Philippines And Muslim Rebels Revive Peace Talks

KUALA LUMPUR - The Philippine government and the nation's main Islamic separatist group agreed Feb. 10 to push ahead with a faltering peace process after meeting for the first time in two years.
The government hailed the meeting as a success, saying it yielded "agreements on substantive issues" and that the two sides agreed to "fast track the peace process" with another round of talks scheduled for next month.

The meeting in Kuala Lumpur also covered concerns over the emergence of a breakaway rebel faction that authorities say could undermine efforts to end one of the world's longest-running insurgencies.
The two sides said in a joint statement that they "discussed issues related to" feared rebel commander Ameril Umbrakato's split from the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), which was announced over the weekend.
In their first round of talks since Philippines President Benigno Aquino came to power last year, they agreed to renew the mandate of the international monitoring team in the troubled southern region for another 12 months.
They also exchanged drafts on their positions and agreed to meet again, possibly on March 29 and 30.
Chief Philippines negotiator Marvic Leonen said he opened the talks by declaring that: "We come to work with you to bring peace, not just aspire for it" and admitting a need to address historical injustices.
The government quoted MILF chief representative Mohagher Iqbal as backing its goal of reaching a settlement within one year and voicing optimism that they were now "closer to peace".
During the talks in the Malaysian capital, Leonen raised concerns over Umbrakato's departure from the 12,000-strong group which he has said could render the MILF unable to deliver on any peace settlement.
The MILF has been fighting for an independent Muslim homeland on the southern island of Mindanao since the 1970s. The conflict has claimed 150,000 lives, according to the government.
Umbrakato, who quit the rebel organization seven months ago, taking at least a thousand fighters with him, is one of two MILF senior commanders who launched deadly attacks across mostly Christian communities on Mindanao in 2008.
The attacks were in retaliation for a Supreme Court decision outlawing a proposed land deal that would have given the rebels control over what they claim as ancestral lands on Mindanao.
The attacks, which forced the suspension of the peace process until now, left nearly 400 dead and hundreds of thousands displaced.
Both sides agreed to a new ceasefire in 2009, allowing most of the evacuees to return home.
Aquino assumed power last year, promising to bring an end to the insurgency during his six-year term.

Blast kills 10 at army facility in north-west Pakistan

A blast has killed at least 10 people at an army recruitment centre in Pakistan's troubled Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, police say.

The explosion occurred during a military parade at the centre in the city of Mardan.
Police say it may have been carried out by a suicide bomber.
There had been a relative lull in attacks on the army in the region, where Taliban militants are active, correspondents say.
According to private Pakistani TV channel Express 24/7, the blast hit the Punjab Regiment Centre.
Residents in Mardan said the explosion happened while recruits were conducting morning training.

Taiwan general Lo Hsien-che held on China spy charges

Gen Lo Hsien-che is the most senior officer accused of espionage since the 1960s

A Taiwanese general has been detained on suspicion of spying for China - the highest-ranking officer allegedly involved in espionage in decades.

Maj Gen Lo Hsien-che was recruited by China in 2004 while he was stationed in Thailand, the defence ministry said.
Local media reported he had leaked details of Taiwan-US programmes, but officials expressed doubt that he had access to such information.
His arrest follows an investigation launched last year.
Officials said Gen Lo was posted to Thailand between 2002 and 2005, and was promoted to major general after his return to Taiwan.
At the time of his arrest, he was head of the military command's communications and information office.
Local media reported that the authorities raided his home and recovered documents relating to the $1bn (£0.6bn) Po Sheng defence system that Taiwan is purchasing from US defence contractor Lockheed Martin.

Accused general

• 51-year-old head of communications and information at army HQ
• Military attache in Thailand from 2002 to 2005
• Arrested on 27 January, remanded in custody by military prosecutors

But an unnamed US-based official told Taiwan's Central News Agency that the general should not have had access to US-related information, so any secrets leaked were unlikely to be connected to US intelligence.

The defence ministry has set up a group in an attempt to limit any possible damage, according to Lt Gen Wang Ming-wo, of the ministry's Political Warfare Bureau.
"He has brought shame to the military. Servicemen are supposed to be loyal to their country," Mr Wang told AFP news agency.
Gen Lo is the most senior officer accused of espionage since the 1960s when a vice defence minister was arrested amid a crackdown on Communist spies.

The Chinese Communists have not stopped their infiltration into Taiwan”

End Quote Lt Gen Wang Ming-wo

Critics say his alleged connection with China and the fact it took several years to detect has revealed a security loophole.

'Smokeless war' Tensions have run high between the two sides since 1949, when Taiwan was separated from China at the end of a civil war.
China sees Taiwan as part of its territory and has threatened to use force if the island ever moved to declare formal independence.
But there has been an unprecedented warming in relations since Taiwan's President Ma Ying-jeou took office in 2008.
Despite this, Taiwan's military has repeatedly said that it will not let its guard down against the mainland's government.
"Although tensions across the Taiwan Strait have eased over the past more than two years, the Chinese Communists have not stopped their infiltration into Taiwan," said Mr Wang.
"Instead, they have been stepping up their intelligence gathering, what we call the 'smokeless war' against us."

N. Korea Military Says No More Meetings With South

SEOUL - North Korea's military said Feb. 10 it would no longer engage in dialogue with South Korea's armed forces following the breakdown of talks the previous day.
The military delegation to those talks, in a statement on the North's official news agency, said the South's armed forces were only interested in maintaining high tension on the peninsula.

Two days of colonel-level talks at the border village of Panmunjom, designed to make arrangements for a high-level military meeting, broke down Feb. 9 when the North's team walked out.
The two sides had been meeting for the first time since the North's deadly shelling of a South Korean island on Nov. 23.
The South says there must be an apology at future talks for the shelling, and for the sinking of a warship last March that Seoul also blames on Pyongyang.
Four people including two civilians died in the shelling of Yeonpyeong Island near the disputed Yellow Sea border. The sinking of the warship, in which the North denies involvement, cost 46 lives.
The North says its attack on Yeonpyeong was in response to a South Korean live-fire drill there, which dropped shells into waters claimed by the North.
It says future talks should focus not on the incidents but on general ways to avoid provocations by either side.

Russia To Boost Defenses On Kuril Islands: Medvedev

MOSCOW - Russian President Dmitry Medvedev on Feb. 9 ordered the deployment of extra weaponry on the Kuril islands claimed by Japan, escalating tensions in a dispute that has festered since World War II.
Bluntly describing the Pacific islands as an "inseparable" part of Russia's territory and a strategic Russian region, Medvedev also ordered an expansion of its presence on the remote archipelago.

His comments represented a drastic sharpening of Moscow's rhetoric in the dispute with Tokyo after Japan's Prime Minister Naoto Kan called Medvedev's unprecedented visit to the islands in November an "unforgivable outrage".
The remarks are also sure to create an icy atmosphere when Japanese Foreign Minister Seiji Maehara visits Moscow on Feb. 11 for previously scheduled talks with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov.
"The additional weapons which will be deployed there must be sufficient and modern to ensure the security of these islands, which are an inseparable part of the Russian Federation," Medvedev said.
"We will make every necessary effort to strengthen our presence on the Kuril islands. This is our strategic region," he said at a meeting with Russia's ministers of defense and regional development shown on state television.
"Ensure that all the necessary decisions are carried out, the deliveries (of weapons) are realized and all the necessary reorganizational measures are fulfilled," Medvedev told Defence Minister Anatoly Serdyukov.
Serdyukov, who also angered Japan when he visited the islands last week, replied that the defense ministry would review what additional arms were needed on the Kurils and would report back at the end of February.
"We will prepare a program by the end of the month. Now we understand what weapons need to be there. We will take a decision by the end of month," Serdyukov was quoted as saying.
A defense ministry source told the ITAR-TASS news agency that the Mistral class warships Russia is buying from France would be used by the Russian Pacific Fleet "including for the protection of the South Kurils".
The deputy head of the defense committee for Russia's lower house of parliament, Igor Barinov, said Medvedev's announcement was a response to "anti-Russian hysteria" in Japan.
"This decision is mainly of a political nature and tells Japan that there is going to be no revision of the results of World War II and it will cool hotheads in Tokyo," he told the RIA Novosti news agency.
The Kurils, which lie just north of Japan's Hokkaido Island, have been controlled by Moscow since they were seized by Soviet troops in 1945. Their status remains a major problem in Moscow-Tokyo relations.
The dispute surrounds the southernmost four islands - known in Russian as Iturup, Shikotan, Habomai and Kunashir - which are still claimed by Tokyo and collectively known in Japan as the Northern Territories.
Japan does not contest Russia's sovereignty over the northernmost islands but has repeatedly demanded the return of the other four. Serdykov last week angered Japan by visiting Iturup and Kunashir.
The row also prevented Russia and Japan from signing a peace treaty to formally end World War II and stymied attempts to bring bilateral economic relations to their full potential.
The islanders - buffeted by storm winds and often battling fog - eke out a tough existence with fishing the main industry. Medvedev called for greater tourism and foreign investment.
"The main thing is that the people who live there should feel they are no worse off than those on the mainland," he said.
Russian foreign ministry spokesman Alexander Lukashevich said ahead of Maehara's visit that now was "the perfect time to return our relations to their normal track."
But he added: "First and foremost, we expect our Japanese colleagues to fundamentally change their attitude towards Russia."

BAE Displays Model of Navalized Typhoon for India

BANGALORE - BAE Systems responded to an Indian Navy request for information on a new naval fighter last year with an offer based on the Typhoon combat jet.

BAE Systems responded to an Indian Navy request for information on a new naval fighter with an offer based on the Typhoon combat jet. Above, a Eurofighter Typhoon takes off in June 2009. (Alan Lessig / Staff file photo)

At the Aero India 2011 show, which opened here Feb. 9, the company took the wraps off what it thinks an Indian naval Typhoon might look like. The design may be aimed squarely at the Indians, but with questions still being asked by some sections of the U.K. government over the price of the Joint Strike Fighter (JSF), which is destined to equip a new Royal Navy aircraft carrier, the re-emergence of the naval Typhoon was a reminder options do exist.

Asked about the naval Typhoon at the show, Peter Luff, the British defense minister visiting Aero India in support of London's increasing export drive, ruled out interest in any platform other than the Joint Strike Fighter.
Paul Hopkins, BAE's vice president of air business development, said the work done on the naval Typhoon was solely geared toward the Indian Navy.
That said, the previous Labour administration eyed a navalized Typhoon as a possible plan B during negotiations with the U.S. over JSF technology transfer, and some of the work supporting the Indian request for information stems from that period.
Pictures displayed by BAE showed an aircraft model with a number of modifications compared to the land-based Typhoon being offered to the Indian Air Force in a contest to provide a medium, multirole combat aircraft. Most obvious is the conformal tanks and thrust vectoring nozzles, but other more subtle changes included a beefed-up undercarriage, some strengthening of the airframe and other requirements needed to take Typhoon to sea.
A small deployable flap on the upper wing could also be fitted to improve handling during take-off if thrust vectoring was not incorporated in the requirement.
Hopkins said BAE has done sufficient work to establish whether a naval Typhoon for the Indian Navy is feasible. Now the company has at least two hurdles to overcome.
First, Typhoon has to beat out opposition from the F/A-18, Rafale, Gripen, F-16 and MiG-35 for the Air Force order. Then the Indian Navy needs to decide whether it will continue to use ski jumps on its expanding aircraft carrier force or start to switch to a catapult and arrestor gear configuration.
"If it's a decision for a catapult, then we are not a contender," said Hopkins.
Meeting catapult requirements would add too much weight to the aircraft, blunt performance and add substantially to modification costs.
The more modest changes needed to launch from a ski jump and recover using an arrestor hook would add only around 500 kilograms to the aircraft weight, said Hopkins.
Air Force Typhoons already carry an arrestor hook for emergency landings although this would require strengthening.
Hopkins said a naval Typhoon would be capable of operating from the 45,000-ton Russian carrier Admiral Gorshkov, now being converted for the Indians into a vessel that can accommodate short takeoff but arrested recovery (STOBAR) flight.
Pictures of the Typhoon were shown on the BAE stand with the converted Russian carrier in the background.
BAE wasn't the only company with a fighter without a naval pedigree to respond to the Indian request for information.
A naval version of a STOBAR-capable Gripen is also being developed by Saab.
The F/A-18 and Rafale are already up to speed as land-based and naval fighters, and offer a ready-made catapult-launched solution once the Navy has a formal requirement for a new fighter.
Last month, the U.S. added to the possible naval contenders by saying it would make the JSF available if India asked.

USAF Scaled Back Vision for New Bomber

The U.S. Air Force's new bomber will be less ambitious in its performance goals than once envisioned, the service's top uniformed leader said.
"We're not going to be as ambitious as we perhaps were at one time," said Gen. Norton Schwartz, Air Force chief of staff, during the National Defense Industrial Association's Special Operations/Low Intensity Conflict Symposium on Feb. 9, referring to the nascent long-range strike program.

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Schwartz said the less ambitious performance targets will make it easier for the Air Force to manage the program and for industry to deliver an operational aircraft on time and on budget.
"And that kind of thing will make it easier for us to manage and less challenging for industry to keep their promises," he said.
Schwartz said that in these difficult budgetary times, there is no leeway for "wishful thinking." He told industry, "It's a simple thing for me: Deliver what you promised."
One way the Air Force might scale back its ambitions might be to build the new aircraft using an incremental block approach to adding new capabilities, said Paul Kaminski, chairman of the Defense Science Board. He advocated an open systems approach that would allow the service to add new features to the aircraft as technology advances and as the threat evolves.
Most important, the Air Force must limit its ambitions for the first increment of the new bomber, he said.
"You want to be careful not to overreach with the first block," he said.
However, Kaminski said the new bomber should include the necessary hookups to incorporate those new features from the onset, because retrofitting such equipment would be exceedingly difficult and costly.
Retrofitting the aircraft with the needed electromagnetic hardening for the nuclear role needs to be planned in advance, he said. Thus, the new bomber should include the necessary space and wiring for a nuclear capability even if the plane will not receive that ability until later in its operational life.