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Current Operations

• DoD Identifies Navy Casualty
• CENTAF releases airpower summary AFPN 04 Apr 2006 -- U.S. Central Command Air Forces officials released today's airpower summary.
• Iraqi, Coalition Forces Rack up Successes Against Insurgents AFPS 04 Apr 2006 -- Iraqi and coalition forces have scored several successes against insurgent fighters, seizing weapons caches and capturing suspected enemies, during missions over the past several days.
• Bomb Blasts in Baghdad, Samarra Kill 2, Injure 5 VOA 04 Apr 2006 -- Iraqi police say at least two people were killed when a bomb exploded near their home in Baghdad Tuesday
• Four Taleban, Intelligence Officer Killed in Afghan Violence VOA 04 Apr 2006 -- Afghan authorities say security forces in southern Helmand province have shot and killed four suspected Taleban insurgents planting land mines intended for counter-narcotics forces.
• Coalition Naval Assets Challenge Hijackers On South Korean Motor Vessel Navy NewsStand 04 Apr 2006 -- Ships conducting maritime security operations (MSO) as part of Coalition Task Force 150 (CTF 150), received bridge-to-bridge reports at approximately 10 a.m. local, April 4 from Motor Vessel Dong Won (628), a South Korean-flagged fishing vessel, that it had been fired upon approximately 60 nautical miles off the coast of Somalia.

Other Conflicts

• SIERRA LEONE: Transcript of Charles Taylor’s plea on first court appearance IRIN 04 Apr 2006 -- Former Liberian president Charles Taylor, who was arrested last week to face charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity for his alleged role in Sierra Leone’s brutal civil war of the 1990s, appeared in court for the first time on Monday and pleaded not guilty.
• Israeli Warplanes Strike Northern Gaza VOA 04 Apr 2006 -- Israeli warplanes have launched strikes in the northern Gaza Strip.
• Kadima Seeks Coalition with Labor in Israel VOA 04 Apr 2006 -- Israel's interim Prime Minister Ehud Olmert says he will seek to build a coalition with Israel's Labor Party.
• United Nations Questions Sudanese Government Actions on Darfur Washington File 04 Apr 2006 -- U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan is trying to reach Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir to discuss Sudan's refusal to allow a senior U.N. official to visit the war-torn region of Darfur, a U.N. spokesman said April 4.
• UN: Urgent Aid Needed to Avert Anarchy, Starvation in Somalia VOA 04 Apr 2006 -- The United Nations' humanitarian coordinator for Somalia, Christian Balslev-Olesen, says the devastated nation's humanitarian crisis is undermining its frail transitional government.
• COTE D IVOIRE: Disarmament talks on track at last IRIN 04 Apr 2006 -- Rebel and army chiefs completed a first full round of working talks on Tuesday in Cote d'Ivoire's rebel stronghold of Bouake in what was described by the government as a sign of progress in efforts to reach an agreement over disarmament.
• Annan calls for redeployment of some peacekeepers from Burundi to DR Congo UN News Centre 04 Apr 2006 -- United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan has announced his intention to redeploy peacekeepers from the organization's operation in Burundi (ONUB) to its mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo (MONUC) to boost security and monitoring during the Congolese elections and beyond.
• UGANDA: Operation to seize guns underway in northeast IRIN 04 Apr 2006 -- The Ugandan army has embarked on an exercise to seize firearms held illegally by ethnic Karamajong pastoralists in the northeastern region of the country, in a bid to stem escalating incidents of violence, a military spokesman said.
• BURUNDI: UN envoy ends tour of duty, outlines nation's challenges IRIN 04 Apr 2006 -- The fight against poverty, postwar reconstruction and peace negotiations with Burundi's remaining rebel group are the main peace-related challenges facing the country, said Carolyn McAskie, the United Nations Secretary-General's Special Representative to Burundi and head of its UN mission, on Tuesday at the end of her term in the country.
• Nepal's Government Prepares to Halt Anti-Royal Strike VOA 04 Apr 2006 -- The Nepali government is making plans to halt an anti-monarchy strike due to be held in the capital later this week.

Defense Policy / Programs

• Navy Names New Littoral Combat Ship 04 Apr 2006 -- Secretary of the Navy Donald C. Winter has named the Navy's newest Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) – Independence.
• Proceedings Begin for Suspected Afghan Terrorist AFPS 04 Apr 2006 -- Preliminary hearings began here today for an Afghan man accused of working as a translator and accountant for al Qaeda in Afghanistan and involvement in a grenade attack that injured three journalists in March 2002.
• Suspected al-Qaida Terrorist Appears at US Military Hearings VOA 04 Apr 2006 -- A suspected al-Qaida terrorist facing charges in a 2002 grenade attack in Afghanistan has appeared before a military tribunal at the U.S. naval base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
• USS Lake Champlain Joins CTF 58 in Northern Persian Gulf Navy NewsStand 04 Apr 2006 -- Sailors assigned to USS Lake Champlain (CG 57) assumed a major role in Maritime Security Operations (MSO) in the Northern Persian Gulf April 3, by joining Combined Task Force (CTF) 58.
• USS Oak Hill Celebrates Change of Command in Bahrain Navy NewsStand 04 Apr 2006 -- Cmdr. Ray A. Stapf relieved Cmdr. Curtis J. Gilbert as commanding officer of USS Oak Hill (LSD 51) during a change of command ceremony on the ship's flight deck March 26 in the U.S. 5th Fleet Area of Operations.
• Stethem, JMSDF 'Plug and Play' with Abraham Lincoln Navy NewsStand 04 Apr 2006 -- USS Stethem (DDG 63) and three ships from the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF) were called upon to “plug and play” March 26 as escorts for USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72), as the carrier entered the waters off the coast of Japan.
• Safeguard Completes SALVEX With ROK Navy Navy NewsStand 04 Apr 2006 -- USS Safeguard (ARS 50), a rescue and salvage ship of Commander, Task Force (CTF) 76, conducted Salvage Exercise (SALVEX) 06 with the Republic of Korea (ROK) Navy diving and salvage ship ROKS Pyong Taek (ATS 27), March 16-30.
• GW Carrier Strike Group Underway for SOUTHCOM Deployment Navy NewsStand 04 Apr 2006 -- USS George Washington (CVN 73) (GW) and embarked Carrier Air Wing (CVW) 17 departed Naval Station Norfolk, Va., April 4 as part of U.S. Southern Command’s (SOUTHCOM) “Partnership of the Americas” deployment.
• Navy Boosts Enlistment Bonuses for SpecWar, SpecOps Navy NewsStand 04 Apr 2006 -- The Navy has implemented a new Naval Special Warfare/Naval Special Operations (NSW/NSO) enlistment bonus program.
• Roberti Relieves Brannon Aboard Nassau While Deployed Navy NewsStand 04 Apr 2006 -- Capt. John E. Roberti relieved Capt. Michael W. Brannon as commanding officer (CO) of USS Nassau (LHA 4) while on deployment in the U.S. 5th Fleet Area of Operations, April 1.
• C-5 crash doesn’t diminish historian’s view of aircraft AFPN 04 Apr 2006 -- The C-5 Galaxy crash at Dover Air Force Base, Del., April 3 placed the aging aircraft in the spotlight once again.
• Wings-level landing might have saved C-5 crash survivors AFPN 04 Apr 2006 -- A veteran C-5 Galaxy pilot said all 17 people survived the April 3 plane crash at Dover Air Force Base, Del., mainly because the pilot did his job.
• Army to transform IRR Army News 04 Apr 2006 -- Individual Warriors will be the new label for Soldiers serving in the Individual Ready Reserve.
• White House Briefing, April 4 Washington File 04 Apr 2006 -- U.S. health care, White House staff changes, Congressman DeLay, Iran, Secretary Snow, president's schedule, immigration, Iraqi government

Defense Industry

• Russia: Putin Pushes Greater Arms Exports RFE/RL 04 Apr 2006 -- Russian President Vladimir Putin was proud to announce last week that, in 2005, Russia's arms exports, worth $6 billion, exceeded their targets by 25 percent.
• DoD News: Contracts for April 4, 2006

News Reports

• World: UN Marks First International Day For Land-Mine Awareness RFE/RL 04 Apr 2006 -- The United Nations General Assembly has declared today the first International Day for Mine Awareness
• Thai Prime Minister Steps Aside After Large Protest Vote in Snap Elections VOA 04 Apr 2006 -- Thailand's embattled Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra has announced he will step down in an effort to end the nation's political crisis.
• Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Announces Resignation VOA 04 Apr 2006 -- Thailand's embattled Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra has announced he will step down in an effort to end the nation's political crisis.
• Thai PM Claims Election Victory, But Opposition Rejects Results VOA 04 Apr 2006 -- Unofficial results from Thailand's snap election Sunday show Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra's party won with 57 percent of the vote