Report from American Free Press Top U.S. Officials Discuss Expanding ‘Terror War’ to Iran, Beyond Halliburton World Business Empire

INDIA ATTAINS SELF-SUFFICIENCY IN PRESSURISED HEAVY WATER REACTORS TECHNOLOGY

India is now fully self-sufficient in all aspects of pressurised heavy water reactors (PHWRs) technology. As the country gains experience and masters various aspects of nuclear technology, the performance of our plants is also improving steadily. The Chairman, Atomic Energy Commission, Dr. Anil Kakodkar, said this in an interview with New Delhi-based PIB Special Services. Talking in Mumbai he revealed that the average capacity of India’s atomic plants went up from 60 per cent in 1995-96 to 90 per cent in 2002-03. The country’s nuclear power plants have so far produced 200 billion units of power. We have accumulated about 200 reactor-years operational experience. There has been no serious incident of any radioactivity leakage in the environment so far, he emphasised.

Dr. Kakodkar said the fast breeder test reactor set up at Kakpakkam in Tamil Nadu has achieved all its technology objectives. This reactor operates with indigenously developed mixed uranium – plutonium carbide fuel. Based on the experience gained with this reactor and with the active co-operation of academia and industry, detailed design and technology development of the 500 MW Prototype Fast Breeder Reactor has been completed. The pre-project activities for this endeavour have already begun at Kalpakkam. Overall, India plans to have an installed nuclear capacity of about 20,000 MW by 2020, the AEC Chairman added.

NEW CHAIRMAN RAILWAY BOARD

R.K. Singh, a Member of Indian Railway Service of Engineers (IRSE), has been appointed Chairman, Railway Board and ex-officio Principal Secretary to the Government of India in the Ministry of Railways. He will succeed I.I.M.S. Rana, who retires this evening on superannuation.At present, Singh is General Manager of Northern Railway, New Delhi

NIGERIA: Strike against fuel prices shut down cities

LAGOS, 30 June (IRIN) - Nigeria was shut down on Monday by a general strike called by trade unions to protest at a stiff increase in fuel prices. Banks, schools, government offices and businesses were closed and the normally bustling streets of major cities were devoid of traffic.

In the capital Abuja riot police fired teargas to disperse a rally addressed by Adams Oshimhole, president of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), the trade union movement which organised the stoppage.

In Lagos, Nigeria's commercial hub, police fired teargas at protesters who lit bonfires in the main streets and shouted anti-government slogans. There were no immediate reports of violence in Africa's most populous country.

President Olusegun raised petrol prices by 54 percent on 20 June, saying Africa's largest oil producer should no longer have to spend US $2 billion a year on subsidising fuel that was already extremely cheap by international standards.

However, labour leaders were unconvinced. They argued that the price increases of more than 50 percent for petrol, diesel and kerosene would only aggravate poverty in this country of 120 million people, 70 percent of whom live on less than one dollar a day.

After talks with the government failed to avert the stoppage, Oshiomhole said there was a need to fight "the creeping dictatorship" of Obasanjo. The president was re-elected for a second term in April in polls widely held to have been riddled by fraud.

Oshiomhole said on Monday that the national strike had attracted strong support. "It's gone beyond what we expected," he told IRIN. "We have got reports from all the states showing that people responded to our call for a total strike."

Trade union leaders ignored a court order obtained by the government on Friday that the strike be called off.

It has the potential to shut down Nigeria's vital oil industry, which pumps over two million barrels per day and provides 95 percent of the country's foreign exchange earnings.

The strike has attracted the support of two powerful oil unions, the blue-collar National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) and the white-collar Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN).

Oil companies said on Monday that output had not been immediately affected by the stoppage, since key staff who belonged to PENGASSAN were still working. However, union officials said they expected the strike to start hitting exports in the coming days.

Obasanjo summoned union leaders to a fresh meeting on Monday afternoon to try and resolve the dispute. Previous attempts at dialogue last week broke down after the government insisted that the price fuel increases were irreversible.Most opposition parties have condemned the fuel price increases and have thrown their weight behind the workers' protest.

BNP Paribas and Zurich Financial Services (Zurich) have signed a Letter of
Intent on the transfer of certain structured products from New York-based
Zurich Capital Markets (ZCM) to BNP Paribas. The envisaged deal provides a
framework for transferring transactions and related assets to BNP Paribas,
including structured products linked to alternative investment funds
managed by ZCM, together with the hiring of some supporting staff. Further
information will follow upon execution of definitive agreements.

ZCM has established an attractive niche as provider of services to hedge
fund investors and managers. In line with Zurich strategy to focus on its
core insurance activities, it has decided to divest of this business line.

The transaction will enable BNP Paribas, already a European leader in
structured funds of funds products, to become one of the top players in
this business in the U.S. The transaction will accelerate BNP Paribas
development in the U.S. equity derivatives market. It is in line with BNP
Paribas strategy to make targeted developments in the U.S in order to
accelerate growth in business lines where the Group is already recognized
worldwide.

ACC APPROVES SENIOR LEVEL APPOINTMENTS

The appointments Committee of the Cabinet has cleared the following appointments:

R.R. Shah, IAS (UP:67), presently Secretary, Department of Information Technology will be the Secretary, Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion in place of V. Gondinrajan, IAS (AP:67) retiring on June 30, 2003.

B.S. Baswan, IAS (CG:67), presently Secretary, Ministry of Tribal Affairs will be Secretary, Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment in place of Gopal Reddy, IAS (KN:66) retiring on June 30, 2003.

K.K. Jaswal, IAS (UP:68), presently Secretary, Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation will be the Secretary, Department of Information Technology.

S.S. Meenakshi Sundaram, IAS (KN:68) presently Secretary, Ministry of Disinvestment will be the Financial Adviser and ex-officio Secretary to Government of India in place of S. Prabhakaran retiring on June 30, 2003

Dhirendra Singh, IAS (kn:68) presently Special Secretary (Procurement), Ministry of Defence will be the Secretary, Ministry of Disinvestment in place of S.S. Meenakshi Sundaram.

S.P. Arya, IAS (UP:68) presently Adviser, Planning Commission will be Secretary, Ministry of Tribal Affairs.

Adarsh Kishore, IAS (RJ:69) presently Additional Secretary, Department of Economic Affairs will be Secretary, Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation.

P.S.S. Thomas, IAS (KN:69) presently Adviser, Planning Commission will be the Secretary general, NHRC in the rank and pay of Secretary.

Mano Ranjan, IAS (UP:69) presently Additional Secretary & Financial Adviser, Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution will be Adviser, Planning Commission in the rank of Secretary.

A.N. Tiwari, IAS (AP:69) presently Additional Secretary & Financial Adviser, Department of Commerce will be Special Secretary, Ministry of Power in place of M.M.K. Sardana, IAS (WB:68.

RAKSHA MANTRI MET THE CENTRAL VIGILANCE COMMISSIONER

The Defence Minister George Fernandes today met the Central Vigilance Commissioner and his colleague HJ Dora, Vigilance Commissioner to jointly review the progress of the cases under examination by the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC). The meeting was attended by the Defence Secretary and other senior officials of the Defence Ministry and the Secretary, CVC.

The Defence Minister had in February, 2000 directed that all major procurement decisions that have been taken in the Ministry of defence since the presence of agents was banned by the Government in 1985-86, should be referred to the CVC for thorough investigation. It was decided that procurement cases valued at Rs. 75 crores and above would be sent to CVC for detailed investigation so as to impart focus to the enquiry. In addition, the Defence Minister had also directed that cases where serious allegations have been made regarding presence of agents, middlemen be also referred to CVC for detailed investigation. As the investigation progressed, certain other procurement cases were also taken up by the CVC for investigation. Apart from these, cases arising out of source information received by the CVC were referred to the Ministry of Defence asking for relevant files.

CVC has been sending reports on the investigation into various categories of cases referred to CVC and detailed examination of these cases on a continuing basis has been progressing in consultation with the Ministry.

In the review meeting today some broad issues were discussed in general pertaining to the detailed examinations of the cases mentioned above.

The significant changes effected recently in the Defence Procurement in order to streamline the procurement system and to make the same transparent and efficient was noted by the CVC. He expressed satisfaction at the progress made by the Ministry in framing the new Procurement Procedure. He added that further additions to this procedure, which are under finalization, should achieve the desired efficiency and transparency.

The progress on the implementation of the recommendations of CVC on the specific cases was also reviewed. In the course of the discussion general and systemic bottlenecks, which have been preventing expeditious implementation of the recommendations of CVC were identified. A decision was taken to streamline these processes and systems in order to take care of the said bottlenecks, so that the cases could be finalized in a reasonable time frame.

CVC made certain suggestions for making the Chief Vigilance Officer of the Ministry more effective, including restructuring the organization of CVO and to expand its ambit so that the vigilance set up of certain sensitive offices in the MOD could be revamped.

While concluding the meeting, the Defence Minister requested CVC to continue helping out the Ministry of Defence, as it has been doing over the last several years, in order to bring about greater transparency in defence purchases, to which CVC kindly agreed.

MEETING ON MODALITIES FOR INDIA SCIENCE AWARD

A meeting was held here today under the Chairmanship of the Minister for Human Resource Development and Science and Technology, Dr. Murli Manohar Joshi to discuss a draft framework on the modalities concerning the India Science Award. The announcement of the Award was made by the Prime Minister during the Indian Science Congress in Bangalore early this year. The 25 lakh rupee award will be the highest in science.

Attended by nearly 20 top scientists, the meeting considered suggestions regarding the selection criteria, mode of selection, the scope and various other aspects related to it. Sub-Committees were formed to decide on these aspects.

Dr. Joshi told them that the Award must only be for path-breaking original innovation or research. He said the Award should in the course of time be made to attain the stature of Nobel prize.

Those who attended the meeting include the Principal Scientific Advisor to the Government of India, Dr. R. Chidambaram; the Secretary, Department of Science and Technology, Prof. V.S.Ramamurthy; the Director-General CSIR, Dr. R. A. Mashelkar; noted scientists Prof. M.G.K. Menon; Dr. S.K. Joshi; Prof. P.N. Tandon and representatives from various scientific departments.

CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC: Former prime minister seeks political asylum in France

BANGUI, 30 June (IRIN) - The government of the Central African Republic has allowed former Prime Minister Martin Ziguele to travel to France where he has been granted political asylum, state-owned Radio Centrafrique reported on Friday.

Ziguele left the capital, Bangui, on Friday. He had been hiding in the French embassy since 15 March when former army chief of staff Francois Bozize overthrew President Ange-Felix Patasse. Ziguele served as prime minister and finance minister between April 2001 and 15 March 2003.

Quoting a statement issued by Communications Minister Parfait Mbaye, the radio reported that Ziguele was allowed to leave the country "for humanitarian reasons" and to "create conditions for a true national reconciliation".

Mbaye said that although Ziguele was among former officials who had been indicted by a Bangui court for embezzlement of public funds, he had been allowed to leave as investigations continued. Ziguele could later return to put on trial, he said.

The new government has blamed mismanagement and embezzlement of funds during Patasse's administration for the non-payment of 32 months salary arrears for the country's civil servants.

Soon after the coup, mobs invaded the residences of former government officials, including those of Patasse and Ziguele, which they looted and destroyed. Subsequently, the former officials sought refuge in the French, Nigerian, Chadian and Russian embassies.

Bozize later urged those in hiding to return to their homes, assuring them that their security would be guaranteed. The former national assembly speaker, Appolinaire Dondon Konamabaye, and the former minister of state for communications, Gabriel Jean Edouard Koyambounou, heeded Bozize's call and left the embassies.

Mbaye said that the issue of Ziguele had become an obstacle for the country's diplomacy. "We have many other issues to tackle together with France; the issue of Ziguele was raised all the time," he said.

He added that even the EC had raised the issue with the government The EC is currently in consultations with the Bozize administration over the resumption of cooperation and official recognition for the new government.

Ziguele was allowed to leave the country two days after Bozize directed the justice ministry to crack down on former officials linked to corruption and embezzlement of public funds. Bank accounts for 26 former ministers have been frozen, pending judicial investigations. For the time being, Gen Ferdinand Bombayeke, a former commander of Patasse's protection force, remains in the French embassy.

BARC DEVELOPS ADVANCED HEAVY WATER REACTOR

The Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC), Mumbai, has developed an advanced heavy water reactor (AHWR) to expedite transition to thorium-based systems. The reactor physics design of AHWR is timed to generate about 65 per cent power from thorium. The Chairman, Atomic Energy Commission, Dr Anil Kakodkar, revealed this while talking to PIB Special Services in Mumbai. The design has several advanced safety features. The detailed project is undergoing a review before its construction begins in the next financial year. Dr. Kakodkar said the AHWR design has been carried out with a futuristic vision. The design incorporates several safety features to enhance its operational efficiency. Being a thorium system, the wastage from it is expected to be minimal.

Dr Kakodkar said timely implementation of a programme for thorium utilisation is very crucial to meet the increasing energy demands in the country. A small beginning has already been made by introducing thorium in a limited way in research reactors and in the pressurised heavy water reactors (PHWRS). With sustained efforts over the years India has gained experience over the entire thorium fuel cycle. A research reactor called Kamini is operating in Kalpakkam, Tamil Nadu, based on Uranium 233 fuel which is derived from thorium. This fuel was bred, reprocessed and fabricated indigenously, Dr Kekodkar added.

PROVIDING SUCCOUR TO WATER-STARVED VILLAGERS IN RAJASTHAN

"Had it not been for the special trains that bring water, it would have been impossible to survive in this year’s drought" says Shankar of village Naraina.Shankar is one of the residents of Naraina, near Phulera station in Rajasthan, who wait eagerly for the water special train that reaches there once in two days to provide them water. Most of the wells in the region have dried up and whatever little water that comes out of the hand pumps is unfit even for the animals to drink. The ground water level has plummeted steeply and the water brought by the special wagons is the only source of living for these water-starved villages.

Similar sentiments are echoed by Goverdhan Jat, the milk seller, and Lalchand, a construction worker in Naraina. The situation is grim and without water, rearing of cattle has become very difficult for the milk seller.

Rajasthan has always been under the shadow of drought due to its geographical characteristics. The average rainfall is very low and this time the situation is more serious because of the continuous drought for five years.

All resources have been pooled in to provide relief to the drought-hit people. The responsibility for drought management like other natural calamities rests with the State governments. The Centre helps the States in carrying out relief operations through financial assistance, foodgrains and logistical support.

The noble services for a social cause provided by the Indian Railways by running the water special trains has come as a blessing for the water-starved villages in the drought-hit areas. The railways in Rajasthan runs seven broad-guage and four metre-guage rakes everyday to supply the nectar of life to nearly 11 lakh people.

On an average the railway loads up to 650 wagons daily and carries 1.25 crore kilolitres of water.

On the broad-gauge, the water is loaded at Bhagat Ki-Kothi and Jawai Bandh in Rajasthan and taken to Pali, Sojat Road, Bomadra and Khemli. So far a total of 1,336 rakes have been loaded from these two places. In the metre-guage section, water loading is done at Nasirabad and is carried to Bhilwara, Girwala, Marwar, Naraina, Pili-ka-Bas, Falna and Charbhuja. So far, 557 rakes of water special have been loaded at Nasirabad. The railways has been transporting water free-of-cost on the State Government’s request. The water specials were initially planned to be run till June 2003. But on the State government’s request the service will continue until July.

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Global War Looms?

Top U.S. Officials Discuss Expanding ‘Terror War’ to Iran, Beyond

A secret, quiet meeting in Kuwait between some of Washington’s top war hawks could signal that Iran is next on the chopping block.

By Gordon Thomas

Two weeks ago, a prince of the Kuwaiti Royal family received a phone call from an aide to Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld asking if the complex was available. The prince already suspected it was needed for one of those secret meetings, which Washington has taken to holding in the Gulf.

The next day a Hercules transport landed at Kuwait’s international airport. From it emerged a group of pale-faced, middle-aged men in drill shirts and chinos. They carried laptops and bulky briefcases.

To a casual observer they were just another delegation from Washington involved in post-war Iraq. But these men were the forward planners for the next war—the one against Iran.

Within an hour of installing themselves in their palatial surroundings—securely guarded by U.S. forces—they had unloaded their maps of Iran, downloaded their computer images of its terrain and set about planning “Target Iran.”

Secure communications lines had been established and tested with Washington. One was to the CIA, another to the Pentagon. Down those lines and on to their secure computers, the Kuwaiti task force would receive the latest intelligence from inside Iran.

Some of that intel would come from Israel—from Mossad deep cover agents in Tehran.

They will ensure that “Target Iran” being planned in that royal complex would lack nothing in information. The men based there are a Pentagon think tank for the next war.

They are some of the “neo-cons”—a new breed of “conservative” intellectuals who are determined to steer the Bush administration toward an even more aggressive, go-it-alone posture. They are headed in Washington by the hard-liner, John Bolton, the under-secretary of state for arms control.

The day the “neo-cons” landed in Kuwait, Bolton, a political mirror image of Rumsfeld, had issued a new warning about a supposed nuclear threat posed by Iran.

Bolton did so in a speech to the annual conference of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee in Washington. His theme was the nuclear dangers “this administration intends to confront once the war with Iraq is over.”

He concluded: “In the aftermath of Saddam, dealing with the Iranian nuclear weapons program will be of equal importance to dealing with the threat that North Korea continues to pose.”

His powerful audience—many of them key lobbyists for Israel on Capitol Hill—gave him a standing ovation. This was what they had come to hear. After Iraq—Iran.

They knew that Bolton, a grey-suited saturnine man with a colorless speaking style, was there as the front man for other powerful men in the Bush administration. They include Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz and Under Secretary of Defense for Policy Douglas Feith. They are the most senior Pentagon officials after Rumsfeld.

Other members of this group include Lewis Libby, chief of staff to Vice President Dick Cheney and Elliot Abrams, in charge of Middle East policy at the National Security Council. All are key supporters of Israel. They also form the very core of advocacy for Bush’s “muscular democracy.” This is dedicated to attacking America’s “enemies” head on.

Former CIA Director James Woolsey, in a recent speech in Los Angeles, said: “The Iraq campaign is really just the start of the Third World War and one that may well last for decades.”

The neo-cons in their Kuwait redoubt had brought with them to the hot desert sands a list of targets. They included Pakistan, Libya, Saudi Arabia, Burma, Cuba, North Korea and eventually China.

In their briefcases was a copy of what has become their leitmotif: the briefing paper CIA Director George Tenet prepared for Bush on overall global strategy.

“By 2015 China will have deployed many missiles with nuclear warheads targeted against the United States, mostly more-survivable land and sea mobile missiles,” states the paper.

To prepare for the attack on Iran—expected in early 2004, less than a year from now—the team of analysts, logisticians and support specialists gathered in the Kuwait holiday complex. They have been ordered to get their plans for an assault on Iran up and running.

“Target Iran” will follow the same ruthless, all-consuming path as the destruction of the Saddam regime.

IRAQI BASES

Already, in the plans to rebuild Iraq, the Pentagon has earmarked Saddam’s military airfields for its use against Iran.

U.S. bases in Afghanistan will provide the most powerful air force in the world with the ability to launch a pincer air attack.

This will be supported by U.S. carriers and missile-launching battleships in the Gulf.

Turkey will be dragooned into allowing its air space to be used for northern air attacks.

The neo-cons estimate that Iran can, in the words of Bolton, be “rolled-over” in double quick time, “probably quicker than it took to wrap up Saddam.”

The mullahs of Tehran are, in comparison to Iraq, poorly equipped. Their aircraft, in modern terms, are nearly vintage. They have nothing to match America’s F-18s or its tank-busters.

True, on the ground it can put into the field a substantial army. But again, it is ill equipped to fight a modern tech-war.

The neo-cons press on—ignoring the warning of seasoned diplomats in the State Department.

Two of Secretary of State Colin Powell’s advisers wrote a memo to him stating there was a growing risk that the policies advocated by Bolton and his group are “spreading growing resentment around the world.”

A copy was faxed to National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice. It would not have influenced her. She is the hard-liner closest to Bush. She is the soft-spoken and articulate voice of the architects of American military might.

In the early days of the Bush administration, she kept the peace between Rumsfeld and Powell.

In a memorable phrase about this part of her work, she said: “my job is to let Colin talk people to death while allowing Donald to say he is going to hit him over the head if they didn’t listen.”

But now she is firmly in the Rumsfeld corner. Powell, for all his brave words about the war in Iraq being essential, is still becoming increasingly marginalized. His personal relationship with Rice has been reduced to frosty smiles at cabinet meetings.

At the meetings Bolton holds with his key Pentagon officials, with Rumsfeld sometimes sitting in, Powell is excluded.

The key element of their plotting is that Iraq is the natural “road map” to dealing with Iran.

Which road will Bush finally take? The answer almost certainly lies in the Washington calendar for action.

Another U.S. election year approaches. The all-powerful Israeli lobby in the United States will press hard for action so that Iran can no longer pose a threat to Israel.

And just as hard-line Zionists like to say, “next year in Jerusalem,” so its hawkish Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has started to murmur “next year in Tehran—God and Mr. Bush willing.”