Cambodian, Thai troops withdrawing from disputed temple: official

Cambodian, Thai troops withdrawing from disputed temple: official (NSI News Source Info) PREAH VIHEAR August 16, 2008: Cambodian and Thai troops have begun to pull back from disputed territory around an ancient Hindu temple, an official said on Saturday.More than 1,000 soldiers from both countries have been stationed around a small pagoda near the Preah Vihear temple on the Cambodia-Thai border for a month in a fraught standoff.But after a military agreement was reached on Wednesday, troops have started to withdraw "step-by-step", said Preah Vihear provincial governor Preap Tann."It is just step-by-step... troops from both sides have been leaving the pagoda since last night," Preap Tann told AFP.Thai troops were gathering their tents and belongings to leave, the Cambodian military said.They declined to give exact figures of those remaining but Cambodian General Neang Phat, a top defence official, said most troops would leave on Saturday evening."They will withdraw this evening and there will be only around 10 or 20 troops from both sides remaining stationed there," Neang Phat told AFP.Security around the temple was tightened mid-afternoon with visitors prohibited and journalists banned from taking pictures of the site.Relations between the neighbours flared up last month after Preah Vihear, which belongs to Cambodia, was awarded heritage status by the United Nations, angering nationalists in Thailand who still claim ownership of the 11th century Khmer temple.On July 15, Cambodia arrested three Thai protesters for illegally crossing the border to try to reach the temple, sparking the deployment of troops from both sides on a tiny patch of disputed land near Preah Vihear.The International Court of Justice ruled in 1962 that the Preah Vihear temple belongs to Cambodia, but surrounding land remains in dispute.The Cambodian-Thai border has never been fully demarcated, in part because the border is littered with landmines left from decades of war in Cambodia.Thai Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej said Thursday he had approved a 1.4 billion baht (41.7 million dollar) mine clearing operation on the border.

Afghanistan: More than 60 militants killed

Afghanistan: More than 60 militants killed (NSI News Source Info) KABUL August 16, 2008: Afghan and US-led coalition forces have killed more than 60 militants during several days of fighting in the south of the country this week, the US military and the Afghan Interior Ministry said on Saturday.Violence has risen in Afghanistan this year with about 2,500 people, including 1,000 civilians, killed in fighting between Taliban militants and foreign and Afghan forces, aid agencies say.Clashes erupted on Wednesday when several militants attacked a joint Afghan and coalition patrol with machineguns and rocket-propelled grenades, the US military said in a statement."ANSF (Afghan National Security Forces) and coalition forces returned fire with small arms and close air support. Multiple vehicles and enemy fighting positions were destroyed," it said.More than three dozen insurgents were killed, it said.No soldiers from the Afghan and US forces or any civilians had been killed in the fighting, which was continuing on Saturday, a spokesman for the US military said.The US military gave no more details about the location of the battle.Afghan police killed 23 insurgents on Friday after militants attacked two separate police checkpoints in Nad Ali district of the southern province of Helmand, the Interior Ministry said in a statement on Saturday.Four policemen were wounded in one of the attacks, it said.In another incident, militants attacked US-led coalition forces in Kapisa province to the northeast of the capital, Kabul, on Friday, the US military said."Coalition forces responded with air strikes and small-arms fire, killing the militants," it said, without specifying how many insurgents were killed in that incident.A Taliban spokesman, Zabiullah Mujahid, said Taliban fighters had taken control of the Marja district in the southern province of Helmand and the Nawa district in Ghazni province, south of Kabul.Afghan district officials said their forces were pushing the Taliban back out of the districts.

22 killed in Sri Lanka fighting: military

22 killed in Sri Lanka fighting: military (NSI News Source Info) COLOMBO August 16, 2008:Twenty-two Tamil rebels have died in fresh ground battles in war-torn northern Sri Lanka as soldiers move closer to the insurgents' political stronghold, the military said on Saturday.Troops on Friday moved nearer the rebels' political capital of Kilinochchi, 330 kilometres (206 miles) north of Colombo, while keeping up pressure on guerrillas in Weli Oya, Vavuniya and Mullaittivu, the military said.A total of 22 rebels died in Friday's fighting while 16 government soldiers were wounded, the defence ministry said in a statement.The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), who have been fighting for a separate state since 1972, did not comment on the fighting.The latest government figures raised the number of rebels reported killed by government troops to 5,881 since January, while 536 soldiers have died in the same period. Government claims cannot be independently verified.The ministry's statement came a day after London-based rights group Amnesty International warned that tens of thousands of lives in the north were under threat due to heavy fighting between troops and the LTTE.Restrictions on travelling to rebel-held areas had blocked the flow of food and medical supplies, Amnesty said.Government bombardments and artillery shelling since May have forced thousands to flee their homes, mainly in the Kilinochchi and Mullaittivu districts, the group added.UN aid agencies working in conflict-hit areas say 112,000 people have been displaced in the past two months and warn the figure could rise to 200,000 in the coming weeks.Colombo has poured a record 1.5 billion dollars into this year's war efforts and pulled out of a Norwegian-brokered truce with the LTTE, saying it believes soldiers are on track to militarily crush the rebels.

Russian president signs Georgia peace plan

Russian president signs Georgia peace plan (NSI News Source Info) SOCHI August 16, 2008 - Russian President Dmitry Medvedev signed on Saturday a French-brokered plan on resolving conflicts in Georgia, aggravated following Tbilisi's assault on its breakaway South Ossetia on August 8., 2008. "The Georgian-South Ossetian conflict issue was considered during a meeting of the [Russian] Security Council, and the president informed those attending that he had just signed the plan based on the six principles," a presidential press secretary, Natalya Timakova, said. The plan contains the main principles to resolve the conflict in South Ossetia, worked out at the August 12 meeting between Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and French President Nicolas Sarkozy. These are renouncing the use of force, halting all military action, providing free access to humanitarian aid, the return of Georgian Armed Forces to their bases, the return of Russia's Armed Forces to their positions prior to combat and the start of international discussions on the future status of South Ossetia and Abkhazia and on ways to ensure their security. The six-point deal, altered to meet Russia's demands, is widely seen as leaving Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili in a far weaker position than before his costly attempt to seize control of South Ossetia through a military offensive, which left at least 1,600 civilians dead, by Russia's estimates. The plan was signed by Saakashvili on Friday evening and earlier by the leaders of South Ossetia and Abkhazia, which have been seeking secession from Georgia since the 1990s. However, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Saturday that the document signed by the Georgian president differs from the peace plan worked out by the Russian and French presidents. "We are somewhat bewildered by the fact that the document signed by Saakashvili differs from the document worked out by the presidents of Russia and France, so the issue is still to be specified via diplomatic channels," Sergei Lavrov said. He said the document signed by Saakashvili lacks the introductory clause.

Ukraine seeks integration into European missile defense

Ukraine seeks integration into European missile defense (NSI News Source Info) KIEV August 16, 2008 - Ukraine may integrate its early warning missile system with Europe or propose other countries use its missile defense capabilities, the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry said Saturday. Earlier in the year Russia and Ukraine had withdrawn from an agreement on Moscow's renting radar sites in Ukraine. The agreement, signed in 1992, defined the main principles for using early-warning missile systems located in Ukraine, as well as the operational order for Mukachevo and Sevastopol units and their provision, funding, modernization and reconstruction. "Ukraine's withdrawal from the agreement offers the possibility of developing active cooperation with European countries with a view to integrating units of early missile warning and space systems with similar systems," the ministry said. The statement from the Ukrainian diplomatic body comes amid Russia's concerns over U.S. plans to deploy elements of its missile shield in Europe. The United States and Poland signed an agreement on Thursday to deploy 10 U.S. interceptor missiles in the former Communist-bloc country. Russia is strongly opposed to the missile shield plan, which it says will undermine its nuclear deterrent and threaten its national security. Washington says plans to place 10 interceptor missiles in Poland coupled with a radar system in the Czech Republic are intended to counter possible attacks from what it calls "rogue states," including Iran.

Russia supports S.Ossetia, Abkhazia against Georgian peacekeepers

Russia supports S.Ossetia, Abkhazia against Georgian peacekeepers (NSI News Source Info) MOSCOW, August 16, 2008 - Russia supports Abkhazia and South Ossetia in their decision against the presence of Georgian peacekeepers on their territories, a senior Russian military official said on Saturday. "The president [of Russia] has clearly stated that after all that had happened neither Abkhazians, nor South Ossetians will accept Georgians as peacekeepers on their territories," said Col. Gen. Anatoly Nogovitsyn, deputy chief of the Russian General Staff. Earlier this week South Ossetian President Eduard Kokoity said during a press conference with the Abkhaz leader in Moscow that no Georgian peacekeepers or international observers would be allowed in South Ossetia. "Only Russian peacekeepers will be allowed in South Ossetia and Abkhazia," he said. "There will be no Georgian peacekeepers on South Ossetian territory." Kokoity and the Abkhazian President Sergei Bagapsh signed a peace plan in Moscow during a meeting with the Russian president last Thursday. The French-brokered peace agreement, approved by Russia and Georgia Tuesday, requires an immediate ceasefire and troop withdrawal.

Russian troops prevent arms smuggling to South Ossetia

Russian troops prevent arms smuggling to South Ossetia (NSI News Source Info) MOSCOW, August 16, 2008 - Russian troops detained two cars carrying ammunition via a humanitarian channel into the Georgian breakaway republic of South Ossetia, a senior Russian military official said Saturday. Col. Gen. Anatoly Nogovitsyn, deputy chief of the Russian General Staff, said that on Friday afternoon Russian troops stopped two cars with civilian and military people. "A gun shot erupted during the inspection as a result of which one car was damaged and the other managed to flee the scene of the incident," he said. Nogovitsyn said that the damaged car contained 19 grenade launchers and a box with cartridges and grenades. Russia sent troops and armored vehicles into the conflict region to expel Georgian troops from South Ossetia following Tbilisi's offensive on Tskhinvali, the capital of the rebel republic, on August 8. As a result of Georgia's military offensive Tskhinvali was mostly destroyed. According to Russian figures, around 1,600 civilians were killed.

Iran to launch its first satellite by next weekend - president

Iran to launch its first satellite by next weekend - president (NSI News Source Info) TEHRAN, August 16, 2008 - Iran will launch its first satellite in the nearest few days, the country's president said on Saturday. "The first satellite created by Iranian specialists will be orbited by an Iranian carrier rocket before the end of the next week," Iranian media quoted Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as saying. He added that economic sanctions imposed by the United States against the Islamic Republic had a "favorable effect on the country's scientific progress." According to Ahmadinejad, over 7,000 scientific inventions have been registered in Iran over the last few years. In February Tehran successfully launched the Explorer-1 research rocket, which is reportedly capable of carrying a satellite into orbit, and unveiled the country's first domestically built satellite, named Omid, or Hope.

100 Georgian armoured vehicles seized in South Ossetia: Russia

100 Georgian armoured vehicles seized in South Ossetia: Russia (NSI News Source Info) MOSCOW - August 16 2008: Russia's army has seized 100 Georgian armoured vehicles, including 65 tanks and five ground-to-air missile launchers, in operations near South Ossetia, Russian news agencies reported on Saturday.The military materiel also included 15 light armoured vehicles, said Colonel Igor Konashenkov, of the Russian infantry staff.For the most part, the armoured vehicles had been manufactured in Ukraine, he said, adding that an unspecified number of US-made troop transporters had also been found. D-30 cannons and Czech-manufactured artillery systems also featured on the list of materiel which the Russian army said it had recovered.

U.S. Army conducting it's duties in Iraq

U.S. Army conducting it's duties in Iraq August 16, 2008 NSI News Source Info U.S. Army Sgt. speaks with a local resident while conducting a combined patrol with Iraqi Police in Ha'Teen, Baghdad, Iraq, on Aug. 4, 2008. U.S. Army makes his way down a road after canal vegetation is set ablaze in Tahwilla, Iraq, on July 30, 2008. Extremists use the concealment provided by the canal system to place IED's under the cover of night. U.S. Army scans the countryside for suspicious activity during a clearing mission near a canal outside of Tamuz, Iraq, on Aug. 9, 2008.