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Iran may be bluffing, says US
Bush vows to finish the mission in Iraq |
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Indo-US nuclear deal disturbing, says Musharraf Islamabad, March 18 After failing to secure a nuclear deal, Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf has said the agreement between India and the US was “disturbing” as it would upset the balance of power in the region.
80 hurt in Spanish drinking binge
9 Afghan policemen killed in blast LeT militant gets 9-year imprisonment
Lack of Arctic sea ice indicates climate change
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Iran frees Akbar Ganji
Tehran, March 18 “He was freed after 2,244 days in prison. He is doing well and is in good spirits,” the relative said, adding that he had lost “a lot of weight.” Ganji, 46, was detained in 2000 and sentenced to six years in prison in 2001 after he wrote articles implicating several regime officials in a string of gruesome murders of opposition intellectuals and writers in 1998 — crimes that shocked Iran. In what he called “disclosure by drip”, the outspoken critic of the Islamic regime published one article after another explaining how shadowy operatives selected their victims and executed them. He did not give names, and instead kept readers guessing over the identity of the “Master Key” and the “Grey Eminence” — but the nicknames were widely interpreted as referring to former president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani and former Intelligence Minister Ali Fallahian. The uproar over the serial murders prompted regime action, with the killings blamed on “rogue” intelligence agents and the alleged ringleader eventually committing suicide in jail by drinking hair remover. Ganji was also singled out. He was arrested on April 22, 2000, following his participation in an academic and cultural conference at the Heinrich Boell Institute in Berlin called “Iran after the elections”, at which political and social reforms in Iran were publicly debated. Iranian state television aired footage of the conference, which was frequently interrupted by Iranian exiled dissidents.
— AFP |
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Iran may be bluffing, says US
Washington, March 18 The US is concerned that it is simply a device by Iran to try and divert pressure and attention it has been feeling in New York, where the UN Security Council is discussing ways to respond to Tehran’s nuclear programme, National Security Advisor Stephen Hadley said here. Tehran’s acceptance of a US offer to hold talks on Iraq made months ago was an indication of the regime feeling the heat from the comity of nations over the nuclear issue, he said yesterday. “What is interesting is that the Iranians will choose now to embrace this idea and try to expand it to a negotiation about a broader set of issues”, President George W. Bush’s top foreign policy adviser said. Mr Hadley said Iran could be trying to drive a wedge between the US and other countries with which it was working on the nuclear issue. The top White House official stressed that Washington would not allow Tehran’s tactic to succeed. “This is something that we and those who are working with us on these issues will not let happen”, he said. White House spokesman Scott McClellan stressed that the US remained skeptical about Iranian overtures and that those would have no bearing on the issue of Tehran’s nuclear programme. “Iranians have made such statements in the past. You can understand why we remain skeptical, given their history on a variety of issues. This is a regime that we have a number of concerns about”, Mr McClellan told reporters. He rejected the linkage between Iraq and the Iranian nuclear programme. “In what way? I think it is a separate issue”, he said, adding that the US would specifically talk to Iran about its concerns about the unhelpful role in activities inside Iraq. “The nuclear issue is an issue that the regime has with the world. The international community does not want to see the regime develop a nuclear weapon”, the spokesman added.
— PTI |
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Bush vows to finish the mission in Iraq
Washington, March 18 “We will finish the mission. By defeating terrorists in Iraq, we will bring greater security to our own country,” the embattled President said in his weekly radio address. Recent polls have found his approval ratings at some of their lowest levels ever, with more and more Americans skeptical of his handling of the war and dubious that the invasion to remove Saddam Hussein was worth it. “The decision by the USA and our coalition partners to remove Saddam Hussein from power was a difficult decision — and it was the right decision,” President Bush countered. “America and the world are safer today without Saddam Hussein in power. He is no longer oppressing the Iraqi people, sponsoring terror, and threatening the world. He is now being tried for his crimes, and over 25 million Iraqis now live in freedom,” he said. The President did not mention the controversy over the failure to find the weapons of mass destruction at the core of his public case for war. But he said that, in the face of deadly clashes in Iraq, “it may seem difficult at times to understand how we can say that progress is being made” as he tried to put the best face on a wave of bloody sectarian violence. “Our Ambassador to Iraq, Zal
Khalilzad, reports that the violence has created a new sense of urgency among these leaders to form a national unity government as quickly as possible,” said Mr Bush. “The reaction to the recent violence by Iraq’s leaders is a clear sign of Iraq’s commitment to democracy,” he said. “I urge them to continue their work to put aside their differences, to reach out across political, religious, and sectarian lines, and to form a government that can confront the terrorist threat and earn the trust and confidence of all Iraqis,” said Bush.
— AFP
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Indo-US nuclear deal disturbing, says Musharraf
Islamabad, March 18 General Musharraf made these remarks in a brief reference to the Indian deal during an address to soldiers at Bhawalpur yesterday. General Musharraf’s comments are part of an aggressive campaign by Pakistan’s foreign policy establishment which is critical of the deal. During his recent visit to Islamabad, US President George W Bush had ruled out a civilian nuclear deal for Pakistan. General Musharraf said Pakistan was fulfilling its defence needs with the Chinese cooperation. The country’s nuclear arsenals are in safe hands and there is no need to worry about it, he was quoted as saying by The News today.
— PTI |
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80 hurt in Spanish drinking binge
Madrid, March 18 Another 12 persons were hurt and 16 arrested in clashes between the police and street drinkers in the historic city of Salamanca, 180 kms northwest of Madrid, state radio said. Tens of thousands of youths congregated in cities around Spain last night in an attempt to hold the country’s biggest street drinking session or “botellon” (“big bottle”). In Barcelona, the event degenerated into pitched battles between the police and drinkers in the narrow old streets of the city centre that lasted most of the night. The riot began after midnight when youths began throwing bottles and cans at the police who responded with baton charges and fired rubber bullets, according to media reports. Firemen were called out to 50 blazes as the youths set fire to rubbish containers in the streets. Shop windows were broken and several shops ransacked, media reports said. A spokesman for the Barcelona municipal police blamed the disturbances on about 200 persons who he said were out to cause trouble. He said the 68 injured included 37 police officers, some of whom suffered severe cuts when they were hit by bottles. The “botellon” has become part of city life in Spain in recent years as teenagers, bored at home and too poor to go to bars, bought beer, spirits and cartons of wine from food stores and lounged around in plazas, drinking the night
away. — Reuters |
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9 Afghan policemen killed in blast
Kandahar, March 18 In a separate incident, the Taliban claimed responsibility for killing a powerful former Governor of the eastern province of Ghazni, who was shot dead along with four bodyguards. Kandahar Governor Assadullah Khalid said yesterday five policemen were killed after the bodies of the Macedonians were found hidden under brush and sticks in a valley near the border with Helmand province. “At first, the information we got was five policemen were killed and three wounded,” Mr Khalid told Reuters. “But after the bodies were brought to Kandahar, we found that nine policemen had been killed,” he said. Several police vehicles were returning with the bodies when one was hit by a blast, apparently caused by a mine, he said. Three policemen were wounded. Meanwhile, the Taliban said they kidnapped the Macedonians, who were working for a services company, on March 11. A Taliban spokesman said they had been killed on the orders of Taliban leader Mullah Mohammad Omar.
— Reuters |
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LeT militant gets 9-year imprisonment
London, March 18 The Pakistan-trained terrorist, hailing from Coventry, had travelled widely to make available funds from an “unidentified but undeniably terrorist-related source,” Justice Fulford said, while giving his judgment at the Snaresbrook Crown Court yesterday. Khan allegedly used millions of pounds raised by supporters in the UK to purchase Kevlar body armour, firearms and hi-tech surveillance equipment which were sent to rebels in Afghanistan and Jammu and Kashmir. Justice Fulford called on the UK government to urgently consider introducing greater sentencing powers.
— UNI |
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Lack of Arctic sea ice indicates climate change
SEA ice in the Arctic has failed to re-form for the second consecutive winter raising fears that global warming may have tipped the polar regions into irreversible climate change. Satellite measurements of the area of the Arctic covered by sea ice show that for every month this winter the ice failed to return even to its long-term average rate of decline. It is the second winter on the run that the sea ice has not managed to re-form enough to compensate for the unprecedented melting seen during the past few summers. Scientists are now convinced that the Arctic sea ice is showing signs of both a winter and a summer decline that could indicate a major acceleration in its long-term rate of disappearance. The greatest fear is that an environmental "positive feedback" has kicked in where global warming melts ice which in itself causes the seas to warm still further as more sunlight is absorbed by a dark ocean rather than being reflected by white ice. Mark Serreze, a sea ice specialist at the US National Snow and Ice Data Centre in Colorado, said that the latest wintertime satellite readings of the Arctic are of great concern to the scientific community. "In September 2005, the Arctic sea ice cover was at its lowest extent since satellite monitoring began in 1979, and probably the lowest in the past 100 years. While we can't be certain, it looks like 2006 will be more of the same," Dr Serreze said. "Unless conditions turn colder, we may be headed for another year of big sea ice losses, rivalling or perhaps even exceeding what we saw in September 2005. We are of course monitoring the situation closely," Dr Serreze said. "Coupled with recent findings from Nasa that the Greenland ice sheet may be near a tipping point, it's pretty clear that the Arctic is starting to respond to global warming." Although sea levels are not affected by melting sea ice - which floats on the ocean - the Arctic ice cover is thought to be a key moderator of the northern hemisphere's climate. It helps for instance to stabilise the massive land glaciers and ice sheets of Greenland, which have the capacity to raise global sea levels dramatically. Dr Serreze said that some parts of the northern hemisphere experienced very low temperatures this winter - with Britain seeing a later-than-usual spring - but the Arctic as a whole was much warmer than normal. "Even in January, when there were actually record low temperatures in Alaska and parts of Russia, it was still very warm over the Arctic ocean," he said. "The sea ice cover waxes and wanes with the season. It partly melts in spring and summer, then grows back in autumn and winter," Dr Serreze explained. "It has not recovered well this past winter - ice extent for every month since September 2005 has been far below average. And it's been so warm in the Arctic that the ice that has grown this winter is probably rather thin. It won't take as much energy to melt this thinner ice during spring and summer," he said. Professor Peter Wadhams of Cambridge University, who was the first Briton to monitor the Arctic sea ice from nuclear submarines, said that major changes have occurred in recent months. "One of the big changes this winter is that a large area of the Barents Sea has remained ice-free for the first time. This is part of Europe's 'back yard'," Professor Wadhams said. — By arrangement with The Independent, London
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