Fraud halts India, Israeli arms deals

Fraud halts India, Israeli arms deals. New Delhi has suspended all arms trade with Tel Aviv after blacklisting Israel Military Industries (IMI) over corruption allegations.

The Indian government says the contracts were halted for alleged 'illicit trading and bribery'.

Arms deals with six other companies --from Poland, Singapore as well as India-- were also suspended.

The move, which came after the former head of India's Ordnance Factory Board (OFB) Sudipto Ghosh was arrested on corruption charges, puts billions of dollars worth of defense contracts at risk.

Ghosh is accused of receiving bribes from the arms manufacturers to favor them in arms purchase projects with OFB.

IMI had signed a $24 million contract with OFB under which it was about to set up an ordnance complex of five plants in northern India to manufacture 155mm Bi-Modular Charge Systems (BMCS) and other propellant charges for heavy caliber artillery ammunition for the army.

Arms trading between New Delhi and Tel Aviv, which is India's second biggest arm supplier after Russia, dates back to early 1990s, so far they have inked deals amounting to $8 billion.

Last month, India received the first of three Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS) planes from Israel it purchased for $1.1 billion in 2004.

Lebanon dismantles 25 Israeli spy cells

Amid an ongoing crackdown on active espionage networks in Lebanon, Israeli cells are being dismantled one after the other throughout the country.

Citing senior army sources, Lebanese daily An-Nahar reported Friday that 25 Israeli spy cells have been uncovered this year.

Ten more people were charged with espionage activities on Friday, four of which are already in custody while the other six remain at large.

The sources said the army also arrested a three-member spy network last week in the country. According to the sources the network might have been "the most dangerous" spy cell with "highly developed techniques techniques".

Two others were also arrested on suspicion of spying in the southern town of Ain Qana earlier this week.

So far, Lebanon has charged at least 55 people for spying and has arrested almost 100 others on suspicion of espionage since it launched a major crackdown on spy networks almost two months ago.

Refugee funds 'running short' in Pakistan

The UN warns that humanitarian efforts for Swat war refugees would have to be scaled down if the international community does not come up with financial assistance.

Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in Islamabad said it had received only 22 per cent of the $543 million international aid appeal they had made for the internally displaced persons (IDPs).

The office also added humanitarian efforts would be facing severe problems in a couple of weeks if more money was not received.

The developments come after Pakistani army launched an operation named 'Black thunder' early this month claiming to be aimed at flushing out the militants from the restive valley and its adjoining districts.

The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) estimates nearly 126-thousand people flee the fighting in the troubled northwest every day.

The clashes in Swat have pushed millions of terrified civilians into camps set up in various parts of the North West Frontier Province since May 2.

More than three million internally displaced people are now residing in temporary camps in the country's northwest.

UN officials in Islamabad have warned that a fund to help the refugees remained woefully short.

UN officials also on Thursday warned against potential disease outbreaks among millions of Pakistanis displaced by an army operation against the militants in Swat.

The massive displacement is Pakistan's biggest movement of people since the country secured independence from Britain in 1947.

Pakistan claims more than 1,350 militants and 86 soldiers have been killed in the over a month conflict.

Thousands of civilians are believed to be still trapped in the conflict zone. Human Rights Watch has warned of a large-scale human tragedy in the conflict-torn region.

Pakistan's army warns that the battle against insurgency in the troubled valley could take longer than previously thought. "It may be another two months when we can say the complete area is fully secured," chief military spokesman Major General Athar Abbas said Wednesday.