The New Nation - Internet Edition

Iran army chief warns of shutting Gulf oil lane

AFP, Tehran

Iran's military chiefs warned on Saturday that the Islamic republic would shut down the Strait of Hormuz vital for oil exports and use "blitzkrieg tactics" in the Gulf if it came under attack.

"All the countries should know that if Iran's interests in the region are ignored, it is natural that we will not allow others to use it (the strait)," said army chief General Hassan Firouzabadi, quoted by the Fars news agency.

However, Iran's armed forces joint chief of staff stressed his country's priority was that the Strait of Hormuz remain open.

Speculation has been rife that Israel could be planning a military strike against Iranian nuclear sites, using force to halt Tehran's controversial atomic activities. The chief of Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards militia, General Mohammad Ali Jafari, meanwhile, warned that his forces would use "blitzkrieg tactics" in the Gulf if his country came under attack.

"The Guards are equipped with the most advanced missiles that can strike the enemies' vessels and naval equipment with fatal blows," Fars quoted the Guards chief as saying.

In case of attack, "blitzkrieg tactics and operations of the Guards' boats will not leave a chance for the enemies to run away."

"These words do not mean that the prerequisites of war are being set but these are the strategies that our alert armed forces have prepared for any hypothesis," he added.

The new commander of the US Fifth Fleet, Vice Admiral William Gortney, said on Saturday that the American naval presence in the region was "a very clear message that we are here to maintain security and to provide stability."

"The chief of naval operations wanted me here, I think, because of my experience," Gortney, who was navy chief during the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003, told reporters in Bahrain where the fleet is based. His predecessor, Vice Admiral Kevin J. Cosgriff, has warned that Fifth Fleet would not allow Iran to close the Strait of Hormuz. The strait between Iran and Oman is a vital conduit for energy supplies, with as much as 40 percent of the world's crude passing through the strategic waterway.

US President George W. Bush has not ruled out using force in the nuclear standoff between Iran and the West, but emphasised that he preferred a diplomatic solution.

Iran insists its atomic drive is peaceful, but Western powers fear Tehran is using the programme to develop nuclear weapons.

US removes uranium from stockpile in Iraq

AP, Baghdad

The last major remnant of Saddam Hussein's nuclear program - a huge stockpile of concentrated natural uranium - reached a Canadian port Saturday to complete a secret U.S. operation that included a two-week airlift from Baghdad and a ship voyage crossing two oceans.

The removal of 550 metric tons of "yellowcake" - the seed material for higher-grade nuclear enrichment - was a significant step toward closing the books on Saddam's nuclear legacy. It also brought relief to U.S. and Iraqi authorities who had worried the cache would reach insurgents or smugglers crossing to Iran to aid its nuclear ambitions.

What's now left is the final and complicated push to clean up the remaining radioactive debris at the former Tuwaitha nuclear complex about 12 miles south of Baghdad - using teams that include Iraqi experts recently trained in the Chernobyl fallout zone in Ukraine.

"Everyone is very happy to have this safely out of Iraq," said a senior U.S. official who outlined the nearly three-month operation to The Associated Press. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the subject.

While yellowcake alone is not considered potent enough for a so-called "dirty bomb" - a conventional explosive that disperses radioactive material - it could stir widespread panic if incorporated in a blast. Yellowcake also can be enriched for use in reactors and, at higher levels, nuclear weapons using sophisticated equipment.

The Iraqi government sold the yellowcake to a Canadian uranium producer, Cameco Corp., in a transaction the official described as worth "tens of millions of dollars." A Cameco spokesman, Lyle Krahn, declined to discuss the price, but said the yellowcake will be processed at facilities in Ontario for use in energy-producing reactors. "We are pleased t that we have taken (the yellowcake) from a volatile region into a stable area to produce clean electricity," he said.

The deal culminated more than a year of intense diplomatic and military initiatives - kept hushed in fear of ambushes or attacks once the convoys were under way: first carrying 3,500 barrels by road to Baghdad, then on 37 military flights to the Indian Ocean atoll of Diego Garcia and finally aboard a U.S.-flagged ship for a 8,500-mile trip to Montreal.

And, in a symbolic way, the mission linked the current attempts to stabilize Iraq with some of the high-profile claims about Saddam's weapons capabilities in the buildup to the 2003 invasion.

US soldier among 7 killed in Iraq unrest

AP, Baghdad

At least 7 including a US soldier were killed in different incidents in Iraq.

The U.S. military says an American soldier in Iraq has died of a noncombat cause.

A military statement says the soldier died Saturday.

The statement released Sunday does not elaborate. It says the soldier was assigned to Multinational Corps-Iraq.

A car bomb killed six civilians and wounded 14 other people in the Shaab district of northern Baghdad on Sunday, police said.

One woman was among the dead while three policemen were wounded in the attack, which targeted a police patrol.

The bombing comes at what has otherwise been a relative lull in violence in the Iraqi capital.

Violence in Iraq has dropped to four-year lows, which U.S. officials credit to a surge in U.S. troops last year, a rebellion by Sunni Arab tribal leaders against al Qaeda and a ceasefire by anti-American Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr.

Numbers from the Health Ministry showed 448 civilians were killed in June in Iraq, from 505 May. The May figure was down from 968 civilian deaths in April, a month when fighting spiraled between Shi'ite militias and security forces.

Georgia could spark new war in Abkhazia, says Russia

AFP, Moscow

Russia's defence ministry on Saturday accused Georgia of harbouring plans to take back the separatist province of Abkhazia by force that could trigger a war, Interfax news agency reported.

"Such plans thought up by Tbilisi cannot be seen as anything other than the latest step aimed at escalating tensions in the region, which could turn the conflict into a new war," Interfax quoted a ministry spokesman as saying.

The leader of the separatists in Abkhazia, Sergei Bagapsh, earlier on Saturday said he had been informed of aborted plans for a major military operation by Georgian forces in April or May of this year, Interfax said.

The Russian defence ministry spokesman said the announcement raised "concern," particularly as it allegedly contains detained plans to block the bases of Russian peacekeeping troops operating in the region.

The Russian and Georgian presidents met on Saturday in Kazakhstan during celebrations to mark Astana's 10th anniversary as a capital, with Dmitry Medvedev warning against fomenting tension in the region, according to a Kremlin press service official there.

The official said that Medvedev had spoken with Mikheil Saakashvili and "remarked that it was unacceptable to foment tensions in the region" and "stressed the necessity for a process of negotiations with all the parties involved."

Abkhazia has enjoyed de facto independence since breaking away in a conflict following the collapse of the Soviet Union that killed several thousand people and forced hundreds of thousands to flee their homes.

Tensions have risen since Russia earlier this year moved to bolster ties with Abkhazia, whose independence is not recognised by any country. Abkhazia does however have strong diplomatic and economic support from Russia.

Thousands uprooted by floods in Assam

AFP, Guwahati

Flash floods triggered by heavy monsoon rains have washed away thousands of homes and displaced more than 50,000 people in India's northeastern state of Assam, officials said Sunday.

A government spokesman said the state's eastern district of Lakhimpur was the worst hit, with an estimated 50 villages inundated by flooding that began Saturday. "The situation is critical with many parts of the district under waist-deep water," Lakhimpur police chief S.A. Karim told AFP by telephone.

A government bulletin said the Brahmaputra river, which flows through Tibet, India and Bangladesh before emptying in the Bay of Bengal, and its tributaries were flowing above the danger mark in at least six places. A first wave of monsoon flooding in Assam last month killed eight people and displaced 400,000 others, most of them also in Lakhimpur district.

"Thousands of people are taking shelter in makeshift camps and on embankments and other raised platforms," Karim said, adding that authorities were providing them with food.

The swirling waters of the 2,906-kilometre (1,816-mile) Brahmaputra river have been treacherous across the district, breaching more than a dozen embankments and sweeping away road bridges and stretches of highways.

Authorities said a railway bridge was also washed away, forcing the suspension of train services in the area.

Every year the monsoon causes the river-one of Asia's longest-to flood in Assam, a state of 26 million people.

Kashmir shrine fire sparks massive protest

AFP, Srinagar

At least 30 people were injured in clashes with police after thousands of angry protestors gathered outside a shrine housing Islamic relics that caught fire Saturday in Indian Kashmir's largest city.

The blaze sparked fresh religious tensions in the Muslim-majority Himalayan region, which has already seen days of violent protests over plans to transfer land to a Hindu pilgrims' body, as rumours spread that police had set the fire.

Police said the fire at the shrine in Srinagar was accidental.

"Initial reports suggest that the fire was caused by a short circuit," said a police officer, who did not want to be named.

"We brought the fire under control," he said, calling the rumours "base and misleading."

All the centuries-old relics at the shrine were safe, he added.

But news of the fire at the Jenab Sahib shrine, which is said to house a relic of the Prophet Mohammed, drew thousands of Muslims onto the surrounding streets, shouting "Allah is great" and "Long live Islam."

Police fired in the air, set off tear-gas shells and baton-charged the crowd that was pelting stones at security forces outside the shrine after some of the demonstrators tried to snatch rifles from the police.

Protesters also hurled stones at a nearby paramilitary police camp and at a local police station, witnesses said.

Some 30 people, including eight journalists, five policemen and six firemen were injured in the melee, police said.

Myanmar junta dismisses Suu Kyi’s victory

AP, Yangon

The overwhelming election victory by Aung San Suu Kyi's party in 1990 has been nullified by the approval of a military-backed constitution and her National League for Democracy party should prepare for a new vote in 2010, Myanmar's state-run newspaper said Sunday.

Myanmar's ruling junta said the passing of its constitution in a May referendum - widely dismissed by critics as unfair - shows the public no longer cares about the electoral success by the detained Nobel laureate. Suu Kyi's party won 392 out of 485 seats in the election, the first freely contested poll in nearly three decades.

However, the ruling military refused to hand over power, insisting a new constitution was needed before this could be done.

The military drafted a much-maligned constitution that reinforces its iron grip on power. The constitution was approved in May by 92.48 percent of the vote, but critics say it was marred by irregularities, including reports of citizens being forced to vote yes.

Rather than fighting to get the 1990 results recognized, the Myanma Ahlin newspaper called for the National League for Democracy to spend its energy preparing for a new 2010 election.

"The NLD should prepare for the forthcoming elections instead of clinging onto the 1990 election results, which have already gone down the drain," the commentary said.

Israel blocks West Bank village over protests

Reuters, Ramallah

Israeli forces blockaded a Palestinian village on Saturday in what the army called an effort to curb protests against the construction of a West Bank barrier deemed illegal by the World Court.

Troops were encircling Ni'lin, near the Palestinian city of Ramallah, to prevent would-be foreign protesters from joining protests against the barrier, a network of razor-wire fences and concrete barricades that cuts into occupied West Bank land. "The protests have been getting more violent, and that is what we're trying to stop," an Israeli army spokeswoman said.

The blockade involved declaring the construction site a "closed military zone," a sweeping measure that did not appear to provide access to the area for any peaceful demonstrators.

The military spokeswoman said soldiers stationed around Ni'lin could allow people through "in accordance with security considerations," though the closure was of indefinite duration.

Israel says the barrier is intended to keep out Palestinian suicide bombers. But it also loops around Jewish settlement blocs, cutting off some West Bank villages from swaths of farmland.

Construction sites are flashpoints for confrontations between Israeli security forces and Palestinians, who are often supported by left-wing protesters from Israel and abroad.

UN chief pledges to help boost inter-Korean ties

AFP, Seoul

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon promised Sunday to help improve inter-Korean ties after the North cut off official dialogue with Seoul's new conservative government in protest at its tougher line.

The UN chief made the pledge during a meeting with South Korean Unification Minister Kim Ha-Joong in Seoul on his first visit to his native country since taking office.

Ban responded to Kim's request for help in improving relations by saying he would try to "act as a facilitator" between the two nations, the minister's office said after the pair met at a Seoul hotel.

Ban said the timing of his visit was meaningful, coming amid progress in North Korea's nuclear disarmament process.

North Korea is disabling its nuclear programme under an international aid-for-disarmament deal. In a symbolic gesture, it blew up the cooling tower at its plutonium-producing Yongbyon reactor late June.

"Making the best of this positive atmosphere, I hope the inter-Korean relations will make progress," Ban said.

North Korea suspended dialogue with Seoul after conservative leader Lee Myung-Bak took office in February, denouncing his policy of linking economic assistance to progress in its nuclear disarmament.

Ban has received a hero's welcome on his visit to South Korea, the third leg of a Asian tour following stops in Japan and China. He will leave Monday to attend the Group of Eight summit in Hokkaido.

McCain struggles to regain footing

AP, Washington

John McCain calls himself an underdog. That may be an understatement. The GOP presidential candidate trails Democrat Barack Obama in polls, organization and money while trying to succeed a deeply unpopular fellow Republican in a year that favors Democrats.

McCain also doesn't seem to have a coherent message let alone much of a strategy despite securing the nomination three months earlier than Obama.

"This is a tough race. We are behind. We are the underdog. That's what I like to be," the GOP nominee-in-waiting frequently tells donors these days, keenly aware not only of his woes but also his proven comeback ability: He won his party's nomination despite the implosion of his campaign last summer. One year later, and now in the general election, McCain's troubles are so acute that he recently gave senior adviser Steve Schmidt "full operational control" of the day-to-day campaign and, effectively, scaled back the duties of campaign manager Rick Davis. The shift in responsibilities came after weeks of Republican quibbling that McCain had not adequately made the transition for the fall.

"The frustration is there's no big theme around which to build a winning campaign," said Steve Lombardo, a Republican pollster. "They need a big strategic message that will show the differences between the two campaigns, and allow for a win."

Hope is far from lost: The election is still four months away. The national conventions and the presidential debates are upcoming. Conservative evangelical leaders skeptical of McCain are now coalescing around him. The race remains competitive. And, Obama's campaign is far from flawless.

Obama struggles to thread needle on Iraq

AFP, Washington

After months vowing to get US troops home from Iraq, Barack Obama has succumbed to the war's political entanglements, struggling to explain his plan in the light of recent security gains.

More than five years after the US invasion, the Iraq war is now enmeshing not only the Bush administration which started it, but both men fighting to inherit it, Democratic White House hopeful Obama and Republican John McCain. Obama is torn between a vow to end the war, which underpinned his win over Democratic foe Hillary Clinton and Republican claims his plan invites US humiliation, would delight terrorists and waste gains bought in American blood. The war remains broadly unpopular, but it has fallen behind the economy as the top campaign issue, following a lull in violence. Last month, more American troops were killed in Afghanistan than Iraq.

Under rising Republican pressure, Obama on Thursday said he may "refine" his policies after meeting US commanders in Iraq on a trip expected this month.

But hours later, he hurriedly called a second press conference to insist he had not made the "flip flop" on Iraq that many observers are expecting, as he retools his message for the political center ground.

"I have seen no information that contradicts the notion that we can bring our troops out safely at a pace of one to two brigades per month," a frustrated Obama said.

"My first day in office, I will bring the Joint Chiefs of Staff in, and I will give them a new mission, and that is to end this war.

Obama says he can get most US combat troops home within 16 months, leaving behind a smaller force to fight terrorism and protect the US embassy.

Saudi King to launch inter-faith forum in Madrid

AFP, Riyadh

King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia, whose country is home to Islam's holiest shrines, will launch an inter-faith conference in Spain later this month, the palace said Saturday. The Saudi monarch "will inaugurate the international dialogue conference which will be held under his auspices in Madrid on July 16-18," a statement carried by the official SPA news agency said. The agency said the king had left for Morocco on a private visit ahead of the conference due to be attended by Christians, Jews and Muslims.

In March, King Abdullah proposed talks among the three largest monotheistic religions in a first for the kingdom, which hosts Islam's two holiest shrines in Mecca and Medina. Last month the Mecca-based Muslim World League said the Madrid meeting would bring together representatives from the "followers of God's messages and other cultures."

The term "other cultures" appeared to refer to non-monotheistic religions which Muslims do not recognise as proper religions, unlike Christians and Jews considered under Islam to be People of the Book.

The conference will "discuss cooperation between communities from different religions and cultures over common human values," the league's secretary general Abdullah al-Turki said.

Leading Islamic scholars meeting in the holy city of Mecca in early June also proposed creating a centre to promote relations between religions.

Despite such overtures, Saudi Arabia remains the only Arab Muslim country to ban all non-Islamic religious practices on its soil, even though it has a large community of non-Muslim expatriates.

Last November King Abdullah met Pope Benedict XVI during the first official visit to the Vatican by a monarch from the ultra-conservative Saudi kingdom.

Israel successfully tests missile interceptor

AFP, Jerusalem

Israel has successfully tested a new defence system designed to intercept rockets fired from southern Lebanon and the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip, public radio reported on Sunday.

The "Iron Dome" system is expected to be fully operational within a year and will be able to intercept the military-grade Katyusha rockets used by Lebanon's Hezbollah militia and the cruder Qassam rockets favoured by Hamas.

Citing Israeli security officials, public radio said the system would also be effective against mortar fire which has a much smaller window of warning.

In January Prime Minister Ehud Olmert viewed a prototype of the 200-million-dollar (140-million-euro) system, which is being developed under contract by Rafael Advanced Defence Systems, an Israeli arms manufacturer.

Iron Dome is part of a multi-layered defence system aimed at protecting Israel from both short-range missiles fired by militants in Gaza or Lebanon and longer-range missiles in the arsenals of regional foes Iran and Syria.

Since the outbreak of the latest Palestinian uprising in 2000 Israeli communities near the border with the Gaza Strip have come under frequent rocket and mortar attack, leaving them in a constant state of fear.

The attacks have slowed since a truce between Israel and Hamas came into force on June 19, but the fragile Egyptian-brokered agreement has been tested by occasional rockets and mortar rounds fired by smaller armed groups.