Bulgaria Reverses Position, Recognizes Libyan Rebels with Croatia

June 28, 2011, Tuesday

Bulgaria and Croatia have become the 19th and 20th sovereign nations to have recognized formally the Libyan rebels’ National Transitional Council in Benghazi as the legitimate representative of the Libyan nation in international affairs.

The recognition of the rebels who have been fighting the regime of Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi since February 2011 came during a visit of Bulgarian Foreign Minister Nikolay Mladenov in Benghazi, the rebels’ capital, on Tuesday.

Bulgaria's Borisov Cabinet has thus reversed its position as of March 2011 when it refused to recognize the National Transitional Council stating that some of its members were involved in the torture and imprisonment of the 6 Bulgarian medics in the so called Libya HIV trial (1999-2007).

In addition to Bulgaria and Croatia, the Libyan rebels have already been recognized formally by France, Qatar, the Maldives, Italy, Kuwait, Gambia, Jordan, Senegal, UK, Spain, Australia, UAE, Germany, Canada, Panama, Austria, Latvia, and Denmark, while a dozen of other countries including major powers such as the USA, Russia, China, and Turkey have established informal relations with the authority in Benghazi.

“For more than three months the Libyan people have defended their right to freedom. Their legitimate demands have been met with violent attacks by the forces of Muammar Gaddafi. By brutally attacking his own people, Colonel Qaddafi has lost all legitimacy,” reads the joint statement of Bulgarian Foreign Minister Nikolay Mladenov and Croatian Foreign Minister Gordan Jandrokovic.

“Bulgaria and Croatia, as NATO allies, fully backed and participated in the efforts of the international community to respond to the impending crisis. The international community responded to the calls for support by the people of Libya and the Arab League. In implementation of UN Security Council Resolutions 1970 and 1973 NATO, with the participation of other countries, launched operations to protect the civilian population in Libya, to implement a no-fly zone and a naval blockade. The assets of the regime have been frozen, and arrest warrants have been issued by the International Criminal Court for some of the top regime leadership.

“Gaddafi’s era is over, and he must go immediately. Those accused of crimes against humanity will be held to account before judges in a criminal court. The time has come for a real political process of national reconciliation and transition. The Libyan people who strive for freedom and democracy have demonstrated their will to be represented by a unified and inclusive national council,” reads the joint statement of Sofia and Zagreb.

“Bulgaria and Croatia regard the National Transitional Council (NTC) in Libya as a legitimate representative of the Libyan people. Our support stems from the understanding that the NTC is able to lead the process of building a democratic and inclusive Libya, built on the rule of law and upholding the highest international human rights standards. We welcome the 'Road to Democratic Libya' presented by the NTC and support its vision for a new Libya and stand ready to assist the NTC in developing its capacity to assume its responsibilities and uphold the rule of law. We are confident that the Council will continue to work in close cooperation with the international community represented by the Contact Group for Libya to enhance regional stability,” conclude Mladenov and Jandrokovic.

The program of Bulgarian Foreign Minister in Benghazi includes a meeting with the head of the Libyan Transitional Council Mahmoud Jibril, and some of its members, as well as representatives of the civil society, as well as a visit to a local hospital and a small medical donation.

The Bulgarian government is going to send to Benghazi a special envoy to the National Transitional Council who will be in charge of the bilateral relations.

Back in March 2011, Bulgaria's Prime Minister Boyko Borisov said his Cabinet would not recognize the government of the Libyan rebels because some of its officials took part in the torture of the Bulgarian nurses and doctor jailed by the Gaddafi regime in 1999-2007, and twice sentenced to death for allegedly infecting 400 Libyan children with AIDS before they were brought back to Bulgaria, the so called Libyan HIV trial.

Borisov had responded to France’s call for recognition of the Libyan rebels by the EU states but stating that people who tortured the Bulgarian medics and orchestrated the HIV trial, which cost Bulgaria USD 60 M, were among the members of the rebels’ transitional council.

It is not clear yet what has led the government in Sofia to change its position with respect to the authority in Benghazi.

Source: Sofia News Agency.
Link: http://www.novinite.com/view_news.php?id=129714.

Freedom Flotilla Ready to Sail Despite Threats and Sabotage

By Bego Astigarraga

ATHENS, Jun 29, 2011 (IPS) - As the 10 ships of the Freedom Flotilla II - Stay Human make their final preparations to set sail for the Gaza Strip, purported acts of sabotage have been added to threats from Israel.

The flotilla, which will attempt to break through Israel's blockade of Gaza for the second year in a row, includes two cargo vessels carrying more than 5,000 tons of humanitarian aid, such as construction materials and medical and educational supplies.

One of the two participating French boats, the Dignity/Karama, is already in international waters, having set out from a port in Corsica on Jun. 25 to meet up with the rest of the convoy.

After the international coalition that is organizing the flotilla gave a news briefing Monday Jun. 27 in Athens to journalists from around the world to announce its plans to depart on Thursday or Friday, the passenger boat Juliano belonging to the Ship to Gaza movement was sabotaged in the southeast Greek port of Piraeus.

Divers cut the propeller shaft and destroyed the prop house, Ship to Gaza said, adding that its own divers had documented the sabotage on camera and that an initial inspection had been carried out with a view to repairing the damage before the planned departure date. "It's one thing for a foreign power to press the Greek government to delay our voyage with red tape. It is quite another thing for enemy agents to operate on Greek territory," said Ship to Gaza Sweden spokesman Mattias Gardell.

"It is high time for the international community to put their foot down and say: Enough!" he said in a statement issued by the group.

The Juliano, which is jointly owned by the Ship to Gaza organizations in Sweden, Norway and Greece, is named after Israeli actor and director Juliano Meir Khamis of the Freedom Theater in Jenin, who was murdered Apr. 4 in that West Bank city.

Israel started tightening its stranglehold on the Gaza Strip after the radical Hamas won the January 2006 Palestinian elections, and imposed a full blockade in subsequent years, especially after the Operation Cast Lead military offensive launched in late 2008.

Israel argues the blockade is necessary for security reasons, while human rights groups counter that the siege amounts to collective punishment of Gaza's 1.5 million mostly civilian residents and that it is illegal under international law.

The Free Gaza Movement, which is organizing the second flotilla, said Monday that Israel's threats will not stand in the way of the humanitarian convoy.

"We will not be frightened by Israel, and we are going to continue. Our friends from all around the world are with us, and we are all going to Gaza," said one of the flotilla organizers, Dror Feiler, an Israeli-born activist and musician from Sweden.

Greece is under pressure from Israel to keep the boats from setting sail, at a time of great vulnerability for the southern European country due to the spiraling economic and political crisis.

Vangelis Pissias, an organizer with the Greek delegation, urged the Greek government in a statement not to "become complicit in Israel's illegal actions by succumbing to this pressure."

"Israel’s best efforts to stop our boats at port, including pressure on governments, threats against insurance and communications companies, intimidation of human rights defenders, frivolous lawsuits and other underhanded tactics, have thus far failed," the Free Gaza Movement said in a communiqué.

On Monday, the Israeli security cabinet ordered the navy to stop the flotilla from reaching the Gaza Strip. However, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said in a statement that forces would be ordered to do so "with minimal confrontation, as far as possible, with those on board the ships."

Israeli public radio reported that the government had reached an agreement with Egypt to allow the flotilla to unload its cargo of humanitarian aid at the port of El Arish, to later be taken by land to Gaza after undergoing security checks.

Senior Israeli officials claim to have received information that there are "extremists" participating in the flotilla who intend to "shed the blood of IDF (Israel Defense Forces) soldiers" using chemical substances, when Israeli troops attempt to board the ships.

They also say that despite earlier reports, the ships will be carrying members of the Turkish Humanitarian Aid Foundation (IHH), which organized last year's flotilla, and members of Hamas – both of which Israel considers terrorist organizations.

The Israeli government's statements came the day after Foreign Ministry officials informed the cabinet that there was no information about members of "terrorist groups" planning to take part in the flotilla.

Israel used similar arguments before and after the May 31, 2010 assault launched by IDF commandos on the Mavi Marmara, the first freedom flotilla's flagship, in international waters as it headed towards Gaza. Nine Turkish activists were killed in the military operation, and over 50 of the civilians on board were injured.

A representative of the relatives of the victims killed on the Mavi Marmara, which this year pulled out of the flotilla for "technical reasons," will travel in the Spanish boat Gernika along with 45 Spanish activists, political representatives and journalists.

"Gernika will carry the spirit of our murdered companions," Manual Tapial, coordinator of the Rumbo a Gaza initiative in Spain, told IPS. "It's a show of solidarity with those who aren't able to travel this year."

Spanish Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation Trinidad Jiménez urged the Israeli authorities to act with "prudence and restraint" towards the second flotilla.

The flotilla will carry 50 journalists from around the world – including this reporter – who were warned Sunday by Israel that they would face a 10-year ban on re-entering that country, although later the government backtracked on the threat.

The countries where participating activists are from include Australia, Belgium, Canada, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and the United States.

A boat carrying participants from several Arab nations may also join from Jordan in the next few days.

Some 500 activists and civil society personalities are ready to sail. But there are worries that the Israeli forces will assault the boats using tear gas, water cannons, taser guns, stink and sound bombs and attack dogs.

Source: Inter-Press Service (IPS).
Link: http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=56274.

Driving a robot from the Space Station

Paris, France (ESA) Jun 30, 2011

Meet Justin, an android who will soon be controlled remotely by the astronauts in ESA's Columbus laboratory on the International Space Station. With this and other intriguing experiments like the Eurobot rover, ESA is paving the way for exploring the Moon and planets with tele-operated robots.

In two to three years, the experimental robot on Earth will faithfully mimic the movements of an astronaut on the Space Station.

By wearing an exoskeleton - a combination of arm and glove with electronic aids to reproduce the sensations a human hand would feel - a distant operator can work as though he were there.

To help turn robotics and telepresence into a standard tool for space missions, ESA is linking the Space Station and Earth for remotely controlling terrestrial robotic experiments from the orbital outpost.

This Meteron (Multi-purpose End-To-End Robotic Operations Network) initiative is a testbed for future missions to the Moon, Mars and other celestial bodies.

"The Space Station is the perfect orbital platform to simulate very realistic scenarios for human exploration," says Kim Nergaard, ESA's Meteron coordinator.

"First we have to set up a robust communication architecture, establish an operations system and define a protocol to allow astronauts, robots and our ESA control center to work efficiently together. This is not as easy a task as it seems."

Many ideas around
ESA called earlier this year for new ideas for the Space Station to be used as a testbed for exploration missions. Many proposals called for operating ground-based robots from a workstation on the Station.

"The multitude of submissions shows the strength of the idea," comments Philippe Schoonejans, ESA's Head of Robotics in the Human Spaceflight and Operations directorate.

"This allows ESA to take into account all suggested experiments and give opportunities to the countries, companies and institutes who have shown their interest by submitting the idea."

"Meteron is suitable for early realization because it can exploit the existing infrastructure and technologies without requiring huge investments," explains Francois Bosquillon de Frescheville, responsible for ESA future human exploration mission operations concepts studies, whose idea triggered the program.

First a rover, then an android
In the first Meteron tests, the Station astronauts will operate ESA's Eurobot prototype from a computer equipped with special screens and a joystick. This prototype is a four-wheel rover with two arms, an advanced navigation system, cameras and sensors that has been under testing since 2008 at the Agency's ESTEC space research and technology center in the Netherlands.

In the next phase, the engineers will allow astronauts to control a robot with the sense of force and 'touch'. It can be connected to robots like Justin, developed by the DLR German Aerospace Center.

"With these senses, the astronauts will have a real feeling of the forces that the arms of the robots are experiencing in their environment," explains Andre Schiele, in charge of ESA's Telerobotics and Haptics Laboratory.

"For example, when they push against a rock or do more complex tasks such as setting up hardware."

Whatever route the future exploration of Moon and Mars might follow, it will require sophisticated communications and advanced tools. Boosted by new human-machine interface technology, astronauts in orbit will almost certainly link up with robots to explore planetary surfaces.

Source: Space Daily.
Link: http://www.spacedaily.com/reports/Driving_a_robot_from_Space_Station_999.html.

Israel to join U.S. Mideast missile shield

Tel Aviv, Israel (UPI) Jun 29, 2011

Israel's growing missile defenses will reportedly be integrated into the United States' planned regional defense network -- and could end up shielding Arab states that, in theory at least, are considered adversaries of the Jewish state.

Gen. Patrick O'Reilly, head of the Pentagon's Missile Defense Agency, told Defense News, a Washington weekly, that the multi-tiered Israeli system would strengthen the U.S. military's ability to protect its forces in the Middle East.

Israel is the only state with operational systems capable of intercepting rockets and missiles of different calibers and range.

Merging the two networks has actually been under way for some time.

Israel and U.S. forces have conducted several biennial Juniper Cobra joint exercises between the Israeli armed forces and the U.S. European Command to develop the interoperability of their air-defense systems.

In September 2008, Eurocom deployed a powerful Raytheon AN/TPY-2 X-band radar system to the Nevatim air base in the Negev Desert of southern Israel to bolster the Jewish state's air-defense capabilities.

The long-range X-band allows Israel's Arrow-2 anti-ballistic missile interceptor system, two batteries of which are currently operational, to engage Iranian Shehab-3b missiles about halfway through their 11-minute flight.

That's about six times faster than the Green Pine radar system used by Arrow.

Israeli commentators have argued that the U.S. effort to bolster Israel's air defenses is designed to discourage the country's political leadership from launching pre-emptive strikes against Iran's nuclear infrastructure to delay development of nuclear weapons.

If that is indeed the case, O'Reilly's disclosure of the integration of the two militaries' air-defense systems coincides with reports that Iran has accelerated its efforts to develop long-range missiles capable of hitting Israel and beyond.

Those reports were given added weight by Foreign Secretary William Hague of Britain Wednesday. He told Parliament in London that Tehran had conducted secret tests of ballistic missiles recently.

His gave no timeframe. But British sources claim Iran has carried out at least three tests with medium-range ballistic weapons since October amid other reports that it's also accelerating efforts to produce nuclear warheads.

Iranian forces are currently engaged in a 10-day program of maneuvers, codenamed Great Prophet 6, during which commanders claim they have test-fired liquid-fueled Shehabs.

They made no mention of the advanced and more accurate solid-fuel Sejjil-2 missile, which is the weapon that causes the most consternation in the West.

Gen. Amir Ali Hajizadeh, commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps' strategic missiles forces, said Iran can produce intercontinental ballistic missiles but doesn't need to since it already has weapons that can reach Israel and U.S. military bases in the Persian Gulf.

These have ranges of up to 1,250 miles, enough to reach Israel and parts of southeastern Europe.

Western and Israeli intelligence services say Iran wants to produce intercontinental missiles with a range of up to 3,750 miles.

The Revolutionary Guards also unveiled what were identified as missile silos, facilities not seen in Iran before.

With regard to the planned integration of U.S. and Israeli missile defense systems, O'Reilly acknowledged this could mean Israeli batteries would be used to protect Arab states that are allies of the United States but which do not have diplomatic relations with the Jewish state.

Egypt and Jordan both have peace treaties with Israel, so it was not clear to which Arab states O'Reilly was referring. But it was mostly likely Saudi Arabia and its partners in the Persian Gulf, which at present are vulnerable to Iranian missile attack. Several host U.S. military bases that are within range of Iranian missiles.

Israel's multi-layered missile shield is still partly under development, although the high-altitude Arrow-2 system, jointly funded by the United States, has been in place since 2000.

A more powerful Arrow-3 variant capable of intercepting Iranian missiles outside Earth's atmosphere is being developed. It would be deployed alongside the Arrow-2s.

In March, the Iron Dome interceptor system, designed to counter short-range rockets and missiles, successfully made its combat debut in shooting down eight out of nine Grad-type rockets unleashed on southern Israel.

The fourth system, David's Sling, is still being developed and isn't likely to be operational before 2013. It's designed to counter medium-range missiles.

Israel's Defense Ministry says it plans to integrate all four systems, plus U.S.-supplied Patriots, into a national command center.

Source: Space War.
Link: http://www.spacewar.com/reports/Israel_to_join_US_Mideast_missile_shield_999.html.

Pakistan tells US to leave 'drone' attack base

Islamabad (AFP) June 29, 2011

Pakistan told the United States to leave a remote desert air base reportedly used as a hub for covert CIA drone attacks, Defense Minister Ahmed Mukhtar was quoted by state media as saying Wednesday.

His remarks are the latest indication of Pakistan attempting to limit US activities since a clandestine American military raid killed Osama bin Laden on May 2. Islamabad also detained a CIA contractor wanted for murder in January.

"We have told them (US officials) to leave the air base," national news agency APP quoted Mukhtar as telling a group of journalists in his office.

Images said to be of US Predator drones at Shamsi base have been published by Google Earth in the past. The air strip is 900 kilometers (560 miles) southwest of the capital Islamabad in Baluchistan province.

A US embassy spokeswoman told AFP there were no US military personnel at Shamsi.

American drone attacks on Taliban and Al-Qaeda operatives in Pakistan's northwestern semi-autonomous tribal belt are hugely unpopular among a general public opposed to the government's alliance with Washington.

Despite condemning the drone strikes in public, US documents leaked by Internet whistleblower Wikileaks late last year showed that Pakistani civilian and militant leaders had privately consented to the drone campaign.

CNN reported in April that US military personnel had left the base, said to be a key site for American drone operations, in the fallout over public killings by a CIA contractor in Lahore and his subsequent detention.

Reports said operations at the base, which Washington has not publicly acknowledged, were conducted with tacit Pakistani military consent.

Neither does the United States officially confirm Predator drone attacks, but its military and the CIA operating in Afghanistan are the only forces in the region that deploy the armed, unmanned aircraft.

Pakistani and US officials have frequently been drawn into slanging matches, played out in the press, since the bin Laden raid humiliated the military and invited allegations of incompetence and complicity, as well as damaging trust.

"This trust deficit could be reduced by sitting together and taking joint actions," the state-sun Associated Press of Pakistan quoted Mukhtar as saying.

On Tuesday, US Vice Admiral William McRaven, who oversaw the bin Laden raid, said the US military believes Taliban supreme leader Mullah Omar is in Pakistan and had asked the Pakistani army to find him.

Asked about Omar, Mukhtar said: "If he was in Pakistan, even then, he would have left the country after the Abbottabad incident."

Mukhtar, who belongs to the ruling Pakistan People's Party, said that he supported negotiations with the Taliban to resolve the conflict in Afghanistan.

McRaven also said Pakistan showed no sign of either wanting or being able to crack down on the Al-Qaeda-linked Haqqani network operating from sanctuaries near the Afghan border, despite repeated US requests.

Pakistan angrily rejects US criticism of its record on militancy.

Thousands of troops have died fighting a homegrown Taliban insurgency in the northwest, although the military has not moved against those like the Haqqanis who confine their attacks to Afghanistan.

"Our concerns and constraints must be taken into consideration before making any statement questioning our commitment to fighting militancy," said military spokesman Major General Athar Abbas.

Around 4,500 other people have been killed in suicide and bomb attacks across the country since government troops raided Islamist extremists holed up in Islamabad mosque four years ago.

Source: Space War.
Link: http://www.spacewar.com/reports/Pakistan_tells_US_to_leave_drone_attack_base_999.html.

Jordan, US to perform joint military drill

2011-06-25

AMMONNEWS- Units and formations from the Jordan Armed Forces will conduct this month a joint military drill with the US side, the Jordan Armed Forces Moral Guidance Directorate said.

The drill will be attended by units from the land, maritime and air forces in line with Royal directives to upgrade capabilities of the armed forces and within the annual training plan of the armed forces.

Activities of the drill will also include seminar and courses in a number of fields.

Invitations were extended to 20 Arab and foreign countries to attend part of the drill as observers.

Source: Ammon News.
Link: http://en.ammonnews.net/article.aspx?articleNO=12561.

France air 'drops arms' to Libya rebels

2011-06-29

Report France’s air drops are aimed at helping Berber fighters encircle Tripoli, encourage popular revolt in capital.

PARIS - France has begun parachuting arms shipments to Berber rebels fighting Libyan leader Moamer Gathafi's forces in the highlands south of Tripoli, the French daily Le Figaro reported on Wednesday.

According to the paper, which said it had seen a secret intelligence memo and talked to well-placed officials, the air drops are designed to help rebel fighters encircle Tripoli and encourage a popular revolt in the city itself.

"If the rebels can get to the outskirts of Tripoli, the capital will take the chance to rise against Gathafi," said an official quoted in the report.

"The regime's mercenaries are no longer getting paid and are scarcely getting fed. There's a severe fuel shortage, the population has had enough."

French officials could not immediately confirm or deny the report to AFP.

According to Le Figaro the French arms shipments are dropped from planes in the Djebel Nafusa region, where Berber tribes have risen to join the revolt against Gathafi's rule and seized several provincial towns.

The crates hold assault rifles, machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades, it said, and also European-made Milan anti-tank missiles, a powerful addition to the rebel arsenal that can destroy a tank or a bunker.

France has taken a leading role in organizing international support for the uprising against Gathafi's four-decade old rule, and French and British jets are spearheading a NATO-led air campaign targeting his forces.

Rebel forces are based in Benghazi in the east of the country, and hold a besieged enclave supplied by sea in the western coastal town of Misrata, but have been unable to mount a convincing advance on the capital.

Source: Middle East Online.
Link: http://www.middle-east-online.com/english/?id=46981.