“There is a genuine world concern, and hopefully a consensus will come from that,” Ann Taylor, British Minister for International Defense and Security, told Reuters in an interview on Sunday on the sidelines of a regional defense conference.

Britain joined the United States, Australia and East Asian defense ministers in condemning North Korea’s latest military moves at the Asia Security Conference in Singapore.

U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates warned on Saturday at the meeting that Washington would not accept a nuclear North Korea and said it would reach out to other regional powers to stop a growing threat that could trigger an arms race in Asia.

The U.S. and Japan have circulated a draft U.N. Security Council resolution condemning the test and calling for enforcement of sanctions imposed after Pyongyang’s first 2006 nuclear test, which included a widely ignored limited trade and arms embargo.

Taylor said the Chinese concern voiced at the forum made her hopeful the U.N. resolution would bring “some concerted action.” “It is that unity of action that I think is important here. Because if we only can get the unity of action, the regime in North Korea will understand the strength of feeling and will begin to take notice,” she said.

On Saturday, a top Chinese army official called on North Korea to move to denuclearization and asked all regional parties to stay calm. But he did not mention sanctions. China exports food and energy supplies to neighboring North Korea.

Fellow U.N. Security Council member Russia said last week it was too early to talk about possible penalties. This could mean a split in the Security Council, given that Gates on Saturday had called for sanctions that would bring “real pain” to the North.

Taylor said tougher financial sanctions were a possibility.

“That remains one of the options,” she said. “We’ve got to work these things out with colleagues and partners on the U.N. Security Council and consider what is the next step forward.”

MORE FOR AFGHANISTAN

Taylor also echoed Gates’ call for more troops and other aid from the rest of the world to build infrastructure in conflict-ridden Afghanistan. “We are operating in a difficult area in the south. We are making progress but we could do more with more help from other NATO countries, in terms of military forces, training police, helping establishing the rule of law,” Taylor said.

Gates said on Saturday he was looking to Europeans in particular to do more since previous NATO summits have identified Afghanistan as the alliance’s highest priority, but there was a gap between the rhetoric in NATO and the capabilities members were prepared to put forward.

The United States leads a coalition from more than 40 countries in Afghanistan and is adding another 20,000 troops to the 38,000 there, to counter gains by a resurgent Taliban.

Britain hopeful on U.N. action over North Korea

The Russian security forces clashed with the group outside the settlement of Dai in Chechnya and used artillery fire, the Interfax and RIA Novosti news agencies quoted security sources as saying.

There were no casualties amongst the security forces, it said. The clash took place at 10:50 am (0650 GMT) on Thursday but these were the first reports to have emerged.

Russia at midnight Wednesday-Thursday ended its decade-long “counter-terrorist operation” in Chechnya, claiming stability had returned to a territory torn apart by two wars since the collapse of communism.

This was the first reported clash since the security regime was abolished.

Moscow fought two full-scale wars with separatist forces in Chechnya after the collapse of the Soviet Union, but the situation has largely stabilised in recent years under strongman pro-Moscow local leader Ramzan Kadyrov.

Clash in Chechnya after end of security regime

The history of private military companies started on June 24, 1997, when experts of the US Intelligence Department proclaimed the PMCs as a major tool in the implementation of the military security policy of the United States and its allies in other countries.

The professional level of a private military company is its major advantage. Inexperienced military men are not welcome there. A PMC member is usually a man between 35-40 years of age. A human being of this age is resistant to stresses and emergency situations. In addition, a man of this age can also do routine work very well, which can not be said about younger men.

Potential fighters of the private military companies possess the required level of experience and have an adequate insight, which allows such units to achieve better results in their activities in comparison with regular armies.

A private military company can be very efficient in local conflicts, where the use of regular armies can be complicated for legal reasons. For example, Russia can not send its troops to Nigeria if Nigerian gunmen attack employees of Russian companies – it would be a gross violation of international laws.

Russian PMCs – Tiger Top Rent Security and Orel Antiterror – do not lag behind their US or British colleagues. The only difference is that Russian PMC fighters are paid a lot less.

Russian PMCs took part in the military actions in Iraq, Afghanistan, Israel, Lebanon and Palestine.

Russia’s largest companies such as Russian Aluminium (Rusal), Lukoil, Rosneft and Gazprom received a carte blanche to form military structures to protect their interests both inside and outside Russia.

Private military companies supply bodyguards for the Afghan president and pilot armed reconnaissance planes and helicopter gunships to destroy Coca crops in Colombia. They are licensed by the State Department; they are contracting with foreign governments, training soldiers and reorganizing militaries in Nigeria, Bulgaria, Taiwan, and Equatorial Guinea. The PMC industry is now worth over $100 billion a year.

Private military companies to supersede regular armies

ndia has become one of the largest arms importers during the recent years due to the nation’s complicated relations with Pakistan. A third Indo-Pakistan war may break out at any moment. Foreign companies get ready to fight for the Indian billions. France’s Rafale, Europe’s Eurofighter, Sweden’s Gripen and USA’s F-16 and F-18 will be a serious competition for Russia.

Russia’s Sukhoi already conducts cooperation with India : the nation launched the licensed production of Su-30MKI fighters in 2004. However, Russia has another trump card to win a possible contract – the MiG-35 fighter, which will be unveiled at Aero India 2009 air show.

MiG-35 is outfitted with aviation electronics of new generation, including a powerful radar. The aircraft also has optoelectronic systems to fight air and ground targets, a powerful defense complex and latest airborne weapons.

“MiG-35 is virtually a new modification of the old fighter, but it is quite competitive. Its low price and technical advantages leave Western rivals behind,” Konstantin Sivkov of the Academy for Geopolitical Problems told Pravda.ru. “It would also be better for India to buy this fighter for compatibility reasons. The political aspect and the foreign orientation of the political leadership play the most important role on the market of arms. The future tender will test the political orientation of India ,” the expert said.

Russia has all chances to sign the contract with India at this point. The two countries have been maintaining friendly relations with each other for many years. One should not forget the ties between Russia’s MiG Corporation and its Indian partners either. MiG fighters originally appeared in India in 1963, whereas MiG-21 used to be the basic aircraft of the Indian Air Force for years.

The cooperation continues today as well. India’s navy receives the MiG-29K/KUB carrier fighter on a regular basis. The personnel of the Indian Air Force undergoes the technical training in Russia . To crown it all, MiG modernizes India’s MiG fighters and supplies them with necessary spare parts.

Russia’s MiG-35 fighter to win billion-dollar contract and leave US rivals behind

“At no time did Russian planes enter Canadian air space, but within 24 hours of the president’s visit here … we did scramble F-18 fighter planes from NORAD in Canada command,” Peter MacKay said in a news conference in Ottawa.

The Russian planes were in international waters, about 118 miles (190 kilometers) northeast of Tuktoyuktuk, in Canada’s Northwest Territories.

“It was a routine flight over international airspace,” Yevgeniy Khorishko, a spokesman at the Russian Embassy in Washington, told CBC news.

NORAD, the North American Aerospace Defense Command, is a joint U.S.-Canadian agency in charge of aerospace control for the North American continent.

“As has been done on previous occasions, (Canadian pilots) sent very clear signals that are understood, that (the) aircraft was to turn around, turn tail and head back to its own air space, which it did,” MacKay said.

The Russian planes were identified as TU-95 Bear aircraft by NORAD spokesman Michael Kucharek.

Canadians intercepted Russian bombers before Obama visit

Washington worried Iran would turn spent fuel from the plant’s reactor into plutonium, which could then be used to build a nuclear warhead, and U.S. officials pressured Moscow for years to stop helping Iran build the electricity-generating facility.

American opposition to the plant eased when Iran agreed in 2005 to return spent fuel to Russia to ensure it can’t be reprocessed into plutonium. Russia is providing enriched uranium fuel for the plant in the southern port city of Bushehr.

But the U.S. and its allies say there are deep questions about whether Iran intends to use other parts of its nuclear program to develop atomic weapons. Tehran denies that.

The United States said Wednesday that the fuel deal with Russia shows Tehran does not need the most controversial part of its nuclear program — facilities to produce its own enriched uranium.

The arrangement with Russia is “an appropriate mechanism for Iran to see the benefits of the peaceful use of nuclear energy,” State Department spokesman Robert A. Wood said in Washington. “It also demonstrates that Iran does not need to develop any kind of indigenous uranium enrichment capacity.”

The U.N. Security Council, the U.S. and other countries have demanded that Iran suspend enrichment because the process not only can produce fuel for a reactor, but can be used to develop highly enriched uranium needed to make nuclear bombs.

Iran denies it is seeking to build atomic weapons, and says it has a right to produce its own fuel for several nuclear power plants it plans to build. It says relying on imported fuel for its entire reactor program would leave it vulnerable to cutoffs as political pressure.

Iranian officials on Wednesday claimed further progress in expanding the uranium enrichment program, saying the number of centrifuges operating at its enrichment plant has increased to 6,000, up from 5,000 in November.

Iranians in Test Run of First Nuclear Power Plant

It did not give a date for the launch, but said it would mark a great step forward for the communist state.

Correspondents say the statement is Pyongyang’s clearest reference yet to what neighbours believe may be the imminent test of a long-range missile.

When it tested the Taepodong-1 missile in 1998, it claimed to have put a satellite in orbit.

In July 2006 it test-fired the three-stage long-range Taepodong-2, but the missile blew up shortly after launch.

North Korea’s move comes amid heightened tensions with South Korea, and with Pyongyang pushing for a top spot on the agenda of the new US administration.

Alaska reach

The announcement came in a statement from the national space agency, carried by the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).

“Full-scale preparations are under way to launch a rocket Unha-2 to put communication satellite Kwangmyongsong-2 into orbit,” it said.

“When this satellite is successfully launched, our space technology will make a great step forward toward becoming an economically strong country.”

The launch is planned from a base in Hwadae in the northeast of the country, the statement said.

Satellite images showed activity at the site, but there was no missile on the launch pad, South Korea’s Yonhap news agency reported, citing an intelligence official.

The base in Hwadae, called Musudan-ri, was where North Korea test-fired its long-range Taepodong-2 in 2006.

There are fears that the missile, with a theoretical range of 6,700 km (4,200 miles), could be used to target the US state of Alaska.

But when the missile was last tested, it exploded within a minute.

North Korea’s move comes with talks on an aid-for-disarmament deal – involving the US, China, Russia, Japan and South Korea – currently stalled.

Relations between the two Koreas are also tense following South President Lee Myung-bak’s decision to link the provision on bilateral aid to progress on denuclearisation. Pyongyang has recently scrapped several peace agreements with Seoul.

The mooted launch also follows speculation about the health of North Korean leader Kim Jong-il, who is believed to have suffered a stroke in mid-2008.

On a trip to Asia last week, the new US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton warned North Korea against any rash moves, saying a test-launch would be “unhelpful”.

North Korea tested a nuclear weapon in October 2006. But experts say it does not yet have the technology to make a nuclear warhead small enough to mount on a missile.

North Korea ‘plans rocket launch

Pakistan’s Interior Ministry Adviser Rehman Malik told a press conference that “some part of the conspiracy has taken place in Pakistan,” adding that eight people had been arrested – including a few named by India as masterminds.

But he also unveiled a slew of foreign links pointing to a network of “non-state actors” providing logistical support from around the globe. These include:

* Internet phone accounts arranged in Barcelona
* a digital teleconferencing system in Houston
* the use of Indian mobile phone connections
* a domain name registered in Russia
* a satellite phone registered in a Middle Eastern country
* further links to Austria and Italy.

Criticism, pressure from India
After 164 people were killed in Mumbai over three days last November, India was quick to point the finger at its long-standing rival for not doing enough to stop terrorists from using their territory as a base. (Read the Monitor’s article about that here.)

It was not until early January that Pakistan admitted that Ajmal Kasab, the lone surviving gunman from the attacks, was a Pakistani, while government officials have over the past few days been pushing a Bangladesh link. As little as eight days ago, Pakistan’s ambassador to the UK denied the attacks had been planned in Pakistan. The government, it appears, is keen to dispel the notion that there was any official link between the attackers and any government agencies, instead portraying itself, along with other countries, as a hapless victim.

Admission coincides with US envoy’s visit
The admission also coincides with a visit to the region by the newly-named US special envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan, Richard Holbrooke – the Monitor wrote about his ‘listening tour‘ on Wednesday. (It may be worth noting that the Pakistani government’s apparent about-face on releasing disgraced nuclear scientist Dr. AQ Khan’s was attributed by the Pakistani media to Holbrooke’s visit.]

India, meanwhile had termed the developments as “positive” but added Pakistan must now dismantle the “infrastructure of terrorism” on its soil.

Pakistan admits links to Mumbai attacks, arrests chief suspects | csmonitor.com

The Manas airbase near the capital Bishkek serves as an important supply route for US and Nato operations in Afghanistan.

It was set up by the United States in 2001 to support Operation Enduring Freedom – the US-led fight against al-Qaeda and the Taleban in Afghanistan.

Kyrgyzstan was chosen because it offered coalition forces unrestricted overflight rights for aircraft flying combat, humanitarian and search-and-rescue missions.

Since the US were ordered out of Karshi-Khanabad in Uzbekistan, following a dispute with the Uzbek government over human rights in 2005, Manas has been the only American airbase in Central Asia.

Transport hub

An average of 15,000 US soldiers go through it every month on their way in and out of Afghanistan.

Those bound for Afghanistan arrive in huge transport planes and, after a day or two on the base, get ferried to their posts in smaller aircraft, which are less easy targets for militants.

The base is also home to the large tanker aircraft that are used for in-air refuelling of fighter planes on combat missions over Afghanistan, and it acts as a funnel for anything the troops could need: from medical supplies, food and uniforms, to building materials.

Both the State Department and the Pentagon have acknowledged the importance of the Kyrgyz base.

The US has more than 30,000 troops in Afghanistan and President Barack Obama is expected to almost double that number as part of his plans to increase the war effort there.

But they are also at pains to stress US operations in Afghanistan will not be seriously disrupted at a crucial time.

“We never have a single point of failure,” Major John Redfield, a spokesman for the US military, told the BBC.

“We are just going to find other means of supplying the folks in Afghanistan.”

Alternative routes

So which route will the US choose for its soldiers and supplies to reach Afghanistan?

At present, about 75% of US military supplies – everything from fuel to heavy equipment – passes through Pakistan.

However, the route, which winds hundreds of miles from the port city of Karachi through the Khyber Pass to the Afghan-Pakistani border, is slow and dangerous.

It has also become a target for militants seeking to disrupt the Nato and US supply chain.

Six people were wounded on Friday when a suicide car bomber blew himself up at a Pakistani security post on the pass.

The attack came shortly after the main bridge linking Pakistan to Afghanistan had reopened, following a bomb explosion on Tuesday.

There are other options too.
See map of existing and possible supply routes

Tajikistan

The Tajik president has offered a transit route for commercial and humanitarian supplies.

“They should be destined not only for the military but it is also important they are used for the reconstruction of Afghanistan,” President Emomali Rakhmon said.

The US ambassador to Tajikistan, Tracey Ann Jacobson, said the transit would take the land route to Afghanistan via a new bridge over the Panj river, which was part-funded by the Americans.

But there is still the question of how to get supplies to Tajikistan in large volumes in the first place.

Uzbekistan

The US could consider trying to resume its military co-operation with Uzbekistan. The airbase at Karshi-Khanabad allowed US troops ready access to the Afghan border, until 2005.

But it would be politically difficult for Washington to restore a relationship of this kind with one of the most authoritarian countries in the region, says Cory Welt of the Eurasian Strategy Project at Georgetown University.

US soldiers have still been able to pass through Uzbekistan on their way to Afghanistan – via a German airbase at Termez – but only if they are attached to Nato forces.

The Kazakh government has a warmer relationship with the US, but it has not offered Washington a lifeline out of its current predicament.

US aircraft carrying out military operations in Afghanistan are allowed to land at the military section of Almaty airport in emergencies, but not as a matter of routine.

Arab states

A spokesman for the US military, Major John Redfield, said another potential option would be an extension of the air supply routes from Kuwait and Qatar.

The Pentagon already has airbases in both countries, but Major Redfield told the BBC that flying supplies in from the Arab states would be three or four times more expensive than other options such using trucks, trains or ships from countries neighbouring Afghanistan.

The closure plan for Manas still needs to be approved by the Kyrgyz parliament. A vote on the issue has been scheduled for next week.

The pro-government party holds a majority of the seats in parliament and all that is needed is a simple majority.

So on the face of it, the vote could be a formality, says Georgetown University’s Cory Welt.

“But there could also be a way for the government to change its mind on the closure without losing face, by asking its MPs to vote against its own plan,” he says

“It all depends on the balance of power in the Kyrgyz government,” Mr Welt says.

For some members, it could be partly a financial question. On the one hand there is the $17m the US is already annually to rent the base – and the $150m it gives each year in aid – on the other, there is the promise of the much larger sum of $2bn (£1.4bn) in aid that Russia is now holding out.

US options after Kyrgyz base closure

Pyongyang, which may be moving to test-fire its longest range Taepodong-2 missile in a bid to grab the attention of new U.S. President Barack Obama, said it had the right to make such a launch.

Stephen Bosworth, a former U.S. ambassador to South Korea and now dean at the Fletcher School of diplomacy at Tufts University, said senior North Korean officials he met in his five-day visit to Pyongyang would not confirm or deny any missile launch plans.

“They said we should all wait and see,” he said of the possibility of launches. “There was no threat, no indication that they were concerned. They treated the missile issue as just another run-of-the-mill issue.”

The North Korean officials told Bosworth’s group of seven U.S. academics and former officials that their country wants progress in the six-party nuclear disarmament talks, which have faltered in dispute over the North’s obligations and its demands for more heavy fuel oil shipments.

In what could be seen as a justification for a missile test, North Korea’s communist party newspaper said “our country, as a member of international society, has a right to enter space and compete for space science technology.”

The impoverished North has claimed the Taepodong-2, which fizzled and destructed seconds after it was last test-launched in 2006, is the cornerstone of its space program. Experts said the missile is only for military purposes and designed to eventually hit U.S. territory.

Proliferation experts said the North, which tested a nuclear device in October 2006, does not have the technology to miniaturize a nuclear weapon to mount as a warhead.

Bosworth told reporters at Beijing airport: “We concluded that the outlook is that we can continue to work toward eventual denuclearization of the Korean peninsula.”

“They understand that the Obama administration will need some time to sort itself through the (North Korea) policy review and they expressed patience. There’s no sense of alarm or urgency.”

PRIVATE VISIT

Bosworth said the group was a private one, but he would discuss the trip with Obama administration officials.

Sputtering six-way talks on ending North Korea’s atomic arms program sealed an initial agreement offering isolated Pyongyang energy aid and an opening to better international ties in return for shutting and taking apart its Yongbyon nuclear facility that makes arms-grade plutonium.

The six-party talks, held in Beijing, bring together North and South Korea, the United States, China, Japan and Russia.

Under an agreement last year, North Korea was offered up to 1 million tonnes of heavy fuel or equivalent aid in return for progress on denuclearization, but by mid-November, the North had received about half of that amount.

“It’s clear that they will require satisfaction of the commitment for heavy fuel oil,” said Bosworth.

But the U.S. visitors said Pyongyang seemed sincere in wanting progress.

“I don’t think they see any urgency to circumstances, although it is very clear that if there’s a way to complete phase two, there is a real keen interest in doing so,” said Jonathan Pollack, a member of the group who is an East Asia security expert at the U.S. Naval War College on Rhode Island.

Uncertainty about the North’s intentions has been compounded by uncertainty about the health of its top leader, Kim Jong-il, who may have suffered a stroke.

The U.S. visitors said they were given no information about Kim’s health, but Pollack said he felt no sense of drift.

North Korea open to disarmament progress: U.S. expert | International | Reuters