US diplomats pushed Boeing deals: cables

 Updated at: 1451 PST,  Monday, January 03, 2011
 WASHINGTON: US diplomats have on several occasions intervened to convince foreign governments to buy aircraft from Boeing rather than its European rival Airbus, newly released diplomatic cables show.

The cables, obtained by the New York Times from the whistleblower website WikiLeaks, document several incidents in which diplomats were involved in haggling over the billion-dollar deals seen as key to US economic growth.

One cable describes Saudi King Abdullah responding favorably to a personal request from then-president George W. Bush in 2006 that he buy as many as 43 Boeing jets for Saudi Arabian Airlines and another 13 for the royal fleet.

But the king "wanted to have all the technology that his friend, President Bush, had on Air Force One," the cable said.

Once the king's own plane was outfitted with the world's most advanced telecommunications and defense equipment, "'God willing,' he will make a decision that will 'please you very much,'" the cable said.

In November, state-owned Saudi Arabian Airlines said it had signed a contract for 12 new Boeing 777-300ER jets worth some 3.3 billion dollars.

The State Department confirmed to the Times that it had authorized an "upgrade" to the king's plane but declined to provide further details on security grounds.

In another incident, Bangladesh's Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina demanded landing rights for its national carrier at New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport as a condition for a Boeing deal.

"If there is no New York route, what is the point of buying Boeing," she was quoted as saying in a November 2009 cable.

The deal went through, but so far Biman Bangladesh Airlines has not been given the landing rights, the Times said.

The Times said such practices have continued despite decades-old agreements between US and European leaders to keep politics out of airline deals.

But State Department officials interviewed by the newspaper defended their involvement, saying such high-value exports were crucial to US President Barack Obama's efforts to pull the country out of its economic slump.

"That is the reality of the 21st century; governments are playing a greater role in supporting their companies, and we need to do the same thing," Robert Hormats, under secretary of state for economic affairs, told the Times.

Airbus may receive similar aid: other US cables cited by the Times describe the Bush administration and French President Nicolas Sarkozy's government
scrambling to win a jet deal from oil-rich Bahrain in 2007.

In the end, US diplomats convinced Bahrain to buy from Boeing after linking the signing of the deal to an upcoming visit by Bush in January 2008, the first-ever by a sitting US president, the Times said.

Washington has been infuriated by WikiLeaks and launched its own criminal investigation into the disclosure of the documents.

WikiLeaks has argued that its release of documents about the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq and the inner workings of US diplomacy exposes US military abuses on the battlefield and "contradictions between the US's public persona and what it says behind closed doors."

On Sunday, Republican Representative Darrell Issa blamed US Attorney General Eric Holder for failing to bring criminal charges against Julian Assange, the founder of WikiLeaks.

Issa, who takes over as the chairman of the powerful House Oversight and Government Reform committee, said that "the world is laughing at this paper tiger we've become."

He said legislation would be swiftly taken up by his committee, "so the diplomats can do their job with confidence and people can talk to our government with confidence."

Assange is on bail in Britain fighting a bid by Sweden to extradite him over allegations of sexual assault made by two women. His strict bail conditions include reporting to police daily and wearing an electronic tag.

Assange threatens to name Arab leaders with CIA ties

Updated at: 1254 PST,  Monday, January 03, 2011  LONDON: Julian Assange, the founder of whistle-blowing website WikiLeaks, came out swinging against some high-level Arab officials in an interview with an Arab TV Channel, saying they maintain close ties with the CIA and are spies for the U.S. intelligence agency in their respective countries. Top officials in several Arab countries have close links with the CIA, and many officials keep visiting U.S. embassies in their respective countries voluntarily to establish links with CIA. These officials are spies for the U.S. in their countries, he was quoted in media reports as saying in the interview. Assange also alleged that a number of Arab countries run special torture centers where U.S. authorities dispatch suspects for "interrogation and torture." The WikiLeaks founder did not disclose the identities of Arab officials with alleged links to the CIA. The interviewer said Assange had previously showed him documents with some of their names.

US Navy introduces smoking ban on submarines

Updated at: 1153 PST,  Monday, January 03, 2011  WASHINGTON: Giving up smoking may be a New Year's resolution for some, but all US sailors will now have to follow suit, as the US Navy moves to ban its crews from smoking aboard submarines starting Friday. In a country where fights against Big Tobacco are common, troops deprived of fresh air and natural light for months were surprisingly allowed to smoke in submerged submarines. But no more, after a Pentagon study found the risks of second-hand smoke were severe in those highly confined spaces. Submarine Forces Commander Vice Admiral John Donnelly ordered the ban aboard 73 US subs, citing health concerns. "Our sailors are our most important asset to accomplishing our missions," he said in announcing the measure in April. "Recent testing has proven that, despite our atmosphere purification technology, there are unacceptable levels of secondhand smoke in the atmosphere of a submerged submarine. The only way to eliminate risk to our non-smoking sailors is to stop smoking aboard our submarines." About 40 percent of the 13,000 US submarine sailors smoke -- double the US national average. The order comes 16 years after a ban on smoking in military buildings and installations, as well as aboard US Navy ships. Sailors are, however, allowed to smoke on the decks of surface ships. US submarine sailors are also bracing for another major change with women being allowed to serve aboard submarines for the first time starting late next year or in early 2012. British submarine sailors are allowed to smoke on board, while the French have banned the practice except on decks when the submarine is out of the water.

'Five Maoist rebels' shot dead in eastern India

The Maoist rebels are active in a large swathe of India

Police in India say at least five Maoist militants were shot dead by security forces early on Sunday in the eastern state of Orissa.

Police and paramilitaries carried out a raid on the rebels' forest camps overnight, during which there was a lengthy exchange of fire.
Several of the dead are women.
India's Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh, has described the Maoist insurgency as the country's biggest internal security challenge.
A major government offensive was launched against them last year in five states, including Orissa.
Last month, Maoist rebels killed seven villagers in India's West Bengal state.
The rebels are believed to be active in more than two-thirds of the country.
They say they are fighting for the rights of the rural poor.

Russia's airlines must ground their Tu-154B planes, after a fire in Siberia which killed three people, the country's transport watchdog says.

At least 43 were injured when the plane, carrying 124 people, burst into flames before take-off from Surgut.
Russia's transport safety regulator said the ban would remain in place until the cause of the disaster had been established.
The "black box" voice and data recorders have been recovered.
The plane exploded in a fireball on Saturday.
The Tu-154B is one version of the Tu-154 dates from the Soviet era, and is used extensively on domestic air routes in Russia and the former Soviet Union.
There are 14 Tu-154Bs still in service in Russia, according to the RIA Novosti news agency.
Powerful blast The Kolavia plane was taxiing for a flight to Moscow, when a fire started in one of its engines, an emergency services spokesman said.

The fire then caused a powerful blast which destroyed the plane and caused flames across an area of 100 square metres, he said.
Most of the passengers were evacuated before the explosion.
"There was a thick, black smoke and people started to panic. They were literally stepping on each other's heads," said Sergei Grigoriyev, a singer with the band Na-Na who were on board.
"I saw my life flash before me," he said, according to Itar-Tass news agency.
Fellow band member Vladimir Politov said the group had escaped out an emergency exit over the wing and were all unharmed.
The Tu-154 entered service in the 1970s but a series of crashes triggered concerns over its safety record.
Russia's national carrier airline Aeroflot took all its remaining 23 Tu-154 aircraft out of service in January 2010.
Polish President Lech Kaczynski was killed last year when a Polish Airforce Tu-154 crashed in western Russia.

South Korea stands firm against North's 'adventurism'

President Lee talked tough but said the door to talks remained open with the North

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Inside North Korea

• Volunteers bolster S Korean army
• Why border hot-spot is war relic
• Rare peek into China-N Korea ties
• Alliance under strain

South Korean President Lee Myung-bak has said the door is open to new dialogue with North Korea.

However, the North should abandon its "military adventurism" first, he said.
Seoul would respond strongly to any threat against "an inch of our territory", he said, but with sincerity, progress could be made.
Mr Lee's New Year's speech on Monday came two days after Pyongyang delivered a mixed message of openness to talks and increased military posture.
The US envoy responsible for policy toward North Korea, Stephen Bosworth, is scheduled to visit Seoul on Tuesday before going on to China and Japan.
The US envoy for nuclear talks with the North, Sung Kim, will accompany him to Seoul and Beijing.
'Stern responses' The past year has been tense on the Korean peninsula, with the alleged torpedoing of a South Korean warship by the North in March, and the North's shelling of the South Korean island of Yeonpyeong.
That attack on 23 November, the first on a civilian area since the 1950-53 Korean War, was a defining moment for South Korea, said Mr Lee.

South Korea has carried out a number of military exercises recently

"The situation before and after the provocation against Yeonpyeong Island cannot be the same," Mr Lee said.
"Any provocation that would pose a threat to our lives and property will not be tolerated. Such provocations will be met with stern, strong responses.
"The shelling of Yeonpyeong Island also served as an opportunity for us to reflect on our security readiness and overhaul our defence posture.
"There cannot be any delay in establishing security measures," he said.
Four South Koreans were killed, including civilians, and the damage to ordinary people's homes drove home the reality of the threat behind the regular exchanges of words between North and South.
Mr Lee had been criticised for responding weakly to the shelling, but he has since replaced the defence minister, and overseen huge new military exercises with the United States.
After months of refusing to countenance any talks until the North apologised for March's warship incident - in which 46 South Korean sailors died - Mr Lee first hinted at a possibility of talks six days ago.
"If the North exhibits sincerity, we have both the will and the plan to drastically enhance economic cooperation together with the international community," he said in his latest speech.
"The North must come to the realisation that nothing can be gained through military adventurism.... Nuclear weapons and military adventurism must be discarded."
"I remind the North that the path to peace is still open. The door for dialogue is still open," he added.
The two Koreas remain technically at war, since no peace treaty was signed after the 1950-53 Korean conflict.
The six-party talks which involved aid for North Korea in return for progress in dismantling its nuclear programme, fell apart in April 2009 after the US and South Korea criticised a North Korean nuclear test.

Iran 'shoots down Western spy drones' in Gulf

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Iran's Revolutionary Guards have shot down two "Western spy drones" in the Gulf, a senior Iranian commander has been quoted as saying.

"Many" other drones have been shot down over an unspecified period of time, the Fars news agency quoted him as saying.
The head of the Revolutionary Guards' air force wing, Amir Ali Hajizadeh, produced no evidence to support the report.
He said this was the first time news of the incidents had been reported.
The drones were mainly being used in Iraq and Afghanistan but "some violations against our soil" had also occurred, the commander said.
The Revolutionary Guards were set up following the Islamic revolution in 1979, and its commanders have frequently delivered warnings to Israel.
Last August Iran unveiled what it said was its first domestically built drone, the Karrar.
It said it had a range of 1,000km (620 miles) and could carry two 250-pound (115kg) bombs, or a precision bomb of 500 pounds.
There is no independent corroboration of the latest Iranian claims.
The Fifth Fleet of the US navy is based in Bahrain, on the other side of the Gulf from Iran.
Iranian commanders have threatened to block shipping through the strategic Strait of Hormuz if it is attacked.