DTN News: Pakistani Man Charged For Embassy Explosives Case In Chile

DTN News: Pakistani Man Charged For Embassy Explosives Case In Chile

Source: DTN News / AP

(NSI News Source Info) SANTIAGO, Chile - May 16, 2010: A Pakistani man detained with suspicious chemical residues at the U.S. Embassy in Chile was charged with possessing explosives on Saturday, and then set free pending further investigation.

Mohammad Saif Ur Rehman Khan was ordered to stay in Chile and check in with authorities once a week. Prosecutors have three more months to develop their case, Judge Maria Carolina Herrera ruled.

Defense attorney Gabriel Carrion said the judge declined to charge Khan with associating with terrorists for lack of evidence. Khan, who maintains his innocence, made a victory sign with his hand and said only "Viva Chile" to a crowd of reporters as he left the courthouse with his lawyer.

Khan was called in to the embassy so that he could be told that his U.S. visa was revoked. A State Department spokesman in Washington said he had been added to a terrorism watch list after the U.S. government received information about him.

A summary of the closed hearing posted on the judiciary's website Saturday said both TNT and tetryl - a chemical that boosts the power of explosives - were found on his cell phone and documents at the embassy, and that a police search of his room later found the same chemicals on his clothes, a suitcase and a computer bag.

But Carrion says the 28-year-old Khan is an innocent student of the tourism industry and Spanish, and that anyone can pick up traces of the chemical simply by living in a big, polluted city.

Prosecutor Xavier Armendariz said the judge found that Khan's detention was legal. Chilean police have searched the apartment of an Egyptian man who prayed at the same mosque as Khan and continue to investigate people who associated with the suspect.

Khan's parents were traveling to Chile to support their son, according to leftist Sen. Alejandro Navarro, who said he persuaded the interior ministry to grant them visas.

DTN News: Thailand Under Fire

DTN News: Thailand Under Fire

Source: DTN News

(NSI News Source Info) BANGKOK, Thailand - May 15, 2010: A 'red shirt' protester uses a sling shot in front of burning tyres during clashes with army soldiers at Rama IV Street in Bangkok May 15, 2010. Thailand's military will send in reinforcements to assist troops struggling to seal off an encampment occupied by thousands of anti-government protesters, an army spokesman said on Saturday.

Anti-government red shirt protester flies the Thai flag as a fellow protester encourages other to advance up a street as the violence in central part of the city escalates on May 15, 2010 in Bangkok, Thailand. So far at least 154 have been injured and over 20 killed in the clashes as the military and the government launched an operation to disperse anti-government protesters who have closed parts of the city for two months. A state of emergency is in effect that spreads to 17 provinces in the country. The Thai army declared certain protest areas where clashes are taking place as a 'Live Fire Zone.'

DTN News: U.S. Department of Defense Contracts Dated May 14, 2010

DTN News: U.S. Department of Defense Contracts Dated May 14, 2010 Source: U.S. DoD issued May 14, 2010 (NSI News Source Info) WASHINGTON - May 15, 2010: U.S. Department of Defense, Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense (Public Affairs) Contracts issued May 14, 2010 are undermentioned; CONTRACTS DEFENSE INTELLIGENCE AGENCY ~BAE Systems Information Technology, Inc., McLean, Va. (HHM402-10-D-0013);

~General Dynamics Information Technology, Inc., Chantilly, Va. (HHM402-10-D-0014);

~Lockheed Martin Corp., Gaithersburg, Md. (HHM402-10-D-0015);

~Northrop Grumman Systems Corp., Fairfax, Va. (HHM402-10-D-0016);

~Science Applications International Corp., San Diego, Calif.(HHM402-10-D-0017);

~Systems Research and Applications Corp., Fairfax, Va. (HHM402-10-D-0018);

~BC Fed Group, LLC, Reston, Va. (HHM402-10-D-0019);

~CenTauri Solutions, LLC, Alexandria, Va. (HHM402-10-D-0020);

~Enterprise Information Services, Inc. Vienna, Va. (HHM402-10-D-0021);

~Red Arch Solutions, Inc., Columbia, Md. (HHM402-10-D-0022); and

~Worldwide Information Network Systems, Inc., Seabrook, Md. (HHM402-10-D-0023) have each been awarded an indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract supporting information technology (IT) requirements across the Defense Intelligence Enterprise and the greater intelligence community. The Solutions for the Information Technology Enterprise (SITE) contract is designed to enable streamlined execution; simplify purchase requests; standardize acquisition documentation; improve enterprise program management for customers; provide better reporting capability; improve contracting performance and data integrity; and make the agency’s overall IT acquisition processes more efficient. The SITE contract will have a ceiling of $6.6 billion over five years. Competition among the listed firms for task orders under the SITE contract vehicle will begin this summer. The SITE contract vehicle will replace the multiple awards for the Defense Intelligence Agency’s Department of Defense Intelligence Information System Integration and Engineering Support Contracts and replace the Air Force’s longstanding Intelligence Information, Command and Control, Equipment and Enhancements single-award contract vehicle. The Defense Intelligence Agency is the contracting activity. NAVY ~Navmar Applied Sciences Corp., Warminster, Pa., is being awarded a $49,730,224 cost-plus-fixed-fee Phase III Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) project under Topics N92-170, entitled “Laser Detection and Ranging Identification Demonstration,” and N94-178, entitled “Air Deployable Expendable Multi-parameter Environmental Probe.” This Phase III award provides for the research, development and production of surveillance, reconnaissance, detection, classification and targeting systems for the Department of Defense, Navy, and Air Force. Work will be performed in Patuxent River, Md. (30 percent), Yuma, Ariz. (30 percent), Afghanistan (30 percent), and Warminster, Pa. (10 percent), and is expected to be completed in May 2015. This Phase III SBIR contract was competitively procured using SBIR Program Solicitation under Topics N92-170 and N94-178. Contract funds in the amount of $1,400,000 will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division, Lakehurst, N.J., is the contracting activity (N68335-10-C-0045). ~Pacific Ship Repair & Fabrication, San Diego, Calif., is being awarded a $15,848,931 firm-fixed-price contract under a multi-ship solicitation for a 75-calendar-day post-shakedown availability of Military Sealift Fleet Support Command dry cargo/ammunition ships USNS Matthew Perry (T-AKE 9) and USNS Charles Drew (T-AKE 10). The ships’ primary mission is to deliver ammunition, provisions, stores, spare parts, potable water, and petroleum products to the Navy’s carrier strike groups and other naval forces at sea. This shakedown availability is primarily for ship alterations, including: lube-oil-tank, second-deck-cargo and galley modifications; cargo hold overhead insulation; and deck air compressor and radar installation. Naval Sea Systems Command (PMS 325) provided funding to accomplish approved alterations during the post-shakedown availability. The contracts include options which, if exercised, would bring the total contract value to $18,874,191. Work will be performed in San Diego, Calif., and is expected to be completed within 75 calendar days once work begins for each ship. Contract funds in the amount of $8,083,580 will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was competitively procured on a set-aside for small business basis, with four offers received. The solicitation was posted to the Military Sealift Command, Navy Electronic Commerce Online and Federal Business Opportunities Web sites. The U.S. Navy’s Military Sealift Fleet Support Command, Norfolk, Va., is the contracting authority (N40442-10-C-3020 for the USNS Matthew Perry; N40442-11-C-3000 for the USNS Charles Drew). ~Rite-Solutions, Inc., Pawcatuck, Conn., is being awarded a $15,406,804 cost-plus-fixed fee contract for a Phase III Small Business Innovative Research (SBIR) - Combat System of the Future to perform research, development and engineering services. Rite-Solutions, Inc., shall continue the formulation of system-level design; software and hardware development; systems engineering; commercial off-the-shelf product procurement; hardware/software integration; test and evaluation; installation; and life cycle support to integrate manpower reduction, command and control automation, and cost reduction technology into submarine platforms during new construction, overhaul, and modernization periods. Rite Solutions will apply unique humans systems integration processes leading to command decision modules and supporting infrastructures, command and control center configurations, and other technical support work for Navy submarines, surface, and air platforms. Work will be performed in Middletown, R.I., and is expected to be completed by May 2015. This Phase III SBIR contract was competitively procured using SBIR Program Solicitation under Topic Number N05-149. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington Navy Yard, D.C., is the contracting activity (N00024-10-C-6258). DEFENSE LOGISTICS AGENCY ~Boeing Co., St. Louis, Mo., is being awarded a maximum $8,699,778 firm-fixed-price, sole-source corporate contract for control indicators. There are no other locations of performance. Using service is Air Force. There was originally one proposal solicited with one response. The date of performance completion is Aug. 15, 2011. The Defense Logistics Agency (DSCR-ZEB), Robins Air Force Base, Ga., is the contracting activity (SP0400-01-D-9406-XE01).

DTN News: IAF's Acquisition Of Boeing C-17 Transport Aircraft Heading For Trouble

DTN News: IAF's Acquisition Of Boeing C-17 Transport Aircraft Heading For Trouble

Source: domain-b India

(NSI News Source Info) NEW DELHI, India - May 15, 2010: An Indian Air Force order for 10 Boeing C-17 Globemaster III heavy-lift transport aircraft is looking like an uncertain acquisition with a production-line strike at the Boeing facility where the giant aircraft are built and clear hints from the Pentagon that the programme will soon shut down. The C-17 is a long running programme that the Pentagon has been desperately trying to kill off for years without success as US Congressmen, scared of the economic impact of a plant closure on their constituents, keep it alive under some pretext or the other. 1,700 assembly-line workers at the Long Beach, Calif, plant struck work for a second day Wednesday, demanding better pension and medical benefits. Earlier, talks between management and the United Aerospace Workers broke down last week after employees rejected a 46-month contract offer from the company. On an average Boeing builds around 16 C-17s a year, primarily for the US Air Force, at an average price tag of about $200 million each. Orders, though, have been declining and the company has recently said it would further bring down annual production rate to 10 by mid-2011. IAF's acquisition of Boeing C-17 transport aircraft heading for trouble news 13 May 2010 An Indian Air Force order for 10 Boeing C-17 Globemaster III heavy-lift transport aircraft is looking like an uncertain acquisition with a production-line strike at the Boeing facility where the giant aircraft are built and clear hints from the Pentagon that the programme will soon shut down. C-17Globemaster III The C-17 is a long running programme that the Pentagon has been desperately trying to kill off for years without success as US Congressmen, scared of the economic impact of a plant closure on their constituents, keep it alive under some pretext or the other. 1,700 assembly-line workers at the Long Beach, Calif, plant struck work for a second day Wednesday, demanding better pension and medical benefits. Earlier, talks between management and the United Aerospace Workers broke down last week after employees rejected a 46-month contract offer from the company. On an average Boeing builds around 16 C-17s a year, primarily for the US Air Force, at an average price tag of about $200 million each. Orders, though, have been declining and the company has recently said it would further bring down annual production rate to 10 by mid-2011. For the US military the aircraft has become a prize lemon being too costly to acquire. In any case the unnecessary additions to the air force fleet have ensured that the USAF fleet is already chock-a-bloc with it. But as has been the political practise, interested Congressmen keep the programme alive by compelling the Pentagon to acquire sufficient numbers each year so that the plants never close down. The US military, for long, has sought an end for the programme and focus on upgrading its ageing Lockheed Martin Corp C-5 Galaxy fleet which can happen at a fraction of the cost of acquiring the C-17s.

*This article is being posted from Toronto, Canada By DTN News ~ Defense-Technology News, contact: dtnnews@ymail.com

Disclaimer statement

Whilst every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of the information supplied herein, DTN News ~ Defense-Technology News cannot be held responsible for any errors or omissions. Unless otherwise indicated, opinions expressed herein are those of the author of the page and do not necessarily represent the corporate views of DTN News ~ Defense-Technology News.

DTN News: Kyrgyzstan TODAY May 15, 2010 ~ New Deadly Clashes In Kyrgyzstan

DTN News: Kyrgyzstan TODAY May 15, 2010 ~ New Deadly Clashes In Kyrgyzstan Source: DTN News / By Tolkun Namatbayeva, Agence France-Presse (NSI News Source Info) BISHKEK, Kyrgyzstan - May 15, 2010: Rival groups clashed in southern Kyrgyzstan Friday as the interim government retook official buildings from backers of ousted leader Kurmanbek Bakiyev, leaving at least one dead and scores injured. Shots rang out during street battles in the cities of Osh and Jalalabad, where hundreds of Bakiyev supporters battled factions loyal to the government with sticks and stones, officials and reports said. The health ministry said one person was killed in Jalalabad and 59 were wounded, 26 of them with gunshot wounds, lowering the number of injured from 63. Unconfirmed reports put the death toll higher. A doctor at Jalalabad regional hospital told AFP that three people died in the clashes, while a spokeswoman for Bakiyev's support committee, Dzhanara Moldokulova, told AFP that eight protesters were killed. Government supporters regained control of regional administration headquarters in Jalalabad and Osh after they were seized by supporters of former president Bakiyev on Thursday, government officials said. In Bishkek, government head Roza Otunbayeva said authorities were "taking all measures to peacefully resolve the situation." The capital is calm, she added and the government is "taking measures to restore order in Jalalabad." Several Bakiyev allies, including the former head of his office, Usen Sydykov, were detained during the clashes, Otunbayeva said. Protesters burnt down three houses belonging to Bakiyev and his brothers in a village outside Jalalabad, a spokesman for the interim government, Farid Niyazov told journalists. "The arson attacks were carried out by relatives of people who suffered in the people's uprising in Bishkek on April," Niyanzov said, adding that no one was injured. The U.S. embassy in Bishkek, in a statement, expressed concern about the violence, urging "the peaceful resolution to the problems that have caused this situation." Russian president Dmitry Medvedev on Friday sent his special representative, Vladimir Rushailo, to Bishkek, where he held talks with Otunbayeva. "Russia has come to help us," Otunbayeva told journalists after the talks. "President Dmitry Medvedev said clearly: they will support Kyrgyzstan politically and materially at this hour." "Our aim is to help Kyrgyzstan in all aspects of its activities," Rushailo told journalists. The interim government, which took power after Bakiyev was ousted in an uprising last month, has so far avoided using security forces against protesters in a bid not to inflame tensions. Media reports said the government had sent special forces to Osh to stabilize the situation and the troops were on their way to impose order in Jalalabad. Otunbayeva said that the gunfire had come from Bakiyev supporters who had "again spilled the blood of citizens of Kyrgyzstan". Around 1,500 Bakiyev supporters took part in protests in Jalalabal, at one point occupying the regional administration, their spokeswoman Moldokulova told AFP. "We do not intend to retreat until the legitimate president Bakiyev returns to Kyrgyzstan," she said. The protests that ousted Bakiyev in April left at least 86 people dead and the interim government has since struggled to impose its authority. Bakiyev, who drew the bulk of his support from southern Kyrgyzstan, has since taken refuge in Belarus, which has so far not responded to calls for his extradition. Russian President Dmitry Medvedev warned last month Kyrgyzstan risked civil war but the situation calmed with the departure of Bakiyev. Bakiyev came to power in the so-called Tulip Revolution uprising of 2005 which ousted the previous president Askar Akayev — but became increasingly unpopular amid allegations of corruption and mismanagement. The mountainous ex-Soviet state is in a key strategic location and houses a U.S. airbase used for the transit of supplies for the conflict in Afghanistan as well as a Russian military base.

DTN News: Thailand TODAY May 15, 2010 ~ Bangkok Conflict Erupts In Gunfire

DTN News: Thailand TODAY May 15, 2010 ~ Bangkok Conflict Erupts In Gunfire *10 Killed, 125 wounded as troops try to surround protesters' camp Source: DTN News / By Ambika Ahuja and Martin Petty, Reuters (NSI News Source Info) BANGKOK, Thailand - May 15, 2010: Troops and rioting anti-government demonstrators battled through the night and into this morning, intensifying a violent political conflict that erupted in gunfire Friday and turned Bangkok's commercial district into a bloody battlefield. Ten people have been killed and at least 125 were wounded, including three journalists -- two Thais and a Canadian working for France 24 television -- since the fighting erupted Thursday night, according to the Erawan medical centre. Troops battled through last night with protesters who hurled rocks and Molotov cocktails on roads surrounding an area of luxury hotels and shopping malls they have occupied for nearly six weeks, witnesses said. The violence left the city of 15 million tense, with gunfire and loud blasts heard on major roads where protesters faced off with the army as it battled to establish a perimeter around the sprawling encampment, with the intent of starving out the protesters. The turbulence adds to a five-year crisis that pits a royalist urban elite who back Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva against rural and urban poor, many of which have adopted red as a protest colour, who say they are disenfranchised. The "red shirts" broadly support former premier Thaksin Shinawatra, a populist billionaire ousted in a 2006 coup and convicted of corruption. A journalist among a group of demonstrators north of the site said violence had intensified during the night. Multiple blasts and gunshots were heard, followed by loud cheers from the protesters, who refused to disperse. Thai television showed footage of injured protesters being loaded into ambulances after street battles with soldiers that appeared to be spreading towards a major intersection. The military said some people among the protesters fired handguns and grenades on Friday, causing chaos. Fires blazed in the road as troops closed off streets after firing volleys of warning shots at protesters who hurled Molotov cocktails and set piles of tires alight in a commercial area dotted with hotels, banks and Western embassies. The fresh wave of violence follows an assassination attempt on Thursday on renegade general Khattiya Sawasdipol, a military adviser to the red shirts, who was critically wounded while speaking to reporters. He had brain surgery and is on life support. Much of the city was braced for a crackdown at the main protest site where thousands of the red-shirted demonstrators, including women and children, have gathered, protected by medieval-like walls made from tires and wooden staves soaked in kerosene and topped by razor wire. Army spokesmen Sansern Kaewkamnerd on Friday said there were an estimated 500 armed "terrorists" among the thousands of protesters in the city. A source close to army chief Anupong Paochinda said more troop reinforcements would be deployed, fearing more protesters would arrive to surround and attack soldiers. The protesters say Oxford-educated Prime Minister Abhisit lacks a popular mandate after coming to power in a controversial parliamentary vote influenced by the politically powerful military. The two months of protests have spiralled into a crisis that has killed 36 people, wounded more than 1,400, paralyzed parts of Bangkok, scared off investors and squeezed the economy.