Monday, February 26, 2007

BBC NEWS | Middle East | US finds 'Iran-made' arms in Iraq

BBC NEWS | Middle East | US finds 'Iran-made' arms in Iraq

US finds 'Iran-made' arms in Iraq
The US military in Iraq says it has uncovered a large cache of weapons, many of them made in Iran.
The collection of shells, rockets and materials to make armour-piercing bombs was found in the village of Jadidah, 25km (15 miles) north of Baghdad.

A US spokesman said there was no way to "tie the weapons to any government".

This month the US presented evidence it said proved the "highest levels" of Iran's government were supplying arms used by Shia militants in Iraq.

However, the most senior US military officer, Gen Peter Pace, later appeared to contradict the claim, saying there was no proof the Iranian government had directly armed Shia groups.

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Mohammad Ali Hosseini called the US allegations baseless propaganda.

Tank-piercing

The US military said the latest cache of 120mm mortar rounds, 122mm rockets and bags of C4 plastic explosives were of Iranian origin.

Maj Jeremy Siegrist said the cache was found near a village stronghold of the Shia Mehdi Army of leading cleric Moqtada al-Sadr.

But Maj Siegrist said: "I don't think there's any way this can be tied to a government."

Earlier this month US defence officials in Baghdad told reporters that the Iranians were supplying sophisticated bombs capable of penetrating the armour of a US-made Abrams tank.

Gen Pace, while saying the arms were Iranian in origin, said he could not say whether Tehran was complicit.

The White House stood by the original claim, saying the weapons were being moved into Iraq by Iran's Revolutionary Guards, or al-Quds force.

Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/middle_east/6398089.stm

Published: 2007/02/26 15:42:08 GMT

© BBC MMVII

BBC NEWS | Middle East | US finds 'Iran-made' arms in Iraq

BBC NEWS | Middle East | US finds 'Iran-made' arms in Iraq

US finds 'Iran-made' arms in Iraq
The US military in Iraq says it has uncovered a large cache of weapons, many of them made in Iran.
The collection of shells, rockets and materials to make armour-piercing bombs was found in the village of Jadidah, 25km (15 miles) north of Baghdad.

A US spokesman said there was no way to "tie the weapons to any government".

This month the US presented evidence it said proved the "highest levels" of Iran's government were supplying arms used by Shia militants in Iraq.

However, the most senior US military officer, Gen Peter Pace, later appeared to contradict the claim, saying there was no proof the Iranian government had directly armed Shia groups.

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Mohammad Ali Hosseini called the US allegations baseless propaganda.

Tank-piercing

The US military said the latest cache of 120mm mortar rounds, 122mm rockets and bags of C4 plastic explosives were of Iranian origin.

Maj Jeremy Siegrist said the cache was found near a village stronghold of the Shia Mehdi Army of leading cleric Moqtada al-Sadr.

But Maj Siegrist said: "I don't think there's any way this can be tied to a government."

Earlier this month US defence officials in Baghdad told reporters that the Iranians were supplying sophisticated bombs capable of penetrating the armour of a US-made Abrams tank.

Gen Pace, while saying the arms were Iranian in origin, said he could not say whether Tehran was complicit.

The White House stood by the original claim, saying the weapons were being moved into Iraq by Iran's Revolutionary Guards, or al-Quds force.

Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/middle_east/6398089.stm

Published: 2007/02/26 15:42:08 GMT

© BBC MMVII

BBC NEWS | Technology | World's tiniest RFID tag unveiled

BBC NEWS | Technology | World's tiniest RFID tag unveiled

World's tiniest RFID tag unveiled
The world's smallest radio frequency identification tags have been unveiled by Japanese electronics firm Hitachi.
The minute devices measure just 0.05mm by 0.05mm (0.002x0.002in) and to the naked eye look like spots of powder.

They are thin enough to be embedded in a sheet of paper, Hitachi spokesman Masayuki Takeuchi says.

RFID tags store data about the objects they are attached to, and companies are vying to create increasingly tiny versions.

Recently, Hitachi unveiled another RFID tag, the Mu-chip, which measures 0.4mm by 0.4mm (0.02x0.02in).

But the latest chips, which are yet to be named, can hold the same amount of data as the Mu even though they are much smaller.

They have one major issue, however - they need an external antenna to work, and the smallest antenna developed so far is about 80 times bigger than the tags.

Hitachi says it wants to study the tags' possible uses, but it does not yet have any plans to put its latest creation into commercial production.

Spy-tags

Unlike its predecessor, the barcode, an RFID tag's data can be extracted from afar - sometimes from hundreds of metres away - by radio-reading devices, and the technology is already widely used.

Stores use it to track stock in warehouses and shops. Some countries are using the tags to hold passport data or for payments in transport systems, and they are even being used for animal identification.

However, some have raised concerns that the technology poses a threat to privacy, and that it could be used in covert monitoring schemes.

And the fact that they are becoming ever more invisible could fuel this apprehension.

However, said Mr Takeuchi: "We are not imagining such uses."

Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/technology/6389581.stm

Published: 2007/02/23 13:23:38 GMT

© BBC MMVII