Russian missile warning to US

The Russian army's chief of staff has warned that the launch of US interceptor missiles under a proposed missile defence shield in Eastern Europe could trigger a Russian missile strike.

Speaking at a news conference on Saturday, Yury Baluyevksy also accused the US of playing politics with European arms control.

The general said: "The firing of an anti-missile rocket from Poland could be seen by Russia's automated system as the launch of a ballistic missile, which could provoke a responsive strike."

Missile mistake

Baluyevsky criticised plans by the US to deploy 10 interceptor missiles in Poland and a radar in the Czech Republic by 2012, as part of the missile defence shield.

Russian missiles could be triggered if the country’s automated defense system mistook US interceptors for a ballistic missile aimed at Russia, he warned.

Baluyevsky disputed Washington's claims that the US plan was intended as a guard against a potential missile threat from Iran, saying instead it was an attack on Russia.

"If we assume that Iran does try to launch a missile against the United States... then interceptor missiles from Poland would fly in the direction of Russia," he said.

Sergei Kislyak, Russia's deputy foreign minister, said despite diplomatic efforts by the two countries, consultations over the proposed shield had been "disappointing".

'Deplorable'

On Wednesday, Russia withdrew from the Conventional Forces in Europe (CFE) treaty, a key Cold War agreement that limited the stationing of troops and heavy weapons in Europe.

Russia said it pulled out of the CFE because of the 26-nation Nato alliance’s failure to ratify a revised 1999 version of the treaty.

Nato countries have refused to do this until Moscow withdraws its troops from the former Soviet republics of Georgia and Moldova.

Mosocow also cited Washington's refusal to back down over the planned missile shield as a key factor in its decision to leave the treaty.

Russia's withdrawal raised protest from the US as well as Nato which called the move "deplorable".

Baluyevsky's comments came a day after Alexander Lukashenko, the Belarussian president, said he would side with Moscow in the missile shield dispute.

Last month a Russian general in charge of the country's missile and artillery forces said Russia could counter US plans by deploying missiles in Belarus, which is located between Russia and Poland.

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China bans US carrier to enter port

The Kitty Hawk group didn't dock in Hong Kong's deep water port Wednesday morning "as previously planned as a result of a last minute denial by the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs," US State Department spokeswoman Nicole Thompson said.

The US is pressing China for an explanation and to reconsider its decision, she added. But the Chinese Foreign Ministry has declined to make an immediate comment.

Observers view the unusual event as a twist in relations strained by disputes over Iran's nuclear program as well as discontentment over trade, US plans to sell Taiwan a missile system and a meeting has been scheduled between President Bush and Dalai Lama last month.

Beijing's move also coincides with "airspace controls" on Wednesday which Xinhua news agency said affected the air travel plans of 7,000 people in south and east China. The controls were introduced for "unspecified reasons".

Hong Kong has been a regular port of call for US sailors on "R & R" (rest and recuperation) since the Vietnam War and experts say it is the first time a ship has been turned away from Hong Kong waters.


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Saudi Gas Pipeline Fire, Blast Kills 28

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia - An explosion and fire on a gas pipeline killed 28 workers in eastern Saudi Arabia, the Saudi national oil company Aramco said Sunday.

The fire broke out while contract workers were linking a new pipe to the line late Saturday, Aramco said in a statement.

It said 28 workers, including five Aramco employees, had died in the fire, which was put out early Sunday some 18 miles from its Hawiyah gas plant.

The company did not specify how many people had been injured in the blaze, or give the victims' nationalities.

"The company is taking all necessary measures to guarantee the continuation of the normal gas output," it said.

Saudi Arabia's national oil company, Saudi Aramco is the world's largest oil producer, located on the country's east coast.

The Hawiyah plant produces 310,000 barrels of ethane and liquefied natural gas daily.



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Iran arrests more nuclear spies

Iran on Thursday said it has arrested more suspects in a nuclear espionage case, a day after a former nuclear official was accused of handing over atomic secrets to Britain.

"In the case of nuclear espionage, other people have been identified and arrested," said Iran's prosecutor general Ghorban Ali Dori Najafabadi, according to the state-run IRNA news agency.

The intelligence ministry said on Wednesday that former negotiator Hossein Moussavian, who was briefly detained in May on national security charges, was charged with passing classified information to the British embassy in Tehran.

Intelligence Minister Gholam Hossein Mohseni Ejeie said that in the eyes of his ministry Moussavian was a criminal whose case "was proven". He also accused unnamed "influential people" of trying to seek his acquittal.

No further details were given on the new arrests. But Dori Najafabadi appeared to hit back at Ejeie's remarks, saying the only person who could give a verdict was the judge.
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"In the case of Hossein Moussavian... only judicial officials can give a verdict," he said. "The court must give its verdict on the basis of sufficient proof."

Moussavian is a close ally of former president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, the pragmatic cleric who was trounced by his rival President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in 2005 presidential elections.

Tensions have intensified between supporters of Ahmadinejad and Rafsanjani, with moderates accusing the president of putting the country in danger with his economic policies and confrontational stance in the nuclear crisis.

Ahmadinejad this week threatened to expose as "traitors" opponents who pressure the government over its nuclear policy.

He also complained that some critics were seeking to "pressure the judge to acquit a spy" in a security case, comments seen by most observers in an unmistakable reference to Moussavian.

The ex-negotiator was released on bail after his detention in May but the recent comments have underlined that his case is far from closed.

Moussavian, a former ambassador to Germany, served as a member of the moderate negotiating team under reformist president Mohammad Khatami to 2005.

He is now the deputy head of a research institute led by Hassan Rowhani, who was Iran's top nuclear negotiator at the time and is still a staunch Rafsanjani loyalist.

Moussavian was seen in public on Monday next to Rafsanjani as the former president repeated comments that the country was facing a "grave danger" -- an outright contradiction of Ahmadinejad's public confidence.

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