Con el permiso de Samzer, amplio la noticia:
Disputa entre Rusia y Ucrania podría hacer peligrar suministro de gas


El gobierno ruso advirtió que la disputa que mantiene con Ucrania por el gas podría producir problemas de suministro a los países de la Unión Europea.
La "irracional actitud" de Ucrania amenaza con perjudicar "la estabilidad del suministro de gas con dirección a Europa", indicó el viceprimer ministro ruso, Viktor Zubkov, en un escrito a la Comisión Europea y a los gobiernos de los países importadores de gas.
Zubkov, también presidente del gigante energético Gazprom, añadió que la postura ucraniana es "especialmente incomprensible dada la decisión del Fondo Monetario Internacional de prestar a Ucrania 16.500 millones euros para atajar su déficit, ayudar a equilibrar el presupuesto y apoyar el sector bancario".
Gazprom amenazó con cerrar el grifo del gas el 1 de enero de 2009 si para entonces Kiev no ha saldado deudas por 2.000 millones de dólares, según la empresa. Hace tres años, otro conflicto similar entre Moscú y Kiev desencadenó breves cortes de suministro en la UE.
Rusia vende a Europa aproximadamente un tercio de su gas natural, suministrado casi en su totalidad a través de gasoductos que pasan por Ucrania.
Desde Kiev se respondió que el país está preparado para un corte y se aseguró que es Rusia el responsable del conflicto. "Ofrecemos nuestra completa garantía para la continuidad de los envíos de gas (a Europa), señaló Oleksander Shaplak, portavoz del presidente Viktor Yushchenko. "Si hay cortes, estamos preparados para cubrir nuestras necesidades con nuestras reservas".
Según medios locales, esa medida podría agravar aun más la dis***** puesto que el gas almacenado pertenece también a Gazprom. (DPA)


Disputa entre Rusia y Ucrania podría hacer peligrar suministro de gas | Europa al día | Deutsche Welle | 22.12.2008

La tensión está aumentando peligrosamente, hoy hay noticias de India-Pakistán para dar y tomar.

Pakistan military on 'high alert'

Pakistan's media has reported that the country's military is on high alert over a possible attack by India.

The reported move on Monday came as New Delhi said it had handed over to Islamabad a letter from the only surviving attacker from last month's rampage in Mumbai, which left more than 170 people dead.

The letter said that all 10 attackers were from Pakistan, India's foreign ministry said.

Kamal Hyder, Al Jazeera's correspondent in Pakistan, said Pakistan's media had attributed its reports to military sources, who were confirming that the navy, air force and army were on red alert.

"The Pakistani air force have been seen visibly in a number of locations flying close to the Pakistani-India border in what is being described as an aggressive patrolling mode, following reports that India is planning pre-emptive strikes against locations in Pakistan," Hyder reported.

Hyder said that the chiefs of Pakistan's three armed forces were holding what had been described as an emergency meeting at general headquarters in Rawalpindi.


'Exploring all options'

New Delhi has said it will "explore all options" to push Islamabad to crack down on cross-border attacks.

It also called for more pressure to be put on Pakistan to co-operate with the investigation into the attacks, which it says were carried out by the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba.

"While we continue to persuade the international community and Pakistan, we are also clear that ultimately it is we who have to deal with this problem," Pranab Mukherjee, India's foreign minister, said.

Tensions between the two nations following the Mumbai attacks have strained a peace process begun in 2004. They have fought three wars since India's partition and independence from Britain in 1947.

The office of Yousef Raza Gilani, Pakistan's prime minister, quoted him as telling Pakistan's high commissioner to India: "... if war is imposed upon us the whole nation would be united and the armed forces are fully capable of safeguarding and defending the territorial integrity".

Military exercise

The Reuters news agency quoted a Pakistan airline official as saying the Pakistani air force had conducted an exercise on Monday causing delays to two civilian flights.

"Two of our flights were delayed for some time because the PAF was conducting some exercises, but now everything is back on normal," Muhammad Latif, a spokesman for Pakistan International Airlines, said.

The flights were delayed at the airport in Lahore, near the Indian border, Latif said, while dismissing television reports of a high alert at Pakistani airports.

An air force spokesman declined to comment when asked about an exercise, saying only: "In view of the current environment, the PAF has enhanced its vigilance."

Divya Gopalan, Al Jazeera's correspondent in India, said that the Indian media was looking at Monday's reports with some degree of scepticism.

"They are saying that Pakistan is creating an artificial war hysteria to divert attention from the fact that they are under pressure from India to deal with the Mumbai terror attacks."

'Threatening statements'

Asad Durrani, the former head of Pakistani intelligence, told Al Jazeera that Pakistan was asked to do more to deal with individuals behind the Mumbai attacks. He dismissed the notion that the two states were on the brink of war.

"The media is building up a scenario in which one may get the impression that we are close to war.

"This is not the stage that the two forces are going to go on that sort of alert."

But Brigadier-General Naeem Salik, a retired Pakistani military analyst, told Al Jazeera from Islamabad: "There have been very threatening statements [from India] saying that they do not rule out military options, and they have been talking about punishing Pakistan.

"So it is obviously natural for Pakistan to heighten its alert levels and be on guard. We cannot let the Indians have a free-run and it is a response to what is happening across the borders."

Ravi Sawhney, an Indian security analyst, told Al Jazeera: "It is not threatening talk at all. It is talking facts. We have been assaulted. A terror attack was launched on us. And the perpetrators of that attack were Pakistanis.

Last week, Pakistan summoned a senior Indian diplomat in Islamabad to protest against recent alleged airspace violations by Indian warplanes.

Pakistan said its own fighter jets were scrambled to chase off the intruders, but it also played down the incident by describing the violations as "technical" and "inadvertent".

India denied any violation of Pakistani airspace.

Al Jazeera English - CENTRAL/S. ASIA - Pakistan military on 'high alert'

India amassing troops on Rajasthan border, claims Pak portal
India Today - India's most widely read magazine.

Pakistani Jets Scramble As India Hardens Tone
Pakistan Scrambles Military Jets as Top Indian Official Talks Tough - washingtonpost.com

Ataque de supuestas naves EEUU dejan siete muertos en Pakistán
http://lta.reuters.com/article/topNe...081222?sp=true

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EEUU pide cuentas a Rusia sobre el armamento que vende a Irán

Sospecha que Moscú pretende venderle misiles de alta tecnología al país islámico

Estados Unidos ha pedido a Rusia que aclare si está vendiendo misiles tierra-aire de alta tecnología a Irán, un movimiento que Estados Unidos considera que podría amenazar a sus tropas en Irak y Afganistán. Un alto funcionario de la inteligencia militar de EEUU ha informado que aunque Moscú ha dado respuestas contradictorias sobre la venta de misiles antiaéreos S-300 a Irán, Washington cree que la operación está en marcha.

Según el diario estadounidense 'The Washington Post', todavía Rusia no habría enviado ningún equipo a Irán, aunque todo está preparado para hacerlo. Moscú habría informado que está suministrando al país islámico "sólo armas defensivas", entre ellas misiles tierra-aire, pero sin especificar si incluye los misiles S-300.

El portavoz del Departamento de Estado de EEUU, Rober Wood, ha explicado la posición de su Gbierno está esperando a que Rusia aclare la situación y recordó la oposición de Estados Unidos a la venta de misiles de alta tecnología.

Los sistemas de misiles S-300, similares a los 'Patriot' estadounidenses, son capaces de seguir y abatir varios blancos simultáneamente a distintas alturas, con un alcance de hasta 200 kilómetros.

Israel, por su parte, ha sido otro país que exigió a Rusia no suministrar armamento a Irán, ya que constituye una amenaza tanto a su seguridad nacional como regional.

Estados Unidos e Israel se han opuesto a la venta de este tipo de misiles por considerar que capacitar a Irán de un sistema antiaéreo tan avanzado modificaría el equilibrio militar en Medio Oriente.

Irán tiene actualmente un sistema defensivo anticuado y en el caso de que recibiera el armamento ruso, tendría más poder defensivo ante una eventual intervención estadounidense o israelí, si alguno de estos países se plantearan un ataque para evitar que Teherán siga adelante con sus planes de desarrollo de energía nuclear.

Informativos Telecinco.com - EEUU pide cuentas a Rusia sobre el armamento que vende a Irn

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La UE pide a Rusia que respete sus compromisos en Georgia

Hace 17 horas

La presidencia francesa de la Unión Europea llamó el lunes a Rusia a respetar los compromisos que adquirió tras el fin de las hostilidades en Georgia, después de la negativa de Moscú a aceptar una prolongación más allá de fin de año de la misión de la OSCE en territorio georgiano.

"La Presidencia (...) lamenta que ningún acuerdo haya podido lograrse para la renovación del mandato de la misión de la OSCE (Organización para la Seguridad y la Cooperación en Europa) en Georgia".

La UE recordó que "el acuerdo del 8 de septiembre reafirma solemnemente el papel esencial de los observadores de la OSCE en Georgia y llama a las partes a respetar ese acuerdo. La OSCE tiene en efecto un papel importante que jugar en la resolución de los conflictos en pro de la estabilidad y la seguridad en la región".

El 8 de septiembre los presidentes ruso Dimitri Medvedev y francés Nicolas Sarkozy concluyeron un acuerdo en seis puntos que preveía entre otras cosas que Moscú retirase sus fuerzas de Georgia. La OSCE decidió el lunes retirar su misión de Georgia "a partir del 1 de enero" tras la oposición de Rusia a la prolongación de su mandato más allá del 31 de diciembre.

AFP: La UE pide a Rusia que respete sus compromisos en Georgia

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Esto debe de ser por la histeria de esta mañana con el lío de los cazas.

India quiere acción de Pakistán, no "histeria de guerra"

NUEVA DELHI (Reuters) - India pidió el martes a Pakistán que evite la "histeria de guerra" y simplemente actúe para desmantelar la infraestructura terrorista que opera en su país.

"La cuestión no es la guerra, la cuestión es que el terror y el territorio en Pakistán se están usando para promover, ayudar y amparar al terror", dijo el primer ministro, Manmohan Singh, a periodistas. "Nadie quiere la guerra", agregó.

India ha acusado a militantes pakistaníes por los ataques del mes pasado en Mumbai, donde murieron 179 personas, y dice que Pakistán no está cumpliendo con su promesa de perseguir a los extremistas e impedir que usen su suelo para atacar a otros países.

Mientras crecen las tensiones entre los vecinos con armas nucleares del sur asiático, el primer ministro pakistaní, Yousaf Raza Gilani, advirtió el lunes que las Fuerzas Armadas eran plenamente capaces de defender al país y que el pueblo se uniría si se impusiera una guerra.

Pero el ministro de Relaciones Exteriores indio, Pranab Mukherjee, dijo que Pakistán debería enfocarse en estas cuestiones. "El tema no es generar una histeria de guerra o señalar a otros con dedos inquisidores", indicó.

"(La) cuestión es que hubo un ataque terrorista siniestro, horrendo en Mumbai por parte de elementos en Pakistán. India pidió a Pakistán que tome medidas contra los autores", dijo a periodistas.

Mukherjee ha dicho previamente que "todas las opciones" estaban abiertas para que India presione a Pakistán tras los ataques de Mumbai.

Pero algunos analistas dicen que es muy improbable que lance un ataque militar, ya que fortalecería la influencia de las figuras más autoritarias y extremistas de Pakistán.

En cambio, India está intentando generar un consenso diplomático internacional para presionar a Pakistán y ya ha recibido apoyo de Estados Unidos y Naciones Unidas.

Pakistán niega fervientemente que su Estado haya estado involucrado en los ataques de Mumbai.

India quiere acción de Pakistán, no histeria de guerra | Titulares | Reuters

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China Signals Further Interest in Aircraft Carrier

BEIJING — In the clearest indication yet that China could soon begin building its first aircraft carrier, a Defense Ministry spokesman said Tuesday that the country was seriously considering “relevant issues” in making its decision about whether to move ahead with the project, according to Xinhua, the state news agency.

The spokesman, Huang Xueping, said at a news conference in Beijing that aircraft carriers were “a reflection of a nation’s comprehensive power,” indicating that Chinese government officials saw value in adding a carrier to the country’s fleet. Mr. Huang said that China would use any aircraft carrier built in the future to safeguard its shores and defend “sovereignty over coastal areas and territorial seas,” Xinhua reported.

If China does decide to build the carrier, it will no doubt increase tensions with the United States, Taiwan and Japan, among other governments. China has been expanding its navy at a fast pace. The government has built at least 60 warships since 2000, and its fleet of 860 vessels includes about 60 submarines.

Last month, a senior Chinese military official hinted in an interview with The Financial Times that China would like to build an aircraft carrier. The official, Maj. Gen. Quan Lihua, said having a carrier was the dream of any great military power and suggested that the United States had nothing to fear if China did build a carrier.

The United States has 11 aircraft carriers, but only a handful of other nations — including Britain, France, Italy and Russia — have carriers and of those, none have more than a few.

The Ministry of National Defense had called the news conference on Tuesday to give details about the deployment of Chinese naval ships off the coast of Somalia, where an increase in piracy has made the shipping lanes the most dangerous in the world. Three Chinese ships are scheduled to head to the area on Friday.

The buildup of the Chinese military could change the balance of power across the Taiwan Strait. The Communist Party views Taiwan as a rebel province that must be reunited with the mainland, by force if necessary. But the United States government has said it may come to Taiwan’s defense in the event of hostilities with China.

In October, the Pentagon announced the sale of $6 billion of advanced weapons to Taiwan, a move that prompted criticism from China. The United States regularly sells arms to Taiwan, and China has long denounced the sales.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/24/wo..._r=1&ref=world

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Empiezan los ultimatums.

India sets Dec 26 deadline for Pakistan

NEW DELHI: India has given a deadline of December 26 to Pakistan for crackdown on people involved in Mumbai terror plot, said a report.

Stratfor, the publisher of geopolitical intelligence on Tuesday, in its report says after Mumbai attacks, India relayed a message to Pakistan via the US that they would be given “30 days to carry out significant actions in cracking down on militant groups operating on Pakistani soil”.

Islamabad has been denying that they were from Pakistan.

The US made clear to Pakistan that Islamabad will have to deliver on India's demands or else Washington will not be able to stand in New Delhi's way, it said.

The report said India using time to prepare its military forces, and waiting when the time comes to act.

However, the report said, it is still unclear how far India will take this military campaign and to what extent the US operations in Afghanistan will be affected.

The intelligence publisher reported that the US, knowing its “limitations” of the relationship with New Delhi, is already preparing for “a worst-case scenario”.

India sets Dec 26 deadline for Pakistan,12/24/2008 6:21:46 PM

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Medvedev se crece.

Lucharemos por defender los intereses de Rusia, dice Medvedev

MOSCU (Reuters) - Rusia se reserva el derecho a utilizar la fuerza otra vez y defender sus intereses y no tolerará intentos de potencias occidentales por contenerla, dijo el presidente Dmitry Medvedev en una entrevista transmitida el miércoles.

En una entrevista de fin de año que marcó una postura intransigente hacia la administración del presidente electo estadounidense, Barack Obama, Medvedev dijo que la guerra de Rusia con Georgia en agosto mostró que las acciones fuertes a veces son inevitables.

"Los intereses de Rusia deben ser asegurados por todos los medios disponibles, esta es mi profunda convicción. Antes que nada por herramientas internacionales y legales (...) pero, cuando sea necesario, usando el elemento de la fuerza", dijo Medvedev en la entrevista, que fue transmitida por las principales estaciones de televisión rusas.

"Si hay un ataque hacia las vidas y la dignidad de los ciudadanos rusos, entonces la posición de Rusia será, por supuesto, extremadamente simple y razonablemente firme. Nosotros (...) protegeremos y defenderemos los intereses de nuestros ciudadanos en todas partes", añadió.

Medvedev ordenó un masivo contraataque en agosto luego de que fuerzas bajo el mandato del presidente georgiano pro Occidente Mikheil Saakashvili intentaran recapturar Osetia del Sur, una región separatista de Georgia.

El líder ruso dijo que estaba obligado a actuar para evitar un genocidio, pero estados occidentales dijeron que las acciones rusas -que incluyeron enviar tropas a algunos kilómetros de la capital georgiana- era desproporcionada.

Medvedev alarmó a algunos en Occidente al anunciar el despliegue de misiles al puesto occidental de Kaliningrad en represalia por los planes estadounidenses de construir un sistema de defensa antimisiles en Polonia y la República Checa.

(Editado en español por Javier Leira)

http://lta.reuters.com/article/topNe...4BN1BO20081224

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Creo que Georgia se va a volver a poner caliente, entre lo que dijo ayer Medvedev y este acuerdo que se va a firmar, la tensión volverá por aquellos lares y es que esos "tubos" que transportan energía y que pasan por Georgia son probablemente el único medio viable para que la UE no dependa totalmente de Rusia, energeticamente hablando.

Georgia, US to sign strategic accord Jan 4: Tbilisi

Hace 1 hora.

TBILISI (AFP) — Georgia and the United States will on January 4 sign a strategic partnership treaty that risks again provoking Russian wrath against Tbilisi, the Georgian foreign ministry said on Thursday.

"Georgian Minister of Foreign Affairs Grigol Vashadze and the US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice will sign a strategic partnership treaty on January 4 in Washington," foreign ministry spokeswoman Khatuna Iosava told AFP.

The accord, similar to a strategic agreement Washington has recently signed with Ukraine, risks raising tensions with Russia, which earlier this year fought a brief war with Georgia over the breakaway region of South Ossetia.

The US signed similar strategic partnerships with Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania in 1998, when the three countries were seeking to join NATO in the face of fierce opposition from Moscow.

The US-Baltic Charter was seen as a key tool in moving the countries towards membership in NATO, which they joined in 2004.

The United States and Ukraine on December 19 signed a similar strategic accord that calls for a US diplomatic post in Crimea, a Russian-speaking area where Russia's Black Sea Fleet is based.

NATO ministers agreed at a meeting earlier this month to boost ties with both Georgia and Ukraine, but without granting them the status of official candidates to join the alliance.

Russia sent troops into Georgia, a strong US ally, in early August to repel a Georgian military attempt to retake South Ossetia, which had received extensive backing from Moscow for years.

Russian forces later withdrew to within South Ossetia and another rebel region, Abkhazia, which Moscow simultaneously recognised as independent states.

AFP: Georgia, US to sign strategic accord Jan 4: Tbilisi

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Interesante artículo sobre la situación de Afganistán-Pakistán-India y lo que le espera a Obama.

Pakistan troop reports bad news for terror fight

Por ANNE GEARAN – Hace 1 hora.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Pakistan's reported decision to relocate thousands of troops away from the Afghanistan border toward India threatens the critical U.S. foreign policy aim of relying on the south Asian ally's military in the global battle against terrorism.

President-elect Barack Obama 's campaign promise to turn around the stalemated war in Afghanistan could be the first casualty of Pakistan's latest moves, and the frustrated American effort to decimate al-Qaida may be the second.

Pakistan's sudden military shift catches two administrations in mid-transition, presenting Obama with a dangerous spike in tension that his predecessor has been unable to prevent.

As President George W. Bush found out, the United States can't wage either fight alone and can't always persuade even well-meaning allies to set aside their own agendas and domestic politics.

To win in Afghanistan rather than merely hold ground, the United States and its allies must find a way to seal off the militants' redoubts across the forbidding mountainous border with Pakistan. The U.S. can't do that without Pakistan's help, and Pakistani and Afghan militants know it.

Bush administration officials have been shuttling to New Delhi and Islamabad for weeks following the terrorist attacks in Mumbai, India, pleading with both sides not to let well-founded suspicions that the attacks originated in Pakistan become an excuse for new conflict. India and Pakistan have fought three wars, and enmity against the other has been an organizing principle for leaders of each nuclear-armed country.

If Pakistan yanks fighting forces away from what the U.S. considers the good war against terrorism in the tribal areas bordering Afghanistan, it will bear out U.S. fears of a ripple effect and show how easily militants can exploit the old rivalry.

"We hope that both sides will avoid taking steps that will unnecessarily raise tensions during these already tense times," White House spokesman Gordon Johndroe said Friday.

Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, was in Islamabad this week, after noting with approval earlier this month that neither side seemed to have mounted a military response to the Mumbai terrorism.

Mullen has made a particular project of Pakistan, visiting there more than a half-dozen times in the turbulent year since Pakistani political leader Benazir Bhutto was assassinated. Mullen has established a rapport with the country's powerful Army chief and made the argument that homegrown militancy and terrorism will rip Pakistan apart unless its national institutions make a strategic choice to confront it.

All of Pakistan's leaders dating to Bush's old ally, former military ruler Gen. Pervez Musharraf, said they understood that argument and saluted it — to a point. In the tangle of tribal politics and loyalties, however, militants are not always clear-cut villains and there is broad public opposition in Pakistan to a serious military campaign against its own people.

That was true long before the attacks on India's Western-oriented financial capital that killed nearly 170 people, or the dark prospect of new hostilities that emerged Friday. It's part of the reason why analysts say Pakistan is at risk of coming apart as a state, with even bleaker prospects for the fight against terrorism.

"It would be really disastrous at this point if there was even a mini-war, because Pakistan is already overwhelmed with what's going on domestically," said Frederick Barton, a security expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

"They really have lost their ability to control large parts of their country," he said.

U.S. intelligence and military officials were still trying to determine if the reported troop movements were true, and, if so, what Pakistan's intent may be. And they cautioned that the reports may be aimed more as a warning to India not to launch missile strikes against militant targets on its territory, a response that some have speculated is possible.

Officials spoke only on condition of anonymity, citing matters of national intelligence.

South Asian intelligence officials said the Pakistani military began the troop movement Thursday and plans to eventually shift a total of 20,000 soldiers to the Indian border.

Stephen Cohen, an expert on the Indian and Pakistani militaries at the Brookings Institution here, said the early signs suggest a replay of past conflicts and bode poorly for U.S. interests.

"Both sides are playing the American card against each other," with Afghanistan and the terrorism agenda quickly taking a back seat, he said. "It shows we're all hostage to another terrorist attack," Cohen added, meaning that any new violence in either India or Pakistan could provoke all-out war.

In the United States, intelligence and law enforcement officials warn that the risk of an attack at home may be greater during the period of political handover to Obama, who said nothing publicly about the Pakistan situation Friday.

"There is one president at a time, and we intend to respect that," said Brooke Anderson, his national security spokeswoman.

U.S. leverage with India is complicated by its strategy in Afghanistan and Pakistan, which has included terrorist-hunting raids in Pakistan by U.S. forces based across the Afghan border. U.S. officials quietly justify the raids as a necessary if unpleasant means of protecting U.S. fighting forces.

The raids affront Pakistani sovereignty, and opened the door for India to argue that it has the right to take similar action against Pakistan-based militants.

CSIS's Barton says the countries' interconnected problems are a sort of sibling rivalry. India is the older, more stable brother, but not above picking a fight. Afghanistan is the youngest and most neglected, and Pakistan, he said, is stuck in the middle.

The United States is there, too.

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AP Military Writer Anne Gearan covers U.S. national security affairs.

The Associated Press: Pakistan troop reports bad news for terror fight

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