The New Nation - Internet Edition

US envoy to join Iran nukes meeting

AP, Washington

A top U.S. diplomat heading to Geneva has no plans to meet separately with Iran's chief nuclear negotiator, but the mere presence of the Bush administration official at talks between the Iranian negotiator and representatives of other world powers will be a sharp break with past administration policy.

William Burns, America's third highest-ranking diplomat, will attend talks with the Iranian envoy, Saeed Jalili, in Switzerland on Saturday. The talks are aimed at persuading Iran to halt activities that could lead to the development of atomic weapons, a senior U.S. official told the Associated Press on Tuesday. It will be the first time such a high-ranking U.S. official has attended such talks.

Official contacts between Iran and the United States are extremely rare and although Washington is part of a six-nation effort to get Iran to stop enriching and reprocessing uranium, the administration has shunned contacts with Tehran on the matter.

The senior U.S. official, who spoke on condition of anonymity ahead of a formal announcement of Burns' plans expected on Wednesday, acknowledged a shift in the administration's approach but stressed that Burns would not meet Jalili separately and would not negotiate with him. "This is a one-time event and he will be there to listen, not negotiate," the official said.

U.S. contact with Iran has recently been limited only to discussions about the security situation in Iraq, where Washington accuses Iran of supporting insurgents. The two countries have not had diplomatic relations since the hostage crisis at the U.S. Embassy in Tehran after the 1979 Islamic revolution in Iran. Saturday's meeting comes at a time of acutely heightened tensions between the United States and Iran, particularly after Iranian missile tests last week prompted President Bush's top aides to warn that the United States would defend its friends and interests in the Middle East. The tensions with Iran have spilled over into the U.S. presidential campaign.

Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama said Iran's missile tests highlight the need for direct diplomacy as well as tougher threats of economic sanctions and strong incentives to persuade Tehran to change its behavior. John McCain, the Republican seeking the presidency, said the tests demonstrated a need for effective missile defense, including missile defense in Europe and the defense system the U.S. plans with the Czech Republic and Poland.

The gathering in Geneva will be led by European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana, who is seeking a definitive answer from the Iranians to an offer of incentives that the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council and Germany presented last month.

The package of incentives was accompanied by a letter from Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and the foreign ministers of the other five countries and sets out a scenario in which Iran would get a temporary reprieve from economic and financial sanctions in exchange for freezing its enrichment activities.

Preliminary negotiations over a permanent halt could then begin, although the United States would not join them until after Iran agrees to fully suspend uranium enrichment, which can produce the fuel needed to make nuclear bombs.

Iran has responded to the offer through the European Union but has indicated it has no plans to stop enriching uranium - the key demand. But there are hopes that Iran may refine its response at Saturday's meeting.

Hezbollah gives coffins to Israel; tests underway

AP, Rosh Hanikra

Lebanese guerrillas on Wednesday handed over two black coffins believed to contain the bodies of Israeli soldiers whose capture started a war, as a prisoner exchange with Israel got under way.

The Israeli army said that forensics teams have begun tests to identify the two bodies. Army spokeswoman Avital Leibovich said the process could take several hours.

Family and friends outside the homes of the two soldiers burst into tears as they watched the handover on television. If the bodies are confirmed to be those of Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev, Israel will turn over five Lebanese prisoners to Lebanon's Hezbollah guerrilla group - including a militant convicted in what is perceived here as a monstrous attack.

The servicemen had been presumed dead, but there had been no confirmation. Their Hezbollah captors had withheld any information about them since they were captured on July 12, 2006, in a cross-border raid that touched off a monthlong war between Israel and Hezbollah. "We are handing over the two Israeli soldiers that were captured by the resistance t and whose fate has been unknown until this moment," senior Hezbollah security official Wafik Safa said. "Now you know their fate."

An aunt of Regev's sank to the ground when she saw the coffins appear on a small TV hooked up outside the soldier's father's house. Some 50 friends, neighbors and family sobbed, rocked back and forth in prayer or pulled their hair.

"Nasrallah, you will pay," several vowed, referring to Hezbollah leader Sheik Hassan Nasrallah. Other people in the crowd criticized Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, saying the soldiers died for nothing.

Olmert waged the much-criticized war against Hezbollah in 2006.

The family's neighbor, Simona Adda, 68, said her children had grown up with Regev. "It's the saddest day for Israel. They kept us waiting until the last second to learn the fate of our sons," she said, then burst out crying.

The sorrow that swept across Israel with the images of the coffins contrasted sharply with the hero's welcome that awaited convicted killer Samir Kantar upon his return to a homeland he left 29 years ago to set out on his deadly mission.

Hezbollah supporters set up a makeshift stage in the coastal town of Naqoura and a drum corps awaited the prisoners' return. On the platform stood a large photograph of a weeping Israeli woman.

A nearby sign read, "Israel is shedding tears of pain." Another read: "Lebanon is shedding tears of joy."

An official ceremony was to follow at Beirut Airport with Lebanon's president, prime minister and parliament speaker in attendendance. Nasrallah was to address what is expected to be a huge celebration at the group's stronghold south of Beirut.

In the Gaza Strip, controlled by the violently anti-Israel Hamas group, people celebrated in the streets and handed out sweets in support of Hezbollah.

US troops pull out of Afghan base after attack

AP, Kabul

U.S. and Afghan troops have abandoned a remote outpost in eastern Afghanistan where militants killed nine American soldiers this week, officials said Wednesday.

Compounding the military setback, insurgents quickly seized the village of Wanat in Nuristan province after driving out the handful of police left behind to defend government offices, Afghan officials said.

Some 50 officers were headed to the area to try to regain control, said Ghoolam Farouq, a senior provincial police official.

Sunday's attack by some 200 militants armed with machine guns, rocket-propelled grenades and mortars was the deadliest for the U.S. military in Afghanistan in three years. Rebels fought their way into the newly established base, wounding another 15 Americans and suffering heavy casualties of their own, before the defenders and warplanes could drive them back. The assault underlined how Islamic militants appear to be gaining strength nearly eight years after the ouster of the Taliban, and the difficulties facing foreign and Afghan forces trying to defeat them. NATO said the post, which lies amid precipitous mountains close to the Pakistan border, had been vacated, but insisted that international and Afghan troops will "retain a strong presence in that area with patrolling and other means."

"We are committed, now more than ever, to establishing a secure environment that will allow even greater opportunities for development and a stronger Afghan governmental influence," NATO spokesman Capt. Mike Finney said.

Omar Sami, spokesman for the Nuristan provincial governor, said American and Afghan soldiers quit the base on Tuesday afternoon. He said they took the district mayor with them.

Sami said U.S. troops armed local police with more than 20 guns before they left, but that the officers had fled the village and crossed into neighboring Kunar province when 100 militants moved into Wanat.

In other violence reported Wednesday, a suicide bombing and a series of clashes left at least 12 Taliban militants and one civilian dead.

Mideast peace deal unlikely this year: Blair

AP, Ramallah

Mideast envoy Tony Blair says he is pessimistic that Israel and the Palestinians will complete a final peace agreement by year's end.

The former prime minister tells the Palestinian newspaper Al-Quds that questions surrounding Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's political fate have complicated the peace effort.

Blair says "the political situation in Israel makes it difficult to continue being optimistic about reaching a peace treaty between the Israelis and Palestinians by the end of the year."

But he says both sides are still determined to work for peace.

The comments were published Wednesday, a day after he canceled a planned visit to the Gaza Strip over reported threats.

US 'displeased' with China, Russia over Zimbabwe

AFP, Washington

US President George W. Bush said Tuesday he was "displeased" with Russia and China for blocking UN sanctions against Robert Mugabe's regime in Zimbabwe and warned Washington could still act on its own.

Moscow and Beijing on Friday vetoed a US-sponsored draft at the UN Security Council that called for an assets freeze and a travel ban on President Mugabe and 13 of his associates as well as an arms embargo.

"I was displeased," Bush told a news conference. "We spent a lot of time on this subject at the G8."

At its summit in Japan last week, the Group of Eight (G8) leading industrial countries discussed the need for UN Security Council resolutions against the regime of Mugabe, who has been in power since 1981.

"I was disappointed that the Russians vetoed" the resolution, he added. Russia-but not China-is on the G8, which also includes the United States, Japan, Canada, Britain, France, Germany and Italy. Zalmay Khalilzad, the US ambassador to the United Nations, has called the veto a "disturbing" U-turn for Moscow, saying Russian President Dmitry Medvedev had backed a G8 summit statement promising new actions against Zimbabwe.

Jendayi Frazer, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's Africa envoy, told senators on Tuesday that China may have won African support with economic aid but was also perceived as enabling authoritarian government in Zimbabwe.

"So a new day is coming in Zimbabwe, and China would want be on the right side of the forces of democratic change," Frazer said.

Bush said the United States was now mulling further US sanctions against Mugabe and his associates.

"I think we need tot analyze whether or not we can have more bilateral sanctions on the regime leaders," Bush told reporters on Tuesday.

He stressed any action taken would target the leaders of Zimbabwe rather than its poeple who are suffering from hyper-inflation and chronic food shortages in the former breadbasket of southern Africa.

"These sanctions are not against the Zimbabwe peoplet The Treasury Department and State Department are now working on potential US action," Bush said.

During her testimony to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Frazer described as "fairly robust" existing US financial and travel restrictions on individuals and companies that support Mugabe.

Iraq takes control of Shiite province from US-led forces

AFP, Diwaniyah

Iraq took control of security in the Shiite province of Diwaniyah on Wednesday, making it the 10th province to be regained by Baghdad from the US-led forces amid a fall in violence nationwide.

"We are receiving the security file," deputy parliament speaker Sheikh Khalid al-Attiya said at the transfer ceremony.

"This day represents a bright page in a series of achievements that show the ability and the strength of the Iraqi forces."

The commander of US-led forces in Diwaniyah, Lieutenant General Lloyd Austin, hailed the achievements made by both military and civilian leaders.

"Qadisiyah has made remarkable progress in security," the general said, using the old name for the province.

"This ceremony isn't just about the level of security. It is also about improvement in government administration," he added.

"We will contiue to stand by Iraqi security forces as they try to estabilish sustainable security."

Iraq's National Security Adviser Muwaffaq al-Rubaie called on provincial leaders to build on the improved security to rebuild the local economy.

"We thank the multinational forces for their contribution to the stability and security of this province," he said in his speech at the handover.

"It is time now for the sons of the province to turn the page of security and start a new page of rebuilding and reconstruction to create new jobs and make the province the most prosperous among all other provinces."

Diwaniyah has seen repeated clashes among Shiite factions-notably between the radical movement of anti-US cleric Moqtada al-Sadr and the rival Supreme Iraqi Islamic Council of Abdel Aziz al-Hakim, a key member of the governing coalition.

Last November, Iraqi and US troops launched a major offensive in Diwaniyah in a bid to stabilise the province of around one million people.

More than 3,000 Iraqi soldiers and police supported by tanks and hundreds of US and Polish troops took part in the assault to flush out Shiite militiamen from the province's capital, also called Diwaniyah.

Nearly 100 militiamen were detained during the operation, many of them loyal to Sadr.

The transfer of Diwaniyah was originally scheduled for June 30 but was delayed after bad weather stopped Iraqi officials making the 180 kilometre (110 mile) trip south from the capital.

Diwaniyah had been under the control of US and Polish forces since the March 2003 invasion.

Malaysian opposition leader Anwar arrested

Reuters, Kuala Lumpur

Malaysian opposition figure Anwar Ibrahim has been arrested for sodomy, his lawyer said on Wednesday, setting the stage for a political showdown that could further rattle the country's financial markets.

The former deputy premier had agreed to meet police on Wednesday on a sodomy complaint lodged by a former aide, and police had warned they would arrest him if he did not show up for questioning. Anwar's lawyers had said he would go to the police for questioning at 0600 GMT, but the arrest came about an hour before that. "They say he was arrested under Section 377 of the Penal Code (sodomy)," Sankara Nair, Anwar's lawyer, said. "He was arrested as a suspect in the case." "There was a lot of fear and intimidation. It's absolutely unnecessary."

Pakistan PM slams Afghan terror allegations

AFP, Islamabad

Pakistani Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani on Wednesday condemned Afghanistan's president for alleging that Islamabad's intelligence services were involved in a string of recent attacks.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai on Monday directly accused Pakistani military intelligence of orchestrating a wave of bloody unrest by Islamic militants, including an attack on the Indian embassy in Kabul, that has left scores dead.

Gilani "has strongly condemned the Afghan president's statement that Pakistan is involved in a series of terrorist attacks inside Afghanistan," a Pakistani government statement said. "Afghan leaders should not give such statements as it will hamper the development process in the region," it quoted Gilani as saying before a cabinet meeting in Islamabad.

Olmert's woes raise questions of ties to US Jews

AP, Jerusalem

A New York fundraiser and a Las Vegas gambling czar have become major headaches for Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, raising new questions about the relationship between Jewish Americans and the Jewish state.

While Israel has had close ties with the U.S. Jewish community throughout its history, some wealthy American donors have extended their influence to Israel's halls of power, crossing what many Israelis see as a red line. The cases of fundraiser Morris Talansky and casino mogul Sheldon Adelson have drawn new attention to this sometimes blurry relationship.

Talansky's testimony that he handed Olmert cash-stuffed envelopes in the years before he became prime minister is at the center of a scandal that may topple the Israeli leader. Olmert's lawyers are set to cross-examine Talansky on Thursday.

Adelson, meanwhile, has launched a newspaper that makes no bones about its disgust with Olmert.

Africa must turn page of history in Zimbabwe: Rice

AFP, Washington

Africa must ensure that the people of Zimbabwe break free of President Robert Mugabe's "tyranny" to ensure stability in southern Africa, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Tuesday.

"In the Mugabe regime we see the page of history that Africa must turn, a leader for independence, which inherited a nation full of promise, but which has devolved into a tyranny that values nothing but power," Rice told an African investment forum in Washington. "It is hard to imagine how Africa will ever reach its full potential until all of its leaders are accountable to and respectful of the will of its people," Rice told the 2008 African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) Forum. "Southern Africa will face perennial instability until the peaceful aspirations of all Zimbabweans are respected and reflected in their government.

Fires rage outside Athens, existence threatened

Reuters, Athens

Hundreds of firefighters battled fires that raged along the outskirts of Athens on Wednesday, some started by gypsies burning for scrap, with the fronts threatening to cut off a major highway out of the city.

Some 30 fire engines, and two helicopters were battling to control the flames near the industrial town of Aspropyrgos, 20 kilometers (12 miles) west of Athens, Greek fire officials said.

The fires were approaching the major road artery of Attiki Odos, which connects Athens to the country's national highway network, and officials were starting to divert traffic to parallel roads. At least four warehouses were damaged with dozens more threatened in what is one of Greece's main industrial zones. Hundreds of factories, warehouses and businesses are based in Aspropyrgos. The blazes were part of at least 102 fronts burning across the country, with firefighters battling blazes in central, northern Greece and the island of Andros, officials said.

"The situation is still difficult but houses are not threatened. It was quite bad this morning," Aspropyrgos deputy mayor George Tsokas told Reuters. "It seems as if some of the fires started from a gypsy settlement early this morning."