Libya protests: Gaddafi battles to control west

Libyan ruler Col Muammar Gaddafi is battling to retain control of Tripoli and areas in western Libya as protesters consolidated gains in the east and foreigners continued to flee.

Much of the capital is deserted as pro-Gaddafi gunmen roam the streets, with reports of uprisings in western towns such as Misurata, Sabratha and Zawiya.
Masses of protesters have been celebrating success in eastern towns.
Thousands of foreigners continue to leave, with chaos at Tripoli airport.
At least 300 people have died in the country's uprising.
'Many deaths' An eyewitness in Tripoli said that the city was virtually closed, with many people hoping protesters and defecting soldiers would arrive from the east to help them.
A text message had been sent out by government officials telling civil servants and other workers to return to their jobs but many people are too scared to go on to the streets.

At the scene

An eyewitness Tripoli

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There are mounting accounts of what appears to be killings by paramilitary troops and bodies being immediately dumped in their trucks or cars, as well as all the evidence of shooting being cleared, bullet shells being picked up and blood washed down with water in the street.
There was one such case reported in front of the state television headquarters. Four people were killed there and one of them was shot at point blank range.
All banks and shops remain closed. There was a text message that was sent out on Wednesday morning to users of state mobile phone networks telling everyone, civil servants and private workers, to go back to work.
But all foreign companies have halted operations and the people here don't understand how they can be expected to go to work because of the dangers of travel.

One Tripoli resident said: "I hope residents don't go to work - this can be our way of a peaceful protest - we will all stay at home indefinitely."

There were reports of gunmen opening fire on Tuesday morning on a queue of people at a bread shop in the Fashloum district, where there has been a heavy military crackdown, with three people killed.
Two naval gunships are reported to have been deployed facing the city.
A Tripoli citizen told BBC Arabic that the only people on the streets were police, soldiers and African mercenaries but that the opposition was in touch with cities in the east that had fallen to protesters and a march was planned for the capital on Thursday.
Another Tripoli resident said: "Anti-government protesters have disappeared. The streets are quiet. There are many, many deaths."
The resident also said doctors were reporting gunmen shooting people in hospitals.
Information from Libya is currently difficult to verify and reports cannot often be independently confirmed.
The BBC's Paul Danahar on the Tunisian border says unconfirmed reports suggest several towns between the border and Tripoli have seen anti-government protests but the roads in between are held by people loyal to Col Gaddafi.
Troops are said to have been sent to Sabratha after demonstrators burned government buildings, according to the Quryna news website.
The pre-Gaddafi Libyan flag was also reportedly raised in Zawiya, 50km (30 miles) west of Tripoli while other unconfirmed reports said protesters had seized control of Misurata, 200km east of Tripoli, after days of fighting.
One Tunisian man who crossed from Libya told our correspondent there was no law in the country and added: "God help them".

Pirates could face trial in US over American deaths

Jean and Scott Adam were described as adventurers who also distributed bibles at ports of call

A group of 15 suspected pirates captured after the killing of four Americans on a hijacked yacht off Somalia could be sent to the US to face trial, the US military says.

The group is being held aboard the aircraft carrier USS Enterprise.
In the past year, at least six accused Somali pirates have been convicted in US courts.
US agencies are investigating the killings on Tuesday of Phyllis Macay, Bob Riggle, Jean and Scott Adam.
The US military, FBI and Justice Department are working on the next steps for their suspected killers, said Bob Prucha, a spokesman for US Central Command in Florida.
The four Americans were aboard the S/V Quest, the Adams' 58-foot ship, when they were hijacked on Friday in the waters off Oman.
Gunshot wounds A convoy of Navy ships, including the Enterprise, sped to their rescue.
According to the US military, two pirates came aboard a US Navy ship to negotiate the release of the hostages. A rocket-propelled grenade later launched toward the US Navy ships, missing, and the Navy sailors heard gunfire from the Quest.
A team of Navy Seal special forces sailors then boarded the Quest and found the four Americans dying from gunshot wounds.
They regained control of the yacht, killing two pirates in the process and capturing an additional 13 pirates, and found the bodies of two pirates who were already dead, the US Navy said.
But the BBC's Will Ross in Nairobi says the pirates' telling of the encounter differs from the US Navy's. The pirates report the US warship attacked first, killing two pirates, and the hostages were killed in retaliation.
In November, five young Somali men were convicted of piracy in an April attack on a US Navy ship they mistook for a merchant vessel. One has been sentenced to 30 years in prison and the others face a possible life sentence.
And last week, a Somali man who pleaded guilty to the April 2009 pirate attack on a US-flagged merchant ship was sentenced to more than 33 years in prison.

Pakistan To Get Paveway Training Rounds

ISLAMABAD - Pakistan will be getting new Paveway II enhanced laser-guided training bombs from Lockheed Martin under the U.S. Defense Security Cooperation Agency's Foreign Military Sales program.
According to a Feb. 22 DSCA announcement, Pakistan will receive 300 Paveway IIs, along with 74 wooden containers and 23 replacement-in-kind wooden containers, for $866,850.

Also, Malaysia will receive 60 Paveway II bombs, along with 15 wooden containers, for $173,370, the announcement said.
The bombs will be produced at Lockheed's plant in Archbald, Pa., and the order is expected to be completed in June 2013. The U.S. Navy's Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Md., will oversee the contract.
Pakistan has been buying large amounts of U.S. bombs and kits in response to the Taliban insurgency in the tribal areas of the country's northwest. In 2010, the U.S. delivered to Pakistan 1,000 MK-82 500-pound bombs, and 700 GBU-12 and 300 GBU-10 Paveway laser-guided bomb kits produced by Lockheed and Raytheon.
However, a Pakistan military spokesman, Brigadier S. Azmat Ali, said the DSCA announcement does not mean the deal had been finalized.
"It will take some time," he said. "This is a cycle that keeps on going. We've been requesting them for some time. Sometimes they provide them, sometimes they do not."
Other munitions that Pakistan has acquired via the Pentagon's FMS program include TOW anti-tank guided missiles for its fleet of AH-1F Cobra attack helicopters. The TOW missiles been heavily used in counterinsurgency operations.
Ali said operations are "limited at present," as there has been a quiet period on Pakistan's frontier with Afghanistan, but that avenues for the munitions' replacement are ongoing.
When asked if there is a timeframe for this, he said there is "no immediate scope; definitely not in the near future."

AUSA: O'Neill Wants Focus on Dismounted Operations

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla - U.S. Army acquisition chief Malcolm O'Neill signaled a new direction for Army weapon development, indicating he wants industry to focus more on soldier technologies.
An infantryman is relatively safe until he dismounts and "that's where I think we should focus," when he is fighting one-on-one in combat, O'Neill said at a conference here hosted by the Association of the United States Army.

The retired Army three-star said he's trying to get money diverted from other areas so that it can be invested into soldier technologies.
He also said he selected Marilyn Freeman as new deputy assistant secretary of the Army for research and technology because of her background in soldier systems and her previous role as director of the Army Natick Soldier Research, Development and Engineering Center.
O'Neill said he wants to see the U.S. defense giants get involved.
"How many U.S. aerospace companies looked at improving the rifle? How come none of the big guys have thought about body armor?" he asked.
There's no reason why Lockheed Martin and the other big defense companies shouldn't focus on the soldier, said O'Neill, who worked at Lockheed Martin before returning to government service.
"We should get some real big players, revenue-wise, into the soldier business," he said. "I don't know how much profits you're going to make."
But the Army needs 1.2 million of whatever it buys for the soldier; "that's a lot of money," he said.
O'Neill wants dismounted soldiers to have the same decisive edge on the battlefield as the Air Force does in the skies and the Navy on the sea.
"Nobody wants to mess with the U.S. Air Force and no one wants to mess with the U.S. Navy," O'Neill said.
He highlighted the Air Force's fighter jets and the Navy's super carriers as assets that give those services a "decisive advantage."
One of O'Neill's listed priorities is to "reinvent S&T around the soldier."
His comments echo those of retired Maj. Gen. Robert Scales, who has been an outspoken advocate of improving soldier capabilities.
In an October article in Armed Forces Journal, "Small Unit Dominance," Scales argued, "We must challenge the research-and-development communities to focus on the task of small-unit dominance by creating a national effort to that end."

Better Ties For Norway, Russia Cause NATO Strains

Helsinki - Norway's government and military have reaffirmed their shared ambition to deepen the NATO-aligned country's political relationship and defense cooperation with neighbor Russia following high-level talks Feb. 16 in Oslo.
But the intensifying nature of Norway's military cooperation with Russia is causing something of a rift within NATO, according to a new batch of WikiLeaks documents accessed by Norwegian media groups Aftenposten and Bergens Tidende, and published Feb. 13.

Reports published by Aftenposten, and based on cables and memos from U.S. government and military sources, suggest that two camps have developed within NATO on the sensitive issue of how to organize a long-term defense and security strategy in Europe.
According to Aftenposten and Bergens Tidende, the U.S. documents refer to the emergence of a so-called pro-Russian "gang of five" headed by France and Germany, and which includes Norway, the Netherlands and Spain. This grouping is frequently supported by Portugal on key policy areas dealing with Russia, the memos claim.
This five-nation grouping, claims Aftenposten, is at odds with the U.S.-led camp, which remains distrustful of improving bilateral relations between NATO countries, such as Norway and Germany, with Russia. The U.S. camp, according to the memos reviewed, includes the Baltic states, Britain, Bulgaria, Canada, the Czech Republic, Poland and Romania.
The Norwegian government has made no secret of its strategic intention to use improved political and military relations with Russia as a tool to support lasting defense and security measures in the High North and Arctic Ocean.
The reinforcement of bilateral relations between Norway and Russia were high on the agenda when Gen. Nikolay Makarov, the chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian federation, paid a two-day visit to Norway on Feb. 15. The visit included separate meetings with the chief of Norway's defense, Gen. Harald Sunde, and Grete Faremo, Norway's defense minister.
"We discussed current and future prospects for cooperation between the Norwegian and Russian militaries, as well as political developments in the Arctic and other issues, including cooperation in Afghanistan; all issues of common interest to our two countries," Faremo said.
Norway's military command is preparing to take part in the POMOR 2011 joint naval exercises with Russia in May. These will involve special forces units, helicopters and fighter jets.
"Norway and Russia have good bilateral relations," Faremo said. "We share the same challenges in the High North. It is in the interest of both countries to cooperate closely and to keep the area stable. This also includes protecting the environment, managing a sustainable fishing industry and taking care of other natural resources."
Norway's goodwill strategy resulted in an historic maritime delimitation treaty with Russia, which was approved by the Norwegian parliament on Feb. 8. The treaty, which was under negotiation for 40 years, establishes the maritime boundary between Norway and Russia in the Barents Sea and the Arctic Ocean.

IDEX: Long-Term Strategy Pays Off in EADS C2 Win

ABU DHABI - A $550 million contract win by EADS to supply a sophisticated command-and-control system to the United Arab Emirates was the result of efforts to create a local pool of high-level capabilities, Hervé Guillou, Cassidian Systems CEO, said Feb. 23.
"There was a real strategy to create a C4I industry," Guillou said. "It represents years of effort."

Cassidian is the EADS defense and security division.
The deal is for the first phase of the Emirates Command and Control System (ECCS), which seeks to provide an integrated C4ISR network for the UAE armed forces.
French Defense Minister Alain Juppé referred Jan. 18 to the UAE program in his New Year's wishes to the French armed forces.
As part of efforts to boost capabilities in the UAE, Cassidian, its joint venture company Emiraje, and the Khalifa University of Science, Technology and Research have completed the first phase in establishing a Cyber Operations Center of Excellence, the EADS division said in a statement.
Emiraje Systems is a joint venture between EADS and C4 Advanced Solutions.
The new center will focus on cryptology, forensics and security of industrial control systems.
"The Centre of Excellence is intended to help increase the intellectual capital in cyber technology areas within Khalifa University in particular and in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) more generally," the statement said.
UAE authorities are keen to develop a knowledge economy, rather than one based on manufacturing.
Bernie Dunn, vice president of business development for the Middle East and Africa at ITT Defense, said the development of the domestic economy was more geared toward creating high-value work for the local population rather than production jobs.
"They are trying to develop their human resources here," Dunn said. "It's about utilizing the potential of their brain power, not creating [lower-skilled] work on the factory floor."
EADS partnered two years ago with Emirates Advanced Investments, based here, to create the C4 Advanced Solutions joint venture as part of its ECCS contract bid. That joint venture employs 60 staff, including 20 UAE citizens, but will now expand rapidly to execute the contract.
"The company will grow very quickly now," Guillou said.
EADS is unable to disclose details of the contract, Guillou said, but the main requirement is to develop and deploy a command-and-control system linking the various elements of the UAE Army, including logistics, intelligence and transformation of the vehicle fleet.
At the Idex show, the daily announcement of contracts included an 889.7 million UAE dirham ($242.3 million) contract for C4 Advanced Solutions to develop and upgrade networks and provision of technical manpower, the WAM official news agency said Feb. 23.
Thales had been a contender for the ECCS contract, which had attracted lively international bidding interest. Thales will act as a subcontractor, supplying a battle management system through Ampere Programas, a joint venture company held 51 percent by the Spanish Ampere group and 49 percent by the French systems company.

One In Three Afghan Troops Leave Army: NATO

BRUSSELS - One in three Afghan soldiers still leave the army each year, but NATO remains on track to raise the number of security forces to 305,000 by October, an alliance general said Feb. 23.
The NATO training mission gets enough recruits to keep up with the high number of departures, which reached an annual attrition rate of 32 percent, according to its head, Lt. Gen. William Caldwell.

Boosting the ranks of Afghanistan's security forces is a vital element of NATO's plan to begin handing command of the battlefield to Afghans this year and to start withdrawing of some foreign troops. The goal is to give Afghans full control nationwide by 2014.
The attrition rate among Afghan troops is "not a trend across the army," Caldwell told reporters during a visit to NATO and European Union headquarters in Brussels.
But it is particularly high among battalions facing a fierce Taliban insurgency in southern Afghanistan, the U.S. general said, blaming the attrition in part on weak Afghan leadership.
"It's not men who are leaving perhaps because they don't want to continue serving, but they either are continuously engaged in insurgent operations and not really getting a break or their leadership is not properly taking care of that," he said.
To keep up last year, the NATO training mission had to recruit 110,000 new soldiers and police to boost security forces by 70,000, a member of the training mission said, meaning that 40,000 men had left the ranks.
To reach its goal of 305,000 security forces this year, NATO will need to train 86,000 police and soldiers to add 35,000, according to a NATO document, meaning 51,000 men are expected to drop out.
Attrition includes soldiers who leave the army for various reasons, including desertion, the end of active duty and medical discharge.
The high number of recruits is allowing NATO to continue to increase the number of security forces "but also replenish any attrition that takes place," Caldwell said.
"We are on track right now to reach the approved growth goal by the international community of 305,000 Afghan national security force members by October of this year," he said.

IDEX: MBDA Wins Multi-Purpose Combat Vehicle Contract

ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates - MBDA has won a contract with an undisclosed Middle East country as its first export customer for the Multi-Purpose Combat Vehicle (MPCV), which mounts the Mistral anti-air weapon, the European missile maker said at the IDEX trade show here.
The vehicle deal is part of MBDA's efforts to boost its systems capability and upgrade the existing park of Mistral short range air defense missile.

Under the contract, MBDA will integrate the vehicle into the country's existing air defense system, which includes the Mistral weapon, the company said in a statement.
Rheinmetall supplies the turret for the MPCV. The export order has allowed production of the combat vehicle to begin, with a first delivery due in 2013, MBDA said.
"The MPCV program illustrates how MBDA can optimize the investments already made by its customers," said Antoine Bouvier, MBDA Chief Executive Officer. "We have devised an easy-to-use and highly automated system which significantly increases the capabilities of the missiles already in service with our customers."
The company spent four years and its own funds developing the missile vehicle, which was initially proposed for the French Army. Domestic orders failed to appear, however, and MBDA set out to look for export orders.
The European company is understood to have held talks on the combat vehicle with Qatar, Saudi Arabia; the United Arab Emirates, and probably Oman, French defense newsletter TTU has reported.
A prototype was tested in December 2008 using the Nimr high mobility vehicle from the Bin Jabr group, based here, and the King Abdullah II Design and Development Bureau (KADDB) of Jordan, TTU reported.
MBDA displayed the MPCV on a Sherpa 3A vehicle from Renault Trucks Defense at the Eurosatory trade show last year.

IDEX: UAE Requirement For APC Fleet Generates Interest

ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates - A requirement by the United Arab Emirates (UAE) for a fleet of new armored personnel carriers (APC), estimated at 600 units, has attracted strong interest from the European arm of General Dynamics, Nexter, Rheinmetall and Patria, which are on the bidding list.
Vehicles from each of the competing companies were on show at the IDEX arms exhibition here.

The planned purchase of 600 eight-wheeled troop carriers includes an undisclosed number of a fighting vehicle variant, industry executives said. The vehicles are intended to replace about 400 BMP-3 troop carriers dating back to the Soviet era, the executives said.
Amid official secrecy and cautious industry estimates, the companies are preparing their bids, which require teaming with local partners and meeting rigorous industrial offset requirements.
A high level of protection, mobility and modularity are priorities in the procurement. Tests of the vehicles were held last summer and more trials are due to take place this summer, when temperatures are expected to hit the 50s.
Once the vehicle is selected, the fleet will be plugged into a new command and control system.
EADS, through its Emiraje Systems joint venture with local partner C4 Advanced Solutions, was announced Feb. 22 as winner of a $550 million contract to supply a command and control system for the UAE armed forces.
Thales, meanwhile, is expected to deliver tactical radios for the new vehicle fleet through Thales Advanced Solutions, its joint venture with local partner Emirates Advanced Investments.
The bidders for the vehicle:
* General Dynamics European Land Systems is showing the Desert Piranha 5, a variant of the Piranha 5, at IDEX. A Piranha vehicle went through tests last summer, which led to modifications to be made to the present unit on display, a company executive said. The Desert Piranha unit will remain in the UAE after the show closes on Feb. 24 to take part in further tests. Production of the Pirnaha 5 has started in Switzerland.
* Nexter of France is proposing its Véhicule Blindé Combat d'Infanterie (VBCI). The French company is also leaving the unit at the show to take part in the upcoming field trials. The VBCI underwent tests last year. The VBCI has entered service with the French Army. Major Gen. Obaid Al Ketbi included Nexter in the Feb. 22 daily show announcement of deals, for a 423 million dirham contract for technical support for the Leclerc battle tank.
* Rheinmetall of Germany is fielding the Boxer, which went through summer trials here last year and entered production in Germany in September, a company executive said. The German Army plans to send the Boxer to Afghanistan in the second half of 2011. Rheinmetall has presented a fighting vehicle variant.
* Patria of Finland is bidding its Armored Modular Vehicle (AMV), which has been in service with the UAE since the Abu Dhabi authorities bought an undisclosed number of units in 2007. Patria understands the vehicle fleet has performed satisfactorily, a company executive said. That included the unit trials last summer, and which did not break down in the tests. The AMV is in local production in Croatia, Poland and Slovenia, which have bought the vehicle. Patria has a cooperation agreement with the Al Taif company, based here.

Arrow Test Hits Target, Validates New Software

TEL AVIV - The U.S.-Israel Arrow program passed another milestone Feb. 22 with the spectacular, nighttime, head-on intercept of a sea-based, long-range target off the California coast.

The joint U.S.-Israel Arrow Weapon System successfully intercepted a ballistic target missile on Feb. 22. (U.S. Defense Department)

Part of the ongoing, jointly funded Arrow System Improvement Program (ASIP), the test validated new Block 4 versions designed to improve discriminating capabilities of the Arrow 2 interceptor, the Green Pine search-and-track radar and the Citron Tree battle management control system.

"To see that explosion off the shores of California was truly gratifying. It was a body-to-body impact that completely destroyed the target," Arieh Herzog, director of the Israel Missile Defense Organization told reporters via teleconference shortly after the nighttime launch at the U.S. Navy's Point Mugu Sea Range.
Herzog said validation of the Block 4 software would provide the Israel Air Force "with a better system than they have now." The software upgrades, he said, improve detection capabilities and lethality needed to defend against "new and different threats."
In a Feb. 22 statement, the Pentagon's Missile Defense Agency (MDA) noted that the Green Pine radar successfully detected and tracked the target, transferred information to the Citron Tree management control system and launched the Arrow interceptor, "which performed its planned trajectory and destroyed the target missile."
The MDA statement noted that the test "represented a realistic scenario" and involved operationally ready elements of the Arrow weapon system.

U.S. Navy: Cost of Ohio Class Subs Down $1 Billion

The Navy has been able to reduce the expected cost of its Ohio Class submarine replacement by more than $1 billion with an overall goal of trimming more than $2 billion per vessel, according to the Pentagon's top weapons buyer.
Pentagon officials have generated the extra cost savings by examining the drivers of cost in the vessel's design, according to Pentagon acquisition executive Ashton Carter.

Originally, cost estimators projected the SSBN(X) price tag at about $7 billion per submarine. The submarine's cost is now down to $6 billion with a goal of getting the cost down to $4.9, Carter said during a Feb. 22 presentation at a Center for New American Security event in Washington.
If the Navy were forced to pay $7 billion per submarine, it would not be able to afford any other ships, Carter said.
This same approach of looking at the drivers of cost in a weapon's design will be used during upcoming acquisitions, including the Air Force's new bomber, a Marine Corps effort to field a new helicopter for presidential transport and the Army's Ground Combat Vehicle, Carter said.

IDEX: KMW, Ashok Join to Produce Armored Vehicles

ABU DHABI - Krauss-Maffei Wegmann (KMW) has struck a deal with Ashok Leyland Defence Systems to partner in the development of armored vehicles for Indian and other markets.
The two companies used the IDEX defense show here to announce they have signed a memorandum of understanding covering armored wheeled vehicles, recovery vehicles, artillery and combat systems, bridge layers, and other similar vehicles.

Ashok is India's largest military truck supplier, with more than 60,000 of its Stallion machines helping power India's military logistics effort.
The Chennai-based company recently formed a new company, Ashok Leyland Defence Systems, to spearhead its special military vehicles effort.
Germany's KMW said it would provide technology and technical assistance to develop products for the Indian market.
Ashok Leyland Defence Systems Chairman V. Sumantran, said the "strategic partnership seeks to harness the formidable skills of both companies, namely, the technological bandwidth of KMW and our approach to innovations aimed at cost advantage."
The German armored vehicle company follows European rival Bae Systems into the Indian market. It recently formed a joint venture with automotive maker Mahindra & Mahindra to develop artillery systems and armored vehicles for the Indian market.

Iran Warships Enter Mediterranean

JERUSALEM - Israel put its navy on high alert and said it would respond immediately to any "provocation" as two Iranian warships sailed through the Suez Canal into the Mediterranean on Feb. 22.
The Iranian vessels entered the southeastern Mediterranean after going up the canal for the first time since the 1979 Islamic Revolution, reportedly en route for Syria, in a move taking them past Israeli territorial waters.

Suez Canal officials confirmed the patrol frigate Alvand and support ship Kharg had completed the crossing after entering the narrow waterway at dawn.
A senior Israeli security source told AFP that Israel would "not initiate any action" against the Iranian vessels, but if the Iranians deviated in any way that could be considered "a provocation," there would be an "immediate Israeli response."
The Israeli navy immediately went on high alert and the troops were briefed on how to respond in such an event, he said.
The 1,500-ton Alvand is normally armed with torpedoes and anti-ship missiles, while the larger 33,000-ton Kharg has a crew of 250 and facilities for up to three helicopters, Iran's official Fars news agency has said.
Both ships were built in Britain during the 1970s for Iran, which ordered them before the Islamic revolution.
Neither ship is carrying chemical or nuclear material, Egypt's state-run MENA news agency has reported.
Their passage into the eastern Mediterranean comes as the Arab world and the Middle East grapples with a vast wave of unrest and protests that is radically changing the political landscape, and leaving Israel increasingly concerned about its security.
"We are talking about an unprecedented Iranian military presence in the Mediterranean, and that is a provocation to which the international community must react firmly," foreign ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor told AFP earlier Feb. 22.
On Feb. 20, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu denounced the ships' arrival in the region as an Iranian power play, just days after his Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman, branded their voyage "a provocation."
"Today we are witnessing the instability of the region in which we live and in which Iran is trying to profit by extending its influence by dispatching two warships to cross the Suez Canal," he said.
"Israel views with gravity this Iranian initiative," his office quoted him as saying.
Animosity between Iran and Israel has grown under the presidency of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who has repeatedly spoken of the Jewish state's demise.
Israel also accuses Tehran of arming and funding Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas in Gaza.
Israel, which has the Middle East's sole if undeclared nuclear arsenal, suspects Iran of trying to develop atomic weapons under cover of a civilian nuclear program.
Tehran denies that charge and has in turn accused Israel of trying to sabotage its nuclear program and kill its nuclear scientists.
Israel has backed a U.S. policy of tougher U.N. sanctions against Iran while remaining open to dialogue.
But it has refused to rule out a resort to military action to stop Tehran from developing a nuclear weapons capability.

IDEX: F-16 Upgrades, Leclerc Support Top UAE Deals

ABU DHABI - Reconnaissance pods for F-16 fighters, technical support for Leclerc main battle tanks and a command-and-control system were among the latest batch of contracts announced by the United Arab Emirates military at the IDEX defense show Feb 22.
Selection of Goodrich ISR Systems reconnaissance pods for UAE F-16 jets was the first of more than a dozen deals valued at about 2.5 billion UAE dirhams ($681 million) outlined by IDEX spokesman Maj. Gen. Obaid Al Ketbi.

Goodrich had beaten BAE Systems to the 297 million UAE dirham deal, the spokesman said.
A spokeswoman for Goodrich in the U.K. said the company has received a contract to provide its DB-110 airborne reconnaissance system for the Block 60 F-16s.
"The Direct Commercial Sale contract calls for Goodrich to provide six DB-110 reconnaissance pods and three ground-based, image exploitation systems. Work will be performed by the company's ISR Systems facilities in the U.S. and the U.K.," she said.
The DB-110 digital, real-time, tactical reconnaissance system captures images day and night using electro-optical/infrared sensor technology. Images can then be transmitted instantaneously to analysts on the ground.
Today's list of contract announcements followed 4 billion UAE dirhams worth of deals, the pick of which was a contract with Sikorsky to turn 27 UH-60 Black Hawks into air assault helicopters.
Some of the contracts announced here have been in place for several months and news of their selection was delayed for the IDEX show.
Notable contracts in the Feb 22 list include a 423 million UAE dirham technical support contract between Nexter of France and Al Taif Technical Services, its local partner, to provide maintenance for the UAE's Leclerc tanks and armored recovery vehicles. Al Taif is part of the state-owned Mubadala holding group.
French industry also landed a small contract to undertake a 112 million UAE dirham upgrade to the weapon systems of the UAE's Mirage 2000 fighters.
Emirates Systems was one of a number of local companies that secured contracts. It is providing a command-and-control system in the biggest domestic win of the day in a deal priced at 550 million UAE dirhams.