New nuclear missile built by India so they can intimidate rival China and hit Beijing completes test launch
- Agni V can travel 3,100 miles so could also reach into Europe and Africa
- The launch window for the test, to be conducted off India’s east coast, ends on Friday
- Indian Defence chiefs say test launch reached 600km and went as planned
By Martin Robinson
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India announced this morning it had successfully test launched its new nuclear-capable missile which could hit Beijing and China – and beyond.
The country’s government hopes the $ 500million Agni V missile, which was launched at 8.07am Indian time, will turn the nation into Asia’s main superpower.
The Agni V missile has a range of 5,000km (3,100 miles), and is seen as key to helping India in its border disputes with China.
Pioneering: Here are the first artist’s impression of Agni V, which was seen and tested this morning
A new map released shows the nuclear weapon could also reach far into Europe and eastern Africa.
Indian Defence bosses said the weapon rose to an altitude of more than 600km (370 miles), that its three stages worked properly, and that the missile deployed its payload as planned.
China is far ahead of India in the missile race, with intercontinental ballistic missiles capable of reaching anywhere in the country.
‘While China doesn’t really consider India any kind of a threat or any kind of a rival, India definitely doesn’t think in the same way,’ said Rahul Bedi, a defence analyst in New Delhi.
India already has the capability of hitting anywhere inside arch-rival Pakistan, but has engaged in a splurge of defence spending in recent years to counter the perceived Chinese threat.
The Indian navy took command of a Russian nuclear submarine earlier this year, and India is expected to take delivery of a retrofitted Soviet-built aircraft carrier soon.
The new Agni, named for the Hindi word for fire, is part of this military build-up and was designed to hit deep inside China, Bedi said.
Currently, the longest-range Indian missile, the Agni-III, has a range of only 2,100 miles or 3,500 kilometres and falls short of many major Chinese cities.
India has also been suspicious of Beijing’s efforts to increase its influence in the Indian Ocean in recent years and sees the weapons race as a way to fight back.
‘It will be a quantum leap in India’s strategic capability,’ said Ravi Gupta, spokesman for India’s Defence research team, which built the missile.
Government officials said the missile should not be seen as a threat.
Rival: China has long been able to fire missiles to every Indian city but now they have fought back and could easily strike Tiananmen Square in the heart of Beijing, pictured
‘We have a declared no-first-use policy, and all our missile systems, they are not country specific. There is no threat to anybody,’ Gupta said. ‘Our missile systems are purely for deterrence and to meet our security needs.’
The launch window for the missile test, which is being conducted on Wheeler Island off India’s east coast, opens Wednesday evening and closes on Friday.
The Agni-V is a solid-fuel, three-stage missile designed to carry a 1.5-ton nuclear warhead. I
It stands 57 feet tall, has a launch weight of 50 tonnes and was built at a reported cost of 25 billion rupees, and will be moved around the vast country by road or rail.
‘Agni-V is a game-changer and a technological marvel,’ V.K. Saraswat, scientific adviser to the defence minister, told The Hindu newspaper.
The missile could also be used to carry multiple warheads or to launch satellites into orbit.
The planned test comes days after North Korea’s failed long-range rocket launch.
North Korea said the rocket was launched to put a satellite into space, but the U.S. and other countries said it was a cover for testing long-range missile technology.
Even if India’s test is deemed a success, the missile will need four or five more trials before it can be inducted into India’s arsenal at some point in 2014 or 2015, Bedi said.
Categories: News Tags: Beijing, Built, China, completes, India, intimidate, launch, Missile, nuclear, rival, test, they
Now Blair could be sued over Libya torture claims by man who alleges MI6 sent him into the hands of Gaddafi’s regime
- Abdel Hakim Belhadj is already suing Jack Straw
- Mail learns lawyers are drawing up case against Blair
By Tim Shipman
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Tony Blair could be next to face a legal claim for damages from the Libyan man who alleges MI6 sent him to be tortured by Gaddafi’s regime, after he announced he was suing Jack Straw.
In a move without precedent against an ex-minister, Abdel Hakim Belhadj served legal papers against the former foreign secretary over claims that he authorised the Secret Intelligence Service to hand him over to Gaddafi’s government.
The Mail has learned that Mr Belhadj’s lawyers are now preparing a case against Mr Blair as well.
Lawsuit: Tony Blair is facing a legal claim from Abdel Hakim Belhadj
In another dramatic development, coalition ministers have apparently undermined Mr Straw’s claims of ignorance about the affair, revealing that papers showing he was implicated in the rendition of Mr Belhadj do exist.
Sapna Malik, a partner at Leigh Day & Co, the firm representing Mr Belhadj, said: ‘It would be surprising to us if something of this magnitude was not done with Mr Blair’s knowledge.
‘Our clients would like us to follow this case up the chain of command. He was at the top of the chain of command. Mr Belhadj certainly wants an apology from Mr Blair. Watch this space.’
Mr Belhadj, 45, was the leader of the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group, which in 2004 was linked to Al Qaeda – links he fiercely denied.
He was picked up that year following a tip-off by MI6 and flown by the CIA, via the British Indian Ocean territory of Diego Garcia, to Libya where he claims he was tortured for six years.
The incident took place just days before Mr Blair signed his notorious ‘Deal in the Desert’ with Colonel Gaddafi.
Sued: Mr Belhadj has already launched legal action against former foreign secretary Jack Straw
Documents found in Tripoli following the fall of the dictator show that MI6 counter-terrorism chief Sir Mark Allen boasted to Gaddafi’s spy chief Musa Kusa that ‘the intelligence was British’ which led to Mr Belhadj’s capture. He added that the tip-off was ‘the least we could do for you and for Libya’.
Last year Mr Straw appeared to deny any knowledge of the operation. But it emerged at the weekend that after he made those claims, he was approached by MI6 officers who showed him a document he had signed authorising the rendition.Senior figures in the Coalition claim some documents implicating Mr Straw do exist. One source said: ‘There are papers that point the finger at Jack Straw.’
But Downing Street officials yesterday said they have ‘no plans’ to hand over the documents.
Lawyers for Mr Belhadj and Sami Al Saadi, who also claims he was returned to Libya and tortured, yesterday served Mr Straw with notice that they will launch formal legal proceedings against him unless he comes clean, apologises and produces key documents.
Soldier: Abdel Hakim Belhadj speaks to Libyans at a rally in Tripoli in September 2011
Mr Belhadj, now a senior official in the Libyan transitional government, is already suing the Foreign Office and Sir Mark Allen.
They all have four weeks to come clean and publish the papers or the civil case will begin.
Miss Malik said: ‘If the former foreign secretary does not now own up to his role in this extraordinary affair, he will need to face the prospect of trying to defend his position in court.’
She added: ‘The real issue here is not about the amount of compensation, it is to get public acknowledgement and an admission from Jack Straw and others involved in his rendition. We have evidence that implicates very senior people.’
But she admitted they could seek damages that would force Mr Straw to sell his house.
Mr Straw and Mr Blair are also expected to be questioned by Scotland Yard detectives, who have launched a criminal inquiry into the behaviour of ministers and intelligence officials.
Mr Blair has previously claimed he has no recollection of the case.
Yesterday Mr Straw refused to comment, saying: ‘I am sorry that I can’t say more about this case, but with a police investigation pending and this intended civil legal action I am sorry that it is not appropriate for me to say any more about it.
‘They are entitled to bring the action and it will be dealt with in due course.’
Categories: News Tags: 'torture', alleges, Blair, claims, could, Gaddafi's, Hands, into, Libya, over, regime, sent, sued
Rebekah Brooks ‘could be among the first to face hacking charges’
By Steve Doughty
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A Guardian journalist and Rebekah Brooks may be among the first to be charged over the phone-hacking scandal.
Reporter Amelia Hill, whose newspaper’s coverage of the story prompted a public inquiry into journalistic standards, was questioned last year by detectives probing leaks from the police investigation.
Former News International chief executive Mrs Brooks was arrested for a second time last month, with her husband Charlie and four others, by officers investigating allegations of an attempted cover-up.
Suspects: The names of former New International chief executive Rebekah Brooks, left, and Guardian journalist Amelia Hill, right, are believed to be on the of 11 suspects possibly facing charges over the phone-hacking scandal
Their names are believed to be among the 11 suspects whose cases have now been passed to prosecutors to consider whether they should face charges.
The News of the World’s former chief reporter Neville Thurlbeck is understood to be another of the suspects.
Director of Public Prosecutions Keir Starmer QC said yesterday that the cases of four journalists, one police officer and six other individuals are being considered.
The DPP did not name the suspects and refused to give a timescale.
A total of 43 arrested in connection with phone-hacking remain on bail. The Guardian declined to comment yesterday.
Ongoing probe: Among the cases handed over by Scotland Yard’s phone-hacking squad include those of four journalists and one police officer
But prosectors will need to take into account privacy rights when considering action against journalists under new guidelines unveiled yesterday.
Keir Starmer, the Director of Public Prosecutions, said the rules were designed to help lawyers with the ‘very difficult decisions’ surrounding Scotland Yard’s phone-hacking inquiry.
Reporters who commit criminal offences could still escape prosecution if their actions are in the public interest because they expose a miscarriage of justice or criminal misconduct. Human rights laws protecting freedom of expression must also be taken into account.
Announcement: Director of public prosecutions Keir Starmer (above) said the CPS is considering the cases of 11 suspects in the phone-hacking probe
However, the guidelines make clear that privacy is protected too – meaning it could be an aggravating factor when deciding if journalists should be prosecuted.
The guidelines state that the impact on the privacy of a victim of possibly criminal conduct by a journalist – or someone who ‘interacts’ with one – is of ‘considerable importance’. They continue: ‘Prosecutors should ensure that, where possible, information is obtained about the particular impact of the conduct in question on the victim(s), especially where any invasion of privacy appears to have been particularly intrusive.’
Lawyers and MPs suggested that Mr Starmer’s rules effectively make breach of privacy a criminal offence for the first time.
LibDem John Hemming – who named footballer Ryan Giggs as an adulterer in Parliament – said: ‘Under these guidelines, a journalist and anyone who helped them breach privacy would risk a jail sentence . . . It is wrong to imprison people for what they say.’
Niri Shan, head of media law at City solicitors Taylor Wessing, added: ‘Invasion of privacy is a civil matter. It is not a criminal offence. I would be very worried if the introduction of these clauses was to make privacy a criminal offence in itself.’
Mr Starmer said yesterday: ‘These guidelines will ensure consistency, but will also provide openness and transparency to the public on what victims can expect, and to the media on the approach that prosecutors will take.’
The guidelines were put into operation at the Crown Prosecution Service yesterday, beginning a 12-week public consultation.
Under fire: News Corp chairman Rupert Murdoch (above) closed down the News of the World last July over the phone-hacking scandal
Daring Mr Fox! Cub trots into townhouse, scales flight of stairs and curls up for a sleep in schoolboy’s bed
By James Tozer
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With her emaciated frame and matted fur, this female fox cub doesn’t look too healthy.
Which might explain why she was seeking somewhere comfortable to rest when she happened across a child’s bedroom.
Alexander West, nine, who had left the back door of his house open when he went out to play, found the sorry looking creature curled up on his duvet when he returned.
Caught napping: A fox spotted in schoolboy Alexander West’s best in Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire
‘I was absolutely shocked,’ said his mother, Dina Luminati-West. ‘But Alexander was quite excited she had chosen his room. I said it was because it was so messy.’
Tracks show where the female cub crept in through the back door then up to the second floor on Monday afternoon – without encountering their cat, Fifi.
It tried the main bedroom before settling on Alexander’s bed for a nap.
Experts say urban foxes will take advantage of any open window or catflap when desperate for food and say householders should take care to secure their homes. A spate of attacks on children has shown how fearless a hungry fox can be.
Mrs Luminati-West, of Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire, called RSPCA staff who took the cub away.
Surprise: Alexander with hius mother Dina Luminati-West, who were both shocked by their visitor
Cut: The fluffy baby curled up on top of Alexander’s comfortable-looking duvet
She said she had seen foxes in an alley behind their townhouse home and knew there was a den nearby, but had never heard of them going into houses.
She added: ‘Alexander loves animals, but a bedroom’s not the best place for a fox. We’ll be keeping our door firmly shut from now on.’
Two years ago, nine-month-old twins Lola and Isabella Koupparis were mauled in their cot by a fox in East London, leaving them with horrific injuries.
Shortly after, Jake Jermy, three, was bitten on the arm at a playgroup party.
And last year ambulance worker Tammy Page, 29, had the tip of her finger bitten off by a crazed fox which crept in through the catflap of her home in Brighton, East Sussex.
Categories: News Tags: curls, Daring, Flight, into, Scales, schoolboy's, sleep, stairs, townhouse, trots
Anders Behring Breivik trial: Norway killer says ‘I don’t fear death, execute me or let me go’
- Mass killer draws inspiration from Islamist terror network’s methods
- Claims to have met three people in London to create Knights Templar in 2002
- Said he met a Serbian ‘war hero’ in Liberia in 2002 by posing as a member of Unicef
- Prosecutors said Breivik was not part of a sophisticated anti-Muslim group
By Daily Mail Reporter
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A meeting between Anders Breivik and an English anti-Islamic militant calling himself ‘Richard the Lionheart’ was outlined in court yesterday.
Nine years before his killing spree left 77 dead, the Norwegian said he was sitting in a London cafe with members of an extremist group called Knights Templar, to plot ‘how to seize power in Western Europe’.
As well as ‘Richard the Lionheart’, Breivik was also ‘ordained’ by the group and given the name of the 12th-century Norwegian king, Sigurd ‘the Crusader’.
Defiant: Breivik, for a third day running, pumped his fist out in front of him as he took to the stand to answer questions
Under cross-examination on the third day of his trial yesterday, the right-wing extremist initially refused to discuss meetings in Liberia and London in April and May 2002 as he joined a network of ‘like-minded’ militant anti-Muslim nationalists.
But after repeated questioning by prosecutor Inga Bejer Engh, who told him she was trying to shed doubt on the network’s existence, he conceded he had travelled to Africa and London ten years ago to help set up his Knights Templar (KT) movement.
For the first time Breivik, 33, appeared rattled as it emerged he left Oslo on April 17, 2002, to fly to the Ivory Coast before entering Liberia, posing as an aid worker. Breivik said that once there he met an exiled Serbian ‘war hero’, but refused to identify the man.
Breivik became agitated and claimed Norwegian police had not been clever enough to uncover the KT movement’s members. He said: ‘Exactly what is it you’re getting at? Are you trying to sow doubt over whether the KT network exists? It does.’
Fearless: Mass killer Anders Breivik, pictured with his lawyer Geir Lippestad, told the court if he had feared death he would never have undertaken his ‘operation’
Fantasist: Anders Breivik, seen with lawyer Geir Lippestad, was told by prosecutors that his Knights Templar organisation didn’t exist as he imagined
Hard job, but somebody has to do it: The stress of defending mass killer Anders Breivik shows on his face as he talks to a member of his team in the Oslo court
The court heard that Breivik flew to London in late April 2002 where he attended a founding session of the KT movement but he refused to give exact details of his co-conspirators.
As images of Breivik’s 1,800-page manifesto were flashed on to screens, the court heard that he met three other founding members of the Knights Templar during his London visit. At 23, he was the youngest member of the group.
World watches: Journalists work at the pressroom as defendant Norwegian mass killer Anders Breivik is led into court for the third day of his trial
There were two Englishmen – including his ‘mentor’, Richard the Lionheart – and a French nationalist at the founding meeting. Breivik told the court: ‘It is not in my interest here to discuss what went on.
What I will say is that Richard was responsible for calling the meeting.’
In his manifesto, Breivik said: ‘It was basically a long-term plan on how to seize power in Western Europe.’
He told the court that the people he had met in London had ‘great integrity’ and how his codename of ‘Crusader’ was taken from Sigurd Magnusson, a 12th-century Viking king.
Asked if he felt he had met some ‘like-minded friends’ in London, he said: ‘I felt I was a foot soldier associated with the others. Now I feel I have managed to do what I wanted to do.’
Breivik also said he should face the death penalty – describing the 21 years he faces in prison as ‘pathetic’.
When asked if he thought Norway should introduce the death penalty, he replied: ‘It would be the right thing.’
Watching intently: Hajrie, left, and Donika Selaci cousins of Lejla Selaci, who was gunned down by Norwegian Anders Behring Breivik, study his trial today from Vucitrn, Kosovo
Poignant: A security guard stands behind roses placed on a fence outside the courthouse in Oslo during the third day of the trial of Anders Breivik
