas "Gambino" Rodriguez. He sent the message to Alfonso Cano, the new head of Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (Farc). The ELN has about 1,500 fighters but its organisation is under pressure.Soldiers carry the bodies of fellow soldiers at a military base in Pasto May 10, 2009. Seven members of Colombia's army died and four were wounded in the province of Samaniego, near the Ecuadorean border, when they were attacked by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), said military authorities. The BBC's Jeremy McDermott in Colombia says many ELN units now ignore orders from their leader. Others have made alliances with drugs trafficking gangs to ensure their survival economically and in the face of attacks by the Farc, our correspondent adds. Both rebel groups have been forced onto the back foot by the US-supported offensives of President Alvaro Uribe, he adds. Both the Farc and the ELN have been fighting the Colombian government since the 1960s and are believed to hold hundreds of hostages. Meanwhile, Gen Freddy Padilla - the current head of the armed forces - has been appointed the new Defence Minister. He will retain his military post. Gen Padilla replaces Juan Manuel Santos who recently resigned to prepare for a possible run for president next year. With FARC in retreat and ELN negotiating a peace deal, the military is turning more of its attention to the militias formed by drug gangs. This month, the army and navy spent weeks taking apart a militia belonging to the Norte del Valle drug cartel, near the Panama border. The operation led to the surrender of 112 militiamen, and over a hundred killed, deserting or getting away. The war against the leftist rebels (FARC and ELN) is often more expensive after the rebels are driven out of an area. The FARC administered rural areas primarily to support the production of cocaine. Farmers were encouraged, or forced (via threats, kidnapping and murder) to grow coca. The rebels controlled the local economy. When the government moves back in, they have to bring administrators and cash to rebuild the economy and build infrastructure (which the leftist rebels largely ignored for decades). Farmers need a lot of help to switch to new (legal) crops. As the leftists and drug gangs lost control of most of their territory in the last five years, they have had to force more farmers, in areas they still operate in, to grow more coca. Living in a rebel controlled area is a lot worse than in a government controlled one. ELN is the smaller of the leftist rebel groups that began fighting in the 1960s. Now with less than 2,000 armed members, the ELN is falling apart because of growing violence with FARC, and ELN commanders ignoring its revolutionary activities, in favor of business with the drug gangs. ELN leaders have called for a truce with FARC, but the FARC leadership is too distracted by their own problems to be bothered.

In this photo released by the Colombian National Police, Miguel Angel Beltran, alias "Jaime Cienfuegos," center, an alleged member of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, FARC, is escorted by police officers upon his arrival to Bogota, Thursday, May 23, 2009. Beltran was arrested in Mexico and extradited to Colombia by the Mexican government. The constant military and police pressure on the leftist rebel groups, and the loss of so much territory, has forced most of the FARC leadership to move outside the country. Most FARC political and military leaders now live in Venezuela, Ecuador and Cuba. These three nations are run by leftist governments that support FARC, despite FARC being tagged as a terrorist organization by the international community. Leftists, both governments and political parties, in Europe and the Americas tend to overlook the drug activities and terrorism of leftist rebels, and provide moral and tangible support to show "solidarity". This support is helping keep FARC in business by providing sanctuary, and positive spin in the media (or negative spin on the Colombian government and security forces). This support often backfires. Ecuador and Venezuela has found that allowing FARC to set up camps on their side of the border leads to more crime against the locals, and an increase in drug activity and corruption. Thus Venezuela recently arrested a former local police commander and extradited him to Colombia for drug trafficking. The foreign supporters of FARC are frustrated trying to get the leftist rebels to give up the drug business. Panama and Brazil are not cooperative with FARC, but the leftist rebels and drug runners try to move in anyway. Tiny Panama gets more attention, since it's a way station to the major cocaine markets in North America, and has weak security forces. Brazil, the largest nation in South America, has made its border unfriendly for FARC and the drug gangs. As a result, the violent activity goes elsewhere (Venezuela, Ecuador and Panama.)

DTN News: BORDER SECURITY Crossing The 49th Parallel - What You'll Need To Satisfy New U.S. Identification Requirements

DTN News: BORDER SECURITY Crossing The 49th Parallel - What You'll Need To Satisfy New U.S. Identification Requirements (This info is for the benefit of Canadian citizen)

*Source: CBC News - (This info is for the benefit of Canadian citizen)

(NSI News Source Info) May 30, 2009: It's a brand new world for Canadians wanting to head across what used to be called the world's longest undefended border, as of June 1, 2009. A passenger holds his Canadian passport before boarding a flight to the United States, at the Ottawa, Ont. airport. (Tom Hanson/Canadian Press)

The vast majority of Canadians heading south — whether it's for a day of shopping, a weekend getaway or a family vacation — do it by car. Getting past customs used to be a matter of showing some ID — a driver's licence or a birth certificate — and answering a few questions. No more. Rules that went into effect more than two years earlier for people flying into the U.S. now cover those who enter by land or sea. You'll need a WHTI-compliant document. What's a WHTI-compliant document? Under WHTI — the U.S.-legislated Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative — anyone from the Western Hemisphere entering the United States must produce a document that contains photo identification and proof of citizenship. Compliant documents include a passport, a NEXUS card, a FAST card, an enhanced driver's licence, or a Secure Certificate of Indian Status. If you're 15 or younger, you'll only need proof of Canadian citizenship. Accepted documents are an original or photocopy of a birth certificate or a citizenship card. If you're 18 or younger and travelling with a school or other organized group — under adult supervision and with parental consent — you can also get through with just proof of citizenship. Before the legislation was passed, a birth certificate or photo ID was usually enough. It's estimated that around 50 per cent of Canadians hold a passport. For Americans, it's closer to 20 per cent. How long does it take to get a passport? Passport Canada estimates that it will take up to two weeks if you submit your application in person and up to four weeks if you apply by mail, through a receiving agent or a mobile passport unit. However, if you're applying in person and you need your passport sooner, you may be able to speed up the process by paying extra fees and providing proof of impending travel. The passport office says applications have been up in the past two months. Passport Canada receives an average of around 21,000 applications daily. The average in the months preceding that was around 19,000. Can anyone get a NEXUS or FAST card? No, it's not automatic. The NEXUS and FAST programs were set up under the Smart Border Declaration and Action Plan. Both were designed to make it easier for low-risk, pre-approved travellers to cross the border between Canada and the U.S. The application process takes much longer than applying for a passport. Canadian applicants will be interviewed by American border protection officials. You will be fingerprinted during the interview. If accepted into the program, the officer will take a digital photo of your irises to verify your identity each time you enter Canada or the United States by air and use the self-serve kiosks. The officer will also take a digital photo of your face. A NEXUS card will allow you to use special lanes when you cross the border by land. You might not have to stop - but you might be pulled aside at random for more detailed questioning. FAST is similar to NEXUS in that it's designed to expedite the process for frequent travellers. However, FAST is designed to keep commercial traffic flowing smoothly. It was set up for drivers, carriers and importers. Under FAST, an acronym for Free And Secure Trade, customs officials can be notified of the cargo's arrival up to an hour before it gets to the border. The pre-approved carriers and drivers use a dedicated lane to cross between the two countries. As of the end of April 2009, 295,000 people were enrolled in the NEXUS program. By the end of March, 81,000 had enrolled in FAST. What makes a driver's licence 'enhanced?' Quebec Premier Jean Charest displays an enhanced drivers licence. (Canadian Press)

Enhanced licences contain a radio frequency identification (RFID) chip that points to information in a secure database stored at the Canada Border Services Agency. The information can confirm a person's identity and proof of citizenship. The chip itself does not contain any personal information. Currently Quebec, Ontario, Manitoba and British Columbia either issue or are in the process of issuing these licences. They are not mandatory in those provinces. If you want one, you have to pay a fee on top of what you pay for the privilege of having a driver's licence. Where can I get a Secure Certificate of Indian Status? You can't — yet. Indian and Northern Affairs Canada says it's not yet ready to provide a specific date when the new cards will be available. The new card is being designed to be less prone to forgery or counterfeiting than the cards currently in use. The old card is a laminated paper document. You are entitled to a Certificate of Indian Status card if you've registered as a Status Indian under the Indian Act. Do the same rules exist for Americans? If they're entering the U.S. from Canada, yes. Americans will be required to produce an approved document that verifies identity and citizenship.

DTN News: Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani Urges World To Fulfil Aid Pledges Of Half A Billion Dollars To Pakistan

DTN News: Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani Urges World To Fulfil Aid Pledges Of Half A Billion Dollars To Pakistan

*Analysis: Pakistan has been receiving economic and military aid from U.S. over $ 10 billion plus further funds are in the pipeline by several countries and large sums of Pakistan's external debts have been foregone by U.S., Japan and EU since 9/11. Recently, media were reporting that Pakistan military is enhancing increase in nuclear arsenal and inducting new fighter aircrafts and other modern weapons at the cost of its own economy infrastructure. It is high time Pakistan should look into its internal background and stop blaming rest of the world for current conflicts in NWFP (Swat Valley) and eliminate insurgency today, unchecked it is going to spread like cancer all over the globe tomorrow. (DTN News Defense-Technology News .... May 30, 2009) (NSI News Source Info) ISLAMABAD - May 30, 2009: The government appealed to the international community on Thursday to provide more assistance for relief and rehabilitation of the internally displaced persons. U.S. Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-VT, second from right, meets with Pakistan's Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani, right, with Sen. Mark Warner, D-VA, third from left, Sheldon Whitehouse, D-RI, second from left, and U. S. Ambassador in Pakistan Anne Patterson in Islamabad, Pakistan on Monday, May 25, 2009. Gilani briefed the senators regarding anti-Taliban operation going on in northwest Pakistan. At a meeting held to review relief work for the IDPs, Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani urged donor countries to fulfil pledges of assistance they had made for the affected people. Representatives of the United States, Britain, EU and other countries promised at a conference last week to make fresh commitments after the United Nations launched a global appeal for $543.2 million. The meeting discussed plans for return of the displaced people to their homes. It was informed that over 51,300 tents had been set up in different places in the NWFP and 30,583 tons of foodstuff distributed among the IDPs. Over 300 tons of food items have been sent to the people stranded in conflict zones. The meeting was informed that Nadra had set up kiosks across the country for registration of the IDPs and the National Bank and other banks would open dedicated windows to give them debit cards. The prime minister asked the Nadra authorities to complete the registration work soon so that the affected people could be provided with cash and other assistance.

The meeting was briefed on arrangements being made for providing electricity, drinking water, fans and other items of basic needs to the IDPs. The prime minister asked the authorities concerned to ensure uninterrupted supply of basic necessities. He asked the provincial government and the Special Support Group to work for restoration of services in the affected areas and beef up security arrangements for the safe return of the IDPs. Mr Gilani called for providing desert coolers and making arrangements for garbage removal and fumigation. He said the displaced people had sacrificed their present for the future of the nation. He said the ongoing operation against militants and terrorists would continue till its logical conclusion, adding that the writ of the government would be restored at all costs. The report prepared by the Congressional Research Service recalls that as the United States prepared to launch an attack on the Afghan Taliban after September 11, 2001, former military dictator Gen (retd) Pervez Musharraf ordered that Pakistan’s nuclear arsenal be redeployed to ‘at least six secret new locations.’ This action came at a time of uncertainly about the future of the region, including the direction of US-Pakistan relations. Islamabad’s leadership was uncertain whether the US would decide to conduct military strikes against Pakistan’s nuclear assets if Islamabad did not assist the United States against the Taliban. Indeed, Musharraf cited protection of Pakistan’s nuclear and missile assets as one of the reasons for Islamabad’s dramatic policy shift. The prime minister praised the humanitarian gesture of people hosting the IDPs and said the entire nation was united in determination to cope with the challenge. The meeting was attended by Minister of State for Finance and Economic Affairs Hina Rabbani Khar, Chairman of the Special Support Group for IDPs Lt-Gen Nadeem Ahmad, secretaries of cabinet, economic affairs division and health and the NWFP chief secretary.