Israel to hold missile test in US

The Arrow missile interceptor system will be tested
in a joint Israel-US exercise [GALLO/GETTY]

Israel is set to hold a missile test on a US missile range in the Pacific Ocean in an exercise that will also see the US test three missile defence systems, a senior US general has said.

The test site will allow Israel to measure its Arrow interceptor missile system against a target at a range of more than 1,000km, Army Lieutenant General Patrick O'Reilly, director of the Pentagon's Missile Defense Agency, said on Tuesday.

"They [Israel] are having a flight test soon this summer," he said.

"They are limited to the range of the missile they can test in the eastern Mediterranean. There's a safety issue.

"That's the primary purpose of them coming to the United States to use our test range."

The Arrow system, which was developed by Israel and the United States, is intended to defend Israel against possible ballistic missile attacks from Iran and Syria.

It will be the third such test held by Israel in the United States, a US defence official said.

US test

The exercise is likely to take place within the next few days off the central California coast, between Santa Barbara and Point Mugu.

The test will also give the US military a chance to test its own anti-ballistic missile systems, O’Reilly said.

"The upcoming test also provides us the opportunity to have the Patriot system, the THAAD system and the Aegis system all interacting with the Arrow system so that we're demonstrating full inter-operability as we execute this test," he said.

But he said that the exercise would only test certain elements of US missile defence systems and be a largely Israeli operation.

Israel successfully test-launched its Arrow II interceptor missile in April, shooting down a target simulating an Iranian Shehab missile over the Mediterranean Sea.

Israel has expressed concerns that Iran's uranium enrichment programme is aimed at producing nuclear warheads that could be attached to ballistic missiles.

Iran has repeatedly denied that it is pursuing a nuclear weapons programme, saying that its uranium enrichment work is geared towards generating electricty.

Goldman Sachs bank profits soar

The bumper profits at Goldman Sachs come just nine months after $125bn was given to US banks [EPA]

US banking giant Goldman Sachs has surpassed market expectations by reporting second-quarter net profits of $3.44bn.

The success of the bank's trading and underwriting businesses in April to June - which saw revenues rise 46 per cent to $13.76bn - led them to set aside $6.65bn for staff pay and bonuses.

Lloyd Blankfein, Goldman Sachs chairman and chief executive, said in a statement: "While markets remain fragile and we recognise the challenges the broader economy faces, our second-quarter results reflected the combination of improving financial market conditions and a deep and diverse client franchise."

The bumper profits come just nine months after the US treasury used $125bn of taxpayers' money to help banking giants ride out the economic downturn.

Neil Hume, senior stockmarket correspondent at the Financial Times newspaper in London told Al Jazeera that Goldman Sachs is "in a league of its own at the moment".

"They don't have the legacy of toxic assets that some of the banks have," he said.

"They seem to have emerged from the crisis relatively unscathed."

'Vast bonuses'

However, Hume warned that the announcement of the plan to pay huge bonuses was "not going to engender a lot of good feeling for the bank".

"This doesn't look great at this time to be paying vast bonuses to their employees," he said.

The latest figures mean that the annual payout for the 28,000 employees of the the company, which in June repaid the $10bn it received in government aid, could top $18bn.

"The key is that they have paid back the $10bn bailout money that they were forced to take at the height of the financial crisis last year. That means that all bets are off – they can pay what bonuses they like"

John Terrett, Al Jazeera's correspondent in New York
Goldman received the government funds in October as part of the Troubled Asset Relief Programme (Tarp), a US government plan which provided banks with capital in exchange for preferred stock and warrants to purchase common shares.

The programme was launched after the Lehman Brothers investment bank collapsed and insurer American International Group needed a government bailout to remain in business.

The government investment included certain restrictions, such as caps on executive compensation, but these ended when Goldman Sachs repaid the $10bn.

John Terrett, Al Jazeera's correspondent in New York, said that Goldman Sachs would be emboldened in paying the bonuses in the knowledge that it has repaid the bailout money it received through Tarp.

"The key is that they have paid back the $10bn bailout money that they were forced to take at the height of the financial crisis last year. That means that all bets are off now – they can pay what bonuses they like," he said.

"The grey area is that while we call Goldman Sachs an investment bank, it is these days a bank holding company. That means that they been able to take advantage of very, very cheap government money, and then lend it out expensively.

"The controversy is: because Goldman Sachs took that cheap money should they therefore not pay those bonuses instead of paying back the US taxpayer? Wall Street's view is no, it should not."

Other banks hit

Goldman is the first bank to report second-quarter earnings, and analysts predict other banks' results may not be as strong.

Bank of America and Citigroup have been among the hardest hit by loan losses and have yet to repay government bailout funds.

JPMorgan Chase & Co has repaid the government, but remains saddled with rising consumer loan losses.

All three banks report results later this week.

Somali fighters seize two Frenchmen

Armed men went from room to room in the Sahafi hotel as they searched for the two Frenchmen [AFP]

Two French security advisers have been abducted from a hotel in Mogadishu, the capital of Somalia, the French foreign ministry has confirmed.

Armed men stormed the Sahafi Hotel on Tuesday and went from room to room to find the two men, who were in Mogadishu to train Somali government forces.

"Two French advisers on an official mission of assistance to the Somali government were kidnapped this morning in Mogadishu by armed men," the French foreign ministry said in a statement.

"They were bringing aid concerning security."

Somalia's transitional government is battling fighters from a number of armed opposition groups, including al-Shabab and Hizbul Islam, which have vowed to topple the administration of Sharif Ahmed, the president.

Guards 'disarmed'

Abdi Mohamed Ahmed, who owns a tea shop in front of the Sahafi hotel, said about 10 fighters disarmed the hotel's guards on Tuesday morning and took the French nationals.

In depth


Video: Somali fighters vow to fight on
Profile: Sharif Ahmed
Timeline: Somalia
Inside Story: What next for Somalia
Riz Khan: Somalia - From bad to worse
Restoring Somalia
A long road to stability
Al-Shabab: Somali fighters undeterred
Somalia at a crossroads
Somaliland: Africa's isolated state
"The gunmen then sped away with their hostages," he said.

Several witnesses around the hotel, which reportedly also hosts several members of the Somali parliament, said some of the armed men were wearing government uniforms.

Mohamed Hassan Gafaa, the hotel manager, told The Associated Press news agency that the two men had registered at the Sahafi as journalists.

Kidnapping for ransom has been on the rise in Somalia for several years with aid workers and journalists most commonly targeted.

Two foreign freelance journalists - Canada's Amanda Lindhout and Australia's Nigel Brennan - have been held captive since August of last year.

No group has claimed responsibility for Tuesday's abduction, which came after a flare-up of violence in the capital over the weekend in which dozens of people were reported killed and at least 150 were injured.

Witnesses said fighters had retreated from areas around the presidential palace on Monday after several days of heavy fighting.

Taylor dismisses war crimes charges

Charles Taylor, the former Liberian president, has dismissed charges against him of war crimes during Sierra Leone's civil war as "lies" and "rumours".

He made the comments as he took the stand at his trial in The Hague, in the Netherlands, on Tuesday.

Taylor denied the 11 charges against him, which include murder, rape, the conscription of child soldiers, and backing a rebel group known for mutilating its opponents.

"It is very, very, very unfortunate that the prosecution's disinformation, misinformation, lies and rumours would associate me with such titles," he said.

"It is quite incredible that such descriptions of me would come about. I am none of these, I have never been and never will be, whether they think so or not."

'Peace broker'

Taylor's lawyers began their defence on Monday at the court in The Hague, which is conducting the trial at the request of the Special Court for Sierra Leone.



They argued on Monday that Taylor - the first African leader to be tried before an international tribunal for war crimes and crimes against humanity - tried to broker peace in Sierra Leone rather than fuel civil war.

In depth
Profile: Charles Taylor
Video: Taylor brutality remembered

Estimates of the 1991-2001 conflict's death toll run as high as 200,000.

Prosecutors, who closed their case in February, said Taylor armed and supported the Revolutionary United Front (RUF), a rebel movement that sought to destabilise the government, and attempted to gain control of Sierra Leone's diamond mines.

But Taylor said on Tuesday that had in fact been involved in attempts by the Economic Community of West African States (Ecowas) to get the RUF "to come to the peace table".

"I, Charles Ghankay Taylor never, ever, at any time knowingly assisted Foday Sankoh [the RUF leader] in the invasion of Sierra Leone."

He said that he was "outraged" when he learnt that the RUF had invaded the Sierra Leone capital, Freetown, in January 1999.

Taylor has been on trial at The Hague since June 2007 at facilities provided by the International Criminal Court.

'Linkage witnesses'

The Special Court for Sierra Leone is headquartered in Freetown, the capital of Sierra Leone, but the trial is taking place in the Dutch capital due to concerns it may trigger violence in Sierra Leone.

In May, judges at the Special Court for Sierra Leone ruled against a defence request to acquit Taylor of war crimes charges, saying the prosecution had produced enough evidence supporting a conviction.

However, Judge Richard Lussick has stressed that the ruling does not mean Taylor would be convicted.

Courtney Griffiths, Taylor's defence lawyer, told Al Jazeera that he believed that the "quality of that evidence is just not good enough".

"For the most part the prosecution relies on some 33 so-called linkage witnesses," he said.

"For the most part the prosecution relies on the evidence of fairly lowly members of the RUF and the NPFL [National Patriotic Front of Liberia], none of whom, we say, would have had the kind of access to Charles Taylor to make their evidence credible."

Local residents were able to watch Tuesday's trial in a courtroom in Freetown.

Packed courtroom

Al Jazeera's Yvonne Ndege, reporting from Freetown, said many residents lost interest in the case after it was moved to The Hague, but more people were coming to watch now that Taylor was in the stand.

"The courtroom was packed with a few hundred people representing non-governmental organisations and those who were affected," she said.

Taylor insists that he is innocent of all charges levelled by judges of The Hague court EPA]
"There have been bursts of laughter, tears, and scenes of people's jaws dropping."

Speaking to Al Jazeera shortly before Taylor took the stand, Desmond Davies, the editor of Africa Week magazine, said that the former Liberian ruler was not the only person who should be on trial.

"It won't bring a great deal of relief to those who suffered because the perpetrators are still out there. Charles Taylor, I believe, is just a fall guy.

"He's not as guilty as some others who are not in front of the court," Davies said.

"I spoke to former RUF members and they actually told me that former members of the government in Sierra Leone supported the RUF. And I've spoken to ex-military intelligence officers who said 'yes, that is the case'."

Davies said the money that has been spent - roughly $98 million "should have gone to those who suffered most, those who had their limbs amputated".

"The money has been spent on chasing Charles Taylor and just jailing a handful of rebels, that's not what they [the victims] want," he said.

"They want a proper solution to the suffering and that means there should be some financial settlement for them."

A final verdict is expected in a year's time.