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 http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-13130151


19 April 2011 Last updated at 22:03 GMT

British military officers to be sent to Libya

Britain is to send a team of military officers to Libya to help advise the rebels fighting Col Muammar Gaddafi.

The BBC understands about 10 UK officers and a similar number from France will provide logistics and intelligence training in Benghazi.

UK Foreign Secretary William Hague said the move was in accordance with the resolution on Libya, which forbids foreign occupation forces.

The Libyan foreign minister said it would only prolong hostilities.

Abdul Ati al-Obeidi told the BBC the sending of UK military personnel to Libya would harm any peace initiative and "prolong the confrontation".

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Following the fall of presidents in neighbouring Tunisia and Egypt, an uprising against Col Gaddafi's 42-year rule began on 16 February.

It has developed into an armed conflict, with rebels pitted against pro-Gaddafi forces for control over territory. Misrata, the rebels' last stronghold in the west, has faced weeks of heavy bombardment.

The UN Security Council resolution, passed in March, authorised "all necessary measures short of occupation" to protect civilians.

Nato is currently in charge of the no-fly zone and coalition operations have been largely confined to air attacks.

Mr Hague stressed the officers being sent to the eastern rebel stronghold of Benghazi would not be involved in any fighting.

Analysis

Jonathan BealeDefence correspondent, BBC News

William Hague insists this limited deployment does not mean "boots on the ground". The British military officers will not be in uniform and will not join the battle.

We are told they'll be providing "non-lethal assistance". But those carefully chosen words can't hide their real purpose - that is to make the rebels a more effective fighting force.

The rebels will be trained in the communications, logistics and intelligence skills used by a modern military. It's hard to see this intervention as purely a humanitarian response, though the government insists the assistance falls within the mandate of the UN Security Council.

It will still be interpreted as "mission creep". It will also prompt more questions as to what could follow.

The foreign secretary says there are no plans to send in British combat troops to Libya - what he interprets as real boots on the ground. But he hasn't ruled out arming the rebels.

Mr Hague said: "The [UK] National Security Council has decided that we will now move quickly to expand the team already in Benghazi to include an additional military liaison advisory team. This contingent will be drawn from experienced British military officers.

"These additional personnel will enable the UK to build on the work already being undertaken to support and advise the NTC [opposition National Transitional Council] on how to better protect civilians.

"In particular they will advise the NTC on how to improve their military organisational structures, communications and logistics, including how best to distribute humanitarian aid and deliver medical assistance."

The officers will be wearing civilian clothing, not uniforms, but are likely to carry sidearms.

The UK has already supplied body armour and telecommunications equipment to help the rebels.

On Monday it was announced the UK is to provide £2m to help civilians flee Misrata by boat.

Mr Obeidi said countries he had visited had spoken about a ceasefire and helping the humanitarian effort, but pointed to the UK, France and Italy as being unhelpful.

He said everything possible was being done to help international aid organisations give help to people in Misrata.

He said there should be a ceasefire followed by an interim period of maybe six months to prepare for an election, as proposed by the African Union roadmap.

Asked about the future of Col Gaddafi, he said that if that process was followed, "everything will be on the table - it would cover whatever issue is raised by Libyans".

French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe has said France is opposed to the idea of sending coalition ground troops into Libya, or even special forces to guide air strikes, to break the military stalemate.

'Mission creep'

The UK's shadow foreign secretary, Douglas Alexander, said the move to send UK officers was backed by the UN resolution and Labour supported the government's decision.

William Hague: "This is not British ground combat forces going in... this is fully in-line with the UN resolution"

Former Liberal Democrat foreign affairs spokesman Sir Menzies Campbell warned against becoming bogged down in Libya, in similar fashion to what happened to the US in Vietnam.

He said: "Sending advisers for a limited purpose is probably within the terms of [United Nations] Resolution 1973, but it must not be seen as a first instalment of further military deployment."

Labour MP David Winnick, who backed last week's demands to recall Parliament from the Easter recess so MPs could debate the Libya situation, criticised the deployment of British officers.

"However much one despises the brutality of the Gaddafi clan which rules Libya, the fact remains that there is a danger of mission creep," he said.

Meanwhile, British military chiefs have been giving details of the latest action by the RAF to enforce the no-fly zone.

Maj Gen John Lorimer said Tornado and Typhoon aircraft had attacked rocket launcher vehicles and light artillery observed firing on Misrata, and a second pair of RAF planes destroyed a gun and tank on a transporter.

Tomahawk cruise missiles were also fired by the nuclear-powered submarine HMS Triumph.

Brig Gen Mark Van Uhm, chief of Allied operations, said almost 2,800 sorties had been flown over Libya, destroying more than a third of Col Gaddafi's military assets.

He said the situation on the ground remained fluid and was changing daily.

WIE OF WAT SE EWEBEELD?

Ons is mos in God se ewebeeld geskape, of hoe het ek dit?

... OOK MAAR MENSE

The truth about sheep... 

Sheep Behaviour

Until they get to know them, many people see sheep as dull and uninteresting animals. The truth is very different.

It is often difficult for people to recognise and understand sheep behaviour, because most of us are not used to being around sheep and because their facial structure makes it difficult for us to read emotion on their faces, like most of us can with cats and dogs.

Sheep have uniquely individual natures and are social, intelligent animals. As prey animals, they have a highly-developed flocking instinct, and prefer to move in groups rather than as individuals. 
Much of the behaviour seen in sheep is governed by a fear instinct (common in all prey species), and they are dependent on their flock for safety and comfort. They become highly distressed when separated from their flock, their fear evident when they call out for other members of their group and they will strive to rejoin the group.

Fear and pain in sheep

Sheep have developed complex physiological ways to disguise pain and discomfort. A sheep with advanced footrot (a painful hoof condition) may have been suffering for a considerable time before showing any outward signs – such as limping – of being in pain. This is because, as prey animals, sheep must avoid being easily identified by predators as being weak and therefore an easy target. 

If you see a sheep in obvious pain, it is most likely that it has been suffering for some time and the pain has reached such a level that the animal is no longer able to mask its condition.

Treatment of sheep in the Middle East
For the same reasons, it is often difficult for us to identify fear or distress in sheep. Poor handling causes sheep to become highly stressed and puts them in a state of fear. Some of the footage taken during Animals Australia’s investigations shows sheep being lifted by their wool, horns, legs, head and ears, all of which - whilst causing obvious physical pain - will also result in high fear and distress levels.
Of particular concern is the routine leg-binding of sheep in the Middle East; rendering a prey animal – or any animal for that matter – helpless puts that animal in a state of distress.

In the Animals Australia footage you will see sheep panting and defecating; putting these
gentle animals in such a state of fear as to cause panic and defecation can not be defended.

Sheep Intelligence

Facial recognition and emotional intelligence

During a study conducted at the Babraham Institute, Cambridge, England, Dr Keith Kendrick and his team determined that sheep are likely to experience emotion and are almost certainly capable of conscious thought.

Dr Kendrick’s conclusions are based on the ability of sheep to remember old faces, be it a member of the flock or a human. New studies have revealed that sheep can remember up to 50 sheep faces as well as familiar human faces, such as their carer.

They do this using a similar neural mechanism, and a similar part of the brain, to that of humans.
Memories only start to fade after about two years of absence.
One inference is that sheep are capable of conscious thought at some level, says Dr Kendrick.
“The way the sheep’s brain is organised suggests they must have some kind of emotional response to what they see in the world,” said Dr Kendrick. “It does beg the question that sheep must potentially be able to think about individuals that are absent from their environment,” he said.

“We [humans] are obviously capable of conscious perception of faces using this exact same system in the brain as is present in the sheep. Therefore, it would be surprising if they were not capable of some level of consciousness using that same system.”

Old faces 

The Cambridge team made their discovery by presenting sheep with 25 pairs of similar faces. The animals were trained to associate each of the pair with a food reward, learning to recognise individual faces. The scientists then measured activity in regions of the sheep’s brain associated with visual recognition. As in humans, these reside in the temporal and frontal lobes of the brain, including a greater involvement of the right hemisphere. They found that sheep could remember 50 other
sheep faces, even in profile.

The sheep were then shown two old faces - a sheep and a shepherd. Even after two years apart, the sheep responded to the faces, calling out in recognition. The specialised face-processing system in the sheep brain offers advantages for long-term recognition of many individuals that are similar to those for humans, say the Babraham researchers.
“In humans, analogous brain regions and neural circuits are activated equivalently when we see or form mental images of the faces of specific individuals. This suggests that sheep may be capable of using the same system to remember and respond emotionally to individuals in their absence,” said the team.

Source: BBC News Online, 7 December 2001

Sheep defeat cattle grids

An amazing story emerged from England in 2004, when locals reported that they had been outsmarted by local sheep, who were escaping their paddocks by rolling over cattle grids!
The sheep, from the county of Kirklees in West Yorkshire, perfected the art of rolling over the 3m wide cattle grid to get to tastier pastures – such as the village bowling green, cricket field and graveyard - on the other side. The same sheep have also been known to scale 1.5 metre walls.
Local councillor Dorothy Lindley says this new commando technique has led to havoc in local gardens and on the highway!
“They lie down on their side, or sometimes their back, and just roll over and over the grids until they are clear. I’ve seen them doing it. It is quite clever, but they are a big nuisance to villagers,” said Councillor Lindley.

Source: BBC News Online, 30 July 2004

Maze Test

Research conducted during 2005 at the F D McMaster Laboratory in Australia has shown that sheep can learn and remember tasks. Researchers developed a complex maze test to measure intelligence and learning in sheep, similar to those used for rats and mice.

The time it initially takes an animal to rejoin its flock indicates smartness, while subsequent improvement in times over consecutive days of testing measures learning and memory.
“Using the maze, we have already shown that sheep have excellent spatial memory and are able to learn and improve their performance. And they can retain this information for a six-week period”, said researcher Dr Caroline Lee. 

Source: scienceinpublic.com

The research outlined above reveals to us the complex social, intellectual, and emotional abilities of these animals. 


Yet, every year, more than 4 million sheep are exported live to the Middle East, enduring 
long, uncomfortable journeys before being unloaded into a totally alien environment, many 
then being bound, transported and slaughtered whilst fully conscious. 
We can only imagine the fear and distress experienced by these animals, 
and it is all done in the name of profit.


http://www.animalsaustralia.org/

IRAN NOG STEEDS OP RADAR

Gulf troops staying until Iran "threat" gone: Bahrain

Mon Apr 18, 2011 4:50pm GMT

 

By Fredrik Richter and Martina Fuchs

MANAMA/DUBAI (Reuters) - Bahrain's foreign minister said Monday Saudi and UAE forces called in to help quell street unrest would leave only when "any external threat" he associated with Iran was seen to be gone.

Pro-democracy demonstrators in Bahrain have denied any link with the Islamic Republic.

Bahrain's prime minister described the several weeks of anti-government protests by the Sunni Muslim-ruled country's disaffected Shi'ite majority as a coup attempt and said those who took part would be held to account.

The mostly Shi'ite protesters in the outpouring of unrest in February and March demanded more freedom, an end to discrimination and a constitutional monarchy in Bahrain, a U.S. ally that hosts Washington's Fifth Fleet.

Bahraini rulers crushed the protests last month, deploying security forces in the capital and calling in troops from Gulf neighbours Saudi Arabia and the UAE under the aegis of a Gulf defence pact, a move demonstrators saw as an act of war.

Foreign Minister Sheikh Khaled bin Ahmed al-Khalifa hinted that Gulf troops could be there for some time, saying they would remain until what he described as a threat to Gulf Arab countries from nearby Shi'ite power Iran was over.

"There are no Saudi forces, there are GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council) forces and they will leave when they are done with any external threat," he told Reuters on the sidelines of a conference in the United Arab Emirates.

Asked to elaborate, he said: "The external threat is a regional one. The external threat is a complete misunderstanding between the GCC and Iran. This is a threat."

"I am not pointing fingers here, but what we are seeing from Iran, on Bahrain, on Saudi Arabia, on Kuwait, the occupation of the islands of the Emirates, doesn't make the situation a positive one. It keeps it a constant threat, and ongoing one."

PROTESTERS DENY ANY IRAN LINK

The protesters said they had no loyalty to Iran, rejecting accusations by Bahraini officials that they were supported by the Islamic Republic and the Shi'ite militant movement Hezbollah, which denied training demonstrators.

Iran complained to the United Nations about the deployment of GCC forces in Bahrain and said it could not remain indifferent to the crackdown on protests.

"Bahrain has witnessed a coup attempt," Prime Minister Sheikh Khalifa bin Salman al-Khalifa said in remarks carried by pro-government media Monday. "No violators would get away with it. All co-conspirators and abettors must be held accountable."

The unrest has stirred tension in the world's leading oil-exporting region as Sunni Gulf states including Saudi Arabia and Iran have traded accusations of meddling in Bahrain affairs.

The government has arrested hundreds of people who took part in the protests and state-owned firms have fired Shi'ite workers who were absent from work during a strike called for by unions.

The International Trade Union Confederation said in a statement that about 2,000 workers who took part in the protests had been sacked, including 22 local trade union leaders. "The authorities are clearly targeting and discriminating against workers due to their involvement in union activities," the trade union group said. It called for the International Labour Organisation to form a commission to probe the firings.

At least 29 people have been killed since the protests started ,including six non-Shi'ites. The six included two foreigners -- an Indian and a Bangladeshi -- and four policemen.

Mattar Ibrahim Mattar, a former parliamentarian from the Shi'ite opposition group Wefaq, said police attacked Sunday a traditional Shi'ite celebration marking the death of the wife of a central Shi'ite figure from early Islamic history.

He said that around 10 people were injured but afraid to go to hospitals, and said a Shi'ite cleric who gave a speech there had since gone missing.

Wefaq also said the government had destroyed a Shi'ite mosque in the village of Salmabad, adding to a number of places of worship that have been demolished by security forces during the crackdown.

"They usually come with bulldozers and police forces surrounding them," said Mattar, saying the government suggested the mosques were built without permission, a claim he dismissed.

"There is no explanation for this except attacks against Shi'ites in general," he said.