USA
NOTHING SIGNIFICANT TO REPORT
EUROPE
Kyrgyzstan: Terrorism Network Uncovered December 29, 2010
Kyrgyzstan has uncovered a terrorist network operating within the country, Chairman of the State National Security Committee Keneshbek Duyshebayev announced Dec. 29, Interfax reported. The Kyrgyz special services have detained nine individuals — all of whom are supporters of jihadism — for their involvement in organizing the failed attack near police headquarters in Bishkek on Nov. 30, Duyshebayev said, adding that authorities are looking for five more individuals. Though all the members of the network are Kyrgyz citizens, they have contacts throughout Russia and the Caucasus, according to Duyshebayev. Kyrgyz authorities will cooperate with their partners in other countries to prevent terrorism, Duyshebayev added, noting that they are already cooperating with the Russian Federal Security Service
Dispatch: Suspected Terrorists Arrested in Denmark | STRATFOR
Denmark: 4 Suspected Militants Arrested December 29, 2010
The Danish Security and Intelligence Service (PET) has arrested four individuals for their alleged involvement in planning an attack against the Jyllands-Posten daily newspaper, which printed cartoons of the prophet Muhammad, AP reported Dec. 29. Three of the four individuals were residents of Sweden and had entered the country the night of Dec. 28. The suspects, who according to PET chief Jakob Scharf are militant Islamists, include a 44-year-old Tunisian citizen, a 29-year-old Lebanese citizen, and a 30-year-old Swedish resident of unknown origin. The fourth individual is a 26-year-old asylum seeker living in Copenhagen. The suspects were arrested after close cooperation with the Swedish police and will face a custody hearing on Dec. 30.
ASIA
Washington Times July 26, 2010 China has carrier-killer missile, U.S. admiral says
China's military is deploying a new anti-ship ballistic missile that can sink U.S. aircraft carriers, a weapon that specialists say gives Beijing new power-projection capabilities that will affect U.S. support for its Pacific allies.
Adm. Robert F. Willard, commander of the U.S. Pacific Command, disclosed to a Japanese newspaper on Sunday that the new anti-ship ballistic missile (ASBM) is now in the early stages of deployment after having undergone extensive testing.
"An analogy using a Western term would be 'initial operational capability (IOC),' whereby I think China would perceive that it has an operational capability now, but they continue to develop it," Adm. Willard told the Asahi Shimbun. "I would gauge it as about the equivalent of a U.S. system that has achieved IOC."...
...The new weapon, the "D" version of China's DF-21 medium-range missile, involves firing the mobile missile into space, returning it into the atmosphere and then maneuvering it to its target
Military officials consider using ballistic missiles against ships at sea to be a difficult task that requires a variety of air, sea and space sensors, navigation systems and precision guidance technology - capabilities not typical of other Chinese missiles.
Asked about the integrated system, Adm. Willard said that "to have something that would be regarded as in its early operational stage would require that system be able to accomplish its flight pattern as designed, by and large."
The admiral said that while the U.S. thinks "that the component parts of the anti-ship ballistic missile have been developed and tested," China's testing has not gone as far as a live-fire test attack on an actual ship.
"We have not seen an over-water test of the entire system," he said.
Adm. Willard said he did not view the new missile as a greater threat to U.S. and allied forces than China's submarine forces, which also have been expanded greatly in the past decade.
"Anti-access/area denial, which is a term that was relatively recently coined, is attempting to represent an entire range of capabilities that China has developed and that other countries have developed," he said.
...The new weapons can threaten "archipelagos" in Asia, such as Japan and Philippines, as well as Vietnam and other states that "are falling within the envelope of this, of an A2/AD capability of China," Adm. Willard said....
...Andrew S. Erickson, a professor at the U.S. Naval War College, stated ..."China must have conducted a rigorous program of tests, most likely including flight tests, to demonstrate that the DF-21D [missile] is mature enough for initial production, deployment and employment,"...
Mr. Erickson estimates that at least one unit of China's Second Artillery Corps, as its missile forces are called, must be equipped with the road-mobile system.
...Currently, U.S. military strategy calls for the Pentagon to send several strike groups to waters near Taiwan in the event China follows through on threats to use force to retake the island. The lone U.S. aircraft carrier strike group based permanently in the region is the USS George Washington, whose home port is inYokosuka, Japan. A second carrier is planned for Hawaii or Guam.
Carrier forces also provide air power in the event of a new war in Korea and are used to assure freedom of navigation, a growing problem as the result of recent Chinese military assertiveness in the South China Sea, East China Sea and Yellow Sea. ...
Range fan
India: Fighter Squadrons To Patrol South December 28, 2010
The Indian Air Force (IAF) is planning to deploy fighter aircraft squadrons in the southern areas of the country to confront militant threats from non-state actors and to secure the sea-lanes, Press Trust of India reported Dec. 28. IAF Vice Chief Air Marshal P.K. Barbora said two Light Combat Aircraft squadrons and squadrons of either Medium Multi-Role Combat Aircraft or Su-30 MKI fighters will be based in South India.
RUSSIA
Dispatch: A Case Study of Russian Influence in the Baltics | STRATFOR
IRAN
Iran's Challenge: Keeping Domestic Stability While Managing International Pressures | STRATFOR
Iran: Accused Israeli Spy Is Hanged December 28, 2010
On Dec. 28, Iranian-national Ali Akbar Siadat was hanged inside Evin prison in Tehran after Siadat was convicted on charges of relaying sensitive information to Israeli intelligence agency Mossad, state-owned IRNA reported, citing a statement from the Iranian judiciary. Siadat reportedly confessed to receiving $60,000 and specialized equipment like a laptop in exchange for transferring classified information on Iranian military activities to Mossad. IRNA reported Siadat met with Israeli agents in countries including Turkey, Thailand and the Netherlands and delivered information on Iranian military bases, aircraft and drills as well as missile systems operated by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
Iran: Gasoline Project To Be Inaugurated February 2011 December 29, 2010
Iran will increase its daily gasoline production capacity by 6.5 million liters (1.7 million gallons) when the southwestern Abadan refinery comes online in February, the managing director of Abadan Oil Refinery Company said Dec. 29, Fars News Agency reported. Abdolreza Mehraban said the project was 90 percent complete and would be officially inaugurated Feb. 11, 2011.
Iran: Fuel Consumption Falls After Subsidy Cut December 29, 2010
Fuel consumption in Iran has fallen by 20 percent since the government began cutting energy subsidies earlier in December, Iranian Vice President Mohammad Royanian said Dec. 29, AP reported. Gasoline consumption now stands at 50 million liters (13 million gallons) per day, while diesel consumption stands at 42 million liters per day, Royanian said. Senior Oil Ministry official Farid Ameri said the hike in the increased fuel prices have contributed to a reduction in smuggling in Iran’s border regions, though he did not provide further details.
IRAQ
Iraq: PM Addresses Oil Logistics Issues December 28, 2010
Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki said his government will address the logistical obstacles facing international oil firms working in Iraq, especially the backlogs at airports and the border crossings in Basra, while continuing to give firms unrestricted access to Iraqi markets, The Wall Street Journal reported Dec. 28. Iraq needs to boost oil revenues to meet its infrastructure investment needs, al-Maliki said. To that end, al-Maliki said he would meet with senior officials this week to address logistical bottlenecks and look for other ways for firms to bring in equipment.
Iraq: Al Qaeda Official Arrested December 28, 2010
Abdul Wahid Mustafa Ahmad Said, believed to be al Qaeda’s administrative official for the western Iraqi province of Mosul, was arrested on charges he supplied documents and instructions to suicide bombers and arranged the entry of militants into targeted areas, Aswat al-Iraq news agency reported Dec. 28. According an official source in Ninawa province’s Rapid Deployment Forces, Iraqi authorities also arrested Dawud Hassan Abdullah, the leader of the so-called al Qaeda “Mohammad Rasul Allah” Brigades, in a security operation in central Mosul province. Abdullah is the former Director of Police of the northern Iraqi town of Tall Afar.
Iraq: Suicide Attack Kills Police Chief In Mosul December 29, 2010
Three suicide bombers detonated their devices in a police battalion headquarters in Iraq’s northern city of Mosul, killing a police chief, Reuters reported Dec. 29, citing police sources. The attack killed Lt. Col. Shamil Ahmed, who led the battalion in Mosul’s western Bab Sinjar area, and sources said Ahmed was likely targeted because of his efforts against al Qaeda. A fourth bomber was killed by police before he could enter the main building.
ISRAEL
Israel: London Palestinian Center Supports Terrorism - Defense Ministry December 28, 2010
The Palestinian Return Center in Ealing, north London, is involved in initiating and organizing radical and violent terrorist activity against Israel in Europe, a Dec. 28 Israeli Defense Ministry statement said, AFP reported. The center organizes many conferences in European countries for Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood, the statement said, adding that the center is part of the broader Hamas network in the United Kingdom and in Europe.
Israel: Massive Natural Gas Field Discovery Confirmed December 29, 2010
Noble Energy and its Israeli exploration partners have confirmed reports that the Leviathan natural gas field, located 129 kilometers (80 miles) off Israel’s Mediterranean coast, is the country’s largest natural gas discovery to date, Reuters reported Dec. 29. According to Noble, pre-drill estimates show a gross mean capacity range of 450 billion cubic meters (16 trillion cubic feet) of natural gas. However, the Leviathan field covers more than 325 square kilometers (125 square miles), so it will require two or more appraisal wells to further ascertain its total capacity, Noble added.
AFGHANISTAN
Kyrgyzstan: No New U.S. Base - Defense Minister December 28, 2010
Kyrgyzstan has no plans to deploy a new U.S. military base, Kyrgyz Defense Minister Abibilla Kudayberdiyev said, Interfax reported Dec. 28. Kudayberdiyev said that the United States was planning on completing the building of a base in the city of Osh to train special divisions of the Kyrgyz Defense Ministry but that after several cantonments were built by the United States, no U.S. personnel or infrastructure remain there. The project has been frozen, Kudayberdiyev said.
Afghanistan: Iran Only Partially Opens Border To Oil Tankers December 28, 2010
The port at Islam Qala between Iran and Afghanistan remains mostly closed to oil tankers, Afghan Islamic Press reported Dec. 28, citing the head of Herat province’s oil and gas directorate, Khalilollah Khaliq. The Afghan official said only 20 fuel supply trucks have been allowed to cross into Afghanistan in recent days. Afghan First Vice President Mohammad Qasim Fahim led a delegation to Iran, and Iranian officials promised to allow tankers to cross the border. Fuel prices are soaring in Afghanistan and problems are arising, Khaliq added.
MIDDLE EAST
Egypt: Syrian Official Received $1.5 Million From Israel - Accused Spy December 29, 2010
An Egyptian man charged with spying for Israel told authorities that his Syrian counterpart received $1.5 million to give Israel information on Syria’s nuclear activities, according to Egyptian media, DPA reported Dec. 29. The Syrian intelligence official, Saleh al-Nijm, disclosed the location of an alleged nuclear reactor that probably resulted in the facility’s bombing in 2007, Egyptian media said. The Egyptian suspect, Tareq Abdelrazeq, allegedly was paid $37,000 by Israel for his role, Egyptian officials said.
SOUTH OF THE BORDER
Guatemala: Los Zetas Threaten To Attack Civilians December 28, 2010
Alleged members of Mexican drug cartel Los Zetas threatened to attack civilians in the northern Guatemalan department of Alta Verapaz if Guatemala City does not lift the stage of siege in the area, EFE reported Dec. 28. Local radio station reporters said they have received messages from alleged Los Zetas members threatening attacks on shopping malls and public places if security forces persist with operations against drug traffickers. A Guatemalan Interior Ministry spokesman said authorities are aware of the threats and are attempting to verify their authenticity.
Colombia: Police Confirm Killing Paramilitary Leader December 29, 2010
Colombian police on Dec. 29 confirmed killing Pedro Oliverio Guerrero, known as “Cuchillo,” a drug lord and paramilitary leader, DPA reported. One of Colombia’s three most wanted criminals, Cuchillo was killed Christmas Day in the central province of Meta, Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos said. Cuchillo’s lieutenant, Harold Rojas, was arrested in the operation.
MISC
Dispatch: Making the Taliban Politically Legitimate? | STRATFOR
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