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No sign of imminent rocket launch in North Korea after first day of window

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North Korea held off launching a long-range rocket Monday, the first day of a 13-day window during a frigid, snowy stretch of winter weather, a day after announcing it may delay the controversial liftoff.

Pyongyang had made a surprise announcement earlier this month that it would launch a rocket mounted with a satellite one morning between Monday and Dec. 22, its second attempt this year. The North Koreans called it a peaceful bid to advance its space program, and a last wish of late leader Kim Jong Il.

However, the U.S., Japan and other nations see it as an illicit test of missile technology, and have warned North Korea to cancel the launch — or face a new wave of sanctions.

There was no indication that the launch at a west coast site in North Korea‘s northwest took place Monday, South Korean officials said. Experts in Seoul and Tokyo speculated that technical glitches may have forced scientists to postpone the launch of the finicky three-stage rocket, its fourth attempt since 1998.

Early Sunday, a spokesman from North Korea‘s Korean Committee for Space Technology told state-run media that scientists were considering “readjusting” the timing of the launch. He did not elaborate.

Temperatures in the nearby border city of Sinuiju, 35 miles (50 kilometers) to the north, dropped to minus-13 C (8.6 F) during the launch window, and the Korean Peninsula has been seized by early winter storms and unusually cold weather, the Korean Meterological Agency said in Seoul.

Engineers can launch a rocket when it’s snowing, but lightning, strong wind and freezing temperatures have the potential to stall liftoff, said Lee Chang-jin, an aerospace professor at Seoul’s Konkuk University.

Snow covered the site last week, according to commercial satellite imagery taken by GeoEye on Dec. 4 and shared with The Associated Press by the 38 North and North Korea Tech websites. The road from the main assembly building to the launch pad showed no fresh tracks, indicating that the snowfall may have stalled the preparations.

Still, Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda said Monday that his government would maintain vigilance. Tokyo has mobilized its military to intercept any debris from the rocket.

“At this moment, we are keeping our guard up,” Defense Minister Satoshi Morimoto told reporters Monday. “We have not seen any objective indication that would cause us to make any change to our preparedness.”

In addition to three failed launches, North Korea has unveiled missiles designed to target U.S. soil and has tested two atomic bombs in recent years. It has not yet proven to have mastered the technology for mounting a nuclear warhead to a long-range missile.

A successful launch would mean North Korea could develop an intercontinental ballistic missile capable of striking the U.S. mainland within two to three years, said Chong Chol-Ho, a weapons of mass destruction expert at the private Sejong Institute near Seoul.

Six-nation negotiations to offer North Korea much-needed aid in exchange for nuclear disarmament have been stalled since early 2009.

The announcement of a North Korean rocket launch also sparked concern in regional capitals due to the timing: South Korea and Japan hold key elections this month, President Barack Obama begins his second term in January, and China has just formed a new leadership.

Last week, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said Washington was deeply concerned, and urged foreign ministers from NATO and Russia to demand that Pyongyang cancel its plans. Moscow joined calls on Pyongyang to reconsider.

China, North Korea‘s main ally and aid provider, also noted its concern, acknowledging North Korea‘s right to develop its space program but urging Pyongyang to harmonize the bid with restrictions — including those set by the U.N. Security Council.

North Korea, however, may have its own reasons for launching a rocket in snowy December. The country will be marking the first anniversary on Dec. 17 of the 2011 death of Kim Jong Il.

However, international pressure and the prospect of dialogue may be a factor in the delay, analysts in Seoul said.

China must have sent a “very strong” message calling for the North to cancel the launch plans, said analyst Baek Seung-joo of the South Korean state-run Korea Institute for Defense Analyses.

North Korea may also be holding off if the U.S., its longtime Korean War foe, actively engages Pyongyang in dialogue, said Koh Yu-hwan, a professor of North Korean studies at Seoul’s Dongguk University.
Source: Fox World News

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North Korea considers delaying rocket launch

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North Korea may postpone the controversial launch of a long-range rocket that had been slated for liftoff as early as Monday, North Korean state media said Sunday.

Scientists have pushed forward with preparations for the launch from a west coast site but are considering “readjusting” the timing, a spokesman for the Korean Committee for Space Technology told North Korea‘s state-run Korean Central News Agency.

It was unclear whether diplomatic intervention or technical glitches were behind the possible delay. The brief statement cited “some reasons” but provided no further details.

North Korea announced earlier this month that it would launch a three-stage rocket mounted with a satellite from its Sohae station southeast of Sinuiju sometime between Dec. 10 and Dec. 22. Pyongyang calls it a peaceful bid to send an observational satellite into space, its second attempt this year.

The United States, Japan, South Korea and others have urged North Korea to refrain from carrying out the launch, calling it a violation of U.N. Security Council resolutions on nuclear activity because the rocket shares the same technology used for firing a long-range missile. China noted its “concern” and called for calm while citing North Korea‘s right to develop its space program.

Past launches have earned North Korea international condemnation and a host of sanctions.

Commercial satellite imagery taken by GeoEye on Dec. 4 and shared Friday with The Associated Press by the 38 North and North Korea Tech websites showed the Sohae site covered with snow. The road from the main assembly building to the launch pad showed no fresh tracks, indicating that the snowfall may have stalled the preparations.

However, analysts believed rocket preparations would have been completed on time for liftoff as early as Monday.

The unexpected launch announcement was issued Dec. 1 as North Koreans began mourning late leader Kim Jong Il, who died on Dec. 17, 2011.

An April launch from the same new launch pad was held on April 13, two days before the centennial of the birth of his father, North Korea founder Kim Il Sung. That rocket broke up just seconds after liftoff.

The U.S. and other nations see the launches as covers for illicit tests of missile technology. North Korea has unveiled missiles designed to target U.S. soil, and has tested two atomic bombs in recent years, but has not shown yet that it has mastered the technology for mounting a nuclear warhead to a long-range missile.

Six-nation negotiations to offer North Korea much-needed aid in exchange for nuclear disarmament have been stalled since 2009.
Source: Fox World News

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Syrian rebels get new leadership in bid to unite, increase coordination

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Rebel commanders from across Syria have joined forces under a united command they hope will increase coordination between diverse fighting groups and streamline the pathway for arms essential to their struggle against President Bashar Assad.

While many of the brigades involved in the fighting are decidedly Islamist in outlook and some have boasted about executing captured soldiers, two of the most extreme groups fighting in Syria were not invited to the rebel meeting in Turkey or included in the new council — a move that could encourage Western support.

Disorganization has bedeviled Syria‘s rebel movement since its birth late last year, when some protesters gave up on peaceful means to bring down Assad’s regime and took up arms, forming the base of what became the Free Syrian Army.

But the movement has never actually been an army. Scores of rebel groups battle Assad’s forces across the country, many coordinating with no one outside of their own area. While some say they want a civil, democratic government, others advocate an Islamic state.

The new body, expected to be announced officially on Sunday, hopes to form the basis of a united rebel front.

Some 500 delegates elected the 30-person Supreme Military Council and a Chief of Staff on Friday and planned to meet soon with representatives from the opposition’s newly reorganized political leadership, participants said.

“The aim of this meeting was to unify the armed opposition to bring down the regime,” said a rebel commander from near Damascus who attended the meeting. “It also aims to get the situation under control once the regime falls.”

The move toward greater unity on the armed front comes as the U.S. and others try to strengthen the opposition’s leadership while sidelining extremist factions that have become a vital part of the rebels’ ground forces.

The opposition’s political leadership reorganized last month, under Western pressure, into a new National Alliance that its backers hope will have broader representation and stronger links to rebel fighters.

Britain, France, Turkey and several Gulf Arab nations have recognized the National Alliance, effectively considering it a government in exile.

The U.S. is expected to recognize it at an international “Friends of Syria” conference in Marakesh, Morocco, that begins Wednesday.

It remains unclear how the new military command will relate to the National Alliance and whether foreign powers will back it.

But two of Syria‘s most extreme rebel groups were not included: Jabhat al-Nusra, which has claimed deadly suicide bombings and is believed to be linked to al-Qaida, and Ahrar al-Sham, an Islamic fundamentalist brigade home to many foreign jihadis.

U.S. officials have said the Obama administration is preparing to designate Jabhat al-Nusra a terrorist organization.

Many of the participating groups have strong Islamist agendas, and some have fought in ways that could scare away Western backers. They include the Tawheed Brigade, whose ideology is similar to that of the Muslim Brotherhood, and the Falcons of Damascus, an ultraconservative Islamist group. Its leader, Ahmed Eissa al-Sheik, told The Associated Press earlier this year that his men had executed five captured government soldiers.

Elizabeth O’Bagy, who studies Syria‘s rebels for the Institute for the Study of War, said the new command included important on-the-ground commanders, which will give it more support from various rebel factions. The inclusion less extreme Islamist brigades will also give the body credibility.

“They are going to have a role in a future Syria and sidelining them will only fuel tensions,” she said. Including them “shows that this command is representative of those on the ground, not just the ideal candidates for the West.”

If the new command can lead effectively and supply badly needed weapons, it could attract fighters who joined hard-line groups because they were flush with arms but may not agree with their ideology, she said.

A rebel official said more than 500 delegates had been meeting since Wednesday in the Turkish resort of Antalya and were planning to announce their new group on Sunday.

The rebel commander from near Damascus said the group had chosen Brig. Gen. Salim Idriss, who defected from Assad’s army, as its chief of staff. It also had divided Syria into five regions, each of which will be under one of Idriss’ assistants.

The new structure diminishes the role of previous leaders in the Free Syrian Army. Brig. Gen. Mustafa al-Sheikh, who headed the FSA’s Military Council, will play no rule in the new structure, the commander said. Riad al-Asaad, the head of the Free Syrian Army, will retain a symbolic post.

The official and commander spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the meeting before its conclusion.

The Syrian government did not comment on the new rebel command and throughout the uprising has considered the rebels terrorists backed by foreign powers that seek to destroy the country.

Assad’s regime appears increasingly embattled, with rebels making gains in northern Syria and near Damascus while the U.S., Turkey and others seek to hasten its demise. U.S. officials have expressed fears that Assad could use chemical or biological weapons, and U.S. intelligence has reported new activities at sites housing Syria‘s chemical weapons.

The government tried to reverse the charge on Saturday, saying it had warned the United Nations that “terrorist groups” might use chemical weapons.

Syria‘s state news agency said the Foreign Ministry had sent letters to the U.N. Security Council and U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon saying that Syria would not use chemical weapons against its own people.

Syria has never confirmed it has chemical weapons, but outside experts believe it has substantial stockpiles of mustard gas and a range of nerve agents, including sarin, a highly toxic substance that can suffocate its victims by paralyzing their lungs.

No rebel groups are known to possess chemical weapons and it is unlikely their mostly amateur fighters would know how to use them.

Anti-regime activist say more than 40,000 people have been killed since Syria‘s uprising started in March 2011.
Source: Fox World News

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World on edge ahead of N. Korea’s pending satellite launch

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The eyes of the world are on North Korea, as the rogue republic counts down to a provocative launch U.S. officials believe is aimed at showing the world its missiles can strike anywhere.

U.S. warships were on the move in the Western Pacific, as Pyongyang readied the satellite launch, expected to take place between Monday and Dec. 22. Pacific forces commander Adm. SamuelLocklearsaid it is unclear whether the secretive dictatorship has corrected the problems of a failed launch of a similar long-range rocket in April.

“This would be very destabilizing not only to the region, but to the international security environment,” Locklear told The Associated Press.

New satellite images indicate that snow may have slowed launch preparations, but that Pyongyang could still be ready for liftoff starting Monday. South Korean media reports said North Korea has mounted all three stages of the Unha rocket on the launch pad. But snow may have prevented Pyongyang from finishing its work by then, according to satellite images that were scrutinized by analysts.

Locklearsaid the U.S. is moving ships with missile defense capabilities to the region to have the best “situational awareness” — and to reassure allies.

Two South Korean destroyers will be deployed in the Yellow Sea in the coming days to track the North Korean rocket, defense officials in Seoul said Friday. They spoke on condition of anonymity because ministry rules bar them from releasing information about defense movements over the phone.

The commander of American troops in Japan, Lt. Gen. Salvatore Angelella, said this week that his troops are closely monitoring activity in North Korea as it prepares for the launch. Speaking in Tokyo, he described the situation ahead of the planned launch as “very dangerous.” He said American troops are working closely with the Japanese to protect the country’s citizens and territory, but declined to give details.

North Korea says it has only peaceful intentions, but the impoverished and chronically belligerent nation has a long history of developing ballistic missiles. In four attempts since 1998, North Korea has not successfully completed the launch of a three-stage rocket. It has also conducted two nuclear tests, intensifying concern over how its rocket technology could be used in the future, particularly if it masters how to attach a nuclear warhead to a missile.

That launch window comes as North Korea marks the Dec. 17 death of leader Kim Jong Un‘s father, Kim Jong Il. North Korea is also celebrating the centennial of the birth of Kim Jong Un‘s grandfather, national founder Kim Il Sung.

North Korea may have chosen a 12-day launch period, which is more than twice as long as the April period, because it was worried about possible weather complications, experts said.

The U.S., Japan and South Korea say they’ll seek U.N. Security Council action if the launch goes ahead in defiance of existing resolutions. Key to the world body’s endorsing any further punishments will be winning the support of China, which is North Korea‘s main ally and economic partner, and Russia.

The council condemned April’s launch and ordered seizure of assets of three North Korean state companies linked to financing, exporting and procuring weapons and missile technology.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Source: Fox World News

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Guard commander: Sanctions help self-sufficiency

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A senior commander of Iran‘s powerful Revolutionary Guard says the country’s leaders should welcome more sanctions because they promote self-sufficiency. Gen. Mohammad Reza Naqdi told worshippers at Tehran University Friday that oil and trade embargos have helped Iran reduce reliance on the outside world. His speech was broadcast live on state radio Friday. Naqdi said a man who runs 100 meters in 20 seconds can finish it in 7 seconds if a wolf is chasing him, and that’s the case for Iran. Iran is under four sets of U.N. Security Council sanctions and Western oil, banking and trade measures over its refusal to halt uranium enrichment. The U.S. and its allies charge Iran may be seeking to develop nuclear weapons. Tehran denies that, and its leaders have denounced the sanctions.
Source: Fox World News

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NATO moves toward deployment on Syria border

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As fears grow in the West that Syrian President Bashar Assad will unleash chemical weapons as an act of desperation, NATO moved forward Thursday with its plan to place Patriot missiles and troops along Syria‘s border with Turkey to protect against potential attacks.

Assad’s regime blasted the move as “psychological warfare,” saying the new deployment would not deter it from seeking victory over rebels it views as terrorists.

The missile deployment sends a clear message to Assad that consequences will follow if he uses chemical weapons or strikes NATO member Turkey, which backs the rebels seeking his ouster. But its limited scope also reflects the low appetite in Western capitals for direct military intervention in the civil war.

The U.S. and many European and Arab countries called for Assad to step down early in the uprising but have struggled to make that happen. Russia and China have protected Assad from censure by the U.N. Security Council, and the presence of extremists among the rebels makes the U.S. and others nervous about arming them.

In Dublin, Ireland, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton joined Russia‘s foreign minister and the U.N. peace envoy to the Arab country for three-way talks that suggested Washington and Moscow were working toward a common strategy as the Assad regime weakens.

The diplomatic efforts to end the civil war come days after NATO agreed to post Patriot missiles and troops along Turkey‘s southern border with Syria after mortars and shells from Syria killed five Turks.

Germany’s Cabinet approved the move on Thursday, and German Defense Minister Thomas de Maiziere told reporters that the overall mission is expected to include two batteries each from the Netherlands and the United States, plus 400 soldiers and monitoring aircraft.

“Nobody knows what such a regime is capable of and that is why we are acting protectively here,” said German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle.

In Washington, U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said Thursday that intelligence reports raise fears that an increasingly desperate Assad is considering using his chemical weapons arsenal — which the U.S. and Russia agree is unacceptable.

The Assad regime said the NATO deployment would not make Assad change course, calling the talk of chemical weapons part of a conspiracy to justify future intervention.

“The Turkish step and NATO‘s support for it are provocative moves that constitute psychological warfare,” Syria‘s Deputy Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad said in an interview with Lebanon‘s Al-Manar TV. “But if they think this will affect our determination and work for a decisive victory in this fight against terrorism, they are very wrong.”

Syria has not confirmed it has chemicals weapons, while insisting that it would never use such arms against its own people.

“I repeat for the hundredth time that even if such weapons exist in Syria, they will not be used against the Syrian people,” Mekdad said. “We cannot possibly commit suicide.”

Analysts say the missile deployment sends a message to Assad to keep the war in his own country.

“There is an element there of deterrence, of coercive diplomacy,” said Yezid Sayigh of the Carnegie Middle East Center in Beirut. “We won’t go further if you don’t go further.”

Sayigh said it is possible that Syria, too, moved its chemical weapons to send a counter-message to the West.

Still, the missile deployment does not appear to be a step toward military intervention, he said, noting that no NATO member nations want to enter the war.

NATO officials said the Patriots will be programmed only to intercept Syrian weapons that enter Turkish airspace and will not be fired into Turkey preemptively. This means they would not target Syrian military activities that remain inside Syria.

The German Parliament is expected give its final approval in mid-December, and the Dutch are also expected to approve the move soon, allowing the plan to go ahead. Due to the complexity and size of the Patriot batteries, they will probably have to travel by sea and won’t arrive in Turkey for another month.

In Syria, government forces shelled rebellious suburbs around the capital, Damascus. They also clashed with rebels in Damascus as well as in the northern city of Aleppo and elsewhere. Anti-regime activists say more than 40,000 have been killed since the country’s crisis started with political protests in March 2011.

The fighting in Syria has enflamed tensions in neighboring Lebanon, where security officials said the toll in clashes between two neighborhoods in the northern city of Tripoli had risen to eight dead and more than 60 wounded.

The clashes between the two communities, which support opposite sides in Syria‘s civil war, started Monday, following reports that 17 Lebanese men were killed after entering Syria to fight alongside the rebels.

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief the media.
Source: Fox World News

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North Korea may launch rocket as early as next week

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North Korea may be poised to launch a rocket between Dec. 10-12, South Korean news agency Yonhap reported citing unnamed officials.

The launch is reportedly contingent on finishing fueling over the weekend. Launches typically take place one to three days after fueling, according to NK Daily.

It would be North Korea‘s second launch attempt under leader Kim Jong Un, who took power following his father’s death nearly a year ago. The embarrassing misfire of its last rocket in April earned the country widespread international condemnation.

The United States considers North Korea‘s rocket launches to be veiled covers for tests of technology for long-range missiles designed to strike the United States. Such tests are banned by the U.N. Security Council which has imposed two rounds of sanctions on the North following its nuclear tests.

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon urged North Korea “not to take any further provocative actions that will heighten tension in the region” after the failed launch in April, and U.N. spokesman Martin Nesirky said Monday “his view has not changed on the matter.”

Fox News’ Greg Palkot and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Source: Fox World News

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Palestinians to UN: Stop 2 big Israeli settlements

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A West Bank official says the Palestinians will ask the U.N. Security Council to halt two massive Israeli settlement projects that he warns will destroy last hopes for a Mideast peace deal. For now, Israel is advancing both projects, E-1 and Givat Hamatos, with some 7,500 apartments. The construction would cut off east Jerusalem, the intended Palestinian capital, from the West Bank. Israel revived plans for E-1 last week, after the U.N. recognized a state of Palestine in lands Israel occupied in 1967. Palestinian official Saeb Erekat said Wednesday the Palestinians are asking the Security Council to block construction because otherwise “the idea of peace … will disappear.” He says the U.S. must halt construction itself if it wants to avoid casting a veto at the council, as in 2011.
Source: Fox World News

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UN experts: Rwanda led rebels in capture of Goma

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U.N. experts are accusing the Rwandan military of commanding and joining rebel forces in eastern Congo in their recent capture of the strategic city of Goma. The expert panel released a letter, photos, and a day-by-day outline of Rwandan support for the M23 rebels who held the city of 1 million for two weeks before Congolese soldiers took back control Monday. The letter was a follow-up to a report last month that made similar accusations against Rwandan forces in the run-up to the seizure of Goma. In the letter to a Security Council committee, the experts said the recent capture of Goma “strongly upholds” their earlier conclusion that the Rwandan government and allies in the Ugandan government are equipping and commanding the rebels. The Associated Press obtained the letter Tuesday.
Source: Fox World News