We could have called police on Trott: Afridi

KARACHI: Pakistan’s one-day captain Shahid Afridi said Tuesday his team could have filed a police complaint against England batsman Jonathan Trott over an altercation with fast bowler Wahab Riaz.

Newspapers reports said Trott and Riaz had an altercation minutes before the fourth one-day at Lord’s, with Trott grabbing Riaz by the throat after both exchanged heated words in the net area.

Reports said the incident started when Trott accidentally struck Riaz with his pads as he took them off.

“When Riaz was returning after warming up Trott called him a ‘match fixer’ and that he (Riaz) was up to harming Test cricket and hit his face with the pad,” Afridi told Geo television in London.

“It could have been a police case because it is crime to hit someone, but we showed a big heart and did not press for it.”

Trott was also involved in an ugly exchange of words with Pakistan wicket-keeper Kamran Akmal during the first one-day game at Chester-le-Street on September 10.

Riaz, 25, was one of four Pakistani players interviewed by Scotland Yard earlier this month over claims in the News of the World that spot-fixing took place during last month’s Lord’s Test.

The three others were Salman Butt, Mohammad Aamir and Mohammad Asif. That trio have been suspended by the International Cricket Council (ICC).

No charges have yet been levelled against any Pakistani player.

“The case is being investigated by the ICC and its anti-corruption unit and there are efforts to pressurise the Pakistan team on that,” said Afridi.

After the altercation between Trott and Riaz, Afridi confirmed that there were suggestionsPakistan should not play the match in protest.

“But we finally decided that it wouldn’t be appropriate,” said Afridi, praising his team for their spirit.

“There is a conspiracy to finish the Pakistan team, but Pakistani people are different, they rise under such a situation,” said Afridi.

Pakistan are facing fresh charges of spot-fixing during the third one-day at The Oval on Friday. British tabloid The Sun reported it tipped off the ICC that pattern of Pakistan’s scoring was pre-arranged with the book-makers.

The ICC has launched a separate inquiry on these claims.

PCB chairman Ijaz Butt’s claims that according to bookies, England players took enormous money to fix the Oval match, strained relations between the two boards and teams. -AFP

Delhi event in crisis as bridge collapses

NEW DELHI: A footbridge under construction near the Commonwealth Games main stadium in India’s capital collapsed on Tuesday, injuring at least 23 construction workers and throwing further doubt on the viability of next month’s multination games.

The injured people, five of them in serious condition, were taken to hospitals, police officer H.G.S. Dhaliwal said.

The overhead bridge was to connect a parking lot with the main Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, which is to host opening and closing ceremonies as well as showpiece athletic events for the Oct. 3-14 games.

However, severe delays in the completion of the athletes’ village have thrown the sporting event into jeopardy. New Zealand, Canada, Scotland and Ireland have described the accommodations as “unlivable,” and the New Zealand delegation said Tuesday the village won’t be ready for its official opening this week.

New Zealand team manager Dave Currie told radio network newstalkZB that New Delhi organizers “are in severe difficulties,” identifying problems with cleanliness, plumbing, electrical wiring, internet access and mobile phone coverage. -AP

School bus plunges into Jhelum river

MUZAFFARABAD: A van carrying at least 30 schoolchildren plunged into a river in Kashmir on Tuesday, and most of the passengers were confirmed or feared dead.

The driver lost control of the vehicle and it plunged 50 feet (15 meters) into the Jhelum River from an elevated road in the regional capital Muzaffarabad, said local police chief Ghulam Akber. Authorities managed to save the driver and four children, he said.

But school teacher Bashir Mughal said rescue workers took more than an hour to arrive and it was local villagers who plucked the four children from the water.

Fifteen bodies have been recovered from various parts of the river, but the other children are still missing, Akber said. Some bodies may have been collected by local residents before authorities arrived, he said.

Mohammad Ramzan, a driver from Kanina village —home to most of the children in the van —said he lost four daughters and one son in the accident.

''God had given me those children and he has taken them away,'' Ramzan said, as his wife cried. ''All I can do is live with the sadness of this tragedy my whole life.''

His wife's cries were echoed by many other women in the village who had also lost their children. Some pounded their heads and chests as they wailed, while men dug new graves in the village cemetery.

Many other men from the village joined hundreds of people along the river who desperately searched for the missing children.

Rescue workers dove beneath the water looking for bodies as soldiers and police tried to hold back the crowds.

The children involved in the accident were returning from school after attending a function for Eid al-Fitr , said Akber, the local police chief.

Officials initially estimated there were 30 children in the van, but the number could be higher because some of the kids who attended the holiday celebration were not regular passengers, Akber said.

Rescue workers managed to remove the van from the river, but they didn't find any children inside, said Mughal, the school teacher.

''All the children washed away, and people are finding bodies alongside the river at distant places,'' he said.

Law enforcement agencies should change strategy: Malik

ISLAMABAD: Federal Interior Minister, Rehman Malik said on Tuesday that law enforcement agencies should change their strategy to curb terrorism.

Malik was talking to the media outside the Parliament House. He asked Shia scholars to remain calm as he blamed the enemies of the state for wanting to create conflict between Shias and Sunnis.

Rehman also said that scholars should learn lessons from the situation in Quetta, Lahore, Peshawar and Karachi.

Replying to a question about the killed leader of MQM, Rehman said that he was in contact with MQM 90 office and was ready to help if requested.

China confirms two nuclear reactors for Pakistan

China on Tuesday gave its firmest government confirmation yet of plans to build two new nuclear reactors for Pakistan, but a Foreign Ministry spokeswoman said she did not know about talks over a bigger reactor deal.

The spokeswoman Jiang Yu said China plans to help Pakistan expand its Chashma nuclear energy complex in Punjab by building two reactors in addition to one already operating and another nearing completion.

Her comments also suggested Beijing may see no need to seek approval for the two new Chashma reactors from the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG), an international council of governments, some of whose members have voiced qualms about the deal.

“This project is based on an agreement signed between the two countries in 2003 about cooperation in the nuclear power field,” Jiang told a regular news conference, citing plans to build the No. 3 and No. 4 reactors of about 300 megawatts each at Chashma.

“China has already notified the International Atomic Energy Agency about the relevant details, and invited the IAEA to exercise safeguards and oversight of this project,” said Jiang.

Up to now, Chinese government officials have been tight-lipped in public about the planned new units at Chashma, although the Chinese companies picked to build them have announced contract signings.

Jiang's statement that the new reactors come under a 2003 agreement may ruffle other countries that have pressed China to seek a waiver for them from the Nuclear Suppliers Group, a 46-member consensus-based body that seeks to ensure nuclear exports are not diverted to non-peaceful purposes.

The expansion of China's nuclear power ties with Pakistan has magnified unease in Washington, Delhi and other capitals worried about Pakistan's history of spreading nuclear weapons technology, its domestic instability, and about the potential exceptions created in international non-proliferation rules.

Jiang was also asked about the China National Nuclear Corp's statement on Monday that it is in talks to build a 1-gigawatt nuclear reactor for Pakistan, in addition to the four smaller Chashma units built, being finished or planned.

But she had less to say on this.

“We don't understand this matter. You can make further inquiries with the company,” Jiang said.

Pakistan is a long-standing partner of China, and has been suffering chronic power shortages.

To receive nuclear exports, nations that are not one of the five officially recognised atomic weapons states must usually place all their nuclear activities under the safeguards of the International Atomic Energy Agency, say NSG rules.

When the United States sealed its nuclear agreement with India in 2008, it won a waiver from that rule from the NSG after contentious negotiations in which China raised misgivings.

Washington and other governments have said China should at least seek a similar waiver for the planned new reactors in Pakistan.

But China now appears positioned to argue that the two new units at Chashma were part of an agreement made before it joined the NSG in 2004, and so do not need another waiver.

Beijing stayed quiet about Chashma at an NSG meeting in June and has not publicly sought an exemption.

Two killed in roadside bomb in Khyber Agency

PESHAWAR: A roadside bomb killed two paramilitary soldiers on a routine patrol in an area of northwestern Pakistan near the Afghan border, said Riaz Khan, a local administrator in the Khyber tribal area on Tuesday.

The bomb struck the soldiers' vehicle as it traveled along a road in the Sheen Qamar area of Khyber, said Khan.

There was no claim of responsibility for the attack, but the Pakistani Taliban have carried out similar bombings in the area in the past. – AP

Commonwealth Games in jeopardy with 12 days to go

NEW DELHI: The Commonwealth Games are in jeopardy less than two weeks before the opening ceremony.

Severe delays in the completion of the athletes’ village led Commonwealth Games Federation president Michael Fennell to contact the Indian government Tuesday and urge them to finish work on the accommodation – which many have described as “unlivable” – in time for the October 3-14 games.

“Many nations that have already sent their advanced parties to set up within the village have made it abundantly clear that, as of the afternoon of September 20th, the Commonwealth Games Village is seriously compromised,” Fennell said in a statement.

“The CGF has asked the Cabinet Secretary to immediately deploy the necessary resources to fix all the outstanding issues to an acceptable level.”

The athletes’ village is due to open to the first 7,000 athletes and officials on Thursday. The Times of India newspaper reported that only 18 of 34 residential towers at the village are complete.

New Zealand team manager Dave Currie said the games may not go ahead.

“In the time frame that is left, unless there is tremendous effort and energy and problem-solving ability to get it done, it’s going to be extremely hard to get across the line,” Currie told New Zealand radio network newstalkZB. “If the village is not ready and athletes can’t come, obviously the implications of that are that (the event) is not going to happen.”

Currie said New Zealand would consult with other countries before making a final decision on whether it will take part in the games.

“That’s not a decision that we’ll make (alone), but there are some realities,” he said.

New Zealand Prime Minister John Key also weighed in.

“The areas (of concern) aren’t insurmountable although there are real concerns about whether they can be achieved in the timeframe,” he said, adding that it was “unlikely that New Zealand would make a call that other countries weren’t prepared to make.”

The build-up to the Commonwealth Games has been plagued by problems with construction of venues and infrastructure falling behind schedule, causing concern over the safety and quality of the buildings and speculation of corruption in the awarding of contracts and structural compliance certificates.

But the delays in construction have been overshadowed more recently by safety concerns, heightened on the weekend after two unidentified gunmen on a motorcycle shot and wounded two tourists near the Jama Masjid, one of India’s biggest mosques.

Other countries also voiced concern about the athletes’ village.

Commonwealth Games Scotland said the area allocated to the team was “unsafe and unfit for human habitation,” while Commonwealth Games England said “there is a lot to be done in the village and this needs to be done with some urgency so that it is ready for the arrival of our first athletes on Friday.”

Australia’s chef de mission, retired marathon runner Steve Moneghetti, said that Indian organizers “have got two days to do what’s probably going to take about two weeks.”

Fennell said advance parties from the international Commonwealth Games Associations had been impressed with the international zone and main dining area within the village, but the condition of the residential zone shocked the majority of them.

“Despite (the CGAs) attempts to work with the organizing committee in a constructive manner since arriving on Sept. 15, significant operational matters remain unaddressed,” Fennell said. “The problems are arising because deadlines for the completion of the village have been consistently pushed out. Now, the high security around the site, while vital, is slowing progress and complicating solutions.”

CGF chief executive Mike Hooper said organizers had not lived up to promises on delivery dates.

“The conditions continued to be appalling and so we felt the matter needed to be elevated. That is why our chairman spoke to top Indian government officials,” Hooper said Tuesday in New Delhi. “Organizing committee chairman Suresh Kalmadi now tells me that the cabinet secretary took a round of the village and assured that everything possible would be done.”

Hooper said newspaper reports of human excrement around the village were true.

British bookmaker William Hill i offering 5-1 odds that the games will fail to go ahead as scheduled, and 2-1 that either England, Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland will pull out.

“Environment and accommodation are key components in the preparations of athletes. Should reports from Delhi be true, it is understandable why governing bodies would want to stay away,” Hill spokesman Joe Crilly said. —AP

Food threat looms for child flood victims, UN warns

GENEVA: UN aid agencies warned on Tuesday that flood stricken areas of Pakistan faced a looming threat of child malnutrition although the overall health situation was broadly under control for now.

The UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) said over 10 million children had been affected by the flooding, including 2.8 million under five-year-olds.

“The emergency is far from over: large numbers of women and children have not been reached with the assistance they urgently need,” said UNICEF spokeswoman Marixie Mercado.

“The risk of malnutrition looms large with the very young extremely vulnerable,” she told journalists.

Mercado said the stuttering aid effort needed to be sustained and scaled up urgently to reach more children especially with food.

“If we do not, conditions for those affected will deteriorate. This could happen very rapidly and would result in a much worse condition than we have on our hands today,” she said.

The World Food Programme said it had received about one sixth of the 600 million dollars (460 million euros) needed to ensure adequate supplies to avoid a deeper crisis.

“One of our biggest focuses right now is our concerns about nutrition for young children,” said WFP spokeswoman Emilia Casella.

The UN's Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs repeated a call for donors to stump up more cash for the 2.01 billion dollar aid appeal, of which it has received less than one quarter, with shortages across the board in health, sanitation and shelter.

“We need more donors to respond to this in a big way and existing donors to dig deeper still,” said Mercado.

About 5.6 million flood victims have been treated for diarrhoea, respiratory ailments, malaria and skin diseases, the World Health Organisation said.

Asked if the health situation was out of control following warnings of the threat of severe diarrhoeal diseases, WHO spokesman Paul Garwood said: “At the moment we're not seeing that that's the case.”

Diarrhoea was about 30 per cent up over the same season last year in Pakistan, he added, while cases of malaria and skin diseases were rising.

“All the conditions are there for a very worrying situation in terms of health but there has also been, as best as possible, a very robust response.” – AFP

Imran Khan rejects calls for ban on Pakistan

KARACHI: Pakistani sporting hero Imran Khan brushed aside calls to ban his nation from international cricket until corruption allegations are investigated, saying a country cannot be punished collectively.

Former England captains Ian Botham and Michael Vaughan have demanded Pakistan are kicked out of international cricket until a probe into their cricketers has been completed.

Their calls follow allegations of spot-fixing against Pakistani cricketers during their ongoing tour of England, which triggered a war of words between cricket officials from the two countries.

Former Pakistan cricket captain Khan said a country cannot be thrown out on the basis of allegations.

“In any form of illegal activity you cannot give collective punishment to a country and deprive millions of fans, more so because these are still allegations yet to be proven,” Khan told AFP.

Pakistani cricket has been embroiled in the spot-fixing scandal since last month’s News of the World report in which the British newspaper claimed several players took money to underperform during the Lord’s Test against England.

Test captain Salman Butt and bowlers Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Aamir were provisionally suspended by the International Cricket Council (ICC) earlier this month as British police interviewed the players.

The police completed an initial report and prosecutors are deciding whether to press charges.

Khan said the only evidence comes from a newspaper report and its footage.

“The only evidence is that of News of the World footage showing someone (alleged bookie Mazhar Majeed) with money to be given to the players, and on that basis you cannot punish a country,” said Khan, who played 88 Tests and 175 one-day matches for Pakistan.

He said the whole issue should be dealt handled with common sense and urged all parties to refrain from making “inappropriate statements”, referring to comments made by Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Ijaz Butt.

Butt accused England players of match-fixing in the third one-dayer across London at The Oval on Friday.

“Butt was wrong in levelling allegations,” said Khan, who now heads his own political party — Tehrik-e-Insaaf (Movement for Justice). “Even if any other team is involved that does not absolve you.”

Khan said Pakistan’s cricket team has long been a target of British tabloids.

“Remember they called Wasim Akram and Waqar Younus cheats for ball-tampering when they destroyed England on the 1992 tour and when England won the Ashes series in 2005 the reverse swing became an art and skill.

“There are double standards,” said Khan. “When England had fast bowlers there were no curbs on fast bowling but when the West Indies had a battery of fast bowlers it became a threat and so many curbs were put against fast bowlers like restriction on bouncers etc.”

Khan stressed Pakistani cricket “has to put its house in order” adding that, “there should no longer be a PCB chairman nominated by President of Pakistan who is not accountable to anyone.” -AFP

Brig Imtiaz, Adnan Khawaja arrested following SC orders

ISLAMABAD: Following the orders of the Supreme Court, Brigidiar (Retd.) Imtiaz and Former Managing Director of Oil and Gas Development Authority (OGDC) Adnan Khawaja were arrested on Tuesday.

Both the men were arrested for violating the Supreme Court's verdict on the NRO and have been directed to submit bail bonds within three days.

Nato chopper crash makes 2010 deadliest in Afghan war

KABUL: Nine Nato troops were killed in a helicopter crash in the insurgent heartland of southern Afghanistan on Tuesday, making 2010 the deadliest year for international forces since the war began.

The Taliban, which have been waging an increasingly deadly insurgency against the Afghan government and foreign troops since the 2001 US-led invasion ousted them from power, immediately claimed responsibility.

The Nato-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) said the cause of the crash was “under investigation,” adding: “There are no reports of enemy fire in the area.”

The helicopter came down in the Daychopan district of Zabul province in the Taliban stronghold of southern Afghanistan, said provincial spokesman Mohammad Jan Rasoulyar.

“We don’t know the cause of the crash or the number of casualties,” he said.

Taliban spokesman Yousuf Ahmadi claimed the insurgents shot the helicopter down and killed “more than 10 foreign soldiers”. The militia routinely exaggerates its claims.

Another Nato soldier, an Afghan soldier and a US civilian were injured, ISAF said, but it did not identify the nationalities of the dead troops.

“We have no more details at the moment because the helicopter recovery operation is underway,” an ISAF spokesman told AFP on condition of anonymity.

The incident brings to 529 the number of foreign troops killed this year, according to an AFP tally based on the count kept by icasualties.org, surpassing the previous record of 521 deaths in 2009.

A total of 2,097 coalition troops have now died since the US-led invasion of 2001 which ousted the hardline Islamist Taliban regime and set off a brutal insurgency which has also killed thousands of Afghans.

The US Marines and US Army dominate the foreign forces concentrated in hotspots of the southern provinces of Helmand, Kandahar and Zabul.

After only nine months, 2010 has now become the deadlist year of the long war, with the extra deployment of international forces to nearly 150,000 drawing more battlefield engagements, and leading to a spike in casualties.

June was the deadliest month of the war for coalition troops, with 103 fatalities, according to an AFP count based on the independent icasualties.org figures.
Ten foreign troops, mostly American, were killed in a series of attacks across the country on June 22, and another 10 ISAF soldiers died in bombings in the south and east on June 7.

Until recently Nato identified American casualties, while leaving coalition partners to identify their own dead separately. That changed earlier this month and US casualties are no longer revealed.

The United States and Nato have increased to almost 150,000 the number troops trying to quell the insurgency which has spread across the country with the Taliban now present in almost every one of the 34 provinces.

Their influence is strongest in the south and the eastern provinces which border Pakistan, where the Taliban leadership is said to be taking refuge, and from where attacks on Afghan targets are planned and funded.

US President Barack Obama ordered up an extra 30,000 forces in December as part of a renewed counter-insurgency strategy focusing on the south.

US Defence Secretary Robert Gates said last week that US strategy appeared to be working and that he was cautiously optimistic at signs of progress.

Obama has issued a deadline of mid-2011 for United States forces to begin drawing down, adding a sense of urgency to such tasks as training of Afghan forces so they can take over responsibility for the country's security. – AFP

Use of available facilities to fight dengue ordered

KARACHI: In view of a possible outbreak of dengue fever in the city, the Sindh health department has ordered for the maximum utilisation of relevant facilities available with the government hospitals.

A meeting of medical superintendents and executive district officer (health), Karachi, was held on Monday with the secretary of the health department, Dr Syed Hashim Raza Zaidi, in the chair.

The participants of the meeting were told that the provincial health minister had expressed the need for immediate and effective measures to contain dengue fever cases in the city and other parts of the province.

While the medical circles maintained that there had been a rapid increase in the mosquito-borne dengue fever, the provincial dengue surveillance cell (PDSC) in its daily report of Monday said that 10 new patients suspected of suffering from dengue fever had been admitted to Karachi Adventist Hospital during the past 24 hours.

The hospital admitted in all 34 cases in recent days and all were found positive for dengue fever, the report included.

According to the cell, so far 335 suspected dengue fever patients were admitted to eight government and private hospitals during the year, out of which 196 were tested positive for dengue fever.

The health secretary directed the official concerned to ensure collection of data pertaining to dengue fever from more private hospitals and include those in the consolidated daily dengue report.He also asked medical superintendents of the city and provincial government hospitals to communicate cases of dengue to the surveillance cell as soon as they were reported in their hospitals.

A source said that the issue of provision of mega platelet units to patients suffering severely from dengue was also discussed and a judicious use of the mega units was stressed, avoiding any purchase from the private sector as it was tantamount to overburdening the government financially particularly when the government sector hospitals had already been equipped with the cell-separators and mega unit bags.

Mr Zaidi directed for provision of mega units for free to the deserving patients admitted to the government hospitals and also asked the hospitals to ensure establishment of isolation wards for the confirmed dengue fever cases.

He pointed out to the medical superintendents of the government hospital which had been provided with the cell-separators during the last couple of years to ensure active working of those.

Warning the health officials not to show any negligence or slackness, the health secretary said he would personally visit hospitals to monitor arrangements for dengue patients.

Eye infection

Chairing another meeting of senior health officials, the secretary said that Sindh Health Minister Dr Sagheer Ahmed keeping in view the possible spread of eye infection in Karachi, had directed establishment of free eye camps in all major hospital of the Sindh government and the city government to provide timely treatment to patients.

The minister also ordered officials to ensure availability of ophthalmologists, diagnostic tools and medicines in the camps.

The meeting decided that a three-day eye camp would start functioning in hospitals from September 21.

Dr Nasir Javed, the EDO and medical superintendents of all major hospitals of Karachi assured the chair that eye specialists would remain present at the camps.

In the meantime, Sindh health department’s daily report on facilitation and treatment of flood-affected people in the medical camps across the province, said that the 516 fixed medical and 156 mobile medical camps registered another 30,724 males and females and children for treatment on September 19.

In all 1,584,450 patients have been attended to at the medical relief camps since July 31. The camp also registered 14,822 pregnant women while 1,832 deliveries have taken place.

Till Sept 19, a maximum of 307,705 IDPs reported for the treatment of diarrhoea/gastroenteritis, followed by 275,743 for skin diseases, 261,127 for acute respiratory tract infections, 187,423 suspected suffering from malaria and 113,628 for eye-infection. Another 433,680 people reported suffering from other diseases since July 31.

The health department report also said that so far 239,594 children up to the age of five years had been given the routine immunisation vaccines like BCG, oral polio vaccines, pentavalent and measles vaccines while 91,116 adults were injected preventive doses against hepatitis B.

‘Even if I was purple’ people would be frustrated: Obama

WASHINGTON: President Barack Obama dismissed suggestions Monday that his cerebral style and exotic background made it tough for him to empathize with the economic fears of heartland Americans.
Obama’s critics have frequently argued that his intellectual and academic leadership style or his upbringing in Hawaii, and for several years as a boy in Indonesia, make it hard for him to connect with everyday citizens.
“I think when the unemployment rate is still high and people are having a tough time, it doesn't matter if I was green, it doesn't matter if I was purple. I think people would still be frustrated and understandably so,” Obama said in a town-hall style meeting on the economy on CNBC television.
“If you are out of work right now, the only thing you’re going to be hearing is, when do I get a job? If you're about to lose your home all you’re thinking about is, when can I get my house?”
Obama said he believed that Americans realized that he grew up in a single parent family and had financed his education, that culminated at Harvard Law school, with scholarships.
The president, who leads a Democratic Party fearing a beating over the slowly recovering economy in November's congressional elections, also denied that he was guilty of vilifying the US business community.
“In every speech, every interview that I have made, I have constantly said that what sets America apart is that we have got the most dynamic free market economy in the world and that has to be preserved,” he said.
On the campaign trail to support a Democratic senatorial candidate in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, later, Obama also said many critics' hopes for his administration's achievements may be unrealistically high.
Some of his Democratic critics grumble that “the health care plan (enacted) didn't have a public option,” Obama said.
They also gripe that “you ended the war in Iraq but haven't completely finished the Afghan war yet,” Obama went on.
But “I say, folks wake up! This is not some academic exercise. As (Vice President) Joe Biden put it, Don't compare us to the Almighty, compare us to the alternative,” Obama pleaded.
All 435 House seats are up for grabs along with 37 of the 100 Senate seats in the November 2 election.
Several key analysts believe Republicans are in reach of winning the 39 seats they need to capture the House but are less likely to snatch the Senate. – AFP

Israel angry at Russian plan to sell Syria missiles

JERUSALEM: Israel criticised Russia on Monday for planning to sell anti-ship cruise missiles to Syria, saying the advanced weapons could be transferred to Hezbollah guerrillas in neighbouring Lebanon.
US Defense Secretary Robert Gates told Israel’s visiting defence minister in Washington that he shared Israeli concerns “about proliferation of advanced weapons that could destabilise the region,” Pentagon Press Secretary Geoff Morrell said.
The go-ahead for the $300 million Yakhont missile deal was made public last week by Russian Defence Minister Anatoly Serdyukov, who told news agency RIA that it dated back to a 2007 contract and had also met objections from the United States.
The announcement raised hackles in Israel, whose defence minister, Ehud Barak, travelled to Moscow this month to seal a military cooperation pact and urge the Russians not to supply Syria with arms that could challenge Israel's might.
Visiting Washington on Monday, Barak voiced concern during meetings with White House officials that the Yakhont missiles could “be passed to Hezbollah, as has happened in the past, and be turned against Israel,” his office said in a statement.
Gates, who met Barak at the Pentagon, also raised the issue of weapons sales broadly with Russian Defence Minister Anatoly Serdyukov during their meetings in Washington last week, Morrell said.
The United States understood that Russia had a right to sell weapons, but “we wish for them to take into account the strategic ramifications of sales,” Morrell said, describing Gates’ message to Serdyukov.
Syria denies arming Hezbollah, which also enjoys Iranian backing. Hezbollah surprised Israel by hitting one of its naval vessels with a cruise missile during the 2006 Lebanon war.
Israel and Syria have exchanged peace overtures in recent years but remain divided over core demands regarding the future of the occupied Golan Heights and the Damascus-Tehran alliance.
Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman told the Israel Hayom newspaper: “This (Yakhont sale) complicates the situation. It does not contribute to stability and it does not create peace in the region. We will convey to Russia our position.”
State-run RIA on Friday quoted Serdyukov as saying the United States feared the Yakhonts could end up in the hands of “terrorists” an apparent reference to Hezbollah.Serdyukov called such concerns “fruitless,” RIA said.
Lieberman said that Barak, on his Moscow visit, had “dealt with the (Yakhont) issue, but things didn't work out.”
Russia, which is building up a fleet of Israeli-made drones, earlier pleased Israel by promising not to deliver S-300 anti-aircraft missiles to Iran while new U.N. sanctions over its nuclear programme are in place. – Rueters