Sri Lanka Reimposes Ban On Tamil Tigers

Sri Lanka Reimposes Ban On Tamil Tigers

(NSI News Source Info) Colombo - January 8, 2009: Sri Lankan government on Wednesday decided to formally ban the LTTE, a move signalling end of prospects of peace talks with the Tamil Tigers against whom the security forces have launched a major offensive. Sri Lanka joined countries like India, the United States and the EU, who have already proscribed the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) headed by V. Prabhakaran. The decision to ban the outfit with effect from Wednesday midnight was taken at an emergency Cabinet meeting chaired by Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse. After the meeting, senior Cabinet minister Maithripala Sirisena told reporters that government took the decision to ban LTTE as civilians were being held in the rebel-controlled areas against their will. Meanwhile, the Lanka defence ministry said on Wednesday that Tamil Tiger rebels are "near extinction" as troops press home their initiative after capturing the rebels’ political capital. Soldiers on Wednesday kept up pressure on the bottleneck linking the main island to the Jaffna Peninsula from two fronts, military spokesman Brigadier Udaya Nanayakkara said. Resistance was lower than on the first day of the assault a day earlier. "The number of fighters and the volume of fire is lower, in terms of artillery," he said. The Army has sandwiched the LTTE on the thin strip of land, with troops to the north and south. The Tamil Tigers have vowed to hit back after suffering a series of major defeats in their vicious 37-year battle for a separate homeland. The ministry said troops recovered three rebel bodies while "scores" were killed during heavy fighting around the Muhamalai defence line in the Jaffna peninsula on Tuesday. "Security forces... are now gaining rapid tactical advantage leaving LTTE near to extinction," the ministry said, adding that intense ground battles had left "well-fortified LTTE defences crumbling and its leadership stunned." Meanwhile, Tamil Tigers, now virtually on the run, have claimed that they still retained the capability to seize back LTTE’s de-facto capital of Killinochchi and said Sri Lankan government’s plans to hold elections in the Northern areas "would be a futile exercise". Emerging after the devastating defeat at the hands of Lankan Army, LTTE political chief B. Nadesan said that "Kilinochchi town was captured more than once by the Sri Lanka military earlier." "Similarly, we have also re-captured the town on earlier occasions, effectively bringing the town under our control to serve the administrative and infrastructure needs," Nadesan said. "It is in Kilinochchi, where the Sri Lankan forces have suffered historic debacles," he told the pro-LTTE website Tamilnet. Lanka has hit the Tamil Tigers on Wednesday with a terrorist designation it lifted as part of ill-fated 2002 truce, as soldiers pressured the separatists’ last stronghold on the Jaffna Peninsula. Though largely symbolic since the LTTE are already on US, EU and Indian terrorist lists and the government routinely calls them that, the Cabinet vote is just one more sign Sri Lanka has no plans to negotiate. "The Cabinet has decided to ban the LTTE as they are not allowing civilians to leave the war zone," defence spokesman Keheliya Rambukwella, also a minister, said. President Mahinda Rajapaksa had given the LTTE until the New Year to free civilians which rights group say the rebels are keeping as human shields and using as fighters or battlefield labourers. The LTTE denies that. On the issue of government plans to hold provincial elections in the North after liberating it from the LTTE, Nadesan said it would be a futile exercise. "It will be a futile exercise to attempt to sideline the authentic representatives of the people of a nation and to depict the puppets and paramilitary agents of an invading military as the representatives of the people," the LTTE political head said. "Tamil people have clearly defined their political aspirations by the democratic mandate in the elections of 1977," he said.

Paging Dr. Sanjay Gupta: A TV Star for Surgeon General?

Paging Dr. Sanjay Gupta: A TV Star for Surgeon General?

(NSI News Source Info) January 8, 2009: Dr. Sanjay Gupta, a neurosurgeon and chief medical correspondent for CNN, has been offered the post of Surgeon General by President-elect Barack Obama, according to sources. Gupta, 39, has reportedly accepted the job, according to the Washington Post, and is already working out the details of moving his family from Atlanta to Washington. The telegenic Gupta seems at first an unorthodox choice for Surgeon General, a position usually occupied by a government health official. The duties of the Surgeon General include educating the public on all public-health issues, ranging from HIV prevention to obesity, as well as analyzing and advising the President and the Secretary of Health and Human Services about U.S. health policy, including insurance coverage and disease-prevention efforts. But Gupta's selection may hint at the Obama Administration's seriousness about addressing the most significant health concerns facing the nation. With obesity and diabetes rates reaching record levels, especially among children, Obama's focus has been on preventive health care — staving off disease before it arises. Having anchored specials on CNN to inspire Americans to become more active and eat healthier, Gupta — though short on traditional government experience — would seem well qualified to bring this message to the public. Gupta launched CNN's New You Resolution program, urging viewers to stick to their New Year's resolutions to become fitter, and is the engine behind the Fit Nation initiative, which tours the country promoting basic principles of healthy living. Gupta also writes a health column for TIME magazine. In addition to his duties on air, Gupta holds a faculty position in neurosurgery at Emory University, where he continues to perform surgery a few times a week. Gupta's limited health-policy experience includes a stint as a White House fellow in 1997, where he worked with then First Lady Hillary Clinton on health-care reform. In 2001, months before the Sept. 11 attacks, Gupta joined CNN and has since provided on-the-spot medical analysis on news events ranging from the anthrax attacks to Vice President Cheney's heart problems and the aftermath of the tsunami in Sri Lanka in 2004. In 2003 he traveled to Iraq and Kuwait, where he joined the U.S. Navy's medical unit and performed brain surgery on several patients. As Surgeon General, Gupta would oversee the 6,000-member commissioned corps of the U.S. Public Health Service. Traditionally, the office, which was established in 1871, has served as a soapbox for promoting healthy living goals: C. Everett Koop launched an antismoking campaign in the 1980s; Joycelyn Elders, under President Clinton, pushed for stronger sex education in schools (she was later forced to resign, following the program's controversy); and Richard Carmona focused on controlling drug abuse under President George W. Bush. With Gupta, that soapbox has the potential to become a podium for convincing the American public as well as legislators that the health of the U.S. cannot be fixed until we stop focusing only on health care and get serious about health.

UAE Naval Forces Commander On 3-Day Visit To India

UAE Naval Forces Commander On 3-Day Visit To India (NSI News Source Info) January 8, 2009: Commander of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) Naval forces Rear Admiral Ahmed Mohammed Al Sabab will be in India on a three-day visit beginning tomorrow. During the visit, the Rear Admiral is expected to meet his Indian counterpart Admiral Sureesh Mehta, Army Chief General Deepak Kapoor, and other senior Defence Ministry officials, to discuss the defence relations between the two countries. "The UAE Navy chief will arrive here on January 6 and will be meeting the Navy and the Army chief along with senior defence officials," Navy officials said. Later on during the visit, he is expected to visit Mumbai and meet the Western naval Commander Vice Admiral Jagjit Singh Bedi there. He will also visit the Bombay dockyards, officials said, to look at the modern facilities developed by the Indian Navy there. A graduate of the Pakistan Naval Academy, the UAE Navy chief has held various staff and command appointments, which include head of operations, administration and deputy director of joint operations directorate of the UAE Navy.

Robert Gates Estimates 2009 War Costs at $136 Billion

Robert Gates Estimates 2009 War Costs at $136 Billion

(NSI News Source Info) WASHINGTON - January 8, 2009: Defense Secretary Robert Gates says military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan would cost almost $136 billion for the 2009 budget year that began Oct. 1 if they continue at their current pace. Speaking for neither his current boss, President George W. Bush - nor his future one, President-elect Barack Obama - Gates told top lawmakers in a New Year's Eve letter that the Pentagon would need nearly $70 billion more to supplement the $66 billion approved last year. "This estimate is my personal assessment and does not reflect the position of the Bush administration or the incoming Obama administration," Gates said. The estimate would cover Pentagon operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as other elements of the global war on terror. An official request for war funding is coming after a review by the Obama administration, Gates said. In the letter, sent to the chairmen of the House and Senate panels overseeing the war, Gates said that Congress should expect that the Obama administration "will conduct a fresh review of these matters and provide an updated and more authoritative proposal early next year." Gates also said the estimate doesn't account for a proposed increase in the tempo of operations in Afghanistan. Congress provided about $188 billion for the global war on terror in the 2008, according to the Congressional Research Service, as a surge in Iraq operations helped bring greater stability to the troubled nation. Obama has promised to bring down war costs as he works to remove most U.S. combat troops. All told, CRS says, Congress has approved $864 billion for the overseas wars and other programs related to the battle against terrorism since Sept. 11, 2001. Such funding includes military operations, base security, reconstruction, foreign aid, embassy costs and veterans' health care.

Barack Obama Meets With 4 U.S. Presidents

Barack Obama Meets With 4 U.S. Presidents (NSI News Source Info) WASHINGTON – January 8, 2009: Confronting a grim economy and a Middle East on fire, Barack Obama turned Wednesday to perhaps the only people on the planet who understand what he's in for: the four living members of the U.S. presidents' club. In an image bound to go down in history, every living U.S. president came together at the White House on Wednesday to hash over the world's challenges with the president-elect. There they stood, shoulder-to-shoulder in the Oval Office: George H.W. Bush, Obama, George W. Bush, Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter. President-elect Barack Obama is welcomed by President George W. Bush for a meeting at the White House in Washington, Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2009, with former presidents, from left, George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton, and Jimmy Carter. "This is an extraordinary gathering," Obama said, looking plenty at ease in the humbling office that will soon be his. "All the gentlemen here understand both the pressures and possibilities of this office," Obama said. "And for me to have the opportunity to get advice, good counsel and fellowship with these individuals is extraordinary. And I'm very grateful to all of them." Bush, blistered without mercy by Obama during the campaign season, played the role of gracious host. "All of us who have served in this office understand that the office transcends the individual," Bush said as Obama nodded in thanks. "And we wish you all the very best. And so does the country." It was a moment of statesmanship that tends to happen when presidents get together, no matter how bitter their previous rivalries. In a photo opportunity that lasted less than two minutes, Carter, Clinton and the senior Bush smiled but said nothing. They deferred to the nation's incoming and outgoing leaders. Earlier, Bush and Obama met privately in the Oval Office in a chat expected to cover events of the day, mainly the troubled economy and Middle East. The two have shown solidarity since Obama's win in November, with one previous Oval Office sit-down and at least a few phone calls in recent weeks. All sides were determined to say as little as possible about what was discussed. Presidents — new, old, incoming — like to keep their conversations private. Without offering any specifics, Obama press secretary Robert Gibbs said all the presidents "had helpful advice on managing the office as well as thoughts on the critical issues facing the country right now. The president-elect is anxious to stay in touch with all of them in the coming years." From the White House, press secretary Dana Perino said the discussion was "wide-ranging" but declined to comment further. Before the gathering, she had said she could not imagine the leaders would meet without discussing the Middle East, where conflict rages in Gaza, or the economy, which is sinking. The White House would not even say what the men ate, allowing only that they ordered off the menu of the White House mess, as Bush does all the time. Intentionally or not, Bush opened the media moment in a curious way, suggesting that he was already out the door. "I want to thank the president-elect for joining the ex-presidents for lunch," said Bush, who is in fact still the president until Jan. 20. "One message that I have, and I think we all share, is that we want you to succeed," Bush added, a beaming Clinton at his other side. "Whether we're Democrat or Republican, we care deeply about this country." White House aides tried to usher the media out of the Oval Office when Bush stopped speaking. The lighting for the event even went dark. But sometimes, there is more than one president at a time. Obama spoke up on his own, the lights went back on, and the cameras kept rolling. "I just want to thank the president for hosting us," Obama said. When a reporter asked Obama what he could learn from the mistakes of the four presidents surrounding him, he smiled and said he planned to learn from their successes. The get-together was Obama's idea, and Bush liked it. The lunch lasted about 90 minutes, held in a small dining room off the Oval Office. Carter, Clinton and the two Bush presidents were last together at the Washington funeral service of President Gerald Ford in 2007. And presidents have gathered at other occasions over the years. But not since October 1981 — 27 years ago — had all of the living presidents gathered at the White House.

P-8 Buy To Expand India's Networked Maritime Power

P-8 Buy To Expand India's Networked Maritime Power (NSI News Source Info) NEW DELHI - January 8, 2009: The six P-8I long-range maritime reconnaissance (LRMR) aircraft India has contracted to buy from Boeing will provide the Navy a broad array of capabilities, and be fitted with air-to-surface missiles, an internal bomb bay suite, sonar buoys, torpedoes and aerial depth-charge bombs, an India Navy official said. The aircraft will have an operational life of more than 15 years, and with their new-generation maritime patrol radar, will be able to automatically track up to 80 targets day or night. To take full advantage of these capabilities, the system needs to be networked with other platforms, said Gurpreet Khurana, Indian Navy commander and defense analyst. "The Indian Navy would need to data-link these aircraft with the medium-range maritime aircraft, surface ships and nuclear submarines [Advance Technology Vehicle] to be inducted shortly. The link itself will need to be networked with the indigenous [Navy Enterprise Wide Network] system being developed by the Navy. Space-based assets will also need to provide surveillance cover and the information will need to be linked to the entire system," Khurana said. The $2.1 billion purchase was one of the biggest single deals India has made with a U.S. company. "The P-8I is the world's most technologically advanced maritime patrol aircraft and offers India tremendous capability advances over legacy systems. The P-8I is a variant of the P-8A Poseidon now being developed for the U.S. Navy. The two aircraft are highly common," said Brian Nelson, business support, communications and community relations - India Integrated Defense Systems "India is the first international customer for the P-8. Boeing will deliver the first P-8I within 48 months of the contract signing, and the remaining seven by 2015," the official Jan. 6 Boeing release said. Boeing was selected over EADS, which had fielded its A319 aircraft. The request for proposal (RfP) for the eight LRMR was floated in January 2005, and RfPs were sent to U.S. firms Boeing and Lockheed Martin, France's Dassault, Italy's Finmeccanica, Russia's Ilyushin Design Bureau and Brazil's Embraer, among others. Several companies, including Dassault, Finmeccanica and Embraer, did not participate. Based on submission by other bidders, the Indian Navy rejected the U.S. P-3C Orion and the IL-38 of Russia because they could not meet the technical parameters. Boeing and EADS were finally left in the fray. The P-8I will replace eight Russian TU-142 M maritime reconnaissance aircraft with the Indian Navy. Khurana added that the Raytheon AN/APY-10 radar system fitted on P-8I is state of the art not only for surveillance, but also for fire-control and controlling aircraft, similar to a mini-AWACS, and is also fitted with a cutting-edge technology data-link system and armed with anti-ship missiles, which the TU-142M's did not have. In 2007, India and the U.S. contracted the sale of six C-130J transport aircraft for India's armed forces for $962 million, and the sale of the USS Trentron Landing Platform Dock to the Indian Navy for $50 million to be used for littoral warfare here.

Turkey Aiming To Be Self-Sufficient In Arms Industry

Turkey Aiming To Be Self-Sufficient In Arms Industry

(NSI News Source Info) January 7, 2009: There is a growing clamor among Turkish political and business leaders to create a larger Turkish arms industry, so that the country is not so dependent on foreign suppliers. Part of this dispute comes from the success Israeli arms manufacturers have had in Turkey.

The Cobra family of light armoured vehicles is manufactured by Otokar Otobus Karoseri Sanayi in Turkey. The Cobra designs incorporate the mechanical components of the HMMWV vehicle from AM General of the USA.

Over a billion dollars worth of Israeli military equipment goes to Turkey each year. Despite the fact that Turkey is a Moslem country, and the current ruling party considers itself "Islamic" (in the Turkish, not the Arab, sense), Israel continues to get contracts with the Turkish military. There are several reasons for this. First of all, Jews have been residents of what is now Turkey for over 2,500 years. They were, in effect, there before the Turks showed up, although always as a minority. For that reason, the Turks never considered them a threat. And when the Spanish expelled all Jews five hundred years ago, the Turkish Sultan invited them to his lands. When the Nazis began persecuting Jews in the 1930s, Turkey again offered sanctuary.

Many Turkish Jews went to Israel in the 1940s and 50s, but 26,000 remain. The Turkish Jews in Israel provide a pool of businessmen and agents who speak Turkish, understand Turkish customs, and often still have kin in Turkey. This makes it easier to do business in Turkey (which buys lots of non-military goods from Israel, and sells a lot south as well). Then there's the fact that, despite being Moslem, the Turks look back on their centuries of ruling the Middle East as one long headache. Israelis and Turks can trade stories about how difficult it is to deal with the Arabs. This is not something that is admitted publicly, but it is often discussed over coffee.

Finally, the Turks get good equipment, and excellent service, from the Israelis. The Turks are not just another customer, but a valued ally in a very rough neighborhood. The Turks also like the idea of having someone down south they can depend on, especially with Turkey's eastern neighbor, Iran, working to acquire nuclear weapons.

MRAP Vehicle Makers Work On Weight Reduction

MRAP Vehicle Makers Work On Weight Reduction (NSI News Source Info) January 7, 2009: Modern warfare -- where the battlefield is a mix of actors, motivations and weapons -- is in part defined by its rapidly changing threat scenarios and multiple layers of high- and low-tech on-the-fly innovations, all of which demand real-time responses. In Iraq and Afghanistan, this has been especially true of armor protection for ground vehicles, which have been battered by all manner of increasingly powerful pressure plate and remotely controlled improvised explosive devices and explosively formed penetrators; weapons which morph as U.S. armor technology learns how to counter each successive generation of explosive. This catch-as-catch can approach has produced fleets of hulking Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAPs), intriguing designs for Joint Light Tactical Vehicles (JLTVs) -- currently hung up in industry protests -- and calls for the Multipurpose All-Terrain Vehicle (MATV), or "MRAP Lite" as some are calling it. But what's next for the armor field? Militaries want lighter vehicles, and despite the hulking size of the original MRAPs, successive generations of the vehicle will by necessity be lighter, and more maneuverable. Damon Walsh, executive vice president of customer operation at armor and vehicle maker Force Protection, says his company, while always working on new armor solutions, is also focusing on ways to defeat and detect the threat before the vehicles encounter it. "One of the things that we're keen on," he says, "is not just passive armor systems to stop threats, but also more sophisticated active protection systems. The idea is "don't just rely on armor, try and defeat the threat earlier before you get hit." In reflecting on the last several years, it's not surprising that Walsh says that "we've had one of the largest demands that I've ever seen in the industry...for increased protection levels in real time. The threat changed in the past three years so many times that we were in the labs over the weekends trying to create solutions based on intel given by the customer for real-time changes." Tony Russell, vice president of vehicle armor BAE, which has supplied over 5,000 MRAPs to the U.S. Army and Marine Corps in recent years, sees one of the challenges of the future being the sustainment of the relatively expensive MRAP fleet, now that new orders have waned. But he's also got his eye on the prize that other armor makers like Force Protection are gunning for -- you've got to find "ways to defeat and detect the threat before you even get to it," he says. Still, finding ways to "beat the network" of bombmakers can only do so much -- some will always slip through the cracks. So in the end, working to defeat the threat "won't replace the need for passive armor systems, or systems that make you less observable, to reduce the signature for vehicles." While new MRAP orders might be a thing of the past, the vehicles will be around for decades to come, Russell says, since "the platforms are good ones. There's a lot of things you can do to tear 'em down and build 'em back up again." Russell sees plenty of business also coming from foreign markets, and says that BAE is seeing a lot of interest from a number of countries for Cougars and Buffaloes, so the market for mine-protected vehicles will continue to grow. "Beyond that in general for the armor market, he says, "I think the trend you're going to see is going to continue to be developing lighter solutions that achieve the same kind of protection."

Ajmal Qasab Is A Pakistani National: Pak Media / Surviving Gunman’s Identity Established As Pakistani: Dawn

Ajmal Qasab Is A Pakistani National: Pak Media / Surviving Gunman’s Identity Established As Pakistani: Dawn

(NSI News Source Info) NDTV Correspondent, New Delhi - January 7, 2009: Pakistan's Dawn News has reported that Ajmal Amir Qasab, the lone terrorist captured during attacks on Mumbai, is a Pakistani national.So far, Pakistan government had denied that Qasab was their national.

The channel said that the investigation report filed to Pakistan Prime Minister says Qasab is a Pakistani national.

Qasab on Tuesday again asked Pakistan government for consular access and legal aid. "We have informed him that the letter has been sent to Pakistan mission and they have received it," Joint Commissioner of Police (Crime) Rakesh Maria said on Tuesday.

Maria further said Ajmal has not responded to various offers made by city lawyers to defend him and has said that his first choice is consular access from Pakistan. Ajmal was remanded to further police custody till January 19 for his role in the shootout at the Cama and Albless Hospital in South Mumbai.

Ajmal and his slain accomplice Ismail Khan had attacked the Cama and Albless Hospital in South Mumbai killing seven persons there.

Additional Info: Related Topic

Surviving Gunman’s Identity Established As Pakistani By Mubashir Zaidi (NSI News Source Info) ISLAMABAD - January 7, 2009: Pakistani authorities during the course of their own investigations into the Mumbai carnage have established the identity of the only surviving terrorist Ajmal Kasab as a Pakistani national.

'He has links to Pakistan but the investigation is ongoing,' Information Minister Sherry Rehman said. Earlier, a high-ranking government official told Dawn News that because of the nature of his crime the government has still not taken any decision on whether to provide him with consular access. The top official said the investigations had started soon after the initial reports had suggested that Ajmal Kasab may possibly be a Pakistani national. However, the authorities wanted to be doubly sure of his identity as there existed no record of Kasab and his family in the National Data Base which is maintained by the NADRA. Details of the preliminary investigations submitted to the government have still not been made public. The official said Kasab is the son of Amir Kasab and Mrs Noor Illahi. But the identity of other militants killed in the Mumbai carnage is yet to be established. However, senior security officials told Dawn News preliminary investigations have established these militants were operating on their own and had absolutely no link with any section of the country’s security apparatus. A formal announcement in this regard is expected in the next few days.

Chad Orders Tanker Trucks from Renault Trucks Defense / Chad: A Major Contract Notified to Renault Trucks Defense

Chad Orders Tanker Trucks from Renault Trucks Defense / Chad: A Major Contract Notified to Renault Trucks Defense (NSI News Source Info) January 7, 2009: On January 6th, 2009, the Ministry of Defence of Chad has notified to Renault Trucks Defense a contract of 52 units of Kerax 6x6, in rigid version equipped with fuel tank and flatbed, in tractor version equipped with tank semi-trailer and in wrecking version. Kerax 6x6 - 13t to 16t payload capacity on all roads and tracks, and can transport and handle containers and pallet rack systems and be equipped with other bodywork such as tipper, shelter, fluid tanks.

These vehicles will be manufactured at Bourg en Bresse factory. They will be delivered during the year 2009. This new contract is important for Renault Trucks Defense in this troubled area of Africa.