Titles:
- France and UK plan unprecedented military cooperation
- US renews Sudan economic sanctions
- Iran: Russia 'sold' us to Americans
- Pentagon Denies Report of Plan for US Military Teams in Yemen
- NATO head seeks Russian cooperation in Afghanistan
- Pakistan to go bankrupt if power sector not reformed, warns IMF
News Details:
France and UK plan unprecedented military cooperation
France and Britain signed treaties outlining unprecedented military cooperation Tuesday, including a joint rapid-deployment force and shared laboratories for maintaining and testing nuclear warheads. The pacts, announced at a summit conference in London between French President Nicolas Sarkozy and British Prime Minister David Cameron, represents a new effort by Europe's two nuclear nations to set aside long-standing differences and pool resources to ensure that the need for drastic budget cutting does not jeopardize their standing in the military big leagues. "This is a decision that is unprecedented and shows a level of trust and confidence between our two nations that is unequaled in history," Sarkozy said at a closing news conference. Officials in Paris and London emphasized that the accords, which are scheduled to take effect immediately, will not require either nation to sacrifice its sovereignty. In particular, they said, Sarkozy and Cameron will still have some say over deployment of their countries' nuclear weapons. "Britain and France are, and will always remain, sovereign nations able to deploy our armed forces independently and in our national interest when we choose to do so," Cameron said.
US renews Sudan economic sanctions
US president Barack Obama renewed US economic sanctions on Sudan for at least one year, keeping pressure on Khartoum to hold referendum on timetable. Obama said in a letter sent to members of Congress that the sanctions on Sudan were extended to long-standing economic sanctions, a notice required by law each year to keep them in place."Therefore, I have determined that it is necessary to continue the national emergency declared with respect to Sudan and maintain in force sanctions against Sudan to respond to this threat," the letter said to Congress. The sanction which was first imposed on Sudan's support for regional terrorism in 1997 has banned all trade and investment in Sudan. "The renewal of these tough sanctions comes at a time of great consequence for the people of Sudan and for the US-Sudan relationship," White House spokesman Tommy Vietor said later Monday."Sudan is on the US sanctions list as an alleged supporter of Islamic militant groups and over the situation in its war-torn western region of Darfur," Vietor noted in a statement.
Iran: Russia 'sold' us to Americans
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad accused Russia on Wednesday of "selling" Iran to its enemies, or the US, by canceling a deal to sell the Islamic Republic the S-300 missile defense system. Russia canceled the deal almost two months ago, despite having previously said new sanctions on the Islamic Republic did not apply to the sale. "There are some who are under the influence of the devil, and believe that they have the ability to one-sidedly forgo a defense agreement," Ahmadinejad said in a speech aired by Iranian state television. "They think they can hurt the Iranian people this way." Russia submitted six weeks ago to pressure by the US and Western powers to cancel the deal, as the S-300 is considered extremely advanced and could allow Iran to effectively defend its nuclear facilities from attack. The Iran offended, threatened to sue over the violation of the pact, signed in 2005.
Pentagon Denies Report of Plan for US Military Teams in Yemen
A Pentagon spokesman on Monday denied a report in The Wall Street Journal newspaper that says the Obama administration is working on a plan to send U.S. military teams to Yemen to attack terrorist targets. The newspaper report says the apparent attempt to bring down planes with mail bombs last week has added urgency to a review that could lead to expanded U.S. military operations in Yemen. The report says there is "growing support" in the military and among civilian officials to allow Special Operations teams to work secretly in Yemen, under CIA command. According to Pentagon figures, U.S. aid to Yemen has increased sharply in recent years. But former top U.S. Homeland Security and intelligence official Charles Allen says that in Yemen, results will be slow in coming. "We've known about this, we've worked this [terrorism in Yemen]," said Allen. "We've given aid and assistance in counterterrorism training to the government of Yemen and to its security forces and helped them develop Special Forces capabilities. It's just going to be a long, hard push, though, to get the kind of results out of Yemen that we really need in order to make not only the Middle East, but also the rest of the Western world more secure."
NATO head seeks Russian cooperation in Afghanistan
NATO's chief will ask Russia on Wednesday to boost cooperation in Afghanistan, as the alliance gears up for a summit this month to which it has invited its former Cold War rival.Russian President Dmitry Medvedev plans to attend the November 19-20 summit in Lisbon, which will develop a new strategic plan for the 28-nation alliance, though he has said Russia needs more answers on its role in European security matters. NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen will hold talks with Medvedev on expanding supply routes to Afghanistan and providing Afghan soldiers with Russian helicopters and counter-narcotics training."Our goals are, after all, the same: never again to allow Afghanistan to become a haven for terrorists and to help the Afghan government to provide for its own security," Rasmussen told Russian news agency Interfax on Wednesday before talks with the Kremlin leader. NATO has stressed that cooperation does not mean Russian forces being deployed in Afghanistan. Moscow is still haunted by the defeat of Soviet forces who invaded Afghanistan in 1979 and quit in humiliation a decade later.
Pakistan to go bankrupt if power sector not reformed, warns IMF
International Monetary Fund (IMF) has warned Pakistan of aid cut-off in case Islamabad does not come up with credible and irreversible plan to implement the power sector reforms. Adnan Mazarie, head of the mission, has asked the government to introduce the irreversible plan to implement power sector reforms otherwise no funding will be provided to Pakistan, a senior official who is privy to the talks with IMF on power sector reforms told our sources Tuesday. "The Fund has also warned that all IFIs including WB, ADB and even USAID will cease their credit lines and resultantly Pakistan will go into default." Since Pakistan has never looked serious in introducing the required power sector reforms the IMF has asked the top officials concerned to first show a credible plan to this effect, the official said. Under the power sector reforms, the government has now dissolved Pakistan Electric Power Company, which was set up in 1998 soon after Wapda was converted into eight power distribution companies. "Pepco will go into liquidation by April 2011," the official said.
