U.N. Demands That Iran Suspend Nuclear Work by Aug. 31

The U.N. Security Council today passed a resolution that would give Iran until Aug. 31 to halt uranium enrichment, or potentially face international sanctions, the Associated Press reported.

The resolution makes suspension of all enrichment-related activities mandatory and calls on member states “to exercise vigilance” in preventing WMD-related technology transfers to Iran.

It requests a report from the International Atomic Energy Agency by Aug. 31 on Iran’s compliance, AP reported.

China and Russia resisted language in earlier drafts, in which Iran’s noncompliance would immediately have triggered sanctions. The adopted version requires additional discussions to impose sanctions, according to AP.

The draft passed by a vote of 14-1, with Qatar casting the only dissenting vote.

“We do not agree with the tabling of this resolution at a time when our region is in flames,” said Qatar’s ambassador, Nassir Al-Nasser said. “We see no harm in waiting for a few days to exhaust all possible means and in order to identify the real intentions of Iran.”

Iran quickly blasted the resolution.

“All along it has been the persistence of some to draw arbitrary red lines and deadlines that has closed the door to any compromise,” said Iranian Ambassador Javad Zarif. “This tendency has single-handedly blocked success and in most cases killed proposals in their infancy” (Nick Wadhams, Associated Press/Yahoo!News, July 31).

U.S. officials have said Washington would “forcefully” push for sanctions if Tehran does not comply, Agence France-Presse reported today.

“I think the Iranians are cornered,” U.S. Undersecretary of State Nicholas Burns said yesterday.

“What they specifically thought was that they could divide China and Russia, on the one hand, from the United States and Europe on the other, and that’s not happened,” he said. Burns said he believed Iran was “surprised” that Beijing and Moscow have not broken from the Western powers on the issue.

“This is going to be a significant blow to them,” he told Fox News.

Asked about potential sanctions, Burns said: “Obviously, we’re going to have to focus on the nuclear industry and try to cut off dual-use exports, exports of technologies that can help them further their enrichment and reprocessing activities.”

“We certainly would like to inhibit the ability of Iranians to travel, Iranian government officials, or for people to profit from our scientific and technological expertise,” he said (Tim Witcher, Agence France-Presse/Yahoo!News, July 31).

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said yesterday that hostilities in Lebanon have pushed Iran to reconsider the world powers’ nuclear incentives offer to his country, the Associated Press reported.

“Events in Lebanon affected our evaluations about … (the) package of incentives. We should review it carefully. I have asked my colleagues to review it more carefully,” he said.

However, Iran’s Foreign Ministry warned that the package would be rejected if the Security Council approved the pending resolution.

“If any resolution is issued against Iran tomorrow, the package would be left off the agenda by Iran,” spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi said yesterday. “We will definitely revise our nuclear policy” (Nasser Karimi, Associated Press II/Yahoo!News, July 31).

An Iranian state radio commentary Saturday said Tehran would reject the resolution’s Aug. 31 enrichment freeze deadline, AP reported.

“Iranians will not accept unfair decisions, even in the framework of resolutions by the international bodies,” state radio announced (Nasser Karimi, Associated Press III/Yahoo!News, July 30).

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Qana building destroyed by Hizbollah IED

Rumors circulating over what destroyed a residential building in Qana are increasingly pointing to Hizbollah rather than Israel's precision missile strikes.

According to well placed sources, with access to IAF recon photos, the residential building in Qana was destroyed by a Hizbollah IED at 0700 Sunday July 30, 6 hours after the Israeli strike.

Further reports indicate that Hizbollah guerilla fighters restricted residents from leaving the area possibly shooting anyone that attempted to leave the Qana residential building.

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TERRORISM: SAUDI AL-QAEDA NOT INCLINED TO SUPPORT HEZBOLLAH

Riyadh, 31 July (AKI) - Al-Qaeda representatives in Saudi Arabia are refusing to toe the line with the group's leadership in supporting the Lebanese Shiite group, Hezbollah, judging by the views expressed by an on-line publication purportedly expressing the views of Saudi Sunni jihadists. "Support for Hezbollah, and its eventual victory would cause enormous problems for our relationship with the people," according to the latest issue of "The Voice of Jihad".

Such views appear sharply at odds with those expressed by al-Qaeda's No. 2, Ayman al-Zawahiri, who in an appeal televised by Arab satellite television station al-Jazeera last week, called on Sunni Muslims to help their Shiite brother from Hezbollah fight the Israelis.

The anti-Hezbollah stance in the Voice of Jihad article, which is signed by someone identifying himself as Attah Najed, is in line with that taken by the Wahabi current of Saudi Islam whose leaders last week issued a Fatwa, or religious edict, forbidding any support for Hezbollah.

"If the Shiite ardour in the fight against the Jews were to increase to the point where they are able to defeat them, then the supporters of Hezbollah will increase and perhaps many will join them (Hezbollah) and this should never happen," Najed wrote in the article which has been posted on a number of extremist Islamist sites on the Internet.

The article also describes "Hezbollah's war" as one that represents Iran which "when our brothers left Afghanistan following the American invasion [in 2001] and sought refuge there, they were arrested by the Iranian secret services and held in custody".

"We musn't enter the war but we should rather let the conflict damage both sides (Hezbollah and Israel). In the meantime the Jihadi cells must prepare the next phase of the conflict by collecting weapons, money, maps and also support Lebanon's Sunni community," said the article.

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Russian terror list omits Hamas, Hizbullah

RUSSIA published a list of 17 groups it regards as terrorist organisations on 28 July, the BBC reported.

The list does not include Palestinian group Hamas or Lebanese group Hizbullah, but does include Al-Qaeda, the Taliban, Hizb-ut-Tahrir, the Muslim Brotherhood, the Islamic Party of Turkestan, the Congress of the Nations of Ichkeria and Dagestan, Jemaah Islamiyya and Lashkar-e-Tayyiba. Several other groups are linked to separatist militants in the North Caucasus or Central Asia.

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France urges contacts with Iran over Lebanon

BEIRUT, July 31 (Reuters) - France said on Monday that Iran was crucial to the stability of the Middle East and it was important to maintain contacts with Tehran as part of efforts to resolve the crisis in Lebanon.

French Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy described Iran as a significant, respected player in the Middle East which is playing a stabilising role.

The United States accuses Iran and Syria of destabilising the Middle East by backing Hizbollah guerrillas in Lebanon who have been battling Israeli forces for nearly three weeks.

Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki had been due to overlap briefly with Douste-Blazy in Beirut on Monday, but Lebanese officials said Mottaki had been delayed and would now arrive after the French minister was due to leave.

Asked earlier in Beirut whether he would meet his Iranian counterpart, Douste-Blazy said: "It's normal that politicians who want a political agreement can meet each other."

On Sunday, before leaving for the Lebanese capital, he had ruled out talks with Syria.

"It was clear that we could never accept a destabilisation of Lebanon, which could lead to a destabilisation of the region," Douste-Blazy told a news conference in Beirut.

"In the region there is of course a country such as Iran -- a great country, a great people and a great civilisation which is respected and which plays a stabilising role in the region," he told a news conference.

Douste-Blazy was speaking after meeting his Lebanese counterpart, Fawzi Salloukh. He was due to meet Prime Minister Fouad Siniora and Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, a Hizbollah ally.

The French foreign minister repeated his country's call for an immediate ceasefire, saying the military situation was at an "impasse" so a political solution was needed.

"We can see clearly today, since July 12, that Israel will not reach its goals by a purely military solution," he said.

"What happened in Qana a few hours ago confirms to me the importance of the immediate end to hostilities and confirms to me also that an immediate end to hostilities is a condition for everyone to talk to each other, to negotiate and reach a political agreement," he said.

An Israeli air strike on a building in the southern Lebanon village of Qana on Sunday killed at least 54 civilians, raising a storm of protest around the world.

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Two men suspected of spying for Ethiopia in custody of Islamists

EiTB: Meanwhile, demonstrators gathered outside the home of Somalia's prime minister to show their support for him, who kept his job Sunday even though only 88 lawmakers voted to keep him and 126 voted to remove him.

Hundreds gathered outside the home of Somalia's prime minister on Monday to show their support for the embattled leader, who barely survived a no-confidence vote in parliament over the weekend.

The demonstrators carried signs and chanted the name of Prime Minister Mohammed Ali Gedi, who kept his job Sunday even though only 88 lawmakers voted to keep him and 126 voted to remove him. The no-confidence motion needed 139 votes against him to pass.

"We have seen what happens when we have no government," said Baidoa resident Safiya Roobaa, who was among about 200 people at Monday's rally. "We need a government, and a bad government is better than none."

The administration was formed two years ago with the support of the United Nations to help Somalia emerge from more than a decade of anarchy, but it has no power outside its base in Baidoa, 250 kilometers (150 miles) from the capital, Mogadishu.

An Islamic militia, meanwhile, has seized the capital and much of southern Somalia, imposing strict religious courts and raising fears of an emerging Taliban-style regime. The United States accuses the group of harboring al-Qaida leaders responsible for deadly bombings at the U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania in 1998.

The Islamic group is acting increasingly like Somalia's government. Sheikh Mohamud Siyad Inda Adde, the group's security chairman, said Monday that more than 275 militiamen with 50 pickups mounted with machine-guns and anti-aircraft guns have been sent to the central Somalia regions of Galgaduud and Mudug fight Somali pirates based there.

"They will also help people in those areas set up their own Islamic courts and local administrations," Inda Adde told The Associated Press. Somalia has had no coast guard or navy since 1991, when warlords ousted longtime dictator Mohamed Siad Barre and then turned on each other. Piracy rose sharply last year, with 35 attacks reported, compared to two in 2004, according to the International Maritime Bureau. The bandits target both passenger and cargo vessels for ransom or loot.

Two suspected Ethiopia's spies

Two men suspected of spying for Ethiopia, which supports the transitional government, were in the custody of the Islamic group in Mogadishu and being investigated, said Sheikh Moalin Arafat, a commander of one of the group's courts.

The United States and other Western powers have cautioned outsiders against meddling in Somalia, which has no single ruling authority and can be manipulated by anyone with money and guns. But there is little sign the warning has been heeded.

Gedi has accused Egypt, Libya, Iran and Eritrea of providing weapons to Islamic militants. The militants, meanwhile, say Ethiopia _ Somalia's longtime enemy _ has sent troops here to support the fragile government.

On Sunday, the first commercial flight departed from Mogadish
International Airport in more than a decade, demonstrating how the militants have pacified the once-anarchic capital. Local airlines had been operating from private airstrips outside the capital.

Now, Islamic militiamen are guarding the airport for commercial passengers, said Sheik Muqtar Robow, deputy defense chief for the Islamic group. The Jubba Airways plane was headed to the United Arab Emirates, said Abdurahman Hassan Mohamud Mufo, a spokesman for the airline

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CIA planned to Abduct a Dozen, SISMI Gen. says

ISRIA: Gen. Gustavo Pignero, a senior official of the italian intelligence service SISMI told prosecutors in June in Milan that the CIA targeted for abduction a dozen muslims living in Italy. Prosecutors are investigating the alleged abduction of an Egyptian-born imam, Osama Mustafa Hassan Nasr (alias Abu Omar) by the CIA.

Muslims targeted were suspected of having ties with Al Qaeda and international terrorism. The famous CIA's Special Operation Group (SOG) would have been in charge of such operations throughout the world. Other similar abductions have been spotted in other places in Europe. However there has been no evidence of CIA abductions on the European soil with the direct involvement of local intelligence like SISMI. However two senior SISMI officials are being prosecuted for having helped the CIA; abductions being illegal. But the true question remains: are abductions really needed within the framework of the GWOT? "Sure it is" a former intelligence officer told ISRIA. "Clandestine operations are at the core of the whole GWOT" he added.

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Is China a Military threat to US?

UPI: WASHINGTON, DC, United States: In the 1980s, when I was on the staff of Democratic Sen. Gary Hart of Colorado, I traveled regularly to Maxwell Air Force Base to give the slide-show briefing of the Congressional Military Reform Caucus to Squadron Officers` School. After one such session, a U.S. Air Force captain, an intelligence officer, came up to me and asked, 'Does military reform mean we can stop inflating the threat?'

The U.S. Department of Defense`s annual report to Congress, 'Military Power of the People`s Republic of China, 2006,' shows that threat inflation remains a growth industry in Washington. Though the report is written in a careful tone, its message is that China is a growing military threat to the United States. Subheads in Chapter Five, 'Force Modernization Goals and Trends,' point to 'Emerging Area Denial Capability,' 'Building Capacity for Precision Strike,' and 'Improving Expeditionary Operations.' One can almost hear the threat inflation engines pumping away, puffing the dragon up to a fearsome size.

China is, to coin a Donald Rumsfeld turn of phrase, the threat we want, not the threat we face. By dint of much puffery, China can be made into the devoutly prayed for 'peer competitor,' an opponent against whom our 'transformed,' hi-tech, video-game future military can employ its toys, or more importantly, justify their acquisition. Our real enemy, the thousand faces of the Fourth Generation war practitioners, fails to meet that all-important test and is therefore deflated into 'rejectionists' and 'bad guys.'

In fact, China`s conventional forces are a long way from being able to take the United States on, especially at sea or in the air. The issue is less equipment -- not that China has much of it -- but personnel. Chinese ships spend little time at sea, its fighter pilots get few flight hours, and one can hardly speak of a Chinese 'navy': it`s really just a collection of ships. In a naval and air war with the United States, China would have little choice but to go nuclear from the outset, which is what I suspect it would do.

A close read of DOD`s China report reveals an interesting twist, one all too typical of the 'American Empire' advocates who dominate the Washington Establishment. The main Chinese 'threat' the report identifies is defensive, not offensive, namely an improving capability to repel outside intervention in a crisis between China and Taiwan. The report states, 'Since the early- to mid-1990s, China`s military modernization has focused on expanding its options for Taiwan contingencies, including deterring or countering third-party intervention.... Click here to view full article

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Open Source News: 7/31-7/29

Open Source News Articles:

UN force in Lebanon again lodges protests as firing continues in its vicinity	2006-07-31
Rice Postpones Planned Visit to Beirut After Airstrike in Qana	2006-07-31
Qana massacre provokes crowd attack on UN building	2006-07-31
Lebanon Cancels Talks After Bloody Qana Attack	2006-07-31
Iran to reject incentive package if UN passes resolution	2006-07-31
Off-nominal work likely cause for Russian carrier rocket crash	2006-07-31
Bush Calls for Sustainable Mideast Peace	2006-07-31
Diplomacy to End Mideast Fighting Derailed by Violence	2006-07-31
Israeli Strike Kills More Than 50 People in Southern Lebanon	2006-07-31
Vote Counting Starts in Congo Amid Tension	2006-07-31
Israeli Missiles Kill at Least 55 Civilians, Including 36 Children	2006-07-31
Annan Condemns Israeli Airstrike on Lebanese Civilian Shelter	2006-07-31
White House Urges Israeli Restraint	2006-07-31
Search for Mideast Ceasefire Continues	2006-07-31
24 Taleban Killed Ahead of NATO Security Takeover in Southern Afghanistan	2006-07-31
Congolese Vote in First Open Election in Four Decades	2006-07-31
Somalia PM Survives No-Confidence Vote	2006-07-31
Audit Finds US Agency Hid Cost Overruns in Iraq Reconstruction Projects	2006-07-31
Iranian State Radio Says Tehran Will Reject UN Nuclear Resolution	2006-07-31
Security Council must condemn Israeli attack, demand cessation of hostilities, Annan says	2006-07-31
LEBANON: Arab nations more generous than Western counterparts	2006-07-30
Sri Lanka bombs Tigers for fourth day	2006-07-30
India begins fresh talks with N-E separatists	2006-07-30
Russia presses for Georgia's immediate withdrawal from Kondori	2006-07-30
India's evidence of Pakistan's role in cross border terror strong	2006-07-30
Iran Signals Its Rejection Of UN Resolution	2006-07-30
Bush: Rice Pushing UN Force for Lebanon	2006-07-30
France Urges Israel to Reconsider Rejection of 72-Hour Truce	2006-07-30
Rice Back in Middle East for Talks With Israeli, Lebanese Officials	2006-07-30
UNHCR Sends First Convoys of Relief Supplies to Lebanon	2006-07-30
Hezbollah Threatens Rocket Attacks Further into Israel	2006-07-30
Japan Celebrates Safe Return of All Troops from Iraq	2006-07-30
NATO Prepares for Major Expansion in Afghanistan	2006-07-30
Coalition Forces Detain al-Qaida Suspects in Afghanistan	2006-07-30
Rice Welcomes Cease-Fire Pledge By Hizballah Ministers	2006-07-30
North Korea Boycotts Regional Security Meeting	2006-07-29
Indian Nuclear scientists oppose US law on Indo-US N-deal	2006-07-29
China urges settlement of Iran's N-case at IAEA	2006-07-29
UN resolution on Iran must not be an ultimatum - Russia	2006-07-29
UN Calls On U.S. To Close Secret Jails	2006-07-29
Russian rocket with S.Korean satellite launched	2006-07-29
President Bush and Prime Minister Blair of the United Kingdom Participate in Press Availability	2006-07-29
World Community Must Stop Lebanon Fighting, Bush, Blair Say	2006-07-29
Middle East: The World Searches For An Elusive Solution	2006-07-29
UN observer teams in line of fire in south Lebanon to relocate	2006-07-29
CHAD: Opposition snubs Deby’s long-awaited national dialogue	2006-07-29
UN envoy urges all Congolese to vote in Sunday’s historic poll	2006-07-29
Israeli Offensive Continues For 17th Day	2006-07-29
DRC: Violence rising as elections near	2006-07-29
SOMALIA: Gunman kills government minister	2006-07-29
Georgia launches second stage of operation in Kodori Gorge	2006-07-29
Navy Names Two New Combat Logistics Force Ships	2006-07-29
Green Lighting tests Pacific bomber force	2006-07-29
Air Force operations and organization doctrine updated, released	2006-07-29
F-16s only if Pakistan ensures tech security	2006-07-29
CENTAF releases airpower summary	2006-07-29
Afghanistan: NATO Prepares To Go Beyond Peacekeeping	2006-07-29
Taliban returning via Pakistan, says UN's Kabul envoy	2006-07-29
Lebanon Fighting Continues as Diplomats Try to Stem Violence	2006-07-29
Bush Says Rice Headed Back to Middle East	2006-07-29
Support for Hezbollah Increasing Among South Lebanon Residents	2006-07-29
Israel Intensifies Bombardment of Lebanon	2006-07-29
ICRC Expands Humanitarian Action in Lebanon	2006-07-29
DRC Campaigning Ends Amid Tensions, Security Challenges	2006-07-29
Abkhazian Separatists Threaten Force if Georgian Administration Set Up There	2006-07-29
Questions Raised Over Contents of Newly Arrived Cargo Plane in Somali Capital	2006-07-29
Israel Pounds More Than 100 Targets in Lebanon	2006-07-29
Lebanon Fighting Continues as Diplomats Try to Stem Violence	2006-07-29
Security Council Expresses Shock at Israeli Attack on UN Post	2006-07-29
Nepal's Maoists Extend Cease-Fire	2006-07-29
Somali Government Minister Gunned Down in Baidoa	2006-07-29
Bomb Blast Near Sunni Mosque in Baghdad Kills 4 People	2006-07-29
US Extends Unit in Iraq Amid Continuing Violence	2006-07-29
Mismanaged US Contracts Affect Iraqi Health System, say Democrats	2006-07-29
India Arrests 2 More Men in Connection with Mumbai Bombings	2006-07-29
Bird Flu Reappears to Haunt Indochina	2006-07-29
US, 9 Countries Meet on North Korean Nuclear Issue	2006-07-29
Panel Cites Progress, Weaknesses in US Anti-Terrorist Intelligence Efforts	2006-07-29
Russia: Supreme Court Approves List Of 17 'Terrorist' Groups	2006-07-29

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Latest developments in the Middle East

July 31 (Reuters) - Here are developments on the 20th day of the Middle East crisis.

* Civilians flee battered villages in southern Lebanon after Israel says it will suspend air strikes but step up offensive to root out Hizbollah guerrillas.

* U.S. Secretary of State Rice says she believes ceasefire to end Israel-Hizbollah fighting could be forged this week.

* Israeli aircraft fire in south Lebanon's Taibe area to support ground forces fighting Hizbollah, army spokeswoman says.

* Israel plans to step up its offensive against Hizbollah guerrillas until an international force deploys in south Lebanon, despite calls for an immediate truce, officials say.

* Israeli drone-fired rocket fired at jeep in Lebanese army convoy near Tyre kills one Lebanese soldier, wounds 3. Israel "expresses regret", thought Hizbollah guerrilla was in jeep.

* Rescue workers find remains of 25 civilians in rubble of south Lebanon villages hit by Israeli air strikes.

* French Prime Minister de Villepin welcomes Israel's pledge to suspend air strikes for 48 hours but says it is not enough.

* Germany welcomes Israel's pledge, says it hopes this will lead to a lasting ceasefire.

* France says important to maintain contacts with Iran in efforts to end Lebanon crisis but rules out talks with Syria.

* U.N. Security Council unanimously adopts statement expressing "extreme shock and distress" at killing of 54 Lebanese civilians by Israeli air strike on Qana village. U.S. blocks call for immediate truce, statement says Council will work urgently "for a lasting settlement of the crisis".

* Russian Foreign Ministry criticises delays in calling for an immediate ceasefire in Lebanon.

* Egyptian President Mubarak says U.N. Security Council's response to Israel's conflict with Hizbollah reveals its impotence.

* Around 550 people have been killed in Lebanon, although the health minister estimates the toll at 750 including unrecovered bodies. Fifty-one Israelis have been killed.

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Iranian State Radio Says Tehran Will Reject UN Nuclear Resolution

VOA: Iranian state radio says Tehran will reject a proposed U.N. resolution calling for Iran to suspend uranium enrichment.

A commentary broadcast Saturday said Iran would not accept unfair decisions, even in the framework of resolutions by international bodies.

On Friday, the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council agreed to consider a resolution demanding that Iran cease uranium enrichment by August 31 or face the possibility of sanctions.

A vote is expected this week.

The proposal calls for the 15-member Council to consider adopting appropriate measures under Article 41 of the U.N. charter, which allows for economic sanctions but does not authorize the use of force.

It was negotiated after Tehran failed to respond to Western incentives in exchange for suspension of its uranium-enrichment activities. Tehran says it will not respond to the incentive package until August 22, nine days before the U.N. deadline.

The United States and its Western allies believe Iran is attempting to develop nuclear weapons. Tehran maintains its nuclear program is only for peaceful purposes.

Some information for this report provided by AP.

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Latest developments in the Middle East

July 30 (Reuters) - Here are developments in the Middle East on the 19th day of Israel's bombardment of Lebanon.

* Israeli air strike kills at least 54 Lebanese civilians, including 37 children, in southern village of Qana

* Lebanon tells Condoleezza Rice that it could not meet with her before a ceasefire ends a 19-day-old Israeli offensive.

* Israel says to start open investigation into the bombing

* Rice says deeply saddened by Qana bombing and that it is time to get a ceasefire in Lebanon.

* Ehud Olmert expresses "deep sorrow" over the Qana bombing and orders that humanitarian aid be allowed to reach the village, but says Lebanon offensive will continue

* Olmert tells Rice Israel needs 10-14 more days in its offensive against Hizbollah

* Rice to return to Washington on Monday to focus on U.N. resolution to bring about a "sustainable" ceasefire, U.S. official says

* The EU says "nothing can justify" the Qana air strike, and calls for an "immediate cessation of violence"

* Pope Benedict calls for an immediate ceasefire

* Syrian President Bashar al-Assad calls Israel's Qana attack "state terrorism"

* Hundreds of protesters chanting "Death to Israel, Death to America" storm the U.N. headquarters in Beirut

* Hizbollah and Hamas vow to retaliate for Qana air strike

* Hizbollah guerrillas battle Israeli forces making new thrust into southern Lebanon, Lebanese security sources say.

* Internet site of Israel's Haaretz daily newspaper quoted defence sources as saying army had received orders to accelerate its offensive against Hizbollah assuming it had just another seven to 10 days before it had to stop fighting.

* Lebanon's health minister says Lebanon's overall death toll from the conflict rises to around 750. 51 Israelis have also been killed in the conflict that erupted after Hizbollah guerrillas captured two Israeli soldiers in raid on July 12.

* Some 330,000 residents of northern Israel have fled due to Hizbollah rocket barrages. The U.N. says up to 800,000 Lebanese have also fled their homes to escape Israel's offensive.

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Bomb hits Turk ruling party site, no one hurt-agency

DIYARBAKIR, Turkey, July 30 (Reuters) - A bomb exploded outside an office of Turkey's ruling AK Party on Sunday, state news agency Anatolian reported, hours after a child was killed stepping on a landmine in the mainly Kurdish southeast.

The percussion bomb shattered windows at the Justice and Development Party (AKP) site in the southeastern city of Gaziantep but the office was closed and no one was killed or injured, Anatolian said.

Local police could not confirm the report and no one at the party was available to comment.

The bombing was the latest of three attacks this month on ruling party offices and comes amid an escalation of violence in the southeast between Turkish troops and Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) guerrillas.

On Sunday security forces launched a new operation against PKK militants in the mountainous province of Bingol after a child was killed by a landmine there, security officials said.

Three other children, who were gathering hay, were also injured in the blast, which followed a fatal mine attack on a village guard government militiaman on Saturday.

Dozens of soldiers have been killed this year -- with as many as 16 killed in one week in July -- prompting Ankara to reiterate it could enter northern Iraq in pursuit of thousands of PKK militants it says are based there.

It blames the group for more than 30,000 deaths since the start of its campaign for a homeland in 1984.

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Somalia PM: Iran, Libya backing militants

BAIDOA, Somalia (AP) - Somalia's prime minister on Saturday accused Egypt, Libya and Iran of providing weapons for Islamic militants who have seized control of much of this country's south.

"Egypt, Libya and Iran, whom we thought were friends, are engaged in fueling the conflict in Somalia by supporting the terrorists," Prime Minister Mohammed Ali Gedi said, citing unnamed sources within his government.

The accusations came as Somalia's already weak government was unraveling. Two lawmakers were shot this week - one fatally - and Gedi was facing a no-confidence vote after 18 lawmakers resigned from his administration.

Meanwhile, an Islamic militia with alleged ties to al-Qaida has steadily gained power, raising fears of an emerging Taliban-style regime. The United States accuses the group of harboring al-Qaida leaders responsible for deadly 1998 bombings at the U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania.

"We call for the international community to put pressure on these countries who want the problems in Somalia to continue," Gedi said.

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UPI Intelligence Watch

WASHINGTON, July 27 (UPI) -- A five-ship United States Cooperation Afloat Readiness and Training) Task Group is exercising with Malaysian Armed Force units.

The Malaysian phase of CARAT began on July 25.

Royal Malaysian Air Force Brig. Gen. Dato' Hj Jusof addressed the opening ceremony. "We cannot deny the fact that our land, maritime and air forces will one day be required to operate together," he said. "The interoperability of these three services is complex, thus emphasizing the importance of this exercise."

The Navy Newsstand reported on July 25 that Malaysia was the fourth phase of the American Southeast Asia maritime security series. Earlier joint exercises were held with Indonesia, Singapore and Thailand.

CARAT's Commander Task Force 73 executive agent executive agent Rear Adm. Bill Burke said, "Multinational responses to contingencies are becoming more common. The crisis might be humanitarian in nature, or a combined response to a hostile act. To respond efficiently in either case, it's important that our armed forces work together routinely in a training environment such as CARAT."

Malaysia's new Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency will also participate in CARAT Malaysia, working closely with the crew of USCGC Sherman.

"Our Coast Guard cutter (USCGC Sherman) crew working with Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency counterparts is a positive progression in the evolution of CARAT," Burke said. "The same can be said for the incorporation of the Combined Enterprise Regional Information System, or CENTRIXS. This is simply a way to give something back to the wider communities who host us, while also building some professional and personal ties between the U.S. and Malaysian armed forces personnel who conduct the projects."

CENTRIXS allows navies to communicate and share data in both text and Web-based formats, easing some language difficulties. CENTRIXS will be available aboard CARAT Task Group ships and will be installed at the exercise's onshore headquarters and Royal Malaysian naval vessel.

United States vessels participating in the CARAT exercise include the guided-missile destroyer USS Hopper, the dock landing ship USS Tortuga, guided-missile frigate USS Crommelin and the diving and salvage ship USS Salvor.

Malaysian ships participating in the exercise include KD Jebat, KD Laksamana Tun Abdul Jamil, MV Setia Cekal, MV Mahsuri, PZ MMEA and PC MMEA.

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The National Guard will meet its goal of having up to 6,000 soldiers along the Mexican border by Aug. 1, as required by the U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

The American Forces Press Service on July 25 quoted National Guard Bureau head Army Lt. Gen. H Steven Blum as telling reporters in Washington: "They will be in the border states of California, Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas come the first of August. We will meet the president's commitment to do that."

The deployment follows a request that President George W. Bush made in May that National Guard units be sent to help reinforce the border against illegal immigrants. "Operation Jump Start" began in June and is expected to last two years while the Border Patrol increases its numbers.

Blum said that the Guard deployments might go beyond the 6,000 specified soldiers but added that it is difficult to predict the exact number because military units are not built based on numbers. "They're built to deliver capabilities," Blum said.

According to Blum, approximately 4,500 Guard members are already supporting Operation Jump Start.

Blum emphasized that the National Guard deployment does not signify militarizing the border; rather, the National Guard's mission is solely to support the Border Patrol.

Blum told reporters that the National Guard will be equipped solely with non-lethal military technology, including high-tech sensors and infrared radar, as their primary missions will be surveillance and building "tactical infrastructure" such as fences and roads.

Blum said, "The biggest thing we bring in terms of numbers and capability to the game is the additional eyes and ears ... so the Customs and Border Patrol have greater situational awareness of what is going on in places they could not go, could not see, or could not hear.

"The National Guard will just see it and report it to Border Patrol. We are not doing law enforcement. We are doing everything else that other badge-carrying border patrol people used to have to do. We are replacing them so they can get badges back to the border."

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U.S. Air Force controllers from the 48th Operations Support Squadron are training their Bulgarian counterparts at the Graf Ingnatievo Air Base.

The U.S. airmen are in Bulgaria as part of the Immediate Response 2006 exercise.

Air Force Print News Today reported on July 25 that the aim of the exercise is to increase Bulgaria's interoperability as new member of NATO.

Bulgarian tower controller Maj. Stoyan Petkov said: "Since (Bulgaria) became a member of NATO recently, the best way to learn is to practice. Every day we work (on) something new. This is good, because this training helps us move into a NATO team more smoothly. I'm looking forward to working more with the Americans and this training, and the exercise, is a step closer to a good working relationship."

Chief controller for the 48th OSS, Assistant Radar Approach Control Tech. Sgt. Richard Walker said, "The operations are running very smooth, and the language barrier is minimal. I just stand back and observe the operations. If needed, I will help the controller talk to the pilot or assist if a procedure needs to be tweaked."

Before operations started July 17 Walker gave the Bulgarian air traffic controllers briefings on the F-15E Strike Eagle's performance capabilities. F-15Es from Royal Air Force Lakenheath, England are also at Graf Ingnatievo, supporting the tri-lateral Immediate Response 2006 NATO exercise.

Besides Walker, controller Tech. Sergeant Andrew Fraser is at the Plovdiv International Airport in case Immediate Response 2006 aircraft need to divert. Fraser said, "Some procedures run differently. Overall, the operations have been running smoothly, and it's been quite enjoyable."

--

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Developments in Iraq on July 29

July 29 (Reuters) - The following are security and other developments in Iraq on Saturday as of 1045 GMT.

Asterisk denotes a new or updated entry. * KIRKUK - A car bomb in northern Kirkuk killed one and wounded three in a neighbourhood popular with oil industry workers, a police source said. * NEAR QAIM - A suicide bicycle bomber hurt two policemen when he blew himself up at their checkpoint near Qaim, in western Anbar on the Syrian border, 500 km (310 miles) west of Baghdad, the police said. The bomber died.

KIRKUK - A car bomb killed three people and wounded 15 when it blew up near a petrol station in central Kirkuk, city police chief Torhan Abdul-Rahman said.

BAGHDAD - Insurgents killed four U.S. Marines in action in Iraq's restive Anbar province on Thursday, the U.S. military said. They gave no further details.

SUWAYRA - Police said they pulled two headless corpses wearing military uniform from the Tigris river in the town of Suwayra, 60 km (38 miles) southeast of Baghdad.

NEAR TIKRIT - A woman was killed and two others wounded when a mortar hit a house in the small town of al-Alam, near Tikrit, 175 km (110 miles) north of Baghdad, police said.

BAIJI - One policeman was killed and another wounded when gunmen opened fire in a drive-by shooting on their patrol in the oil refinery city of Baiji, 180 km (112 miles) north of Baghdad, police said.

MOSUL - A minibus driver was killed when three gunmen in a car opened fire on him in southeastern Mosul 390 km (240 miles) north of Baghdad, police colonel Karim Khalaf said.

NAJAF - An Iraqi soldier shot dead a policeman after an argument at a checkpoint in Najaf, 160 km (100 miles) south of Baghdad, a security source said.

BAGHDAD - Iraqi security forces said they had arrested over 60 suspected insurgents in different parts of Iraq in the last 24 hours. One policeman was killed during the raids.

BAGHDAD - Iraqi forces captured a foreign fighter on Thursday in a raid on the Abu Ghraib district in western Baghdad, the U.S. military said. The statement did not say what nationality the fighter carried.

BAGHDAD - A grenade attack wounded 12 people as they queued for temporary labour work in central Baghdad, police said.

DIWANIYA - Seven police were wounded in a joint U.S. and Iraqi raid against members of the Mehdi Army, a powerful militia loyal to Shi'ite firebrand Moqtada al-Sadr. The incident took place in the town of Diwaniya, 180 km (112 miles) south of Baghdad, police and hospital sources said.

BAGHDAD - Six people, including three policemen, were wounded by a roadside bomb near a police patrol in the capital's northern Waziriya district, police said.

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Latest developments in the Middle East

July 29 (Reuters) - Here are developments in the Middle East on the 19th day of Israel's bombardment of Lebanon.

* U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice holds talks in Israel to seek a deal on an international force to end fighting in Lebanon.

* Rice says she hoped for agreement on conditions for a cease-fire to be outlined in a U.N. resolution that could be tabled as early as Tuesday

* U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan has called a meeting in New York Monday to get troop contributions for an international force, which could be 15,000-20,000 strong.

* British Prime Minister Tony Blair says he sees agreement on peacekeepers in days, clearing the way for a cease-fire.

* Israel says it will not demand the immediate disarming of Hizbollah as part of a deal to end the fighting in Lebanon.

* Hizbollah leader says Rice aims to impose conditions on Lebanon and to serve Israeli interests during her visit.

* Hizbollah fires more than 90 rockets from southern Lebanon into northern Israel, lightly wounding about a dozen people.

* An Israeli air strike on a house in Lebanon kills a woman and six children. Another strike hits Lebanon's main road to Damascus near the Syria border, cutting the highway in both directions.

* At least 483 people, mostly civilians, have been killed in Lebanon in the conflict, and 51 Israelis have died.

* Israeli forces pull out of the Lebanese border town of Bint Jbeil but may return and were still operating in surrounding areas.

* Two Indian soldiers with the U.N. peacekeeping force in southern Lebanon are wounded and their observation post damaged by an Israeli air strike.

* Israel rejects U.N. call for 72-hour pause in fighting to evacuate people from south Lebanon and send in emergency aid, says it has opened humanitarian corridor.

* U.S. President George W. Bush, in his weekly radio address, says Lebanon "is the latest flashpoint in a broader struggle between freedom and terror that is unfolding across the region."

* An Israeli undercover unit kills two Palestinians militants, including a senior Islamic Jihad militant, in the West Bank.

* Israeli aircraft bomb the homes of two Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip, wounding two people.

* At least 150 Palestinians, around half of them gunmen, have been killed in Israel's month-long assault on Gaza.

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One killed in shootings at Jewish center

SEATTLE, July 28 (UPI) -- A man who said he was angry at Israel shot five people Friday at a Jewish community organization in Seattle, killing at least one.

Police arrested a suspect almost immediately after the shootings at the Jewish Federation of Greater Seattle, the Seattle Times reported.

Amy Wasser-Simpson, vice president for planning and community services at the federation, told the newspaper she got eyewitness accounts from other staffers. They said the shooter told them "I'm a Muslim-American -- I'm angry at Israel," and then opened fire.

At least three of the people who were shot were women, one of them 17 weeks pregnant.

"A number of staff people heard some popping sounds, then they heard a scream," Wasser-Simpson said. "They escaped out the back door."

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U.S. Accuses Indian Firms of Missile Sales to Iran

U.S. officials said yesterday the Bush administration plans to sanction two Indian firms for transfers of “dual-use items related to missiles” to Iran (see GSN, July 25).

“We are going to report to Congress about transactions by two private Indian companies with Iran” under the U.S. Iran-Syria Nonproliferation Act, one official told Reuters.

The administration is required to report violations of the law to Congress every six months, Reuters reported, though sanctions are applied at the discretion of the White House. Details of the sanctions to be imposed against the Indian firms were not disclosed.

A U.S. official said the administration attempted to inform Congress about the sanctions before the House voted Wednesday on legislation to implement a U.S.-Indian civilian nuclear technology sharing agreement (see GSN, July 27).

However, a congressional aide said he did not learn of the report until yesterday.

“Clearly they were waiting for the House to vote on the nuclear agreement,” the aide said. He said lawmakers, had they known of the development, might have deferred that vote until India was pressed for more cooperation on curtailing Iran’s controversial nuclear program (Carol Giacomo, Reuters, July 27).

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Two Radioactive Sources Found in Georgia

Georgian authorities and the International Atomic Energy Agency have recovered two potentially lethal radioactive devices in the alpine region of the former Soviet state, the U.N. nuclear watchdog announced yesterday.

The devices were secured in the first three days of an effort to find such abandoned radioactive sources in Georgia. Georgian Environment Ministry and IAEA personnel discovered a powerful source in a dirt pile in an old factory in the village of Iri. They located a smaller device in a container of nuts and bolts in a house in the village of Likhaura. A family bedroom was on the other side of a thin, wooden wall.

Both sources were cesium 137, which is used commonly in industry to find flaws in materials and for measurements, according to an IAEA release. “New, powerful, backpack-mounted instrumentation with which the search team was equipped helped reveal and locate both sources,” the release said.

Team members said absence of available records prevented them from determining the sources’ origins. The first source might have been missed when the factory shut down. The second source was probably found and taken to the house. Both radioactive sources should have been stored in shielded containers.

Roughly 300 radioactive sources have been retrieved in Georgia since the mid-1990s. At least one death and numerous injuries to the public have been attributed to exposure to the sources (International Atomic Energy Agency release, July 27).

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Rebels kill five soldiers in Iran

Baghdad, Jul. 28 – Members of the Kurdish rebel group PKK have killed five Iranian soldiers in the northwest of the country, Kurdistan Television reported on Thursday.

The clashed took place near the town of Qal’eh Rash in Iranian Kurdistan Province.

Three other soldiers were injured, according to the report.

The PKK has announced that four of its members were also killed in the fighting.

Kurdistan Television also said that 10 Turkish soldiers were killed and fifteen others injured in separate clashes in the Kurdish region of Wan in Turkey.

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TERRORISM: AL-QAEDA LAUNCHES WEB TV

Rome, 28 July (AKI) - The next evolution in al-Qaeda's propaganda war is a television channel visible only via the Internet, which has already begun operating on an experimental basis. The 'channel' has evolved out of the experience of jihadi internet forums - in particular of the al-Firdaws site - and al-Qaeda's own experiments in 'news bulletins' and talk shows produced by the Islamic Media Front. The new channel - called al-Firdaws TV - aims to publish the most important video and audio documents in the recent history of the terror network.

The documents include speeches by Osama bin Laden, Ayman al-Zawahiri and the late Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, as well as documentaries on mujahadeen.

The broadcasts start at 8pm Mecca time and run till midnight.

Like most traditional Islamic television channels, the broadcasts open with a reading from the Koran, followed by a film on al-Zarqawi and various videso that have already been published on the Internet such as that of the London bombs. The end of transmission is marked by Jihadi songs, calling for Islamic martyrdom.

To view the programming of al-Firdaws all that is required is a wide-band connection and a multimedia programme such as Windows Media Player or Real Player.

Radical Islamist internet forums publish the planned programmes daily and the channel organisers are seeking feedback from al-Qaeda sympathisers, on what they think of the new channel.

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Somali riots erupt after minister shot

BAIDOA, Somalia - Hundreds of people rioted Friday near the headquarters of Somalia's weak government after a Cabinet minister was fatally shot outside a mosque. People began streaming into the streets and setting fires just hours after the killing of Abdallah Isaaq Deerow, Somalia's minister for constitutional and federal affairs.

A gunman shot Deerow several times in the chest, then escaped. A 35-year-old man was later arrested, said Baidoa police chief Aadin Biid.

"We condemn this wicked action, and the government will chase the murderers and treat them with an iron hand," said the government's information minister, Mohamed Abdi Hayir.

The shooting was the second this week of a lawmaker in Baidoa, the only town controlled by the fragile administration. Mohammed Ibrahim Mohammed, chairman of the parliamentary committee for constitutional affairs, was wounded Wednesday night.

It was not clear whether the shootings were connected or related to politics in this chaotic Horn of Africa nation.

The government, which has no military, has watched helplessly in recent months as Islamic militants have taken over the capital and much of southern Somalia. On Thursday, 18 top ministers resigned, saying the government has failed to bring peace. Deerow was not among those who resigned.

The lawmakers said they were opposed to troops from neighboring Ethiopia who were sent here to protect the government from the Islamic group. Ethiopia is Somalia's traditional enemy, although Somali President Abdullahi Yusuf has asked for its support — a decision that enraged many Somalis.

About 5,000 people turned out for an anti-Ethiopia demonstration in the capital, Mogadishu.

"We will launch a holy war against the aggressors," said protester Abdirisaq Hassan. "We shall go to heaven if we die and they will suffer in hell if they die."

Also Friday, Islamic fighters closed roads around the capital's airport and chased away onlookers while a plane was unloaded. A similar aircraft delivered goods Wednesday, and officials from the government accused Eritrea of sending arms to the militants on that flight.

Islamic officials and Eritrea both denied the accusation. Eritrea and Ethiopia have been accused of supporting opposite sides in the Somali standoff, using the country as a battleground in their own rivalry.

"We have seen that the government cannot carry out national reconciliation and development," said the resignation letter issued by 18 key ministers in the 102-member Cabinet.

Prime Minister Mohammed Ali Gedi accused the former ministers of trying to bring down his government, but said it would not be affected.

The Islamic militants' increasing power has prompted grave concerns in the United States, which accuses the group of harboring al-Qaida leaders responsible for deadly 1998 bombings at the U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania. The Islamic group's imposition of strict religious courts also has raised fears of an emerging Taliban-style regime.

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War Brewing Between Ethiopia and Somalia's Islamic Courts Union?

By Daveed Gartenstein-Ross

Since capturing Mogadishu last month, the Islamic Courts Union (ICU) in Somalia has moved in an increasingly radical direction. This is reflected both in their leadership choices and also their implementation of Taliban-like Islamic law. Beyond that, the ICU is aggressively expanding its power. It recently surrounded the southern Somali city of Baidoa, where the largely powerless interim Somali government is holed up.

On Monday, Time's website reported Ethiopia's concerns over the ICU's stance toward Baidoa:

The Islamic Courts Union says it will not attack the interim government, which is mostly secular in outlook, but the government’s closest ally, Ethiopia, is worried enough to be massing troops to take on the Islamic forces itself. The Islamists and Somali journalists say that Ethiopia has already sent troops over the border, a claim Ethiopia denies. But there is no doubting Ethiopia's intentions. “We will use all means at our disposal to crush the Islamist group if they attempt to attack Baidoa,” Ethiopian Information Minister Berhan Hailu told Reuters in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia’s capital.

Just as Ethiopia has threatened to use military force against the ICU, the ICU has vowed to attack the Ethiopian soldiers that it claims have crossed the border into Somalia. (Although Ethiopia denies this, eyewitness accounts makes it appear that the ICU is correct that there are Ethiopian soldiers in Somalia.)

There is no fighting at present between the ICU and Ethiopian forces. Part of the reason for this may be that a number of politicians within Somalia's interim government are in the process of defecting to the ICU and bringing their militias with them. This is similar to the process that the Taliban used to gain power in Afghanistan, by getting individual warlords and their militias to align themselves with the radical Islamic movement. The ICU may want to gain as many allies as possible before taking on the more powerful Ethiopian military. Then the ICU may launch an attack on the Ethiopians, just as they promised. Both the Ethiopians and the ICU may prefer it if the ICU strikes the first blow.

There are a variety of views on how fighting between the ICU and Ethiopians may go. Ethiopia clearly has the upper hand because their ground forces have better training and equipment, and they have the extra advantage of some air power. Moreover, while every major news outlet has bureaus in Jerusalem and Amman, there aren't any Mogadishu bureaus. The lack of press coverage may make the Ethiopian army feel less constrained in carrying out its military operations than Israel is in Lebanon. But one consideration on the other side is that it's unclear to what degree there is cross-pollination between the ICU and al-Qaeda's factions in Iraq. If the ICU has had much of this exposure, that increases the chance that it could employ some of the insurgent tactics used by al-Qaeda in Iraq, such as improvised explosive devices. That could make things more difficult for the Ethiopian military than they anticipate.

Counterterrorism consultant Dan Darling contributed to the information in this post.

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Lexis-Nexis widens intel sector

LexisNexis has broadened its information-sharing services for government intelligence and security agencies.

LexisNexis Advanced Government Solutions is a secure research tool for national security use, which provides federal agencies with secure and easily accessible data, which can be accessed through a secure Internet connection or internally via agency systems where LexisNexis data has been integrated into internal data files.

Federal Computer World reported on July 24 that LexisNexis' main business remains its searchable database of 5 billion articles and public and international records. According to LexisNexis Special Services Chief Executive Officer Norm Willox, the idea behind LexisNexis Advanced Government Solutions is to provide the material to the government for intelligence and national security applications, allowing federal agencies to effectively manage the volume and variety of relevant data. Willox said, "The technology makes analysts more efficient and faster at locating the information they need to develop intelligence products ... to detect and defeat threats to national security."

In 2004 Reed Elsevier, the U.K.-based parent company of LexisNexis, bought Seisint, a company specializing in rapid data fusion, to enhance the potential of LexisNexis Advanced Government Solutions. LexisNexis' Advanced Government Solutions Intelligence Analysis Solutions component can rapidly extract critical information from massive databases.

LexisNexis Vice President of Product Management Robert Pinkerton said, "This is an expansion of our business, not a new business plan."

Intelligence Analysis Solutions compiles news, transcripts, scientific journals, public records and Web material, which are then categorized and filtered before being linked to classified files, providing intelligence analysts with a broader context.

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Bush Plans Spy-Drone Arms Sale to Poland

The Bush administration told Congress on July 27 it was tentatively planning to sell Poland remotely piloted spy aircraft and related gear worth up to $73 million to help fight terrorism.

Poland plans to use the so-called Shadow 200 RQ-7B unmanned aerial vehicles -- built by United Industrial Corp.’s AAI Corp. unit -- in support of European Union Brigades and NATO operations, the Pentagon said in a mandatory notice to Congress.

The drones would provide "critical intelligence and early warning to military forces to combat terrorist cells and activities," said the Pentagon’s Defense Security Cooperation Agency, which administers U.S. government-to-government arms sales.

In addition, the drones also provide intelligence gathering, surveillance and reconnaissance, it said.

The value could be as high as $73 million if all options were exercised, the agency said.

The notice of a potential sale is required by law. It does not mean that a sale has been concluded. Congress has the power to block a proposed arms sale.

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Open Source News Briefs for July 28-27

Security Council calls for comprehensive Israeli inquiry into killing of UN peacekeepers	2006-07-28
DR Congo: rebel coalition in east lays down arms in UN-brokered deal	2006-07-28
DRC: Troops to be deployed in Ituri's most troubled areas, general says	2006-07-28
COTE D IVOIRE: First militia fighters hand over weapons	2006-07-28
Rice Warns Iran, Syria Over Lebanon Cease-Fire	2006-07-28
Georgia resumes operation against militia in Abkhaz gorge	2006-07-28
Russia: Chavez Ends Tour With Putin Visit	2006-07-28
Iraq and UN join forces to launch Compact to support peace and reconstruction	2006-07-28
U.S. Extremely Hostile Act and UN "Resolution" against DPRK Rejected	2006-07-28
Kim Il Chol Calls for Bolstering War Deterrent for Self-Defence	2006-07-28
Uproar in Indian parliament over Pakistan's N-plans	2006-07-28
Russian carrier rocket crashes after Baikonur launch	2006-07-28
Engine shutdown caused Russian rocket crash - space agency	2006-07-28
Russia set to orbit South Korean satellite July 28	2006-07-28
DoD Announces Units for Next Operation Iraqi Freedom Rotation	2006-07-28
Army Statement on Readiness and the Costs of War	2006-07-28
Israel Says Offensive Will Continue, Not Expand in Lebanon	2006-07-28
Bush Warns Against 'Fake' Peace in Mideast	2006-07-28
Conflict in Southern Lebanon Continues Unabated	2006-07-28
Rice, in Malaysia, Considers Return to Middle East	2006-07-28
19 Members of Somalia's Cabinet Resign	2006-07-28
Georgian Authorities: Government Troops Regain Control of Strategic Area	2006-07-28
Israel Increases Air, Artillery Attacks in Lebanon	2006-07-28
UN Says Israel Shelled Lebanese Post Despite Pleas to Stop	2006-07-28
Rice: 'Willing and Ready' to Resume Mideast Peace Effort	2006-07-28
Australia Would Send Peacekeepers to Lebanon Under Right Conditions	2006-07-28
Israeli Jets Strike Communications Tower Near Beirut	2006-07-28
Clashes Flare Anew Near Breakaway Province of Abkhazia	2006-07-28
Congolese Rebels Reach Peace Accord Ahead of Elections	2006-07-28
US Ambassador to UN Defends Record	2006-07-28
Saddam Trial Adjourned Until Verdict in Mid-October	2006-07-28
Ukraine President Convenes Roundtable Talks to Avert Political Crisis	2006-07-28
Rice in Asia, Addresses Major International Security Issues	2006-07-28
Blasts Rock Baghdad; Dozens Dead and Injured	2006-07-28
Explosions in Baghdad Kill 31, Iraqi PM Ends US Visit	2006-07-28
Zawahiri Threatens Revenge for Israeli Attacks	2006-07-28
China's Influence Over North Korea in Question	2006-07-28
US Officials Outline Plan to Fight Nuclear Weapon Smuggling	2006-07-28
Lebanon: NATO Option Looks Unpopular	2006-07-28
Middle East: Rome Conference Fails To Agree Lebanon Cease-Fire	2006-07-27
Annan recommends three-pronged solution to the ‘horrendous’ situation in Lebanon	2006-07-27
Secretary-General proposes joint UN-Israeli inquiry into Lebanon peacekeeper deaths	2006-07-27
DRC: Voluntary militia disarmament ends	2006-07-27
As Congolese election approaches, UN mission says rights repression must stop	2006-07-27
World Leaders Gather To Discuss Lebanon Crisis	2006-07-27
Middle East: Expert Discusses Issue Of War Crimes	2006-07-27
LEBANON: Number of civilian deaths likely to be higher - Red Cross	2006-07-27
IRAQ: Government donates $35 million to Lebanon	2006-07-27
Georgia: Troops Deployed To Rein In Militia	2006-07-27
Breakaway Abkhaz authorities vow to shoot anyone nearing border	2006-07-27
Russia concerned over Georgia clashes near its border - Ivanov	2006-07-27
Georgia conducts military operation in Kodori - CIS peacekeepers	2006-07-27
Police operation in Abkhazia gorge continuing - Georgia	2006-07-27
SUDAN: Uganda delegation 'en route' to meet rebel leader	2006-07-27
Iraqi Prime Minister Sees Iraq as Central to War on Terror	2006-07-27
Iraq: Learning Lessons From Lebanon	2006-07-27
U.S.: Iraqi Leader Stirs Controversy Over Hizballah	2006-07-27
Pro-Western Our Ukraine sets terms for joining Rada coalition	2006-07-27
President Bush and Prime Minister Maliki of Iraq Participate in Press Availability	2006-07-27
Fact Sheet: Prime Minister Maliki's Meeting with President Bush	2006-07-27
Bush: U.S. to Send More Military Police to Baghdad	2006-07-27
Air Force officials announce 2007 force-shaping initiatives	2006-07-27
Air Force meeting requirements for multi-year funding on F-22	2006-07-27
Gen Moseley: New long-range bomber on horizon for 2018	2006-07-27
U.S. Suggests NATO Allies Could Pool Money To Buy C-17 Aircraft	2006-07-27
Russia rebuffs U.S. call to rethink $1bln Venezuela arms deal	2006-07-27
Venezuela's Chavez to Sign Billion-Dollar Arms Deal With Russia Thursday	2006-07-27
CENTAF releases airpower summary	2006-07-27
U.S. Soldiers Capture Members of Iraqi 'Death Squad'	2006-07-27
AFGHANISTAN: Former militia commanders disarm in northern province	2006-07-27
DoD News Briefing with Brig. Gen. Jensen via Videoconference from Cyprus	2006-07-27
U.S. Military Involvement in Lebanon Evacuations Coming to End	2006-07-27
U.S., Iraqi troops to shift to Baghdad	2006-07-27
CENTAF releases airpower summary	2006-07-27
Iraqi Forces Nab Eight Insurgents in Early-Morning Raids	2006-07-27
DoD Continues Lebanon Evacuation, Delivers Humanitarian Aid	2006-07-27
C-130s assist humanitarian relief efforts in Cyprus	2006-07-27
Annan ‘shocked’ by Israeli attack on UN Lebanon post that killed at least 2	2006-07-27
Crew of Cougar Ace successfully hoisted to safety	2006-07-27
Bird Flu Recurs in Thailand; Efforts Continue To Combat Disease	2006-07-27
U.S. To Convert 34 Tons of Plutonium into Nuclear Fuel	2006-07-27
Speaker: Iran will stop cooperation with IAEA once it finds cooperation against national interests	2006-07-27
Rome Conference Fails to Agree on Plan to End Israel-Lebanon Violence	2006-07-27
International Aid Arrives in Tyre and Beirut	2006-07-27
Fighting Rages in Southern Lebanon With No Cease-Fire in Sight	2006-07-27
UN Set to Condemn Peacekeeper Deaths in Lebanon	2006-07-27
US Decries Meddling in Somalia, Urges Dialogue	2006-07-27
Rome Conference Agrees to Work Toward Immediate Israel-Lebanon Cease-Fire	2006-07-27
Arab Reports Say 9 Israeli Soldiers Killed at Bint Jbail	2006-07-27
Israel Expresses Regret About Killing of UN Peacekeepers	2006-07-27
23 Palestinians Killed in Israeli Attacks in Gaza	2006-07-27
Somali Government Says Plane Delivered Weapons to Islamist Militants	2006-07-27
UN Has Security Concerns for Congo's Elections	2006-07-27
East Timor Rebels Arrested	2006-07-27
Foreign Ministers Gather in Rome for Conference on Lebanon	2006-07-27
Rice Says Ceasefire Must Come With Conditions	2006-07-27
Iraqi PM Expresses Appreciation for US Troop Sacrifices	2006-07-27
Senate Approves Burma Sanctions Extension	2006-07-27
Saddam Asks to be Executed if Found Guilty	2006-07-27
Iraqi Prime Minister Meets with Bush, Calls for Cease-fire in Lebanon	2006-07-27
Iraqi PM Faces Criticism on Eve of Address to US Congress	2006-07-27
EU Diplomat Warns NATO's Afghan Mission Must Not Fail	2006-07-27
White House Says Baghdad Security Is Priority in Talks With Iraqi PM	2006-07-27
US Urges Moscow to Reconsider Venezuela Arms Deal	2006-07-27
Court Told Australian Terror Suspects 'Inspired' by Bin Laden	2006-07-27
Japan, China, South Korea, ASEAN Urge North Korea to Talk	2006-07-27
US Lawmakers Set to Consider US-India Nuclear Deal	2006-07-27
US Renews Warning to Iran over Uranium Enrichment	2006-07-27
Rome Conference Ends Without Lebanon Cease-Fire Plan	2006-07-27

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Latest developments in the Middle East

July 28 (Reuters) - Here are developments in the Middle East on the 17th day of Israel's bombardment of Lebanon.

* Israel keeps up bombardment of Lebanon, killing 13, as aircraft pound south, including hill villages near Tyre

* The U.N. peacekeeping mission in southern Lebanon withdraws unarmed observers from two observations posts

* Rice says will return to Middle East when "time is right". Delays departure from Malaysia until Saturday. State Department says "outrageous" remark by Israeli justice minister that Rome conference gave Israel green light to continue bombing Lebanon.

* Blair to push for speedy U.N. resolution in meeting with Bush and Chirac wants France to push for U.N. resolution on immediate ceasefire.

* Aid agencies say they finding it impossible to get food and medicines safely into southern Lebanon. An Israeli shell crashes near aid convoy in south Lebanon, wounding at least three people.

* Dozens of Hizbollah rockets hit towns in northern Israel , wounding at least six people.

* Death toll since July 12 at least 458 people, mostly civilians, in Lebanon and 51 Israelis, including 18 civilians, according to Reuters tally.

* Israeli military says 200 Hizbollah fighters killed, Hizbollah has said 31 of its fighters killed.

* Israeli aircraft attack homes owned by Palestinian militants and metal workshop in Gaza Strip, wounding seven, medics say.

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Georgia rebels threaten to use force

MOSCOW, July 28 (Reuters) - Separatists in Georgia's breakaway Abkhazia said on Friday they will use force if Tbilisi sets up a local government headquarters inside their Black Sea region.

Georgia said late on Thursday it would establish Abkhazia's pro-Tbilisi government in exile in the remote Kodori gorge, the only part of Abkhazia not claimed by the separatists but which Tbilisi has until now only loosely controlled.

The pro-Tbilisi government fled Abkhazia during fighting in 1992-93 when the separatists drove out Georgian forces. Based since then in the Georgian capital, it has no real power.

The separatists, who are backed by neighbouring Russia, say Georgian forces are encroaching on their territory and that Tbilisi's next step will be to launch a military offensive to restore its control over Abkhazia.

"If the so-called Abkhaz government in exile is set up in the Kodori gorge that will be a trip wire for tough actions by us and we will have no choice but to use force," separatist foreign minister Sergei Shamba told Reuters by telephone.

Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili, a U.S. ally, says he is committed to bringing Abkhazia back under central control but only by peaceful means.

Abkhazia is one of the so-called "frozen conflicts" that flared when the Soviet Union broke up. Observers fear the tensions could bring a return to fighting, which might also drag in Russian troops stationed in the region as peacekeepers.

"All the indications are that the Georgian authorities are trying to resolve (their) problems ... by force," Interfax news agency quoted Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov as saying.

A new BP-led pipeline, which will eventually pump a million barrels of oil a day to world markets, passes through Georgia.

Saakashvili announced that the government in exile would move to the Kodori gorge after his security forces said they had defeated a local paramilitary gang that had effectively controlled the thickly wooded mountainous area for years.

The northern part of the gorge has until now been a lawless no-man's land. A formal ceasefire deal between Tbilisi and the separatists, struck in 1994, ceded control of the northern part of the gorge to the Georgian government.

But up to now Georgian police and officials have had no permanent presence there.

Saakashvili's chief of staff told a news briefing on Friday Tbilisi was "completely immovable" on its plans for the gorge.

"We will defend our country's interests. We have returned Georgian jurisdiction and law to the Kodori gorge and we will do everything possible to ensure that people there are protected and an administration is set up," said Georgy Arveladze.

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Chavez in Iran on July 28

TEHRAN (AFP) - Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez will arrive in Iran for talks with his counterpart and fellow America critic Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, his Tehran office has said.

Spokesman Ehsan Jahandide told AFP the two leaders would focus on "bilateral relations and a review of previous agreements, and before he leaves Tehran a number of agreements will be signed."

Chavez is also due to open a new Venezuelan embassy in Tehran, meet Iranian business leaders and receive an honorary medal from Tehran University. No further details were given.

The two-day visit will be Chavez's fourth to the Islamic republic since 2000. The Iranian and Venezuelan leaders are both fierce critics of the US administration as well as being
OPEC members.

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Latest developments in the Middle East

July 27 (Reuters) - Here are developments in the Middle East on the 16th day of Israel's bombardment of Lebanon.

* Lebanon says 16 days of Israeli bombardment kill up to 600 people in Lebanon.

* Israel pounds south Lebanon, trapping civilians in isolated villages where bodies lay in the streets.

* Israel's inner cabinet decides to continue the current limited incursions into Lebanon rather than launching a bigger ground offensive against Hizbollah, a political source says.

* Hizbollah fires dozens of rockets into northern Israel, wounding four people. More than 1,400 rockets have hit the Jewish state since conflict began.

* Al Qaeda's deputy leader Ayman al Zawahri warns his group will not stand by and watch Israel bombard Lebanon and the Palestinians, calling on Muslims in a video to fight attacks on their countries.

* A diplomatic divide over how to end the fighting in Lebanon widens with France pressing for an early U.N. cease-fire resolution while the United States aims new threats at Iran and Syria.

* U.S. President George W. Bush says he wants an end to conflict as soon as possible but not a "fake peace" that would only delay fighting.

* Italy's foreign minister says Lebanon crisis conference call for restraint from Israel has fallen on deaf ears.

* Diplomacy moves to Malaysia with Iran's foreign minister due to visit as country hosts security meeting to be attended by U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.

* Israel's army believes it has killed dozens of Hizbollah guerrillas during fighting in south Lebanon over the past day, Israeli military source says.

* At least 437 Lebanese, most of them civilians, and 51 Israelis have been confirmed killed in conflict.

* Israeli shell kills 75-year-old woman at her home in Gaza Strip, a day after 24 Palestinians were killed during clashes with Israeli troops, Palestinian emergency services say.

* Hamas dismisses comment from Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas that a solution could be imminent in the case of captured Israeli soldier.

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Clean-Up Experts Rush to Serbian Nuke Site

Belgrade AP - The Vinca reactor stands still, its decrepit innards purged of their unused weapons-grade fuel. But it remains Serbia's little shop of nuclear horrors, and a potential magnet for terrorists.

That makes it representative of the next step in the world's quest to lift the threat of nuclear material falling into the wrong hands - first by taking control of the fuel that makes atomic bombs, and now by tackling the lesser but still potent menace of a dirty bomb, meaning radiation spread by blowing up radioactive material with conventional explosives.

At the Vinca Institute of Nuclear Sciences outside Belgrade, there are only a few armed guards in sight, and the barbed-wire fence around the 48-acre facility is only as tall as a man.

For would-be terrorists, "it's almost like a candy store," says Mike Durst, the International Atomic Energy Agency's point man working to strip Vinca of its attraction to nuclear thieves.

These fears are driving international agendas. Presidents Bush and Vladimir Putin used a summit of the world's richest countries earlier this month to launch the "Global Initiative to Combat Nuclear Terrorism," which calls for better accounting and protection of the Vincas of the world, scattered around the former Soviet Union, Eastern Europe, Asia and Africa.

The new program is meant to build on others created by the Bush administration, including the 3-year old "Global Threat Reduction Initiative" to deal with a broad range of vulnerable nuclear and radiological materials around the world.

Most of the existing programs focus on unused weapons-grade fuel, nearly 100 pounds of which lay in Vinca until four years ago, when Washington, Moscow and Belgrade mounted a joint operation to remove it.

Helicopters and 1,200 heavily armed troops including snipers were deployed along with decoy trucks to thwart potential mischief-makers. Half of Belgrade was sealed off, and within six hours, the fuel - enough to make at least two simple nuclear warheads - was trucked from Vinca to the airport and onward to a Russian government plant about 470 miles east of Moscow.

But that still leaves dozens of other badly secured and dangerous nuclear facilities to deal with.

Inside the Vinca reactor building, 8,000 spent fuel rods sit in pools of brackish water. Dozens contain uranium in varying degrees of enrichment - potential dirty bomb material, not to mention the environmental hazard.

The bomb-worthy material is not uranium, but its highly radioactive byproducts. These would quickly kill any terrorist who was not equipped with protective suits, robotic arms and tons of lead to encase the stolen material.

Still, research reactors such as Vinca tend to be less heavily protected than power plants, and experts like Durst fear terrorists shown willing to sacrifice their lives in other situations might do so as well to secure the material. And while building a full-blown nuclear device is technologically daunting, terrorists could easily use the material such as that in the rods to construct a dirty bomb.

With just one dirty bomb, "you could hit Broadway, and you couldn't decontaminate it for years," says Obrad Sotic, Vinca's former operations manager.

And there are concerns other than raids on Vinca. While no nuclear material is known to have gone missing employees speak openly of the potential temptations of selling some on the black market as a way supplementing monthly incomes of less than $750.

There's a lot to steal - old medical and industrial equipment, and tons of material inside the reactor or in two rickety corrugated metal sheds. There are bags of irradiated grass, containers of depleted uranium ammunition fired by NATO during its 1999 Kosovo campaign, and several tons of yellowcake - processed uranium ore of the kind Iran plans to process and enrich in what the U.S. says is an attempt to make nuclear arms.

The Serbian Science Ministry, which is responsible for Vinca, has a budget of less than $90 million for this year. That wouldn't cover the cost of upgrading security, shipping the spent fuel back to Russia and dismantling the reactor.

A centrally monitored alarm system is being installed and police will be tasked with security under a plan being worked out under IAEA guidance.

Also foreseen is the shipment of the spent fuel to Russia and building safer storage facilities for the collected nuclear junk. The ultimate goal is to dismantle of the reactor and other parts of the facility.

But again, money is a problem.

Sending the spent fuel back to Russia will cost around $10 million, and more money is needed to reprocess the fuel in Russia. Building better storage will cost an additional $5 million. About 60 percent of that amount has been pledged by donor countries, but dismantling the facility will cost some $60 million.

For Serbia's science minister, Aleksandar Popovic, the 2002 operation to remove the weapons-grade fuel has left the job only half done.

He told The Associated Press he was "very unhappy" that help has not materialized for the other half.

"Once the spent fuel is gone, I'll be one happy guy," he said.

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