September 6, 2010

Report: Iran Paying Taliban to Kill U.S. Troops

Filed under: Afghanistan,Americas,Iran,Middle East,Military,North America,South Central Asia,Terrorism,USA — mungurk @ 09:26

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Report: Iran Paying Taliban to Kill U.S. Troops

Published September 05, 2010 | Sunday Times

KABUL — At least five Iranian companies in Afghanistan’s capital are using their offices covertly to finance Taliban militants in provinces near Kabul, according to an investigation by London’s Sunday Times.

Afghan intelligence and Taliban sources have told the newspaper that the firms, set up in the past six months, provide cash for a network of district Taliban treasurers to pay battlefield expenses and bonuses for killing the enemy and destroying their vehicles.

The Iranian companies win contracts to supply materials and logistics to Afghans involved in reconstruction. The money often comes in the form of aid from foreign donors.

Profits are transferred through poorly regulated Afghan banks — including Kabul Bank, which is partly owned by President Hamid Karzai’s brother Mahmood — to Tehran and Dubai.

From these countries, the money returns to Afghanistan through the informal Islamic banking system known as hawala to be dispersed to the Taliban.

“This means the companies involved in funding the insurgency can cover their tracks easily. It makes it harder for us to trace the cashflow,” a senior Afghan intelligence official said.

Iranian companies have been established with the intention of winning contracts funded by foreign aid so that donors’ cash could be channeled into the insurgency, the official said. Western officials believe the network may have been set up by the Al-Quds force, an elite branch of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard.

The Iranian embassy in Kabul refused to respond to the allegations. But according to the Taliban treasurer, who has been interviewed by The Sunday Times, Iran is paying bonuses of $1,000 for killing an American soldier and $6,000 for destroying a U.S. military vehicle.

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September 1, 2010

Filed under: Asia,Military,Pakistan,South Central Asia,WMD — mungurk @ 10:44

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Aamir Qureshi / AFP-Getty ImagesThe nuclear scientist A.Q. Khan.

Dr. Abdul Qadeer Khan, widely considered the father of Pakistan’s nuclear bomb, has kept a low profile since his unprecedented 2004 television address accepting sole responsibility for providing nuclear know-how to Iran, Libya, and North Korea. President Pervez Musharraf pardoned Khan the following day, but after a period under house arrest, he remains closely watched by authorities. NEWSWEEK PAKISTAN’S Fasih Ahmed recently conducted an e-mail interview with the nuclear scientist hailed as a hero inside his own country and a threat to global security outside of it. Excerpts:

Pakistan’s nuclear assets are often described as the “Islamic bomb.” Given that no other Muslim-majority country has the bomb, is this description something that you agree with?

The term “Islamic Bomb” was mischievously coined by the Western world to frighten the rest of the world and to portray Muslims, and Pakistan, as terrorists who should not possess an atom bomb. The Western world is united in Muslim-bashing and ridiculing Islam and its golden values.

The U.N. has slapped sanctions on Iran—ostensibly as punishment for the Islamic country’s pursuit of nuclear weapons. How do you see global geopolitics shifting if Iran were to acquire nuclear weapons?

In Iran the same mischievous propaganda is at work to befool the rather ignorant—or less knowledgeable—public that it poses a threat and is a fanatic, terrorist country. Have we already forgotten that, despite the repeated statements of no WMD in Iraq that were made by [former U.N. weapons inspector] Hans Blix after IAEA [International Atomic Energy Agency] inspectors made regular visits to that country, Bush and Blair still attacked Iraq? In this process they killed thousands of people, destroyed an ancient civilization, occupied the country, and put stooges in place to play their part in the killing of their own people. Iran, as everyone knows, is a member of the NPT [Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty] regime, that it is open to IAEA inspection of all its sites, to which it is adhering, and that it cannot produce nuclear weapons material or nuclear weapons. This is yet another example of Western hypocrisy.

Most here take pride in the fact that Pakistan is a nuclear state and believe this has served as a deterrent to conventional war with India.

Yes, I fully agree. Our nuclear program has ensured our survival, our security, and our sovereignty … I am proud to have contributed to it together with my patriotic and able colleagues.

Former ISI chief Javed Ashraf Qazi recently told Pakistan’s Dawn News TV channel that CIA agents were caught in 1994–95 trying to buy information on Pakistan’s nuclear program. The refrain that Pakistan’s nuclear weapons are unsafe and can fall into the hands of radical Islamic organizations is also often played up in the Western press. How secure is the nuclear arsenal?

Nobody ever penetrated Kahuta [the site of Pakistan’s main nuclear facility], nor could they do so. The Americans, contrary to their tall claims, were totally in the dark about the status of our program. Majors—or even generals, for that matter—had no access to sensitive and classified information … [Kahuta] or PAEC [Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission] were never a department store where one could go and pick up a bomb! The American and British intelligence agencies tried to bribe and buy two of our scientists, who refused all sorts of incentives and reported the matter to me.

Can nuclear weapons fall into the wrong hands?

This is again a Western myth and one of their phobias. A nuclear weapon—good or dirty—is a highly complicated and sophisticated device. A large number of parts are needed, and expertise is required to assemble such a device. Even scientists and engineers without the relevant experience are not able to do this, let alone to talk of illiterate, untrained terrorists.

We have examples of countries, like South Africa and, to an extent, Libya, that decided to give up on their nuclear ambitions. How realistic is the possibility of a world with no nukes?

It is very convenient to give South Africa and Libya as examples of self-deweaponization. However, let us look at the backgrounds first. In South Africa the “whites” destroyed their nuclear weapons before handing over power to the “blacks.” They could not accept the fact that “black” people should—or could—possess them. The Libyans panicked after the West attacked Iraq and eliminated Saddam Hussein by falsely accusing that country of possessing nuclear weapons.

The U.S. was aware of Pakistan’s nuclear program but turned a blind eye to it during the original Afghan jihad. As soon as the Soviets were defeated, the U.S. Congress barred American military aid to Pakistan. Has the world made an unfair distinction between Pakistan’s and India’s pursuit of a nuclear program?

The Afghan War was a blessing for our nuclear program. It was not that the Western countries actively supported it but that they were too scared and occupied with the Russian invasion of Afghanistan and its future consequences to actively oppose it. Neither the Americans nor the British had a clue about the status of our program until 1990. After the Afghan War they slapped sanctions on us to extract concessions from [fomer Pakistani president] Benazir Bhutto’s government, but [former president] Ghulam Ishaq Khan and [former Army chief] Gen. Aslam Beg frustrated their nefarious designs.

There have been reports that the American Joint Special Operations Command wanted to assassinate you. How safe do you feel?

It is all pure humbug. Nobody ever tried to assassinate me. I traveled all over the world at a time when everyone knew that I was the architect of Pakistan’s nuclear weapons program. The fact is that Allah Almighty had not yet fixed the time and place for my demise. I never was, and never will be, afraid of so-called threats. When our predetermined time comes, Hazrat Izrael [the angel of death] will find us, no matter where we are hiding.

Have the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq made the world safer?

No, the world is not a safer place. Nationalists—call them fundamentalists or extremists if you like—have obtained a mobilization point with [the wars], have united, and are determined to negate the plans and designs of the Western countries.

The CIA chief, Leon Panetta, said earlier this year that Pakistan is now the headquarters of Al Qaeda. British leaders have declared Pakistan the exporter of global terrorism. Is this accurate, and, if so, what can Pakistan do to turn the tide?

The CIA chief—like his bosses and those before him—is a liar. There is no headquarters of Al Qaeda in Pakistan. Yes, Pakistan has become very unsafe due to foreign troops in Afghanistan. Our cohesion has been shattered. The spineless political leaders have turned our country—a nuclear and missile power with [180] million people—into a beggar state, a third-rate country. If there had been any pride left in our leaders, they would have responded appropriately and nobody would have dared to say such things in the first place.

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August 29, 2010

Muslims donate nearly $1 billion to Pakistan

Filed under: Asia,Islam,Pakistan,Religion,South Central Asia,Water — mungurk @ 18:54

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Muslims donate nearly $1 billion to Pakistan
Monday, 30 Aug, 2010

ISLAMABAD: Muslim countries, organizations and individuals have pledged nearly $1 billion in cash and relief supplies to help Pakistan respond to the worst floods in the nation’s history, the head of a group of Islamic states said Sunday.

The announcement came as floodwaters inundated a large town in Pakistan and authorities struggled to build new levees with clay and stone to prevent one of the area’s biggest cities from suffering the same fate.

Foreign countries have pledged hundreds of millions of dollars to help Pakistan cope with the floods, which first hit the country about a month ago after extremely heavy monsoon rains. But some officials had criticized the Muslim world for not contributing enough.

Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, head of the 57-member Organization of The Islamic Conference, likely sought to counter that criticism by announcing that Muslims have pledged nearly $1 billion. The pledges came from Muslim states, NGOs, OIC institutions and telethons held in Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar, he said.

”They have shown that they are one of the largest contributors of assistance both in kind and cash,” said Ihsanoglu of the various donors. He spoke during a joint press conference with Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi in Islamabad.

Ihsanoglu did not provide a breakdown of the pledges or say how much of the money would flow through the Pakistani government versus independent organizations.

Pakistani Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani criticized donations made to foreign NGOs rather than the Pakistani government Sunday, saying much of the money would be wasted ”Eighty per cent of the aid will not come to you directly,” said Gilani, referring to Pakistani citizens.

”It will come through their NGOs, and they will eat half of it,” he said during a press conference in his hometown of Multan.

The floods began in the mountainous northwest about a month ago and have moved slowly down the country toward the coast in the south, inundating vast swaths of prime agricultural land and damaging or destroying more than 1 million homes.

Floodwaters surged into the southern town of Sujawal on Sunday after breaking through a levee on the Indus River two days earlier, said Hadi Baksh, a disaster management official in southern Sindh province.

Most of the town’s 250,000 residents had already fled, but the damage to homes, clinics and schools added to the widespread devastation the floods have caused across Pakistan.

Authorities in Sujawal were trying to limit the flood damage, but the water level has already risen up to 5 feet (1.5 meters) in the center of town and 10 feet (3 meters) in the surrounding villages, said Anwarul Haq, the top official in Sujawal.

The floodwaters also threatened Thatta, a historic city of some 350,000 people who have mostly fled to higher ground. Thatta is the base of operations for local authorities trying to cope with a disaster that has overwhelmed the Pakistani government and international partners who have stepped in to help.

Authorities rushed to build makeshift levees across the road connecting Sujawal and Thatta, parts of which were already flooded, Baksh said.

”We are trying to plug the bridges at three different points to stop the water flow toward Thatta,” said Baksh. ”We are trying all our best efforts.”

Thatta is located about 75 miles (125 kilometers) southeast of the major coastal city of Karachi and 15 miles northwest of Sujawal.

Many of the people who fled Sujawal and Thatta headed to Makli, a hill just south of Thatta that contains a vast Muslim graveyard. About half a million flood victims are camped out on the hill, Baksh said. Most lack any form of shelter and are desperate for food and water.

”We don’t have water to drink, not to mention food, tents or any other facility,” said Mohammed Usman, a laborer who fled Sujawal several days ago and needed water to help cope with a painful kidney stone.

The United Nations, the Pakistani army and a host of local and international relief groups have rushed aid workers, medicine, food and water to the affected regions, but are unable to reach many of the 8 million people who are in need of emergency assistance.

The US said Saturday it would deploy an additional 18 helicopters to help with the relief effort. The US military is already operating 15 helicopters and three C-130 aircraft in the country, the US Embassy said in a statement. -AP

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August 26, 2010

Pakistan floods threaten 3 towns as levee fails

Filed under: Asia,Pakistan,South Central Asia — mungurk @ 10:03

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By ASHRAF KHAN, Associated Press Writer – Thu Aug 26, 6:39 am ET

KARACHI, Pakistan – Pakistani officials urged anyone left in three southern towns Thursday to evacuate immediately as floodwaters broke through a levee, endangering areas previously untouched by the country’s almost monthlong disaster.

The swollen Indus River broke through the Sur Jani embankment in southern Sindh province late Wednesday, threatening the towns of Sujawal, Daro and Mir Pur Batoro, said Mansoor Sheikh, a topgovernment official in Thatta district.

Most of the 400,000 people who live in the area are thought to have evacuated already, but those remaining were warned to flee, he said.

The floods that began almost a month ago with the onset of the monsoon and have ravaged a massive swath of Pakistan, from the mountainous north through to its agricultural heartland. More than 8 million people are in need of emergency assistance, and the U.S. and other nations have pledged hundreds of millions of dollars in aid.

The death toll in the floods stands around 1,500 people, but the disaster ranks as one of Pakistan’s worst ever because of the scale and massive economic damage, especially to the country’s vital agricultural sector. The U.N. said earlier this week that some 800,000 people are still cut off by the floods and accessible only by air.

As floodwaters receded in the north, they continued to wreak havoc in the south as bloated rivers coursed through.

Pakistan’s senior meteorologist, Arif Mahmood, said Thursday that high tides were preventing the Indus River from fully shedding excess water into the Arabian Sea.

“We hope these tides would fully subside after 48 hours,” he said.

The Pakistan government says about $800 million in emergency aid from the international community has been committed or pledged so far. But there are concerns about how the money will be spent by the government, which has a reputation for inefficiency and corruption.

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Pakistan orders nearly half a million to evacuate

Filed under: Pakistan,South Central Asia — mungurk @ 10:01

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by Hasan Mansoor – Thu Aug 26, 6:16 am ET

HYDERABAD, Pakistan (AFP) – Pakistan ordered nearly half a million people to evacuate towns on Thursday as rising floods threaten further havoc in a country straining to cope after its worst humanitarian disaster.

Torrential monsoon rains triggered massive floods affecting a fifth of the volatile country — an area roughly the size of England — where a US official warned that foreign aid workers are at risk from Taliban attacks.

Pakistan’s worst humanitarian catastrophe has affected more than 17 million people, while officials warn that millions are at risk from water-borne diseases and food shortages.

The National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) said 1,600 people have been confirmed dead and 2,366 wounded throughout Pakistan’s four provinces, Pakistan-administered Kashmir and the northern district of Gilgit-Baltistan.

In the southern province of Sindh, where the floods have washed away huge swathes of the rich farmland on which Pakistan’s struggling economy depends, a senior administration official warned that fresh floods threaten three towns.

“We have warned people of Sujawal, Mirpur Bathoro and Daro towns to leave for safer places in view of possible flooding there,” Hadi Bakhsh Kalhoro, the senior official in Thatta district, told AFP.

“Sujawal, Mirpur Bathoro and Daro towns have an approximate population of 400,000,” he said.

The Sindh irrigation minister said waters were also mounting pressure on a protective embankment in Garhi Khuda Bakhsh village, where former leaders Benazir Bhutto and her father, as well as her two younger brothers, are buried.

“We have strengthened the embankment because we don’t want mausoleums of our martyrs to be flooded,” the provincial minister, Saifullah Dharejo, told AFP.

The United Nations warned that 800,000 people in desperate need of aid had been cut off by the deluge across the country and appealed for more helicopters to deliver supplies to those people reachable only by air.

Authorities were also battling to save the city of Shahdadkot from surging waters after most of its 100,000 residents had been moved to safety.

Rescuers safely evacuated 90 percent of people from the nearby flooded town of Qubo Saeed Khan. Efforts were being made, however, to rescue thousands of others stranded in at least 25 villages surrounding the town.

“We are using helicopters and naval boats to evacuate these people,” local administration official Yaseen Shar told AFP.

In Washington, which has put Pakistan on the front line of efforts to beat back the Taliban in Afghanistan, a US official said Pakistani Taliban were planning to attack foreign aid workers engaged in the relief effort.

“According to information available to the US government, Tehreek-e-Taliban plans to conduct attacks against foreigners participating in the ongoing flood relief operations in Pakistan,” the official told AFP.

“Tehreek-e-Taliban also may be making plans to attack federal and provincial ministers in Islamabad,” the official warned.

The Pakistani Taliban have previously denounced all foreign aid for victims of the country’s catastrophic flooding.

The Tehreek-e-Taliban faction is a key architect of extremist violence that has killed more than 3,580 people across Pakistan in three years.

However, US officials say they have encountered no hostilities in flying aid to stricken parts of Pakistan, where anti-Americanism runs deep.

On the ground, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) says 4.5 million people remain in urgent need of shelter.

Officials warned yet more Pakistanis could be affected in the fertile southern plains of Sindh province, which face the risk of further flooding in the next few days as the major Indus river threatens to burst its banks.

In Kotri, a western suburb of Hyderabad, the river had swollen from its normal width of 200 to 300 metres (yards) to almost 3.5 kilometres (two miles), according to a local army spokesman.

Pakistan officials are in talks with the International Monetary Fund in Washington amid reports Islamabad is asking the fund to ease the terms of a loan worth nearly 11 billion dollars.

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August 24, 2010

German man faces terrorism charges in US plot

Filed under: Americas,Asia,Counterterrorism,Europe,Germany,North America,Pakistan,South Central Asia,Terrorism,USA,Western Europe,groups.Islamic Jihad Union — mungurk @ 09:30

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BERLIN—German prosecutors say they have charged a man with membership in a group that plotted to attack U.S. targets in the European country.

Prosecutors announced Monday the man identified only as Salih S. was charged Aug. 12 with supporting a terrorist organization and membership in a terrorist organization.

They say the German citizen is alleged to be a member of the radical Islamic Jihad Union who trained at a terrorist camp in Pakistan. He was first arrested in 2008 in Turkey and extradited in July.

Salih S. is accused of procuring GPS devices, night vision goggles and other items for Adem Yilmaz

Yilmaz was convicted with three others earlier this year of plotting a thwarted attack that a judge said could have killed large numbers of U.S. soldiers and civilians.

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August 13, 2010

Indian couple slain in ‘honor killing’

Filed under: Asia,Hinduism,India,Religion,South Central Asia — mungurk @ 19:32

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New Delhi, India (CNN) — Asha Saini and Yogesh Kumar were in love and wanted to get married. But Saini’s family did not approve of Kumar: As a taxi driver, they said, he did not have the right kind of job. But more importantly for them, he was from a lower caste.

Despite their objections, Saini, 19, kept seeing Kumar, 20. To keep them apart, her father and uncle tortured and killed the couple, police say.

“We killed them because we were against their relationship. If someone comes to your house to meet your niece at midnight, what more do you do?” her uncle, Om Prakash, told reporters in televised remarks outside a police station in the Indian capital following his arrest.

The victims were one of five sets of couples killed in one week in India in June. Some have dubbed the cases “honor killings” because the families feel they have to act against their children — usually their daughters — to save the family’s reputation.

Police say the family tried everything to discourage the relationship, including arranging Saini’s engagement to another man.

In the end, investigators say the family turned to violence. A neighbor who lives next door to the crime scene said he heard the terrible screams in the night — and also got a glimpse of what was causing them.

“Big, thick sticks were being used. The girl was screaming, kill me but leave him,” said Umesh Kumar, who is not related to Yogesh. “They were beating her so much, the blood was like a fountain coming out of her head.”

Kumar said he tried to help but his phone wasn’t working and none of the other neighbors would lend him a phone to call police. None of the others called the police themselves.

“It isn’t our business anyway. They should have obeyed the parent’s wishes. That is just the way it is,” said another neighbor, who did not want to be named.

Authorities have charged Prakash and Saini’s father, Suraj Kumar Saini, with murder. Neither has entered a plea, and court cases are pending.

“The most disturbing part of this case is that the girl and the boy were killed by the relative of the girl,” said Delhi Deputy Commissioner of Police (Northwest District) Narendra Bundela.

In some villages, families can be ostracized if they cannot make their children obey local marital tradition. But the killings have emerged in big cities, like New Delhi, and are making headlines in the national press.

It is not clear if there has been an increase in these types of killings or a rise in reporting of them. India’s Supreme Court is pressing the northern states where these killings are more frequent to take action and to specify what they are doing to curb the problem.

The Indian Cabinet met Thursday to discuss stricter punishment for those involved in “honor killings.” A panel of ministers will now consider changes to criminal law that would make groups that order these killings liable for murder charges. The changes would attempt to rein in traditional village councils that sometimes hold summary trials and order punishment in cases of inter-caste marriages.

Dr. Ranjana Kumari, who heads the Center for Social Research in Delhi, said the cases were extreme examples of the clash of modern India versus the strict interpretation of ancient traditions.

The honor of a family traditionally resides in its daughters, and when the girl goes against their wishes, it is seen as the ultimate disrespect, Kumari said.

“Here the subordination for a girl is, even now, by and large almost total. What you wear, what you study, where you live, who you marry, everything has to be decided by the family,” she said.

Renu, Kumar’s 27-year-old sister, said he was her closest living relative since their parents died a few years ago.

“I lost everything. I am left alone,” she said, as tears welled up in her eyes. “This pain will last a lifetime. Still I want justice. What has happened to my brother should happen to the killers also. They should hang.”

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June 12, 2010

Mumbai Police on alert over plot to free Kasab

Filed under: Asia,Counterterrorism,India,Pakistan,South Central Asia,Terrorism — mungurk @ 23:03

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Mumbai Police on alert over plot to free Kasab

Headlines Today Bureau

Mumbai, June 10, 2010

The Mumbai Police has issued an alert after a tip-off from central agencies that terrorists might try to secure the release of 26/11 case convict Ajmal Kasab.

The police have received an alert that terrorists might attempt to hijack a plane and take hostages to press for Kasab’s release.

The alert warned that the hijacking attempt could be made over the next 10 days.

On May 6, Kasab was sentenced to death by the trial court for his role in the November 2008 Mumbai terror attacks. He has appealed against the verdict in the Bombay High Court.

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June 7, 2010

Pakistan Terrorists may target minorities in another attack

Filed under: Asia,Counterterrorism,Islam,Pakistan,Religion,South Central Asia,Terrorism — mungurk @ 10:35

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By Express / APPMay 30, 2010

LAHORE: Interior Minister Rehman Malik said that intelligence information was warned of another terror attack on other minorities.

Talking to the media in Lahore, he said that terrorists hiding in South Punjab have started to come out in the open. The Interior Minister said that the banned outfits of Lashkar-e-Jhangvi and Jash-e-Muhammad are part of TTP and Al-Qaeda, adding that 29 banned organizations have been supporting terrorists inside the country.

He also condemned the terrorist attacks on two places of worship of the Ahmedi community on Friday, adding that it is state’s responsibility to protect the minorities.

Jammat-i-Ahmedia’s demand for security

The Jammat-i-Ahmedia demanded that the government provide security to the Ahmedi minority sect on Sunday.

Addressing a press conference in Lahore director Anjuman-i-Ahmedia Mirza Ghulam Ahmed said that they did not demand compensation from the government but it was the duty of the government to protect them.

He said that in Model Town the CCTV cameras installed in the worship place did not work due to loadshedding. However, the CCTV footage of the Garhi Shaho attack was handed over to the police. He said that security was not sufficient in both worship places and only 4 policemen were deployed.

He also said that the banners were displayed against their community at Mall Road and Garhi Shaho. Jamat Ahmadiyya Spokesman Ghulam Ahmad said that the government had taken Friday’s terror attacks very seriously. He was talking to media in Lahore.

Earlier, the Punjab Police claimed to have made headway in the investigation of terror attacks on Ahmedis worship places during Friday prayers.

Briefing the media at Central Police Office, the Punjab Police Spokesman DIG Akram Naeem Bharokah said the police arrested two terrorists from Model Town, namely Abdullah alias Muhammad son of Atta Ullah Chachar of Saje Village Rahim Yar Khan, and Muaz in injured condition while two terrorists Mansoor and Durwaish were killed during police encounter at Garhi Shahu.

It was disclosed in the preliminary investigation, he said, all the four terrorists were teenagers having links with Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, while a militant trainer Muneeb trained all of them at Miran Shah, North Waziristan Agency. Bharokah said the terrorists came to Lahore from Miran Shah via Bannu district through a public bus on May 21 and stayed in Braili Mosque near Batti Chowk.

The same day they divided into two groups and conducted reconnaissance of their respective targets under the guidance of their accomplices over here. Later,they kept on changing their hide-outs. On May 28, their local accomplices dropped Abdullah and Muaz at 87C Model Town, and Mansoor and Durwaish at Ahmed is Jamaat Khana in Garhi Shahu, besides providing them ammunition, hand grenades and explosive jackets at around 1:30pm.

Both the groups attacked their targets at around 1:35pm when the Ahmedis were busy in their adoration, killing 52 people in Garhi Shahu and 27 in Model Town. While 107 people received injuries- 73 in Garhi Shahu and 34 in Model Town, he maintained. The DIG said the terrorists also inflicted bullet injuries to nine policemen including an SP and ASP of Civil Lines Police at Garhi Shahu and an Inspector at Model Town.

To a question, he said, the terrorist network is very complex and they organize different groups for different targets, therefore, it will be pre-mature to talk about presence of other terrorists in the Punjab capital city.However, the initial investigation would prove to be veryhelpful to trace and dismantle the terrorists network, he added.

He said, the police also recovered 18 grenade, 19 detonators, four kilograms explosive, one full live explosive jacket and one half live jacket, one bull action kalashnikov,55 live bullets, seven magazines, 177 bullet rounds, six primacards from the terrorists at 87C Model Town, and two kalashnikovs and four hand grenades at Garhi Shahu.

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June 4, 2010

Burma Takes Steps Toward Nuclear Weapons

Filed under: Asia,Military,Myanmar/Burma,South Central Asia,WMD — mungurk @ 10:16

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Report says Burma is taking steps toward nuclear weapons program

By Joby Warrick

Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, June 4, 2010

The smuggled evidence shows Burma’s military rulers taking concrete steps toward obtaining atomic weapons, according to an analysis co-written by an independent nuclear expert. But it also points to enormous gaps in Burmese technical know-how and suggests that the country is many years from developing an actual bomb.

The analysis, commissioned by the dissident groupDemocratic Voice of Burma, concludes with “high confidence” that Burma is seeking nuclear technology, and adds: “This technology is only for nuclear weapons and not for civilian use or nuclear power.”

“The intent is clear, and that is a very disturbing matter for international agreements,” said the report, co-authored by Robert E. Kelley, a retired senior U.N. nuclear inspector. Officials for the dissident group provided copies of the analysis to the broadcaster al-Jazeera, The Washington Post and a few other news outlets.

Hours before the report’s release, Sen. James Webb (D-Va.) announced that he was canceling a trip to Burma, also known as Myanmar, to await the details. “It is unclear whether these allegations have substantive merit,” Webb, who chairs a Senate Foreign Relations panel on East Asia, said in a statement released by his office. “[But] until there is further clarification on these matters, I believe it would be unwise and potentially counterproductive for me to visit Burma.”

There have been numerous allegations in the past about secret nuclear activity by Burma’s military rulers, accounts based largely on ambiguous satellite images and uncorroborated stories by defectors. But the new analysis is based on documents and hundreds of photos smuggled out of the country by Sai Thein Win, a Burmese major who says he visited key installations and attended meetings at which the new technology was demonstrated.

The trove of insider material was reviewed by Kelley, a U.S. citizen who served at two of the Energy Department’s nuclear laboratories before becoming a senior inspector for the International Atomic Energy Agency. Kelley co-wrote the opposition group’s report with Democratic Voice of Burma researcher Ali Fowle.

Among the images provided by the major are technical drawings of a device known as a bomb-reduction vessel, which is chiefly used in the making of uranium metal for fuel rods and nuclear-weapons components. The defector also released a document purporting to show a Burmese government official ordering production of the device, as well as photos of the finished vessel.

Other photographs show Burmese military officials and civilians posing beside a device known as a vacuum glove box, which also is used in the production of uranium metal. The defector describes ongoing efforts on various phases of a nuclear-weapons program, from uranium mining to work on advanced lasers used in uranium enrichment. Some of the machinery used in the Burmese program appears to have been of Western origin.

The report notes that the Burmese scientists appear to be struggling to master the technology and that some processes, such as laser enrichment, likely far exceed the capabilities of the impoverished, isolated country.

“Photographs could be faked,” it says, “but there are so many and they are so consistent with other information and within themselves that they lead to a high degree of confidence that Burma is pursuing nuclear technology.”

A Washington-based nuclear weapons analyst who reviewed the report said the conclusions about Burma’s nuclear intentions appeared credible. “It’s just too easy to hide a program like this,” said Joshua H. Pollack, a consultant to the U.S. government.

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