25mar04
SUSPECTED people smuggler Mehmet Seriban was arrested in Sydney today and charged with 11 offences for breaching immigration laws, Justice Minister Chris Ellison said today.
He said 39-year-old Seriban, a former Turkish asylum seeker, was apprehended by Australian Federal Police (AFP) officers when he arrived at Sydney Airport this morning. Senator Ellison said Seriban, who used to work in a Manly kebab shop, was believed to have organised the arrival of a people smuggling boat which arrived on Ashmore Reef on February 17, 2000 with 14 Turkish nationals onboard.
"Seriban has been of interest to the joint AFP/DIMIA (Immigration Department) people smuggling taskforce for several years and has been charged this morning with 11 charges under the Immigration Act in relation to his alleged role in bringing a group of unlawful non-citizens to Australia four years ago," he said.
Thu 25 March, 2004 05:47
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Pentagon may cut half of the 71,000 troops based in Germany under a planned post-Cold War realignment of U.S. military forces abroad, The Washington Post has reported citing U.S. officials.
Under the draft plan, smaller bases would be set up in Romania and possibly Bulgaria and training facilities would be set up in Poland, the newspaper reported on Thursday.
Bases in Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan that were established in 2001 to support the war in Afghanistan would be preserved as training sites and as quick staging areas for use in emergencies, the report said.
The Post said the Pentagon plan, which is nearing approval, also calls for new training and staging areas in Australia and expansion of military ties with Singapore and Thailand.
In addition, about 15,000 of the 100,000 U.S. troops posted in Asia would be withdrawn, mostly by streamlining administrative staffs of the U.S. military commands in South Korea and Japan, the newspaper said, citing the unnamed officials.
U.S. officials have said before that the United States would deploy fewer troops and have fewer bases in Europe.
But neither the proposed size of the reductions in Europe and Asia nor details about locations of the new sites have been previously disclosed, the Post reported.
The newspaper said that some of the troops now overseas would be brought home, while vital equipment would be dispersed more widely to permit more nimble dispatch of forces.
The report cited officials as saying that a major objective of the plan is to deepen military ties and joint training with a greater number of allies in Eastern Europe, Central Asia, Africa and Southeast Asia.
President George W. Bush and his national security advisers were still a month or two away from approving the changes, the Post said.