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DAMASCUS - Word is coming out of south Lebanon that Saudi money under United States urging is being pumped into the Shi'ite community - in vain - to create a bloc among Lebanese Shi'ites against Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah. The Saudis are strongly opposed to Hezbollah, claiming that it is an extension of Iranian influence in the Arab world. More recently, the Saudis have began coordinating with former vice president Abdul-Halim Khaddam to break Hezbollah's influence in Lebanon. In testimony of just how influential Nasrallah is as secretary general of Hezbollah, the Saudis have stunningly failed - despite tremendous efforts...

The Bush Administration has obtianed information that North Korea possesses at least three nuclear bombs as well as an undermined amount of fissile material.The officials said the material is being stored in underground bunkers kept off limits to both the United States or the International Atomic Energy Agency.Geostrategy Direct.com Backgrounder:Compiled by Bill Gertz U.S. Downgrades Saudi Arabia as secure oil sourceIran training Palestinians to use shoulder-fired missilesReconnaissance Photos Show Iraq Converting UN trucks to launchers for artillery, missilesSecret agenda for Arab summit is funding for the Palentinian war

It might seem obvious, but don’t bring explosives or devices that shoot explosives on airplanes. Even if they're just replicas, it's still a bad idea. The TSA recently tweeted out two photos of items that passengers attempted to bring onto planes with them. Based on the information, it does not appear that either traveler intended to use these items for no good, but they were still clearly against regulations.

Germany’s intelligence service believes Islamic State jihadist fighters in northern Iraq possess anti-aircraft weapons that could take down passenger jets, according to a newspaper report Sunday. […] In the briefing, the BND reportedly warned that Islamic State (ISIS) fighters possess portable rocket launchers captured from Syrian army stocks. Some dated from the 1970s, while others were modern and advanced. …

NEW DELHI: A Pakistan-bound cargo vessel carrying a "huge quantity" of explosives and other weapons has been detained by the authorities at a harbour in eastern India, police said on Saturday. The vessel was heading for the Pakistani port city of Karachi and was detained Friday on an intelligence tip-off at Diamond Harbour, 50 kilometres (30 miles) south of Kolkata, capital of the West Bengal state, police said. "The Indian Coast Guard and navy personnel have found a huge quantity of explosives, rocket launchers, anti-aircraft guns and some bombs in two large containers," West Bengal police director general Bhupinder Singh...

The U.S. Army is buying 46 more HIMARS rocket launchers, for about $3 million each. Because of the success of the GPS version of the U.S. MLRS rocket, the smaller, truck mounted MLRS (HIMARS) rocket launcher system has become more popular. HIMARS carriers only one six MLRS rocket container (instead of two in the original MLRS vehicle), but the 12 ton truck can fit into a C-130 transport (unlike the 22 ton tracked MLRS) and is much cheaper to operate. The first HIMARS entered service in 2005, about a year after GPS guided rockets did. The 680 pound GMLRS (guided...

Securing Venezuela’s Arsenals By Matt Schroeder The recent discovery of Swedish AT-4 anti-tank rockets sold to Venezuela in a Colombian rebel arms cache raises serious questions about Venezuela’s ability to safeguard its arsenal of modern weaponry, including dozens of advanced SA-24 shoulder-fired, surface-to-air missiles. Given the potential threat posed by these missiles and other weapons in Venezuela’s rapidly growing arsenal, the international community should take immediate steps to identify and close the gaps in Venezuela’s stockpile security and to ensure that the end-use monitoring conducted by states that export weapons to Venezuela is sufficiently robust. According to Colombian authorities, Swedish...

Singapore: Singapore Says It Will Investigate Alleged North Korea Rocket Exports To Myanmar News 2008-04-04 10:33 SINGAPORE: The Singapore government said Thursday (3 Apr) it will look into allegations that a Singapore company was involved in the exports of rocket launchers by North Korea to Myanmar, following a media report. Japan's national broadcaster NHK reported Wednesday (2 Apr) that North Korea started full-scale exports of rocket launchers to Myanmar through a trading company based in Singapore. The report, however, did not identify the Singapore-based company, or give any other details. Singapore's Foreign Affairs Ministry said it took such allegations seriously...

Dorset man smuggling parts to Iran, says US By Patrick Sawer A British pensioner is at the centre of a worldwide police hunt after being accused by United States authorities of smuggling military parts to Iran. Brian Woodford, 77, who owns a 17th century manor house and 100-acre estate in Dorset, has been charged in his absence with selling millions of pounds worth of US military and civilian aircraft parts to the Islamic regime in Tehran. His wife Laura was arrested after arriving at San Francisco on a flight from Hong Kong with two catalogues from a Chinese company that...

Petraeus: Al Qaida Trying to 'Come Back In' U.S. military officials said there will be no significant reduction in coalition troops in the Baghdad area as part of an effort to stop the Al Qaida offensive in northern Iraq. They said Al Qaida was trying to reenter Baghdad and reverse its losses in 2007. "Al Qaida is trying to come back in," U.S. military commander Gen. David Petraeus said. "We can feel it and see it, and what we're trying to do is rip out any roots before they can get deeply into the ground." Read More Militants Assert...

STOLEN Australian Army rocket launchers are in the hands of a home-grown terrorist group which planned to use them to attack Sydney's Lucas Heights nuclear reactor, police allege. The Federal Police Commissioner, Mick Keelty, said a man arrested in Leumeah yesterday and charged with possessing stolen weapons was linked to a group that had planned to attack buildings in Sydney, including the reactor. Mr Keelty would not publicly link the man, Taha Abdul-Rahman, directly to a plan to target the reactor, referring only to "evidence of a proposed target", and saying: "Clearly, there was a plan for the use of...

STOLEN Australian Army rocket launchers are in the hands of a home-grown terrorist group which planned to use them to attack Sydney's Lucas Heights nuclear reactor, police allege. The Federal Police Commissioner, Mick Keelty, said a man arrested in Leumeah yesterday and charged with possessing stolen weapons was linked to a group that had planned to attack buildings in Sydney, including the reactor. Mr Keelty would not publicly link the man, Taha Abdul-Rahman, directly to a plan to target the reactor, referring only to "evidence of a proposed target", and saying: "Clearly, there was a plan for the use of...

Weapons link to Australian 'plot' Australian police have arrested a man they suspect of involvement in the theft of military rocket launchers and their alleged sale to a terror suspect. Taha Abdul Rahman, 28, was arrested in a Sydney suburb in a joint operation by police and counter-terrorism agents. He has been charged with 17 offences, including dishonestly receiving stolen property and supplying a prohibited weapon without authorisation. Police said the arrest was linked to current terrorism-related cases. Eighteen men are currently in custody awaiting trial after being arrested in Sydney and Melbourne in November 2005 on suspicion of planning...

A SYDNEY building was to be the target of a rocket attack after a man allegedly supplied rocket launchers stolen from the military to a suspected terrorist. Australian Federal Police chief Mick Keelty said the man arrested today over the theft of rocket launchers was allegedly connected to some of the men detained in an anti-terrorism raid last year. It is understood that one rocket was intended to be used against an unspecified building in Sydney. The rocket launchers are reportedly of the type designed to be fired from the shoulder by infantry. They have enough punch to destroy a...

THE 28-year-old Sydney man today charged for possessing seven rocket launchers was involved in the group last year arrested for plotting to blow up the Sydney Harbour Bridge and Lucas Heights nuclear reactor, Australian Federal Police Commissioner Mick Keelty said. Taha Abdul Rahman was arrested at a house in Leumeah, in Sydney's south-west, and charged with 17 offences related to the receipt, supply and possession of the weapons. He appeared briefly in court this afternoon and was remanded in custody until January 10. Mr Keelty said the arrested man was involved in the group arrested last year for plotting to...

THE type of rockets believed stolen from the Australian Defence Force would only chip away at a target like Sydney's Lucas Heights nuclear reactor, a security expert said today. NSW Assistant Police Commissioner Nick Kaldas said the reactor in southern Sydney was one of a number of sites believed to have been considered a target by those in possession of seven missing rocket launchers. The rocket launchers are the type designed to be fired from the shoulder by infantry. They have enough punch to destroy a car, or even a tank, but not a nuclear reactor. Security consultant Peter Collins...

Smerch: an heir to Katyusha 22:38 | 06/ 09/ 2006 MOSCOW. (RIA Novosti military commentator Viktor Litovkin) - Multiple-launch rocket systems (MLRSs) stand out among the weapons and military equipment produced by the Russian defense industry. The 300mm Smerch, which is sometimes called an heir to the Katyusha, is the most powerful of them all, and this is not some journalistic exaggeration. Russia has pioneered these launchers. The first patent, numbered 3603 and dated April 9, 1939, for "The Mechanized Unit for Firing Rocket Projectiles of Different Calibers" was granted to Soviet inventors Andrei Kostikov, Ivan Gvai and Vasily Aborenkov....

Pirates release 2 kidnapped sailors JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP/AFP) - "Pirates on Saturday released two Indonesians they seized days before off the island of Borneo, but the fate of Japanese sailors in a separate attack was still unknown, a navy spokesman said. Brig. Gen. Malik Yusuf told The Associated Press that the hostages - the captain and ship engineer of KM. Tri Samudra - were released at Paning River in Indonesian Borneo, known as Kalimantan. Earlier, Yusuf mistakenly reported the release of two sailors kidnapped Monday when pirates attacked the Idaten, a Japanese-registered tugboat, in the Malacca Strait, a busy shipping...

WASHINGTON (AP) — The government warned airports Friday that portable rocket launchers could be used against airliners in the United States, even though security officials believe the risk of another attempt like the one against an Israeli jet in Kenya is greater overseas. The possibility of a missile attack is a major concern for commercial airlines operating abroad, especially in Asia and Africa, said Charlie LeBlanc, managing director of Air Security International Inc., a Houston-based aviation security firm that does government consulting work. In the United States, he said, an attack is more likely to be thwarted by law enforcement...