|
|
|
|
|
‘Merchant of Death’ gets 25-year jail in US
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Blast in Yemen kills 2 ultras
China freezes assets of six militants; points finger at Pak
Malabar, Indo-US Navy drill, begins today
Syrian troops, tanks battle rebels
Malawi’s President Mutharika dead
|
|
‘Merchant of Death’ gets 25-year jail in US
New York, April 6 A former Soviet Air Force officer, Bout, dubbed as 'Merchant of Death', has also been handed down a sentence of five years of supervised release and fined USD 15 million. Prosecutors had sought the life sentence for the 45-year-old arms dealer. Bout ran an international arms-trafficking ring and is said to have supplied weapons to many dictators who used it against their own civilians. "Bout has been international arms trafficking enemy number one for many years, arming some of the most violent conflicts around the globe," Manhattan US Attorney Preet Bharara said. He said the sentence is a "fitting coda for this career arms trafficker of the most dangerous order" and who has finally been brought to justice in an American court for agreeing to provide a staggering number of military grade weapons to an avowed terrorist organisation committed to killing Americans. Meanwhile, Russia today condemned the sentencing of Bout as "baseless and biased" and said it would do all it could to ensure his return home. "The Russian foreign ministry views the US court verdict sentencing Viktor Bout to 25 years in prison as baseless and biased," the ministry said in a statement. Bout was convicted in November last year on all four counts for which
he was charged after a three-week jury trial before US District Judge Shira Scheindlin. He was arrested in Thailand in March 2008 and subsequently charged in a four-count indictment in April 2008. At trial, he was convicted of conspiring to kill US nationals, officers and employees, conspiring to acquire and export anti-aircraft missiles and conspiring to provide material support to a designated foreign terrorist organisation — the Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias
de Colombia. Bout ran an international arms-trafficking network that officials said armed Al-Qaida and the Taliban, and provided weapons for civil wars in Africa.
— PTI
|
||
Aden, April 6 "Two suicide bombers belonging to the Al-Qaida terrorist network were killed when their motorbike exploded... early today in Mansura," the ministry's news website 26sep.net said. "The bomb-laden motorbike exploded with the two suicide bombers whose bodies were left in pieces before they managed to carry out their suicide attack that targetted a branch of the political security services in Mansura," it quoted a security official as saying. No other casualties
were reported. The ministry said the security services had identified one of the two men as Fawaz al-Subaihi, who lived in the neighbourhood, while an investigation was ongoing to identify the second. A witness in Mansura, who identified Subaihi from his remains, told AFP that the man owned a shop in the area and "has no links to Al-Qaida." The same witness said that the other man's body was "torn to pieces." Al-Qaida's branch in Yemen, the self-proclaimed Partisans of Sharia (Islamic law), has exploited the decline in central government control that accompanied Arab Spring-inspired protests that eventually forced president Ali Abdullah Saleh to cede power. But suicide attacks targetting security forces have intensified since his successor, Abdrabuh Mandur Hadi, took office in February and vowed to continue the fight against Al-Qaida. On the day Hadi took the oath as Yemen's new president, 26 Republican Guard troops were killed in a suicide attack on a presidential palace in the restive country's south-east. Al-Qaida later claimed responsibility for the attack.
— (AFP)
|
||
|
China freezes assets of six militants; points finger at Pak Beijing, April 6 Chinese police today published a list of six militants, who were stated to be native Uyghurs. Without directly naming Pakistan, a statement issued by Chinese Ministry of Public Security said they had spent time in "a certain south Asian country", where they reportedly underwent training in terror attacks, suicide bombings and knife attacks. All six are "core members" of the banned East Turkistan Islamic Movement, (ETIM), it said. "The ministry hoped that foreign governments and their law enforcing departments would help to arrest the six and hand them over to Chinese authorities," an official of Ministry was quoted as saying by state-run Xinhua news agency. "The group is the most direct and real threat China faces for its security", he said. Asked at a media briefing here today whether the Public Security statement referred to Pakistan, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman, Hong Lei said the question should be referred to relevant Ministry. But at the same time he said ETIM is a US Security Council listed terrorist organisation and "it is universally recgonised in the international community as an organisation has engaged in lot of activities of crime and violence".
— PTI
|
||
|
Malabar, Indo-US Navy drill, begins today
Washington/Chennai, April 6
"The United States and India share common values and seafaring traditions. Our navies are natural partners, and we look forward to continuing to strengthen the bonds and personal relationships between our navies," it said. A regularly scheduled naval field training exercise that has grown in scope and complexity over the years, Malabar 2012 is the latest in a continuing series of exercises conducted to advance multinational maritime relationships and mutual security issues, the 7th Fleet said in a statement. Among the vessels that will dot the oceanline near and off Chennai would be aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson, from whose deck the body of slain Al-Qaida chief Osama bin Laden was disposed off in a sea burial and Indian Navy's home-built Guided Missile Frigate INS Satpur. The guided-missile cruiser USS Bunker Hill, the guided-missile destroyer USS Halsey, a logistics ship, P-3C aircraft and a submarine would also participate in the exercise from the American side. "The Indian Navy and US 7th Fleet have a common understanding and knowledge of a shared working environment at sea. This exercise helps to advance the level of understanding between our Sailors and we hope to be able to continue this process over time," the US statement said. The naval cooperation between Indian and the USA reflects the "long-term defence relationship between both countries," Indian Navy said in Chennai, adding over the years the two collaborated over a wide spectrum of activities and exercise to advance the maritime partnership. Both on-shore and off-shore activities including professional exchanges on operations including counter-piracy, carrier aviation, maritime patrol and anti-submarine warfare are lined up for the 10-day excercise.
|
||
|
Navy plans to procure multi-role helicopters New Delhi, April 6 The Navy had recently asked global helicopter vendors to provide
details about naval multirole helicopters and is planning to issue a global Request for Proposal
|
||
|
Syrian troops, tanks battle rebels
Beirut, April 6 The renewed violence erupted a day after UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said the conflict was worsening and attacks on civilian areas persisted, despite assurances from Damascus that its troops had begun withdrawing under the plan. Annan said both the government and opposition must stop fighting at 6 a.m. Syrian time on April 12, if Damascus meets its deadline 48 hours earlier to pull back troops from cities and cease heavy weapons use in populated areas. But activists reported tank fire in at least three urban centres on Friday — the town of Douma near Damascus, the restive city of Homs and Rastan, north of Homs. "Tanks went into Douma last night, then they left. Today at 7:00 in the morning they came back. There has been shelling on Douma since the morning. We are not sure if people were killed but the shelling did not stop," a local activist said.
— Reuters
|
||
|
Malawi’s President Mutharika dead
The 78-year-old was rushed to hospital in Lilongwe on Thursday after collapsing but was dead on arrival, sources said. State media said he had been flown
to South Africa for treatment although his immediate whereabouts remained unclear. Medical sources said the former World Bank economist had been flown out because a power and energy crisis in the nation of 13 million was so severe the Lilongwe state hospital would have been unable to carry out a proper autopsy or even keep his body refrigerated.
— Reuters
|
||
|
Mali’s rebels declare independence in North Bamako
Bamako, April 6
|
|
| HOME PAGE | |
Punjab | Haryana | Jammu & Kashmir |
Himachal Pradesh | Regional Briefs |
Nation | Opinions | | Business | Sports | World | Letters | Chandigarh | Ludhiana | Delhi | | Calendar | Weather | Archive | Subscribe | E-mail | |
Phase I of the at-sea training will be conducted in the vicinity of Chennai while Phase II will be conducted in the Bay of Bengal and west of the Nicobar Islands. They are designed to advance participating nations' military-to-military coordination and capacity to plan and execute tactical operations in a multinational environment. "Events planned during the at-sea portions include liason officer professional exchanges and embarks, communications exercises, surface action group operations, helicopter cross- deck evolutions, underway replenishments, gunnery exercises, visit, board, search and seizure,maritime strike, air defense exercises, encounter exercises, shore-based surface strikes and anti-submarine warfare," the US military statement said.
— PTI
Lilongwe, April 6