October 1 – 15

 

Russia Taking Part in International Exhibition of Security Technologies in Abu Dhabi
ABU DHABI – The International Security & Safety: Middle East – 2003 exhibition has opened in the capital of the United Arab Emirates, Abu Dhabi.
179 companies from 24 countries are taking part in the event that will last until October 8th. Russia participates in the exposition for the first time and is represented by 9 companies. (Full Story)

Attempts to Frustrate Middle East Peace Process
MOSCOW – At least 19 people, including 5 children, were killed and about 60 wounded in a terrorist attack on October 4th in the Israeli city of Haifa. Russia expresses its deep condolences to the families of the victims and sympathy to the injured, reads the statement of the Russian Foreign Ministry’s official spokesman Alexander Yakovenko. (Full Story)

Kamchatka Giantic Volcano Livening Up
PETROPAVLOVSK-KAMCHATSKI — Activity of the Klyuchevskoi volcano, situated in Kamchatka (a peninsula in the northeast of Russia’s Asian part, washed by the Bering Sea on the east and the Okhotsk Sea on the west) is increasing, Yury Demyanchuk, a representative of the Kamchatka Research & Development Methodological Seismology Survey Party, has been quoted as saying. (Full Story)

Chechen Election Safe from Uncompromising Terrorists’ Allies?
REYKJAVIK — The military promise to avert any incidents during the elections in Chechnya.
     "All polling stations are under strict control, and we shall prevent any incidents," Colonel General Valentin Korabelnikov, chief of the Main Intelligence Department of the Russian Armed Forces’ General Staff, said in Reykjavik, where a delegation from the Defence Ministry made a brief stay on their way to Canada. (Full Story)

Public Safety Academy Launches in Mosul
MOSUL, Iraq – A new academy designed to combine training facilities for all public safety agencies throughout Mosul opened last Saturday.
     The Mosul Public Safety Academy will house the training for all public safety occupations in Mosul, including law enforcement, fire fighting, emergency medical assistance, traffic violations, investigations and traffic investigations. Before this academy, public safety training sites were scattered around the city. A unified school ensures all students receive similar, equal training.
     One year and more than $100,000 was spent building the academy.
A host of leaders of the 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) and from the Mosul government came to applaud those involved in the academy construction and offer their godsends to the students. (Full Story)

4th Infantry Division Soldiers Capture Abduction Suspects
BAGHDAD, Iraq – Soldiers from the 4th Infantry Division captured three individuals Monday who are suspected to be involed in the kidnap and murder of two US servicemen in June.
     A fourth suspect was killed in a gun battle that ensued when the red Capri sedan the four were riding in attempted to run a Coalition traffic control point near Ad Dujayl.
The vehicle is believed to be the same car that had fled the scene of a detonated improvised explosive device aimed at coalition forces two hours earlier.
     During the subsequent search of the vehicle, two M16 assault rifles were found which were subsequently identified as the weapons assigned to Sgt. 1st Class Gladimir Philippe, 37, of Linden, N.J., and Pfc. Kevin Ott, 27, of Columbus, Ohio, members of the 3/18th FA, Fort Sill, Okla.
     The two soldiers are believed to have been abducted while guarding a cache of captured explosives near Halabsa, a village located in an area where Saddam Hussein’s Fedayeen loyalists once were headquartered. The soldiers’ remains were located on June 28 in Taji, Iraq.
     An AK-47 automatic assault weapon, an Iraqi military uniform, and other equipment were also found in the vehicle. The murder suspects are currently in custody of the 4th ID.

Russia Speaks Out
Before meeting with U.S. President Bush at Camp David, Russian President Vladimir Putin visited New York where he spent time with 2 baseball teams (one from Russia and the other from Harlem), spoke at Columbia University, had meetings at the New York Stock Exchange, celebrated the opening of a new gas station owned by Russian oil giant LUKoil and addressed the U.N. “Terrorism is a challenge to the planet’s security and economic future,“ said Putin at the 58th session of the General Assembly. “Three years ago, I addressed the Millennium Summit here and said that the United Nations’ common enemy was terrorism.
     “Was Russia’s voice then heard in 2000? Did everyone then understand the seriousness of this threat? And were our joint actions sufficient? (Full Story)

Iceland and Russia to Boost Trade Cooperation
REYKJAVIK, October 5, 2003. RIA Novosti by Olga Semyonova – Russian Defence Minister Sergei Ivanov will discuss with the Icelandic Foreign Minister issues of bilateral cooperation, the Russian minister announced in Reykjavik, where he made a short stop on his way to Canada.
     "Iceland is an important country in Europe," it actively participates in the work of regional organizations, including the Northern Council, Ivanov said.
     Together with the Icelandic Foreign Minister, who simultaneously heads the Defence Ministry, Ivanov recently took part in the session of northern countries’ defence ministersheld in Sweden, he recalled. The next such meeting may be held in Russia, he added.
     Cooperation between Iceland and the Russian Federation develops on the basis of the Declaration on the grounds of relations between Iceland and Russia signed in 1994, the Russian Defence Ministry reported. It focuses on development of trade and economic contacts. Military cooperation is practically absent, though in 2001-2002 two Russian ships visited Reykjavik.

The Security Wall
MOSCOW (RIA Novosti) – In connection with the Saturday terrorist act in Haifa, Israel has confirmed its intention to continue construction of the so-called security wall on the border with Palestinian territories.
     "Until the Palestinian administration starts real fight against terrorism, until its leader Yasser Arafat cuts down channels supporting terrorists, including financial ones, Israel will have to take all possible measures to protect its citizens," reads the press release of theIsraeli Embassy to Moscow. (Full Story)

Russian, Dutch Scientists Optimistic About Outlook for Cooperation
HAGUE — The two-day symposium devoted to the 10th anniversary of Russian-Dutch cooperation in scientific research and technologies closed in Hague. It was attended by about 100 scientists from both countries.
     Russian-Dutch cooperation has achieved the greatest success in chemistry, said member of the Russian delegation, First Deputy Minister of Industry, Science and Technology Andrei Fursenko. It includes creation of special membranes to divide chemical omponents, creation of nanocomposites, theoretical research of new materials with pre-determined magnetic and mechanical properties. The Russian Academy of Sciences and the Dutch Institute of Applied Research cooperate successfully in these areas. (Full Story)

Military Investigates Malaria Liberia Outbreak Link
WASHINGTON – Military health officials want to know why almost a third of the members of a U.S. quick- reaction force that recently served in Liberia came down with malaria.
     An amphibious U.S. task force — composed primarily of Marines — was dispatched to the West African nation in early August to help establish peace so humanitarian aid couldbe distributed to a fearful populace wracked by the effects of civil war. Mission accomplished, the American task force left for home Oct. 1. (Full Story)

Bulk of Iraq Reconstruction Monies ‘Will Come From Iraqis,’ Rumsfeld Says
WASHINGTON — The American taxpayer will not have to foot the entire bill for rebuilding post-Saddam Iraq, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said here today.
     The $20 billion for Iraqi security and reconstruction contained within President Bush’s $87 billion supplemental budget proposal for fiscal 2004 now before Congress "is not ntended to cover all of Iraq’s needs," Rumsfeld noted to reporters at a Pentagon press conference.
     "The bulk of the funds for Iraq’s reconstruction will come from Iraqis," explained Rumsfeld, who was accompanied at the briefing by Air Force Gen. Richard B. Myers, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. (Full Story)

Commission to Investigate Power Seizure in Chechen-Ingush Republic
TSENTOROI village (Chechnya), October 6, 2003 (RIA Novosti) – "I am sure that there will be no second round in the republic’s elections, the winner will be known today," said Akhmad Kadyrov in his home village of Tsentoroi in the Kurchaloi district of Chechnya on Sunday.
     According to the preliminary data, he is the certain leader in the Sunday elections for the Chechen president.
     Akhmad Kadyrov, who held the post of the head of the Chechen administration, stated that his first decree would be "the decree on setting up a commission for investigating the crimes connected with the power seizure in the Chechen-Ingush republic (1991). A commission will also be set up to investigate kidnappings," underscored Kadyrov.
     In his opinion, in order to restore Chechnya in the shortest period of time "it is necessary to grant the republic the broadest autonomy." Akhmad Kadyrov expressed the regret that some international organisations, including the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council ofEurope, had not sent their observers to the elections. "It is necessary to show them that the people of Chechnya want peace and take an active part in the elections," said Kadyrov.
     He also refuted the possibility of any talks with terrorists, in particular with separatist leader Aslan Maskhadov.

Media’s Focus After Interim Report Surprises Top Arms Inspector
WASHINGTON – The man leading the search for weapons of mass destruction in Iraq expressed surprise here today that media reports focused mainly on what his team has yetto find and not on what it has turned up so far after his Oct. 2 interim report to Congress.
     David Kay, chief U.S. arms inspector, told host Tony Snow on the "Fox News Sunday" that while his team indeed has yet to find illicit weapons, "I’m sort of amazed that what was powerful information about both (the former Iraqi regime’s) intent and their actual activities that were not known and were hidden from (United Nations) inspectors seems not to have made it to the press. (Full Story)

Iraqi Soldiers Assume Responsibilities in Guarding Country
MOSUL, Iraq — Coalition soldiers relinquished security and guarding responsibilities of Objective Jaguar, an ammunition supply point, to the soldiers from Delta Company, part of the Iraq Civil Defense Corps in a ceremony here Oct. 1.
     The 12-square-kilometer supply point had been guarded by 2nd Battalion, 320th Field Artillery Regiment, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) for the last five months.
     "The mission to secure the ammo supply point is important. It’s larger then the city of Mosul," said Lt. Col. Kevin Felix, commander of 2nd Battalion, 320th Field Artillery Regiment. (Full Story)

Israel’s Counter-Terror Operations Foil Attack
The Tel Aviv District Court handed a 14-year prison sentence to a would-be suicide bomber who was intercepted before he could blow himself up in a crowded seaside café. Rifat Mukdi, a Hamas operative, was wearing a 15-pound bomb belt when he was stopped by a security guard at the entrance of the café. After fleeing, he was pursued by guards from the U.S. Embassy and then hit by a passing car. (Full Story)

NORTHCOM Chief Says U.S. Better Prepared Against Terror
WASHINGTON, Oct. 2, 2003 — The United States is better prepared to face terrorist threats today and the U.S. Northern Command will continue to improve U.S. capabilities, the head of that unified command said today.
     During an interview in the Pentagon, Air Force G en. Ralph Eberhart said Northern Command brings a focus on planning and training to the homeland defense mission that was missing before. (Full Story)

A Third Suspect Eyed in Espionage Investigation
WASHINGTON – A third person possibly tied to espionage at the military detention center at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba — this one a civilian contractor who worked as a translator — was charged Tuesday with making false, fictitious or fraudulent statements regarding computer disks he carried during a flight from Egypt.
     Ahmed Fathy Mehalba, a naturalized citizen of Egyptian decent, was arrested on Monday Sept. 29 after arriving at Boston’s Logan Airport Monday afternoon aboard a flight from Cairo that stopped at Milan, Italy, on the way to Boston from Egypt. (Full Story)

Kay: Saddam Hid Weapons Programs from U.N. Inspectors
WASHINGTON – While weapons of mass destruction have yet to be found in Iraq, Saddam Hussein clearly intended to produce them and hid the program from United Nations inspectors, the chief U.S. weapons inspector said here Oct. 2.
     Dr. David Kay met with reporters after reporting to Congress on his inspection team’s efforts.
     Kay cited "substantial evidence of an intent" by Saddam and other senior Iraqi officials to produce such weapons, and emphasized it’s premature to conclude none will be found as his team continues its mission. (Full Story)

Israel Strikes at Terrorist Training Camp in Syria After Another Bloody Massacre Inside Israel
A 29-year-old Arab-Palestinian woman from Jenin (and a member of Islamic Jihad) managed to get past the Arab security guard at Maxim’s, a popular seaside family restaurant in Haifa, Israel wearing high explosives around her chest area. After gaining entrance to the restaurant, she detonated the explosives, murdering 19 innocent people, of which many were young children and their parents, and wounded over 60 other patrons who had gathered for lunch. The bomb did extensive damage, mostly due to the shrapnel (screws and nails) fired from it. So bloody was the attack that Israeli officials had to scrape body parts off the ceiling of the restaurant. Two small children, their parents and their grandmother were among the victims, effectively destroying 3 generations, which was their entire family. This attack also hit during a time where families spend time together in quiet eating and prayer together, during a special day known as the Holy Sabbath. (Full Story)

Rumsfeld Defends National Security Council’s
Role in Iraq
WASHINGTON – Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld downplayed the hoopla surrounding a memo from National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice that explains the National Security Council will assume a broader role in coordinating operations in Iraq.
     Rumsfeld said Oct. 7 that he hadn’t seen the memo, leading to media speculation that the Defense Department was being sidelined. The secretary quashed those rumors during an Oct. 8 press conference with NATO Secretary-General George Robertson in Colorado Springs, Colo. (Full Story)

NATO Commander Says Troops May Be Out of Bosnia Next Year
WASHINGTON – The NATO military mission in Bosnia and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia could end and the mission in Kosovo may be scaled back, said Marine Gen. James Jones, the alliance’s supreme allied commander.
     That’s conceivable, he said, based on the changes that have taken place in the Balkans in the last year. Jones, also the head of U.S. European Command, spoke at the Pentagon today following a NATO ministerial meeting in Colorado Springs, Colo., Oct. 8 and 9. (Full Story)

OPEC Does Not Intend to Increase Oil Price Ranges
VIENNA, October 11 (RIA Novosti) – OPEC does not intend to increase the limits of oil pricing structure, announced OPEC President, Vice-Premier of Qatar Abdullah bin Hamad al Attiyah. His statement was disseminated through OPEC Secretary General’s office in Vienna.
     Earlier, President of Venezuela Hugo Chavez and Venezuelan Energy Minister Rafael Ramirez publicly demanded that the OPEC leadership should raise oil prices to US $25-32 per barrel, the measure currently not supported by other OPEC members.
     "During the discussions of the decision to reduce quotas on production and exports of crude oil by 0.9 million barrels a day, adopted by the 127th Vienna conference in September this year, OPEC received full support of the majority of large non-OPEC oil producers, primarily Russia, which confirmed its interest in preserving the existing oil pricing structure at the level of US $22-28 per barrel," said the OPEC president.
     "In the future, OPEC intends to continue consulting with large non-OPEC oil producers before making any serious decisions on pricing policies because world oil prices are determined not only by OPEC, but also by previously mentioned countries," he added.

U.S.-Hungarian Partnership for Freedom
WASHINGTON, – Deputy Defense Secretary Paul D. Wolfowitz praised the U.S.-Hungarian military partnership during a statue dedication ceremony Saturday honoring a Revolutionary War-era Hungarian patriot who had fought – and died – for America.
     Wolfowitz saluted Col. Michael Kovats de Fabricy as "a true hero" and "a man who gave his life for American freedom." Hungarian Ambassador to the U.S. Andras Simonyi, Hungarian Minister of Defense Ferenc Juhasz and other senior officials also attended the ceremony.
     The Hungarian cavalryman and his horse were both killed at the Battle of Charleston, S.C., in 1779. (Full Story)

Russia and Brazil Have Common Position on Fight Against Terrorism
BRASILIA, October 11 RIA Novosti by Olga Semyonova – During a joint press conference, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov and Brazilian Defense Minister Jose Viegas announced that Brazil and Russia have a clear and precise understanding that terrorism is a global threat.
     "Brazil maintains a constructive position on this issue and understands the problems we have been facing in Chechnya, realizing that we are dealing with international terrorism there," stated the Russian defense minister.
     At the same time, Sergei Ivanov underlined that recently the situation in Chechnya had been gradually improving, thanks, in part, to the recently held presidential elections in the republic. "This subject of the Russian Federation has gained a legitimate constitutional authority," he stressed.
     "As to bilateral cooperation in the sphere of the fight against terrorism, we have outlined new methods of countering this global threat," said Mr. Ivanov. However, he refused to reveal the details of the discussions.
     "The fact that there is no terrorism on Brazilian soil at present does not mean that we have been neglecting this problem," stated Jose Viegas in his turn. "I would like to emphasize that we are willing to fight against all forms of terrorism, regardless of where and how they reveal themselves," he said.

U.S. Troop Strength in Korea Can Be Cut, Pace Says
WASHINGTON – U.S. troop strength in South Korea can be reduced because of technological advances in military art and lessons learned from combat in Afghanistan and Iraq, the nation’s No. 2 military officer said last week.
     "I personally believe that the numbers of U.S. troops in Korea can, in fact, be reduced, at the same time that the U.S. capabilities to defend Korea are increased," Marine Gen. Peter Pace, vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff told attendees at the Council on U.S.-Korean Security Studies here.
     DoD is assessing its global force posture, or "footprint," Pace explained, as part of Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld’s mandate to transform the U.S. military into a leaner, meaner, and more agile fighting force for the 21st century. (Full Story)

Russia Will Not Violate International Laws in its Cooperation With Iran
BRASILIA — During a joint press conference with his Brazilian counterpart Jose Viegas, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov announced that Russia would continue trade and economic cooperation with Iran in all its legitimate forms.
     Sergei Ivanov repudiated all attempts to present Russian-Iranian cooperation in the sphere of peaceful uses of atomic energy as assistance with Tehran’s nuclear weapons development program (Russian experts are constructing a nuclear power plant in Bushehr in the south of Iran). (Full Story)

Seized Iraqi Assets Benefit Ninevah Schools
MOSUL, Iraq – Coalition soldiers and non-governmental organizations partnered to rebuild more than 800 schools in the Ninevah Province, current home of the 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault).
     The division’s Commander’s Emergency Relief Program, which draws from Iraqi government funds seized after the first Gulf War, has to date spent $2,040,513 on 330 completed school projects including the recently opened Ninevah Province Education Headquarters in Mosul. (Full Story)

Taliban Strike Police Facility in Southeastern Afghanistan
At least 100 heavily armed suspected Taliban fighters have attacked a police station in southeastern Afghanistan. There are conflicting casualty reports. The Associated Press quotes a district official in Zabul province who said three policemen were killed and eight captured. Reuters news agency quotes a deputy provincial governor as saying eight policemen were killed and two others wounded.
     Witnesses said the attackers took their dead with them when they retreated into the mountainous region. But those accounts could not be confirmed, and the number of Taliban casualties was not clear. (Full Story)

Israel Launches Operation to Stop Palestinian Weapons-Smuggling into Gaza from Egypt
In another effort to prevent terrorist attacks against Israeli citizens, Israel’s defense forces launched an operation to stop the large amount of rocket launchers, high-powered automatic weapons, bomb making materials and other types of weapons flow into the Palestinian areas of Israel. The IDF located various smuggling tunnels, and while working on the demolition of one of the Palestinian weapons-smuggling tunnels, they were confronted by Palestinian gunmen. The well armed gunmen stayed in a gun battle for hours in the largest army raid in half a year in the Rafah refugee camp.
     The raid, which began around midnight Thursday, was part of stepped-up military activity in response to last weekend’s homicide bombing that killed 20 Israelis in a restaurant in the port city of Haifa. It was aimed at uncovering weapons-smuggling tunnels along Gaza’s border with Egypt. (Full Story)

Investigators Lead Effort to Prevent Terror Attacks in Iraq
Security was in full force Sunday when two men drove cars filled with explosives toward the Baghdad hotel. Iraqi officers and U.S. soldiers opened fire as the terrorists headed through a protected area preventing them from reaching the hotel. The bombers’ cars exploded, killing 7 (2 policemen and 5 civilians) who were near the vehicles and wounded 40.
     The car bombing attacks against the Baghdad hotel were prevented because of the new security that has been put in place. U.S. Army Col. Peter Mansoor said that when the Iraqi police and U.S. soldiers noticed the behavior of the two cars, they fired upon them, which caused them to detonate about 100 meters from the Hotel. The explosion, though deadly and vicious, could have been much worse, but said Mansoor, the “security system worked exactly as it was suppose to work.” The terrorist attack near the hotel, however is only one of four in Iraq in the last few days. (Full Story)