Putin warns West over missile defense: report

MOSCOW: Prime Minister Vladimir Putin told CNN television Russia would deploy nuclear weapons and “strike forces” if it were shut out of a Western missile shield, adding punch to a warning from President Dmitry Medvedev.

In an interview with Larry King taped Tuesday, Putin said the WikiLeaks scandal was “no catastrophe” and warned the United States not to meddle with Russian elections.

He also warned of the “colossal danger of an escalation” in tensions on the Korean Peninsula and urged Iran to open its nuclear facilities to U.N. scrutiny.

Putin said missile threats against Europe must be tackled jointly — a reference to an agreement reached at a November 20 Russia-NATO summit to cooperate on missile defense. Plans are sketchy and Russia has warned it wants an equal role.

If Russia’s proposals are rejected and Western missile defense installations

12 dead, 83 trapped after blasts hit Russian mine

MOSCOW: Rescue workers scrambled to save 83 people trapped in Russia”s largest underground coalmine after two explosions killed at least 12 people and injured dozens more, officials said. Among those still trapped early Monday were rescue workers who had entered the Siberian mine after the first blast.

Only early Monday was the first rescue team sent down to try to bring out five miners whose location had been established, said Valery Korchagin, a spokesman for the Emergency Ministry. It was not clear, however, whether the miners were still alive, he said.

The second explosion destroyed the main air shaft and all of the mine”s above-ground structures, the governor of the Siberian region of Kemerovo told Prime Minister Vladimir Putin during a meeting with emergency officials, according to a government transcript.

More than 500 emergency workers from around the country struggled throughout the day to ventilate the mine and rebuild mine shafts so the search for those trapped could resume, Korchagin said by telephone from Kemerovo, about 2,000 miles (3,000 kilometers) east of Moscow.

At least 12 dead in Russian coal mine blast

MOSCOW: Two blasts at a big Siberian coal mine killed at least 12 people and the search for dozens trapped underground was halted after a damaged ventilation shaft choked the mine with smoke and gas, Russian officials said Sunday.

A local news agency cited a source at the coal company as saying 12 people were dead.

Another 41 people were injured in the explosions at the Raspadskaya mine in the Kemerovo region in Russia”s coal-rich Kuzbass late Saturday, Valery Korchagin, a regional emergency official, said while talking to a UK-based news agency by telephone.

The first explosion was caused by methane gas but authorities did not specify what caused the second blast.

Korchagin said 64 miners and 20 rescuers were still underground nearly nine hours after the first explosion, which came just before midnight (1 p.m. EDT) Saturday.

Rescue operations were suspended because of dangerous conditions and fears of further explosions after the second blast some four hours later damaged the ventilation shaft, Korchagin said.

Emergency workers were trying to pump air into the mine, he said.

“To conduct rescue efforts now would be to send people to their death,” Kemerovo region governor Aman Tuleyev said at the site, according to the news agency. He said they would continue once suitable conditions are restored.

The agency quoted a source at the company that owns the mine, also called Raspadskaya, as saying contact with the 20 emergency workers in the mine — three rescue teams — had been lost and their fates were unknown.

Korchagin said 12 of the injured were hospitalized. They were among more than 200 who emerged alive after the blast on Saturday.

The deadly mine drama marred weekend celebrations of the 65th anniversary of the defeat of Nazi Germany in World War Two, whose centerpiece will be a military parade in Moscow”s Red Square Sunday with Russian and foreign leaders looking on.

The mine in the city of Mezhdurechensk had reserves of some 450 million tons of coal and produced 8.9 million tons in 2007, according to the Raspadskaya company. It says the pit is the largest underground mine in Russia.

Raspadskaya, Russia”s largest standalone coking coal producer, is part-owned by steel and mining firm Evraz Group.

Another news agency said another blast three months ago killed one worker at the mine, located in the coal-rich area of central Siberia known as the Kuzbass.

President Dmitry Medvedev ordered Emergencies Minister Sergei Shoigu to ensure everything possible was done to rescue the miners, and Prime Minister Vladimir Putin spoke with Kemerovo region governor Aman Tuleyev, Russian media reported.

Mine blasts and other industrial accidents have prompted repeated calls from Russia”s leaders for improvements to creaking infrastructure and stricter adherence to safety rules. Kremlin critics say little has been done.

British opposition parties in talks to end deadlock

LONDON: Britain”s opposition Conservatives and Liberal Democrats were set for fresh talks Sunday on a pact to enter government and break the general election deadlock.

Four-strong teams of Tory and Lib Dem negotiators are due to meet for a second round of discussions, though few expect them to finalise a power-sharing deal before the financial markets open on Monday.

The negotiations come after Conservative leader David Cameron and Liberal Democrat counterpart Nick Clegg held their first face-to-face talks on joining forces to oust Prime Minister Gordon Brown”s Labour Party from office after 13 years.

Spokespersons for the two sides described the private 70-minute discussion Saturday as “constructive and amicable”.

Brown later called Clegg for what was again described as an “amicable” conversation.

The three leaders stood side by side Saturday at a service marking the 65th anniversary of Victory in Europe Day.

But despite the show of unity, Britain remained in political limbo with Cameron holding the most seats in parliament, Brown still in nominal power and Clegg the so-called kingmaker following Thursday”s vote.

The Conservatives won the most seats in the Thursday”s vote but ended up 20 short of an overall majority in the 650-seat House of Commons, leaving Britain with its first hung parliament for 36 years.

The Conservatives now have 306 lawmakers, compared to 258 for Labour. The Liberal Democrats dropped back to 57 seats. Northern Irish parties make up the bulk of the rest.

Cameron emailed supporters to say Britain expected the Conservatives and Liberals to “work out how we can deliver strong and stable government to tackle Britain”s big and urgent problems.”

He drew red lines on ceding powers to the European Union, and a soft approach to immigration and defence.

But he also said there were areas where the Tories could “give ground… in the interests of forging an open and trusting partnership.

Russian mine blast kills 8: ministry

MOSCOW: A methane gas blast in a Siberian mine killed eight workers and injured 24 and was followed by a second explosion, Russian authorities said Sunday, adding that 64 people were still trapped underground.

An explosion ripped through the Raspadskaya mine in the Kemerovo region at 1655 GMT on Saturday, according to the emergency situations ministry cited by the news agency Ria-Novosti.

“According to new information, 359 people were at the bottom of the mine at the moment of the accident. Most of them have been evacuated,” a ministry official told the Interfax news agency.

A second blast occurred at 2100 GMT, the ministry said later, adding that 64 miners still remain trapped.

More than 150 people and 29 vehicles are involved in the rescue work, Interfax said. A crisis cell has also been set up.

Ministry spokeswoman Yelena Chernova earlier told Interfax that the “evacuation continues, communication with the miners has been established.”

Russian President Dmitri Medvedev has ordered an all-out rescue effort. Prime Minister Vladimir Putin meanwhile spoke by telephone with Kemerovo governor Aman Tuleyev, agencies said.

“Tuleyev informed the prime minister of the circumstances of the accident and steps taken to save the miners,” Putin”s spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.

Raspadskaya, Russia”s largest stand-alone coking coal producer, is part-owned by steel maker Evraz, controlled by Russian billionaire Roman Abramovitch.

Deadly mine accidents are relatively common in Russia because of ageing.

Blast derails Russian freight train: reports

MOSCOW: A bomb exploded on a railway track in Russia”s Dagestan province on Sunday, derailing a freight train days after suicide bombers killed 12 people in the region, Russian news agencies reported. Nobody was hurt.

The pre-dawn blast on a line leading from Moscow to the ex-Soviet republic of Azerbaijan caused eight carriages of a train carrying construction materials to derail, a local news agency reported, citing police and emergency officials.

Russia is on edge after suicide attacks in Moscow and Dagestan killed more than 50 people in the past week.

Security was tight as President Dmitry Medvedev and Prime Minister Vladimir Putin attended an overnight ceremony on Russian Orthodox Easter — the most important holiday for the country”s dominant religion.

On Wednesday, two suicide bombings in the Dagestani town of Kizlyar killed 12 people including nine police officers, authorities said.

That attack came two days after twin suicide bombings in Moscow”s metro killed at least 40 and stoked fears of a major campaign of attacks in Russia”s heartland by militant based in the heavily Muslim North Caucasus, which includes Dagestan.

In November, a bombing blamed on North Caucasus militants killed 26 people on a passenger train from Moscow to St. Petersburg.

Like neighbouring Chechnya and nearby Ingushetia, Dagestan has been plagued by an upsurge of violence in the past two years, with frequent attacks targeting law enforcement.

Sunday”s blast left a 3.5-metre-wide crater on the railbed and damaged some 300 metres of track, the news agency cite railroad police as saying.

A passenger train from Siberia to Azerbaijan”s capital Baku was stranded on the track by the damage, it said.

US, Israel Seek Support For Tough Iran Stance

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is meeting with the Saudi leadership in Riyadh today, hoping to enlist the kingdom in persuading China to support a tougher stand against Iran’s nuclear ambitions.
The talks with King Abdullah and Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal come as Washington is seeking to rally international support for a fourth round of United Nations sanctions against Iran over its nuclear programme. The United States and its allies suspect Iran is attempting to develop a nuclear weapon. Tehran denies this, insisting that its nuclear program is peaceful. As part of the ongoing effort to gain support for sanctions against Iran, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is meeting President Dmitry Medvedev and Prime Minister Vladimir Putin in Moscow today.

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US, Israel Seek Support For Tough Iran Stance was first posted on February 15, 2010 at 6:07 pm.

Islamist rebels claim Russian rail bombing

MOSCOW: Islamist militants on Wednesday claimed responsibility for a bombing that derailed a Russian express train, killing 26 people, and vowed further “acts of sabotage” in a letter posted on a rebel website.

Friday night’s attack on the luxury Nevsky Express running between Moscow and St Petersburg was the worst in Russia outside the North Caucasus in five years and raised fears of a new wave of bombings in major cities.

“This operation was prepared and carried out … pursuant to the orders of the Emir of the Caucasus Emirate Doku Umarov,” the KavkazCenter.com website said, quoting a letter it said it received from Islamist rebels.

Umarov is Russia’s most wanted guerrilla leader and leads a jihad insurgency which aims to free the mainly Muslim North Caucasus from Moscow’s rule.

A second, smaller bomb detonated by mobile phone injured Russia’s top detective as he visited the crime scene on Saturday. The Investigative Committee said its chief Alexander Bastrykin was hospitalised as a result of the blast but would not comment on his condition.

The militants’ letter said the train bombing was part of a campaign of sabotage against strategic economic targets.

“These acts of sabotage will continue for as long as those occupying the Caucasus do not stop their policy of killing ordinary Muslims,” the letter said.

Financial markets, hardened to violence in Russia, shrugged off the news. The RTS stock index .IRTS was up 0.38 percent on the day by midday while the rouble RUB held stable against the dollar.

Chechnya’s Moscow-backed authorities could not immediately be reached for comment. But many ordinary Chechens in the region’s capital Grozny were visibly disgruntled by what they said was unfair blame of Chechens by federal authorities.

“Government forces did it, it is a clear provocation from them in Moscow,” a 25-year-old construction worker who gave his name only as Aslanbek, told Reuters. “Why would Doku try blow up enemies there when he’s got plenty here.”

Isa Musayev, an artist aged 50, echoed him: “They blame everything on us, from pickpocketing to bad driving, and now this terrorist act … It’s pretty clear they are doing this so they can launch a military operation here.”

Russia has been fighting a low-level Islamist insurgency in the North Caucasus republics of Dagestan and Ingushetia for more than a decade, following two wars in Chechnya to crush separatists.

Officials claim some success in pacifying Chechnya but the situation elsewhere has deteriorated, with regular shootings and bombings. President Dmitry Medvedev last month described the North Caucasus as Russia’s biggest domestic problem.

On Monday, another bomb exploded under a train en route from Siberia to Azerbaijan in Russia’s troubled Dagestan region but there were no deaths. Prime Minister Vladimir Putin described that blast as a “similar act of terror” to the Friday attack.

The KavkazCenter rebel website has in the past carried claims of responsibility for guerrilla attacks which law enforcement officials have subsequently disputed.

In August rebels used the site to claim responsibility for for a Siberian dam disaster that killed over 70 people, but which authorities insisted was due to a technical fault.

The theory that Islamists were behind the train bombing has gained momentum in recent days.

The follow-up explosion “is a tactic used by terrorists in the North Caucasus,” top detective Bastrykin told state newspaper Rossiyskaya Gazeta. His spokesman declined to comment on Wednesday’s claim of responsibility.

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Islamist rebels claim Russian rail bombing was first posted on December 2, 2009 at 8:10 pm.

Venezuela’s Armed Deal With Russia

CARACAS: Venezuela said Sunday it has obtained a 2.2-billion-dollar credit from Russia to purchase nearly 100 T72 tanks and a series of anti-aircraft rocket systems from its strategic ally.

“The Russian government approved financing of 2.2 billion (dollars) for the cost of the weapons,” President Hugo Chavez said in his weekly radio and television broadcast.

“Thanks to the support of the Russian President (Dmitry Medvedev) and the Prime Minister (Vladimir Putin), the purchase of arms aimed at boosting our defensive capacity has became viable.”

Chavez described some of the weapons in the new arsenal, including 92 Soviet-era T-72 main battle tanks that his military will receive “in order to modernize our fleet of armored vehicles.”

Chavez has long expressed a desire to improve his nation’s military with Moscow’s help, and the substantial deal comes amid rising tensions between Caracas and Bogota over Colombia’s decision to allow the United States access to several military bases on its territory.

The firebrand leftist has repeatedly criticized the United States but has insisted that the latest purchase was not directed against any other country.

In addition to the tanks, Chavez announced his government will take delivery of 300-millimeter Smerch multiple launch rocket systems.

“We have signed the contract already for this equipment,” the president said. “With these rockets it is going to be very difficult for them to come and bomb us. If that happens, they should know that we will soon have these systems installed, (and) for an enemy that appears on the horizon, there it goes.”

The arsenal will also include vehicle-mounted Russian Antey 2500 surface-to-air missile systems that target incoming tactical missiles.

Chavez insisted his country’s massive oil and gas reserves warranted the protection afforded by a military build-up.

“We have the largest petroleum reserves in the world. The empire has set its sights on them,” Chavez said. Latin America’s loudest US critic often describes the United States as an empire.

“We have the right to take the minimum necessary steps to guarantee to the public our national security and our (energy) treasure.”

The growing presence of Chinese, Russian and Spanish firms in the vast Orinoco oil belt, fields believed to be among the largest in the world, provide “a new geopolitical dimension as we establish the parameters of military and our sovereignty,” he said.

In recent years Venezuela has signed over four billion dollars worth of arms contracts with Russia, and last November its navy held joint exercises with Russian warships in the Caribbean, traditionally seen as a US domain.

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Venezuela’s Armed Deal With Russia was first posted on September 14, 2009 at 1:40 pm.
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