Operations
Defense Policy / Programs
Defense Industry
Other Conflicts
News Reports

Current Operations

• IRAQ / WOLFOWITZ VOA 25 Oct 2003 -- A U-S army helicopter crashed Saturday near Tikrit, the hometown of ousted Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein. Hours earlier, a top U-S official was in Tikrit to inspect an Iraqi defense training facility.
• Pak forces launch operation against Al-Qaeda, Taliban - daily IRNA 25 Oct 2003 -- Pakistan`s security forces have launched a big operation against Al-Qaeda and Taliban in Balochistan`s rugged areas, bordering Afghanistan, a local daily reported Saturday.
• AFGHANISTAN / NATO TROOPS VOA 25 Oct 2003 -- NATO-led peacekeeping forces in Afghanistan have begun expanding security operations beyond the capital, Kabul. More than two-dozen German troops arrived in the northern town of Kunduz to shore up security, and more are to be deployed in the coming months.

Defense Policy / Programs

Defense Industry

Other Conflicts

• LIBERIA/PROTESTS VOA 25 Oct 2003 -- The leader of Liberia's largest rebel group, Sekouh Conneh, has called on the head of the nation's new transitional government to step down. Mr. Conneh's call comes as workers stage street protests at the reappointment of former members of ex-president Charles Taylor's government to key posts.

News Reports

• U-S / WAR DEMONSTRATIONS VOA 25 Oct 2003 -- Thousands of anti-war demonstrators gathered in Washington Saturday to demand an end to the U-S military occupation of Iraq. Protesters heaped scorn on President Bush for mounting the war, and blamed him for bloodshed and financial costs that have mounted since the overthrow of Saddam Hussein. Nearby, counter-demonstrators expressed support for U-S action.
• ZIMBABWE / NEWSPAPER VOA 25 Oct 2003 -- Zimbabwe's only independent daily newspaper has returned, but within hours of its hitting the streets, editorial staffers were arrested by police.
• RUSSIA/ARREST VOA 25 Oct 2003 -- One of Russia's richest men and head of the country's largest oil company, Mikhail Khodorkovsky, has been arrested on charges of tax evasion and fraud. The businessman was detained in Siberia by Russian special forces, and taken to a court in Moscow, which ordered he be held in custody.