December 3, 2001	Monday	Ramazan 17, 1422

MOSCOW, Dec 2: Russia launched three military satellites on Saturday from the Baikonur space station in Kazakhstan, Russian news agencies reported.

The launch by a Proton-K heavy rocket went off without a hitch, the Interfax news agency reported quoting the press department of Russia’s Space Forces.

The news came as the United States prepared to carry out on Saturday the latest test in a controversial missile defence programme that has left it at odds with Moscow.

In the 100 million dollars test the US military will attempt to shoot down a dummy warhead launched from California with a projectile fired from a Pacific atoll. Two out of four previous tests have failed.

Moscow says the missile shield Washington seeks to build will breach a landmark arms control treaty and threaten strategic stability.

The United States says the pact is a relic of the Cold War which must be dumped to confront the threat posed by “rogue states” like Iraq and North Korea.—Reuters