Archive for February 17th, 2008
Russia says U.S. may use satellite blast as test
Russia says U.S. may use satellite blast as test
MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russia’s Defence Ministry said on Saturday a U.S. plan to shoot down an ailing spy satellite could be used as a cover to test a new space weapon.
The ministry said there was insufficient proof that Washington’s decision to fire a missile at the disabled satellite was to prevent a potentially deadly leak of toxic gas as it re-entered Earth’s atmosphere.
“In our opinion, the decision to destroy the U.S. satellite is not as harmless as it is being presented. Especially as the United States has been avoiding talks on restricting a space arms race for quite a long time,” the ministry’s information department said in a statement.
“Under cover of discussions about the danger posed by the satellite, preparation is going ahead for tests of an anti-satellite weapon. Such tests mean in essence the creation of a new strategic weapon.”
U.S. officials said on Thursday that President George W. Bush had decided to have the Navy shoot the 5,000-pound (2,270 kg) satellite with a modified tactical missile after security advisers suggested its re-entry could lead to a loss of life.
Some space and security experts have said they did not believe Washington’s justification for the plans and argued the Pentagon was more likely testing its ability to target other states’ satellites.
This suggestion is rejected by U.S. officials.
It will be the first time the United States has conducted an anti-satellite operation since the 1980s. Russia also has not conducted anti-satellite activities in 20 years.
(Reporting by Tanya Mosolova)
http://www.reuters.com/article/newsOne/idUSL1645129720080216
Human rights activist tortured in Israeli occupation jail
Human rights activist tortured in Israeli occupation jail
NABLUS, (PIC)– A Palestinian human rights advocate was subjected to torture in the Israeli detention center of Petah Tikwa that included sleep deprivation and forcing her to sit in an awkward position for three consecutive days, legal sources said.
Ahlam Jawher, 30, told the lawyer of the Nafha society defending human and prisoners’ rights that she was under constant pressure by Israeli interrogators to “confess”.
Jawher was arrested at the IOF Hawara roadblock south of Nablus city on 23/1/2008 after two hours detention. She was not allowed to see a lawyer until recently in a clear violation of the law.
The Nafha society appealed to the human and women rights organizations to save Jawher along with more than 100 other Palestinian women held in Israeli captivity and to pressure the Israeli occupation authority to improve their incarceration conditions.
Meanwhile, the same society reported that the IOA renewed administrative detention of MP Sheikh Hamed Al-Beitwai, 64, for three more months without trial or charge.
The IOA also ordered the administrative custody of Islamic Jihad leader Yousef Haj Mohammed, 65, for six months. He was released only a few weeks ago from three years of administrative detention. Both suffer from several diseases and are in need of constant medical care.
The IOA renewed the administrative detention of 18 Palestinians for periods ranging from one to six months.
