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MADRID, Spain (April 16) - Here's an image Spaniards will not soon forget: their new defense minister, reviewing trim, crisply uniformed soldiers, with her baby bump on display. Wearing a black pants suit and a white maternity blouse, Chacon reviews troops in Madrid on Monday after being sworn in as defense minister. She is one of nine women in Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero's Cabinet, compared to eight men. The surprise appointment of Carme Chacon, age 37 and with no military experience, is the boldest statement yet from a Socialist government that has made gender equality one of its...

MONTREAL (AFP) - Canadian Defense Minister Peter MacKay on Tuesday identified Iran as the origin of weapons used by rebels against the international coalition in Afghanistan. "We have asked the Iranians to deal with the problem because it is very hard to cut the supply lines when you have, in another country, people who are providing the arms for use against Canadian forces and others" in the 39-nation NATO-led International Security Assistance Force, he said. Speaking during a visit to the military base at Kandahar broadcast on Radio-Canada television, MacKay said Canada was particularly concerned about improvised explosive devices from...

In this photo released by China's Xinhua news agency, Cuba's Acting President Raul Castro, left, welcomes China's Defense Minister Cao Gangchuan during their meeting to discuss relations between the two communist-run countries Friday, May 11, 2007 in Havana, Cuba. (AP Photo/Xinhua, Yin Yongjian)

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan - Pakistan security forces raided a militant hideout and arrested a former Taliban defense minister, regarded as a top figure in the Afghan insurgency, intelligence officials said Friday. Mullah Obaidullah Akhund, considered a key ally of fugitive Taliban leader Mullah Omar, is the most senior leader from the hard-line militia to be arrested since U.S.-led troops ousted it from power in 2001. Akhund was among five Taliban suspects arrested in a raid on a home in the southwestern city of Quetta earlier this week, said a military intelligence official, who requested anonymity because he was not authorized to...

Excerpt - 07:09 Report: PM mulling Ehud Barak, Gabi Ashkenazi as new defense minister (Army Radio) 07:07 Olmert aides: PM plans to remove Peretz from Defense Ministry (Army Radio

Peretz 'will have to learn quickly' Peretz. 'It doesn't matter who stands at the head of the security system.' Photo: Eli Elgarat Members of the defense establishment are not afraid of expressing themselves over the probable new incoming boss, Amir Peretz. His future conduct is regarded as a 'mystery,' and he is being given a chance, but under the carpet, a lack of faith is hiding Hanan Greenberg If Labor Chairman Amir Peretz becomes minister of defense, as is looking increasingly likely, he will have a lot to learn in his new position, senior security figures told Ynet. "I don't...

DUBAI (Reuters) - Iraq's interim defense minister said on Friday the government would arrest Iraqi National Congress leader Ahmad Chalabi after the Eid al-Adha holiday for allegedly maligning the defense ministry. "We will arrest him and hand him over to Interpol. We will arrest him based on facts that he wanted to malign the reputation of the defense ministry and defense minister," Hazim al-Shaalan told Al Jazeera television, adding the measures would start after the Muslim holiday which began on Jan. 20.

p>/begin my translation N. Korea Requested to China 'Special Fuel For Military Use' On many occasions since last year, N. Korea have asked China to provide special fuel for military use, according to a news dispatched from Beijing by Kyodo News on (July) 13th, quoting reliable military intelligence source on Sino-N.Korean affairs. It speculated that the request for the fuel may have also come up at the meeting between Kim Il-chol, N. Korean Defense Minister and a member of N. Korean Defense Committee, and Zhao Gang-chuan, Chinese Defense Minister and a member of Chinese cabinet. According to the source, the...

Germany's Defense Minister, Dr. Peter Struck, will arrive in Israel on Sunday for a two day visit. Struck will be the official guest of Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz. Struck will be accompanied by the chairman of the Bundestag's Defense Committee Reinhold Robbe, the Defense Ministry's head of the Policy and Advisory Staff, Franz Borkenhagen, Bundestag members and other German defense officials. The visit will be Struck's first in Israel since he his appointment as defense minister in July 2002. The visit is supposed to strengthen relations between the German and Israeli defense establishments. While in Israel the German defense minister...

Polish defence spokesman resigns over missile row WARSAW, Oct. 7 — Poland's defence ministry spokesman resigned on Tuesday after triggering a diplomatic row by saying French-made missiles found in Iraq were manufactured in 2003. ''Colonel Eugeniusz Mleczak asked Defence Minister Jerzy Szmajdzinski to relieve him of his post as press spokesman. That request was accepted,'' said the ministry in a short statement. On Friday Mleczak said the missiles were manufactured in 2003, but this was denied by French President Jacques Chirac, who said the missiles had been out of production for 15 years.

Former Iraqi Defence Minister Sultan Hashim Ahmed has been granted immunity from prosecution following his surrender to US forces. Mr Ahmed - number 27 on the Americans' list of most wanted former Iraqi officials - gave himself up in the northern city of Mosul last Friday. White House officials say they have high hopes he will provide significant information on Iraq's alleged weapons programmes. The news came as US officials indicated that an interim report by the Iraqi Survey Group - charged with locating weapons of mass destruction in the country - would contain no evidence of illegal weapons. But...

Mar. 4, 2003 Defense Minister: Israel seeks no involvement in Iraq war By THE JERUSALEM POST INTERNET STAFF Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz told the cabinet today that while the chances are low that the country would be attacked in the event of an Iraq war, Israel is preparing for the likelihood that such a conflict will erupt. His remarks were reported in a cabinet communique as the head of military intelligence told the Knesset that Israel assesses a US-led campaign on Iraq could be underway as soon as next week. Mofaz "stressed that this is not Israel's war and that...