UK nuclear weapons plan unveiled

Tony Blair is addressing MPs about his plans for the future of the UK's independent nuclear weapons system.

He is set to back a new generation of submarines to carry Trident missiles, although there is likely to be a cut in the number of submarines, and warheads.

A number of Labour MPs oppose the plan, but the Tories say it would be "crazy" not to have UK nuclear weapons. The Lib Dems want a decision put back to 2014.

MPs will vote on the plans in the new year after a three month consultation.

In a world that's becoming increasingly uncertain... it seems crazy for us to say we will have one-sided disarmament Liam Fox Shadow defence secretary

The lifespan of the current Trident system is said to end in 2024 and ministers have said a decision is needed now to ensure the replacement is ready by then.

Critics say there should have been consultation before the decision was announced in the white paper published on Monday.

'Nuclear club'

But Mr Blair's official spokesman said it was "one of the most serious decisions any government can take... it's right and proper that the government takes on itself the duty to put a firm proposal to Parliament and for Parliament to vote on that".

Mr Blair says the system - 64 Trident missiles based on four Vanguard-class submarines nuclear submarines - is an essential part of Britain's ability to defend itself.

TRIDENT MISSILE SYSTEM Missile length: 44ft (13m) Weight: 130,000lb (58,500kg) Diameter: 74 inches (1.9m) Range: More than 4,600 miles (7,400km) Power plant: Three stage solid propellant rocket Cost: £16.8m ($29.1m) per missile Source: Federation of American Scientists

Defence chiefs are understood to have ruled out basing a new weapons system on land or planes.

Instead Mr Blair is expected to say, as he unveils the white paper to MPs in the Commons, that he backs a new generation of submarines able to carry both the existing Trident missiles and any successor missile.

Officials have dismissed reports that the new generation of missiles would be built abroad.

Critics argue that a Trident-type system is outdated now that the Cold War is over. The issue has divided Labour MPs.

Former defence minister Peter Kilfoyle told the BBC it was a "very inopportune moment" to replace Trident, adding: "We don't need to rush to some kind of decision over the next few months as appears to be the government's wish."

'Crazy'

Critics believe the estimated £10-25bn cost would be better spent elsewhere - saying Trident was designed for the Cold War era, not the current threats to the UK such as international terrorism.

It's hard to see what the point of the Cabinet's discussion was... BBC political editor Nick Robinson

Kate Hudson, from the anti-nuclear pressure group, CND, told BBC Five Live: "If we go ahead with developing new nuclear weapons, we can be absolutely certain that many other countries will proliferate nuclear weapons and we are going to end up with a situation of nuclear war."

Lib Dem leader Sir Menzies Campbell wants the number of UK warheads halved to 100 - a move he said could help kickstart multilateral disarmament.

But for the Conservatives, shadow defence secretary Liam Fox said: "In a world that's becoming increasingly uncertain - where countries like North Korea are developing nuclear weapons - where countries like Iran are trying to develop nuclear weapons - it seems crazy for us to say we will have one-sided disarmament."

He said the decision was about protecting the UK from 2025 to 2050: "We don't know what we will face at that time. One thing we know is that you can't suddenly conjure up a nuclear deterrent if you require it."

VOTE Should there be a new generation of nuclear-powered submarines? Yes No Don't know Results are indicative and may not reflect public opinion

Story from BBC NEWS

Washington's UN envoy quits post

Lawyers lodge Saddam death appeal

Lawyers for Saddam Hussein have lodged an appeal against the former Iraqi president's death sentence for crimes against humanity, court officials say.

The appeal was lodged just two days before the expiry of a deadline and a month after the sentence was imposed.

A panel of nine judges will review the verdict, which has been criticised by human rights groups as flawed.

Saddam Hussein was sentenced to death over the killing of 148 people in the mainly Shia town of Dujail in 1982.

Judges also passed death sentences on Saddam's half-brother Barzan al-Tikriti and Iraq's former chief judge Awad Hamed al-Bandar.

Violent aftermath

Much of Iraq has seen an upsurge in sectarian violence in the weeks following the verdicts, prompting US and Iraqi leaders to consider a re-think of security policies within Iraq.

Clearly, what US forces are currently doing in Iraq is not working well enough or fast enough
Donald Rumsfeld
Former US Defence Secretary

The country's interior ministry has said that civilian deaths in November rose by 44% compared to the previous month.

But a proposal by outgoing UN Secretary General Kofi Annan to convene an international conference to discuss the situation in Iraq has been rebuffed by Iraq's President Jalal Talabani.

Mr Talabani, a Kurd, insisted that a sovereign Iraq should be allowed to find its own solutions. His comments followed the rejection of the idea on Saturday by a top Shia leader, Abdel Aziz al-Hakim.

On Sunday, the US military confirmed that at least eight Iraqis, including two women, a child and five suspected insurgent fighters, died in an air strike near the western town of Falluja.

Three US soldiers also died in two separate attacks on Saturday, one in the town of Taji, near Baghdad, and another two in Anbar province.

The former US Defence Secretary, Donald Rumsfeld, who resigned after US elections early last month, was reported on Sunday to have urged a "major adjustment" in Iraq policy just two days before he stepped down.

In a memo leaked to the New York Times, Mr Rumsfeld offered suggestions for changing US policy in Iraq, saying: "Clearly, what US forces are currently doing in Iraq is not working well enough or fast enough."

US national security adviser Stephen Hadley told ABC TV that President George W Bush agreed with Mr Rumsfeld's assessment of the situation in Iraq, adding that the president was considering his ex-colleague's "laundry list of ideas".

Trial criticised

Chief prosecutor Jaafar al-Moussawi told the Reuters news agency that defence lawyers visited the court on Sunday to lodge appeals against all three sentences.

The three have an automatic right of appeal under Iraqi law.


The nine appeal judges can amend any aspect of the verdict or sentence.

However, Iraqi law states that if they uphold the initial verdict, the death sentence must be carried within 30 days.

Iraq's prime minister has said the sentence, if upheld, should be carried out as soon as possible, perhaps before the conclusion of the current trial.

The chief defence lawyer complained last month that his team had been unable to file appeal papers in the period immediately following the verdict.

Iraq's government and trial prosecutors have insisted the trial was fair, despite criticism of its administration and procedures by US-based Human Rights Watch.

The group said the trial suffered from "serious administrative, procedural and substantive legal defects", and called the death penalty a "cruel and inhumane punishment".

Saddam Hussein is currently facing a second trial over the so-called Anfal campaign of 1988.

He and six co-defendants are accused of war crimes and crimes against humanity over the killing of at least 100,000 Kurds in northern Iraq.


Story from BBC NEWS

More surgery for ailing Pinochet

Rumsfeld urged Iraq tactics shift

Former US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld proposed major changes to the Bush administration's strategy in Iraq just two days before he resigned.

He made the call in a classified memo to the White House, which has been obtained by the New York Times.

Mr Rumsfeld's memo says US strategy in Iraq "is not working well enough" and calls for "a major adjustment".

President Bush faces growing pressure to decide a new Iraq course with an advisory group due to report this week.

"In my view it is time for a major adjustment," Mr Rumsfeld wrote in the memo dated 6 November.

"Clearly, what US forces are currently doing in Iraq is not working well enough or fast enough."

Apart from President Bush, the combative Mr Rumsfeld was identified more than anyone else with the US administration's strategy of "staying the course" in Iraq.

Provide money to key political leaders (as Saddam Hussein did), to get them to help us get through this difficult period
Rumsfeld memo

So it seems extraordinary that behind the scenes he was calling for major changes, the BBC's James Westhead in Washington says.

However, in recent months he had begun to acknowledge publicly that US tactics were not working and needed to be more flexible, our correspondent notes.

Bad behaviour

The document, first published by the New York Times and subsequently confirmed by the Pentagon, contains no reference to Mr Rumsfeld's imminent resignation.

Mr Rumsfeld was replaced following Republican losses to the Democrats in the US mid-term elections.

His proposals in the memo include troop redeployments and base closures, in apparent contradiction with his public assertions that it is commanders in the field who determine troop levels.

The memo also suggests "beginning with modest withdrawals of US and coalition forces... so Iraqis know they have to pull up their socks, step up and take responsibility for their country".

The US should "stop rewarding bad behaviour", the memo says. Reconstruction efforts should be in those parts of Iraq that are behaving and no more reconstruction assistance should be given in areas where there is violence.

Mr Rumsfeld also urges President Bush to copy the tactics of Iraq's deposed leader: "Provide money to key political leaders (as Saddam Hussein did), to get them to help us get through this difficult period."

Among other options described as "Above the Line" are:

Significantly increase the number of US trainers and transfer more equipment to Iraqi security forces
Reduce quickly the number of US bases, currently 55, to five by July 2007
Position substantial US forces near the Iranian and Syrian borders to reduce infiltration and Iran's influence
Withdraw US forces from vulnerable positions, such as patrols, and use them as a quick reaction force to help Iraqi security forces when needed

Any new approach should be announced as being on a "trial basis", giving the administration the ability to change if necessary and therefore not "lose", the memo says.

Withdrawal date

Mr Rumsfeld also outlined a number of "Below the Line" or less attractive options, including continuing on the current path, moving large numbers of US forces into Baghdad and increasing US forces substantially.

Other proposals include setting a firm withdrawal date and pushing an "aggressive" federalism plan to move towards three separate states - Sunni, Shia and Kurd.

News of Mr Rumsfeld's proposals comes as the Iraq Study Group, which brings together senior politicians and diplomats, is preparing to present its findings to Mr Bush.

Their recommendations are widely expected to include a gradual phased withdrawal of US troops over the next 18 months.

Mr Bush has indicated he will look closely at but not necessarily follow the group's suggestions.

"I want to hear all advice before I make any decision about adjustments to our strategy in Iraq," Mr Bush said in his radio address on Saturday.


Story from BBC NEWS

Chile's Pinochet has heart attack

Ailing Castro misses Cuban parade

The Cuban capital, Havana, is staging a military parade in honour of Fidel Castro but the ailing leader was not present at the start of events.

The parade, on a key date in the Cuban revolution, is part of delayed 80th birthday celebrations for Mr Castro.

President Castro underwent emergency intestinal surgery at the end of July and has not been seen in public since.

He could still appear as the parade continues, but his apparent absence is fuelling more doubts about his health.

Events are being led by the acting president, Raul Castro, Fidel's younger brother and the island's defence minister.

The parade began with Raul Castro riding on a jeep through Havana's main square after a 21-gun salute before he launched into a speech praising the Cuban revolution and attacking the United States.

"Long live Fidel! Long live a free Cuba!," he concluded in front of a crowd of thousands of Cubans.

It had been thought that President Castro might take the opportunity to make his first public appearance in four months on such a significant date.

Exactly 50 years ago to the day, Mr Castro made another comeback, returning to Cuba from exile in Mexico to launch a guerrilla war aided by Ernesto "Che" Guevara.

Three years later, their 9,000-strong force overthrew the regime of Fulgencio Batista.

Soviet-era tanks and missile launchers are on show in Havana's Revolution Square.

Soldiers have been marching past and at one point a replica of the Granma, the yacht that carried Fidel Castro back from exile, was pulled along the street.

Socialist future

Senior Cuban government figures say that speculation about the Cuban leader's health is ill-informed and spread by his enemies.

At a gala on Friday attended by several Latin American leaders, Cuban Vice-President Carlos Lage said Mr Castro's health was improving and that the country would remain socialist long into the future.

"When Fidel is no longer with us, his work his ideas and his example will be," Mr Lage said, adding: "Fidel is recovering. We will have him among us, he will keep leading and we will ask him to keep doing so for some years more."

If there is no appearance at all by President Castro, it will be a sign that it is unlikely he will be back holding the reins of power, correspondents say - a development that would be life-altering news for Cubans, most of whom know no other leader.

Birthday celebrations were initially scheduled when the Cuban leader turned 80 in August, but were moved to December after he became ill.

His last appearance on Cuban television, looking frail and wearing pyjamas rather than his trademark military fatigues, was more than a month ago.

Story from BBC NEWS
other news: