Bharat Rakshak

shyamd wrote:Quick comments: Dubai is not going to accept many naturalisation applications. It costs a lot to provide services to the small population. Then if the locals start get angry then u will end up with a Uganda type situation. It can be done in a phased approach and it is being done to people who really matter.

abhischekcc wrote:

Lalmohan wrote:abhishek, i doubt that iran is weaker than the UAE. the latter has the toys, but the former has the smarts and the will

If US/allies attack Iran, it will be a limited war because of several constraints (domestic pressure in aggresor countries beng just one). IOW, an air war is the only feasible option. Taking out the nuclear reactor will also only need air power. In that field Iran is no match for any Sunni air force, including pakis.

RajeshA wrote:

abhischekcc wrote:Arabs are very concious of any threat to their social fabric. It is a red line for them.

RajeshA, If India tried to force the issue as you say - it would have been resisted by the whole Arab world - as they would understand that they are next on line.

abhischekcc ji,

thanks for your feedback. I am curious about what would happen once the Oil starts running out, or one finds another source of abundant energy. Probably the emirates too would start losing their appeal. Dubai may not stay as a rare free trading outpost. Other places can give it a run for its money. In such a world, would Dubai then be more open to a real partnership with India, which also includes citizenship?

The 400ft Savarona yacht was seized by Turkish authorities in September Photo: ALAMY A spokesman for Alexander Mashkevich, who co-founded the FTSE 100 miner and still owns 14.6pc of the company, confirmed to The Daily Telegraph yesterday that the businessman was present on the boat but not one of those arrested.

"He was on board," said Roman Spektor, the Kazakhstani billionaire's spokesman.

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"From our perspective he wasn't involved in any immoral or criminal actions. It's a real provocation. It's a real dirty lie in order to discredit him, because he's a well-known member of the worldwide Jewish community."

There is no suggestion of any wrongdoing by Mr Mashkevich, but the revelation is likely to be a further headache for ENRC, as the £12bn mining giant battles concerns over its corporate governance. Institutional investors last month questioned its judgement in buying mines in the Democratic Republic of Congo that had earlier been seized from a rival.

Mr Mashkevich, who is estimated to be worth £1.9bn, is one of three extremely powerful Kazakh businessmen known as the "Trio" who together control 44pc of ENRC.

Kahraman Sadikoglu, the owner of the 400ft Savarona yacht seized by authorities in late September, said Mr Mashkevich and other businessmen had flown into Turkey on a private jet for a party on the vessel. He said a number of girls arrived on a separate jet from Kazakhstan.

When the yacht was confiscated, eight women and two underage girls were taken for health checks in the Mediterranean city of Antalya. Ten people, including two women, were arrested. Tevfik Ari, a New York real estate mogul and friend of Donald Trump, was among those detained.

The yacht's owner charged $50,000 per day to rent the businessmen his vessel, which was formerly owned by Ataturk, the founder of modern Turkey, and often chartered by Princess Diana and Dodi Al-Fayed.

Mr Sadikoglu said he did not know whether the girls on board were prostitutes but said they had been described as girlfriends and were the same ones who attended a party three weeks before. He denied that any of them were underage.

He said the party spent around $45,000 a day in wine, with the average bottle costing $1,500, adding that senior members of the Kazakh government also attended parties.Mr Sadikoglu said there were eight Brazilian dancers, three belly-dancers and six bodyguards but said it was not a "sex party".

He said "This is their private charter agreement. The name is 'private charter' - they can do whatever they like, they can do what they want."

Mr Mashkevich's spokesman said he would put out a formal statement once the Turkish authorities have finished their investigation.ENRC declined to comment

The Iranian leader took the opportunity during his trip to lash out at Israel following talks with Mr Sleiman.

"We fully support the resistance of the Lebanese people against the Zionist regime," he said. "Lebanon is not only a source of pride for the Lebanese but for the region because Lebanon has changed the balance of power in favour of the people of the region."

He was expected to go much further in an address to Hizbollah supporters at a south Beirut stadium last night at which he is expected to make joint remarks with Hassan Nasrallah, the Hizbollah leader who has not been seen in public since 2008.

More friction is expected today (Thurs) when Mr Ahmedinejad travels to Lebanese border towns targeted in the 2006 war that killed more than 1,000 people. Hizbollah has used hundred of millions of dollars donated by Iran for reconstruction of the south and residents expressed gratitude to the Iranian leader. Mahmoud Darwish, a 50-year old local who turned out for Mr Ahmadinejad said: "He helped us rebuild Lebanon. If he hadn't, our houses would still be destroyed and we would still be living in tents."

.....Lebanon's Iranian roots go far back to the days of the Saffavids. Some of Iran's greatest clerics came from the Jebel Amal area of Tyre – indeed, a number of the leaders of the 1979 Iranian Revolution preached in Lebanon.

Robert Fisk: Israel comes face to face with the man who would wipe it off the map

Lebanon's southern border, so often a battleground, hosted the latest leg of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's provocative tour yesterday
Friday, 15 October 2010

He looks like a shepherd, but he might have been the Shah. And there he was last night, the President of Iran, one of the triple pillars of the "Axis of evil", scarcely two miles from the border of that holy of holies which every American president must support – the State of Israel, or the "Jewish State of Israel", as its government claims it to be. The Shia Muslim crowds loved Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. They adored him. For weeks, they had been told he was coming. Shah-like was his welcome.


For it was in Bint Jbeil – his last stop last night – that the Shia Hizbollah destroyed at least 10 of Israel's tanks in the 2006 war, and the message was perfectly clear. The West might think it was putting Ahmadinejad back in the box, sanctioning Iran for its mysterious nuclear projects, cursed by Israel for its threats. But here was the little man himself – even the Hizbollah leader, Sayed Hassan Nasrallah, had grovelled to him on Wednesday night – taunting the Israelis within visible distance of their border. It was a state with no future, illegitimate; it should cease to exist. He had been saying this for 48 hours.

But something rather dangerous was getting loose last night. Watching Ahmadinejad, you got the feeling that he really believed all this flannel, that the fawning and pampering and ecstasy might have gone to his head. Was this not, after all, the same Ahmadinejad who claimed that a ghostly halo hung over his head when he first addressed the United Nations? The Lebanese, clogged into their traffic jams – courtesy of the Great Man – did indeed claim he was the Shah. "How could such a silly man lead a wonderful, brilliant country like Iran?" one of them asked me last night.

Good question. But the Shias of the southern suburbs and of southern Lebanon – and the Hizbollah, who are trained, paid and armed by his country – showed their adoration at every turn. They talked of his nobility and knowledge, his wisdom. That a man whose government had just arrested yet another reformist opposition leader in Iran – Ali Shakouridad of the "Participation Front" – should be lauded in a nation which prides itself on its democracy was one of the wondrous elements of this state visit. That every local Lebanese politician who ever fired a shot in anger would want to turn up for his official lunches was the second wondrous element.

But back to basics. The last time an Iranian president visited Lebanon – the saintly but weak Mohamed Khattami – he got short shrift from the Hizbollah, plenty of crowds but no great reverence, for Khattami was a secular figure, calling for a civil society rather than an end of Israel. But Ahmadinejad is a classic "man of the people", bounding out of his armour-plated car to glad-hand the people, the ordinary man in the ordinary street. When he came close to the Bourj el-Barajneh Palestinian refugee camp, he waved to the Palestinians. No other president – not even the President of Lebanon – had ever done that. Choreographed it might have been. Clever it was.

And we have to remember that this was also the President who, arriving in Baghdad at the height of Iraq's post-invasion fury, declined to take the safe route to the Green Zone in a helicopter – as most western diplomats did – and preferred the dangerous airport road. Maybe he does think God protects him. A story – which I am told is true – goes that Ahmadinejad called Nasrallah during the 2006 Hizbollah war with Israel and promised to pay for the rebuilding of all Beirut if Nasrallah wanted to fire rockets at Tel Aviv. Nasrallah chose not to. But you can see why the crowds think Ahmadinejad – or "Nejad" as they call him – is a hero.

Of course, he's no hero to some members of the Beirut government who have been wondering if – in declaring Lebanon to be Iran's front line with Israel – Ahmedinejad might indeed think he has shah-like powers (if he doesn't also think he is president of Lebanon as well as Iran). And his jibes against the Hague Tribunal into the Hariri murder – which might yet get laid at Hizbollah's door – were as close to "interference in the internal affairs" of a foreign state as you can get. But the late Sayed Mohamed Hussain Fadlallah used to say that Lebanon was "a lung through which Iran breathes" – which might be true – and Lebanon's Iranian roots go far back to the days of the Saffavids. Some of Iran's greatest clerics came from the Jebel Amal area of Tyre – indeed, a number of the leaders of the 1979 Iranian Revolution preached in Lebanon.

Interestingly, it was left to Nasrallah, speaking from a video-screen while the real-life President of Iran spoke to a great crowd in the Beirut suburbs, to try to cool the anger of those – like a lot of Christian Lebanese and the US State Department – who believe Ahmadinejad's visit was a massive plot to set up an Islamic republic in Lebanon. "Iran has no single project for this region," Nasrallah said. "In Lebanon, its project is Lebanese, in Palestine, it is Palestinian, and in the Arab world, it is Arab."

Ahmadinejad went out of his way to praise Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri – son of the ex-premier assassinated in 2005 – for his role in protecting national stability and unity. Since Hariri's government is powerless to disarm the Hizbollah, this compliment may have been back-handed. And since Hizbollah's representatives in parliament hold veto powers over the Hariri cabinet, Ahmadinejad's words came free of charge. Lebanon was a symbol of dignity, he added, not least for its resistance to "the Zionist enemy". And a lot of Lebanese are fearfully waiting for the next chapter in this latter story.

But at the Lebanese President's high table, old enemies managed a rare display of unity. Did they really think, then, that Ahmadinejad actually runs Iran or knows one end of a nuclear missile from the other? Even ex-general Michel Aoun – who actually once thought he was president of Lebanon while fighting a hopeless "liberation war" against Syria – turned up to smile upon the President of Iran. There are those in Beirut who believe Aoun is a bit mad. What Iranians think of Ahmadinejad's abilities was not, of course, discussed in Lebanon. But he won the last presidential election in Iran. Or did he?

The biggest flag-carrying airlines in Europe are joining forces in an effort to thwart the rapid global expansion of rivals from the Gulf amid a rising tide of protectionism in the industry.

Air France's chief executive, Pierre-Henri Gourgeon, took the vanguard in a blistering public attack against Emirates, Etihad and other Gulf-based airlines yesterday.

But, there are some issues in the relationship which need to be addressed and tackled if it is to move forward and come to fruition. These issues include India-Pakistan relations, and Kashmir, {Here a middle finger needs to be shown. Speak of the rights of Shias in Saudi Arabia, next time they utter Kashmir} which was on the boil again this summer. Besides, India’s growing strategic relations with Israel and the close ties between the two countries has come at the expense of Palestinians, and has disappointed many Arabs. These issues need to be tackled and resolved.

On a bilateral level, India’s dragging of its feet on the signing the Free Trade Agreement with the GCC states is a nuisance and should be addressed seriously by the Indians. This contentious issue between the two sides could stand in the way of a full strategic cooperation and is perceived by the GCC states as deliberate stalling, especially since the FTA was signed back in 2004. Trade between the two sides stood at $28 billion in 2007 and is projected to exceed $40 billion in 2010. But after three rounds of talks over the FTA, there seems to be little progress because of India’s insistence on protecting and safeguarding its domestic chemical and petrochemical industries to help give it an advantage over the competition from GCC’s low crude oil cost. This violates the principles of FTA and GCC states object to this.

What has been alarming from the GCC states’ point of view was the new controversy that caught everyone by surprise and triggered negative coverage about India. It was the call by the Indian representative at the Manama Dialogue in December 2008 to GCC states to consider Indian expatriates as immigrants and not expats, which could entitle them to political rights and citizenship. This caused a lot of consternation, which can have far-reaching consequences if not addressed in a more accommodating and understanding manner by the Indians, considering how sensitive the issue of the large Indian expatriate presence in the GCC is.
Furthermore, three of the six GCC states have more foreigners than native inhabitants. No country in the world will tolerate or accept this huge imbalance between its natives and foreign population. As one GCC labour minister noted, it is “the most threatening security challenge faced by the GCC states, even worse than a war.”

In the final analysis, India, from the GCC’s perspective, could provide added value in terms of all these opportunities. Furthermore, GCC states feel at ease in dealing with India. This is because India — and China — have no political agenda, and make no criticism of GCC states over political reforms. India does not carry any political baggage; it also does not impose its values or preach political reforms or interfere in the GCC’s domestic affairs. It is a win-win situation for both parties that could be the foundation for moving this relationship forward.
Both the GCC states and India have a lot at stake. Both sides want to cement their strategic relationship. But India has to be cognisant of the fact that it has to meet the GCC states half-way through and address the contentious issues.

In the final analysis, India, from the GCC’s perspective, could provide added value in terms of all these opportunities. Furthermore, GCC states feel at ease in dealing with India. This is because India — and China — have no political agenda, and make no criticism of GCC states over political reforms. India does not carry any political baggage; it also does not impose its values or preach political reforms or interfere in the GCC’s domestic affairs. It is a win-win situation for both parties that could be the foundation for moving this relationship forward.

India is not “impossible to ignore” but it deserves a central role in future strategy of GCC states as they weigh their options in looking east. But India has to work on its image and address all the relevant issues GCC states have been raising and want answers for.

But, there are some issues in the relationship which need to be addressed and tackled if it is to move forward and come to fruition. These issues include India-Pakistan relations, and Kashmir, which was on the boil again this summer.

But India has to work on its image and address all the relevant issues GCC states have been raising and want answers for.

The UAE is less conservative than some other Gulf countries such as Saudi Arabia.

2010-10-19 19:10:00

New Delhi, Oct 19 (IANS) India and Oman, the Gulf country which is home to over half a million expatriate Indians, will Wednesday discuss ways to scale up economic and energy ties when External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna holds talks with his Omani counterpart Yusuf Bin Alawi Bin Abdullah.

Bin Abdullah arrives here Wednesday on a three-day visit. He will call on Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Thursday.

The focus of the visit will be on expanding economic and defence ties, official sources said. Counter-terror cooperation will also be discussed.

The two sides will discuss expanded cooperation in diverse sectors, including agriculture, infrastructure, hospitals, power, mining, oil and gas, education, tourism, healthcare, chemicals and fertilisers.

They are expected to discuss the the India-Oman Joint Investment Fund, which was started in November 2008 with a seed capital of $100 million and is likely to be increased to $1.5 billion.

Trade and investment between India and Oman have been growing in the last few years. Trade touched $4.5 billion last year, while total bilateral investment is worth $7.5 billion.

India is the fifth largest source of imports into Oman. Oman's investments in India have exceeded $200 million. In 2008, major Indian companies, independently or in collaboration, bagged contracts worth $836 million in the Gulf country.

It is not just economic engagement that is growing. The two countries decided to step up defence cooperation by upgrading their joint naval exercises during Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's visit to Oman in 2008.

Says India can play a key role in tackling piracy and energy security issues in Gulf

Oman has wholeheartedly welcomed India's election as a non-permanent member of the U.N. Security Council (UNSC) and hoped it would play a positive role in ushering peace in West Asia.

Oman also wished to see India on the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) so that it could contribute to the collective effort to maintaining peace and security along with other countries with interest in the region, Minister Responsible for Foreign Affairs of the Sultanate of Oman, Yousuf bin Alawi bin Abdullah, told journalists after talks with External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna here on Wednesday.

Significantly, Oman and the United Arab Emirates are the two GCC nations which back India's nomination as a permanent member in an expanded UNSC.

Calling India a “neighbour which has always played the role of peace,'' he agreed that it could play an important role in the Gulf in addressing issues such as piracy and energy security. He also referred to the expatriate population of nearly six lakh Indians in Oman (and nearly 50 lakh in GCC nations) as a factor that should ensure that India had a stake in the region.

Mr. Krishna underlined the continuing upsurge in economic and commercial ties and noted the signing of detailed documents for the setting up of an Oman-India Joint Investment Fund.

Agreed upon during Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's visit to Muscat in 2008, the fund would have a seed capital of $100 million with a possible upward limit of $1.5 billion. The Omani Minister said the fund would pay the way for sizeable investments by Gulf companies to invest in infrastructure projects.

Iraq war logs: US turned over captives to Iraqi torture squadsNick Clegg calls for answers to 'extremely serious' abuse reports, but says it is up to US to answer for its own forces
David Leigh and Maggie O'Kane guardian.co.uk, Sunday 24 October 2010
Iraq war logs: Frago 242 – a licence to torture -How the newly released US military files reveal an instruction to ignore detainee abuse by Iraqi authorities; what that meant on the ground; and just how far up the chain of command the order went Link to this video Fresh evidence that US soldiers handed over detainees to a notorious Iraqi torture squad has emerged in army logs published by WikiLeaks.

The 400,000 field reports published by the whistleblowing website at the weekend contain an official account of deliberate threats by a military interrogator to turn his captive over to the Iraqi "Wolf Brigade".

The interrogator told the prisoner in explicit terms that: "He would be subject to all the pain and agony that the Wolf battalion is known to exact upon its detainees."

The evidence emerged as the deputy prime minister, Nick Clegg, said the allegations of killings, torture and abuse in Iraq were "extremely serious" and "needed to be looked at".

Clegg, speaking on BBC1's Andrew Marr Show, did not rule out an inquiry into the actions of British forces in Iraq, but said it was up to the US administration to answer for the actions of its forces. His comments contrasted with a statement from the Ministry of Defence today, which warned that the posting of classified US military logs on the WikiLeaks website could endanger the lives of British forces.

Clegg said: "We can bemoan how these leaks occurred, but I think the nature of the allegations made are extraordinarily serious. They are distressing to read about and they are very serious. I am assuming the US administration will want to provide its own answer. It's not for us to tell them how to do that."

DEBKAfile Special Report October 30, 2010, 1:24 PM (GMT+02:00)
Tags: air cargo terror Al Qaeda UK US Yemen
Device found at East Midlands, UK, airport

A broadening multinational investigation seeks to probe the scale of the al Qaeda air freight plot causing mayhem in the international cargo freight system on the assumption that the threat is still viable. Yemen, to which two explosive parcels bound for Chicago synagogues were traced, itself seized more than 30 suspect parcels before they were loaded on outward flights. Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh said Saturday, Oct. 30, that a woman suspected of sending the explosive parcels had been arrested in Sanaa on the basis of US and UAE intelligence.

debkafile's counter-terror sources say Yemeni claims of success should be taken with a pinch of salt. Saleh is eager to show results in his probe as he is under pressure from Washington to show fast results and he has high hopes for financial rewards. Above all, his army is fighting a losing war against Al Qaeda's inroads in Yemen and therefore unlikely to be able to contest the terrorist infrastructure which set up the package plot.

As the multiple investigation got underway, British Home Secretary Theresa May and Dubai police speculated Saturday that the two rigged parcels could have exploded on aircraft before they reached their Chicago addresses.

debkafile reported earlier:

Were it not for a tipoff from Saudi intelligence identifying the UPS and Fedex bomb parcels directed from Yemen to Chicago on separate cargo planes, they would not have been discovered before they blew up. Even so, debkafile's counter-terror sources report, al Qaeda chalked up a coup by successfully penetrating and paralyzing the main intercontinental air mail systems.

The packages taken off planes at the British East Midlands airport and Dubai Friday, Oct. 29, and rendered harmless were affixed to separate detonators- a cell phone SIM card SIM card and a trigger.

President Barack Obama reported a credible terror threat to the United States Friday night and pointed to Al Qaeda in Yemen (AQAP). He said two Chicago synagogues were targeted, but did not specify to which of the 140 Jewish places of worship in the Chicago area the packages were addressed.
The city is the president's political base. His outgoing chief of staff mayoral candidate Rahm Emanuel and his wife attend Anshe Shalom.
The United States, European and Middle East airports went on high terror alert after Washington was informed of a bomb threat to the US by means of air cargoes Thursday night. All the same, local airport security authorities in the US, Britain, Germany, France and Dubai were not aware of the threat and let the packages go through to their destinations. Suspicion was first aroused at the East Midlands airport by a photocopier ink cartridge with wires and white powder. Our sources report it contained PETN (pentaerythritol trinitrate) explosive material disguised by a chemical coating.

This was the same substance used by the "Underpants" bomber Farouk Abdulmuttalab when he failed to blow up a Delta passenger flight last Christmas and "Shoe Bomber" Richard Reid nine years ago. After that, cargo planes with freights originating in Yemen were kept back on arrival at Philadelphia and Newark, NJ international airports for thorough screening.

Intensified security measures at all US airports for passengers as well as freight and the public advised to be extra vigilant. Friday, as confusion mounted over the nature of "attack", dozens of alarms were phoned in during the day from different parts of America. They included sightings of two UPS pick-trucks in Queens and Brooklyn, an unaccompanied bag on a street bench which caused part of San Francisco's financial district to be temporarily evacuated and a knapsack outside a courthouse in Portland, Maine.

Linda Haase, the associate vice president of the Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Chicago, said Friday that synagogues in the area had been on alert since being informed of a potential threat. She referred to threats to synagogues and the White House and mentioned "black powder." The reference to the White House as later dropped from the report.

Obama's statement stressed that the terror threat was still in force and US security and intelligence services were on guard to protect US citizens, friends and allies. The Transport Security Agency was ordered to intensify security checks at all American airports.
Saturday, the US media disclosed that Saudi intelligence had been the source of the tipoff to Washington about dangerous air freight on its way to the United States providing the consignment numbers of the bomb packages. In the UK, following discovery of the rigged ink cartridge, a new counter-terror center was established with labs for testing suspect articles. Prime Minister David Cameron called the COBRA committee into session to look at the lapses of the British air security system. The suspect package was noted and cleared at East Midlands and sent on its way. It is chaired by the Home Secretary Theresa May as Cameron has a date with German Chancellor Angela Merkel. They too are no doubt discussing the ramifications of al Qaeda's air cargo plot

Even after the ink-bomb raised suspicion at East Midlands, major questions remain to be answered:

1. Without the Saudi tipoff, the bomb-parcels would have remained undetected and reached their targets. Meanwhile, Al Qaeda has succeeded in breaching the intercontinental air freight system, one of the wheels which makes Western economies go round and can claim a tactical success.

2. Although PETN had been used by failed al Qaeda's bombers on international flights in the past, several airport security agencies at ports on the routes of the cargo flights failed to detect the presence of this explosive substance.
3. While only two packages have been identified as dangerous, there may be more still be found in meticulous sweeps of many tons of freight - or even delivered. Their presence refutes the first theory widely held by terror experts that the plot was a dry run to probe for weak points in the intercontinental air freight system.

4. The imposition of heightened security for air cargo comparable to that applied to passenger traffic would throw the mail industry into chaos, causing extreme financial losses and disrupting an important branch of the Western economy. That too would be accounted by al Qaeda a major success - at very little cost to itself.