27 February, 2011 — Stop NATO
1. Cyprus: NATO Eyes Only Non-Member/Partner European Nation
2. Defense Minister: Russia To Deploy Troops To Kuril Islands
3. U.S.-Pakistan Row Over CIA Killer Deepens
4. Integration: NATO Caucasus-Central Asia Representative To Visit Washington
5. Unilateral Concession: Russia Allows U.S. Afghan War Troop Transit
6. Pakistan: Blast Destroys Six NATO Oil Tankers
7. U.S. Holds Military Exercise On Guam
8. DM: Russia To Reinforce, Rearm Division On Kuril Islands
9. Germany: Europe Must Back ‘Pro-Democracy Uprisings’ In Arab World
10. UN, France Knew Of KLA Crimes, Sheltered Perpetrators
1. Cyprus: NATO Eyes Only Non-Member/Partner European Nation
famagusta-gazette.com/cyprus-edges-to-joining-pfp-p11346-69.htm
[Excluding microstates, Cyprus is the only European nation that is not a NATO member or incorporated into one or more partnership arrangements.]
Famagusta Gazette, February 25, 2011
Cyprus edges to joining PfP
Cyprus is the only EU-member state not a member of the PfP
With 32 votes in favour, 17 against and one no vote, Parliament ratified a proposal for Cyprus to join the Partnership for Peace.
MPs for DISY, DIKO, EDEK and EVROKO voted in favour, while AKEL MPs voted against, and the Cyprus Greens abstained.
Arguments in favour of the PfP say Cyprus’ membership will boost its credibility on the international stage and broaden the chances of it exercising a more active role in the EU.
Members of the Pancypriot Council for Peace demonstrated outside Parliament this morning to protest against the Parliamentary majority decision to adopt a decision for Cyprus to join the Partnership for Peace.
Also at the demo was AKEL leader Andros Kyprianou and AKEL MPs and candidate MPs.
The demonstrators shouted slogans against NATO and the PfP.
Cyprus is the only EU-member state not a member of the PfP.
It is expected that President Christofias will take the decision to the supreme court as he believes Parliament’s decision violates the Constitution.
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2. Defense Minister: Russia To Deploy Troops To Kuril Islands
english.ruvr.ru/2011/02/26/46316474.html
Voice of Russia
February 26, 2011
Russian troops to be deployed on Kuril Islands
Russia will deploy troops on the Kunashir and Iturup Kuril Islands, says Russian Defence Minister Anatoly Serdiukov, currently on a working tour of the Russian Far East.
According to him, a machine gun-artillery division will be deployed there at two military bases.
The division will boast most advanced communications systems, as well as electronic warfare systems and radars.
Kunashir and Iturup are the two of the four South Kuril Islands that Japan lays claims to.
They formed part of the USSR as a result of the Second World War, and their current status is set down in relevant international treaties.
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en.rian.ru/russia/20110226/162769746.html
Russian Information Agency Novosti
February 26, 2011
Russia to deploy units on Iturup, Kunashir Islands – defense minister
VLADIVOSTOK: Russia will deploy military units on Iturup and Kunashir, part of the Kuril Islands, Russian Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov said on Saturday.
“We will most likely base in two military towns on two islands – Iturup and Kunashir,” Serdyukov told journalists in Vladivostok, Russia’s Far East.
The defense minister said his trip to the Far East is aimed at analyzing how the machine gun-artillery division will be “integrated” with the Russian forces located in Vladivostok, Sakhalin and Kamchatka.
“The grouping will be changed by its structure. It is highly likely that staff will be slightly cut but it will be reinforced by the newest communications systems, electronic warfare and radar stations,” Serdyukov said.
Earlier this month, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said Moscow will increase its military presence on the South Kuril Islands to “ensure the security of the islands as an unalienable part of Russia.”
A General Staff official said that S-400 missile defense systems could possibly be deployed to the islands to protect them from possible attacks.
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3. U.S.-Pakistan Row Over CIA Killer Deepens
news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/world/2011-02/26/c_13751473.htm
Xinhua News Agency
February 26, 2011
Pakistan, U.S. diplomatic row over shooter deepens
by Muhammad Tahir
ISLAMABAD: The diplomatic row between Pakistan and the United States over an American employee, facing double murder charges, has further deepened after recent startling disclosures that he is an undercover secret agent of the CIA and was on a special mission in Pakistan.
Raymond Davis, an employee of the American Consulate in the east city of Lahore, shot dead two Pakistanis on Jan. 27, claiming that he had acted in self-defence. Davis was later arrested as his car was stuck up in the traffic after his brazen attack. Another Pakistani was crushed to death by the U.S. consulate car, when it arrived at the scene for Davis help.
Pakistan spy agency Inter-Services Intelligence or ISI has now confirmed to the media that Davis is a CIA agent and was on a special mission and also in contact with some elements in the troubled and militants-infested Waziristan tribal region.
After revelation that Davis is an undercover CIA agent the ISI has now started scrutiny of U.S. employees in Pakistan and reportedly asked the CIA to provide details of their agents spread across Pakistan. This will never happen, as the CIA keeps all operations by its undercover agents in Pakistan highly secret, according to security experts.
The U.S. media reports that the CIA has now suspended all contacts with the ISI show that the Davis controversy has pushed the two close allies in anti-terror war to a clash of interests and the already mistrust has further deepened.
There had been a two-week lull in the U.S. drone strikes in Pakistan’s tribal region since Davis had been arrested in Lahore on Jan. 27. Pakistan and even the U.S. media reported that Davis was also a source of receiving information from his contacts in Waziristan for drone strikes. There has been only one strike in North Waziristan over the past month. The second was in South Waziristan in the same period.
No immediate relief is in sight for the U.S. shooter as the court in Lahore has set March 3 for framing formal murder charges against the shooter. A local court would formally chargesheet the U.S. killer on the application by lawyer of the family of one of the slain men.
Davis refused to sign the chargesheet on Friday after the lawyer handed it over. The court gives him a week time to read the charges and sign it. The court will make decision even if he refuses to sign the chargesheet.
The Davis episode has already caused serious rift between the Pakistan and the U.S. as the U.S. officials and even President Barrack Obama himself demanded his release as they claimed he enjoys diplomatic immunity. But Pakistanis insisted Davis does not enjoy blanket immunity and that the court will decide his fate. The Lahore High Court will hear the case of his diplomatic immunity in the 2nd week of March.
Pakistani Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani said his government would not surrender to any pressure and told the parliament last week that the court will decide the case.
Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari also urged the U.S. to respect Pakistani courts. The U.S. opposes court trial of the shooter and argues he could not be tried in court under Vienna Convention. Influential U.S. Senator John Kerry traveled to Pakistan on an unannounced visit to Pakistan this month but returned empty handed.
The controversy has already badly hit ties between the two anti- terror allies and the U.S. suspended high level talks with Pakistan and had cancelled a planned tri-parties meeting in Washington scheduled to be held this month. The trilateral meeting, also involving Afghanistan, was to be hosted by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to discuss Afghanistan issues. The meeting was important as the U.S. will begin phased withdrawal this year and wants to see some solid progress.
Several U.S. lawmakers warned against aid suspension to the militancy-hit Pakistan, whose economy mainly depends on foreign aid and loans. Even before the current controversy was started, Pakistan and American leaders had talked about mistrust and differences on several issues and the issue of Davis has brought the two allies at the brink of a physiological war between the intelligence agencies.
The American intelligence seemed to be the main looser in this war of words as they are in a dire need of intelligence sharing from their Pakistani counterparts, analysts said. And Pakistanis would be unwilling to extend any help after disclosure that the U. S. may have spread a net of undercover agents in Pakistan.
It is believed that the conflict may also have a negative impact on U.S. strategy in Afghanistan which also include Pakistan’s possible role to use its influence on the Afghan Taliban. There would be a little hope for Islamabad’s role in political reconciliation in Afghanistan if the U.S. intelligence continued its controversy with Pakistan.
The Davis issue is also a big test case for the Pakistani government as a majority in Pakistan wants the government to reject U.S. pressure and let the court decides his fate.
Many Pakistanis want the U.S. shooter be handed down severe punishment. The government has so for adopted a firm stand on the issue and it will be difficult for it to show any weakness.
The issue was also raised in the parliament and lawmakers called for severe punishment to the American man. Several demonstrations were held across Pakistan and the demonstrators called for hanging of what they called the American killer.
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4. Integration: NATO Caucasus-C. Asia Rep To Visit Washington
Azeri Press Agency
February 26, 2011
NATO special representative for Caucasus and Central Asia to visit Washington next week
Isabel Levine
Washington: James Appathurai, special representative for the Caucasus and Central Asia for NATO, will discuss regional problems, as well as the frozen conflicts with US officials next week, APA’s US correspondent reports.
On March 2, Mr. Appathurai will explain the “New Security Challenges, New NATO” policy to US based the analysts on South Caucasus and Central Asia regions in Washington DC.
The NATO’s priorities in both regions and integration issues also will be on the agenda of visit.
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5. Unilateral Concession: Russia Allows U.S. Afghan War Troop Transit
Azeri Press Agency
February 26, 2011
Russian parliament ratifies US Afghan transit deal
Baku: Russia’s lower house of parliament ratified an agreement Friday to allow the United States to ferry troops and supplies across Russian territory for military operations in Afghanistan, APA reports quoting “Associated Press”.
The Kremlin-controlled State Duma voted 347-95 in favor of the 2009 deal, which has already been implemented pending ratification.
Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov told the Duma that there have been 780 U.S. flights over Russia — carrying 115,000 [perhaos 15,000] U.S. troops and more than 19,000 metric tons of cargo to and from Afghanistan — since September 2009.
Ryabkov said the air route has accounted for 16 percent of all U.S. military shipments to and from the country. He said the agreement has helped improve ties with the U.S. and NATO and protects Russia’s interests in other areas.
Russia has struck similar deals with Germany, France and Spain and has touted them as a key contribution to international efforts to stabilize Afghanistan.
Communists, who opposed the ratification, denounced the agreement with the U.S. as a “unilateral concession.”
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6. Pakistan: Blast Destroys Six NATO Oil Tankers
www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2011227story_27-2-2011_pg7_6
Associated Press of Pakistan
February 27, 2011
Blast destroys 7 NATO oil tankers
PESHAWAR: Seven oil tankers were destroyed due to an explosion at the Ring Road on Saturday.
According to official sources, the oil tankers, which were carrying oil for NATO forces, were parked at the Tor Baba stop on the Ring Road.
The explosion occurred in one of the oil tankers, setting it ablaze. The fire also engulfed six other tankers, which were parked nearby.
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7. U.S. Holds Military Exercise On Guam
Pacific News Center
February 26, 2011
Guam Bases to Participate in Marianas Shield 2011
Guam: Marianas Shield 2011 will be conducted on military installations on Guam starting next Monday, February 28 thourgh Saturday, March 4.
The exercise is designed to enhance the training and readiness of military security personnel to respond to threats to installations and units.
Measures have been taken to minimize disruptions to normal base and station operations, but there may be times when the exercise causes increased traffic around bases or delays in base access.
Area residents may see and hear increased security activity associated with the exercise.
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8. DM: Russia To Reinforce, Rearm Division On Kuril Islands
www.itar-tass.com/eng/level2.html?NewsID=15992753&PageNum=0
Itar-Tass
February 26, 2011
Russia to reinforce, rearm division on Kurile Islands — DM
VLADIVOSTOK: Russia will restructure and rearm its 18th Machinegun and Artillery Division on the Kurile Islands, Defence Minister Anatoly Serdyukov said.
The minister is on a two-day trip to Kamchatka and Vladivostok.
“In part, the purpose of this trip was to see how the machinegun and artillery division will be integrated into the forces deployed in Vladivostok, Sakhalin and Kamchatka,” Serdyukov said on Saturday, February 26.
“The grouping will change its structure: it may actually be slightly reduced by a small number of people,” he said. But “it will be reinforced with the newest communication and electronic warfare systems and radars,” he added.
“It will most likely be deployed in two compounds on two islands – Kunashir and Irutup,” Serdyukov said. “That will be quite enough,” he added.
The 18th Machinegun and Artillery Division is the only such permanent readiness unit in the Russian Armed Forces. Its regiments are stationed on Kunashir and Iturup and armed with tanks, armoured fighting vehicles, artillery systems, air defence and anti-tank systems, and machineguns.
Russia may build up its military presence on the Kurile Islands if faced with a security threat, State Duma Defence Committee Chairman Viktor Zavarzin said earlier.
President Dmitry Medvedev said the islands of the Kurile Ridge should have enough armaments to ensure their security.
“The armaments to be additionally deployed there should be necessary, sufficient and modern to ensure the security of these islands as an integral part of the Russian Federation,” Medvedev said at a meeting with Defence Minister Anatoly Serdyukov and Minister of Regional Development Viktor Basargin in early February.
“Keep it under control, so that all the necessary decisions are implemented, supplies effected and the required reorganisation measures, if necessary, are carried through,” he instructed the defence minister.
“The Kurile Islands are in fact of strategic importance for us, and we have a military unit stationed there. We are well aware that our frontiers must be effectively protected,” Zavarzin said.
He recalled that “the state armament programme up to 2020 has been approved, for which 20 trillion roubles will be earmarked”.
The programme calls for providing the Armed Forcers with new arms and equipment, with a focus on the development of the strategic nuclear capability, the Navy, missile defence, high-precision systems, reconnaissance and control.
“So if the situation warrants, we can increase our presence [on the Kurile Islands] as well as in any other region where our security is threatened,” Zavarzin said.
His deputy Igor Barinov also confirmed earlier in the day that Russia would deploy defensive weapons on the Kurile Island as a political measure.
“The General Staff will decide which arms should be deployed there. It will also determine possible threats in that area and the resources that are available to our Armed Forces,” Barinov said.
“Of course, these should be tactical weapons. We understand that we have no potential enemies with nuclear weapons in that region, except for North Korea, but I think it is not threatening us,” the lawmaker said.
“Second, these should be defensive weapons – air defence systems, medium-range missiles – because we plan no offensive operations in the Far East. But nor will we cede even an inch of our own land,” he said.
According to Barinov, practical steps to follow Medvedev’s statements “will be more of a political nature in order to make it clear for some hotheads in Japan that there will be no revision of the results of World War II and that no territorial changes are planned.”
Russia will also use Mistral ships in the Pacific Fleet, including for protecting the South Kurile Islands, an informed source at the Defence Ministry said.
“Considerable appropriations will be made for improving the infrastructure of military compounds and garrisons of the 18th Machinegun and Artillery Division in the Eastern Military District, which are deployed on the islands of the Kurile Ridge. The division stationed in the South Kurile Islands has not undergone any organisational changes during military reform in Russia,” the source told Itar-Tass.
“We plan to replace the division’s weapons and hardware that have expended their service life with new ones,” the source said.
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9. Germany: Europe Must Back ‘Pro-Democracy Uprisings’ In Arab World
www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,,14876073,00.html
Deutsche Welle
February 26, 2011
Wulff says Europe must show ‘courage’ in backing Arab uprisings
German President Christian Wulff Saturday called for Europe to show more ‘courage and resolve’ in supporting political change across the Arab world. He was speaking at the start of a three-day visit to Kuwait and Qatar.
At the start of a three-day visit to the Gulf nations of Kuwait and Qatar, German President Christian Wulff urged Europe to redouble efforts to support pro-democracy uprisings sweeping the Arab world.
“Don’t miss the boat on (fulfilling) the expectations on Europe in this hour,” Wulff said in an appeal to EU member states to back people’s movements in Arab countries.
Wulff spoke of the “dawn of a new era in Europe’s immediate neighborhood,” adding that it could lead to permanent stability in the Arab world. He added that Germany could play a role in helping the region open up to greater democracy.
“Europe must prove its capacity to take action and make constructive offers,” Wulff said, adding that Germany’s offers of assistance to Tunisia and Egypt also encouraged popular protest movements in other countries.
On Saturday, the president joined in celebrations marking the 20 years since Kuwait’s liberation from an invasion by Iraq’s Saddam Hussein. He arrived after a military parade for talks with Emir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah and other state guests.
Kuwait has remained relatively calm after the emir gave citizens up to $3,600 (2,600 euros) – officially to celebrate the country’s independence – after uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt led to the toppling of regimes there.
Visit amid political upheaval
Wulff’s visit comes at a sensitive time for several Gulf leaders, with many uncertain of their hold on power in the months to come as popular uprisings rock the Arab world.
Wulff passed a damning verdict on the events in Libya before departing, branding leader Moammar Gadhafi a “psychopath.”
“He is terrorizing his own people […] It’s terrorism by the state. That seems to be the approach, which one can call psychopathic.”
Wulff continues his trip to Qatar later on Saturday, where Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani is looking to win over an international audience through a series of careful political reforms.
Qatar has strong economic ties with Germany. Wulff is no stranger to the Qatari leadership, after having helped broker the oil-rich state’s purchase of a 17-percent stake in German carmaker Volkswagen. Wulff sat on the VW board in his previous role as state premier of Lower Saxony.
Qatar also owns shares in German building company Hochtief, and the German state-owned rail operator Deutsche Bahn plans to oversee development of a train network ahead of the 2022 Soccer World Cup.
Author: Gabriel Borrud (dpa, dapd)
Editor: Sonia Phalnikar
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10. UN, France Knew Of KLA Crimes, Sheltered Perpetrators
www.b92.net/eng/news/politics-article.php?yyyy=2011&mm=02&dd=26&nav_id=72931
Tanjug News Agency
February 26, 2011
“UN, France knew about KLA crimes”
-Ramush Haradinaj, Thaci and Haliti all began their careers in Switzerland, which was the center of KLA activities and the place where, prior to 1999, enormous money intended for the KLA financing had been collected.
FRANKFURT: The UN and France knew about KLA leaders’ link with the organized crime and protected and sheltered them, Frankfurt-based Serbian language daily Vesti writes.
The daily cited statements from a testimony of a well-known French criminologist, Xavier Raufer, relating to one of the Albanian mafia bosses Xhavit Haliti, who is now deputy parliament speaker.
Haliti has been linked to the worst kind of mafia activities in reports by several Western intelligence services, as well as in a recent report by NATO and in a report Dick Marty submitted to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE).
Raufer, a Paris-based professor of criminology, warned members of one of the committees of the French Senate already in 2003 that, after the establishment of the UN administration in Kosovo, Haliti had been arrested possessing drugs and a large amount of money but had nevertheless been immediately protected and released.
According to the record from a hearing in the French Senate held on March 12, 2003, dedicated to the national fight against drugs, in which Raufer answered questions by Senator Paul Giraud, a large number of criminals arrived in Western Europe at the time of the admission of refugees from Kosovo.
The French criminologist said that a number of security officials and university professors had warned the French government not to grant Haliti a visa when he had come to attend the talks on Kosovo’s future in Rambouillet in 1999, stressing that Haliti was much more a mafia godfather than a small bandit-patriot, that he was a “mafioso of the first order”, one of the financiers and without any doubt the godfather of the young Hashim Thaci at the time.
Ramush Haradinaj, Thaci and Haliti all began their careers in Switzerland, which was the center of KLA activities and the place where, prior to 1999, enormous money intended for the KLA financing had been collected.
The New Dark Age 
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