The New Nation - Internet Edition

Nuclear suppliers clear US-India deal

AFP, Vienna

The United States finally persuaded supplier nations Saturday to lift a 34-year-old embargo on nuclear trade with India, following weeks of tough negotiations.

The US described the breakthrough on the third consecutive day of talks as an "historic" and "landmark" deal that would boost nuclear non-proliferation, while enabling India to meet its huge needs with low-polluting energy.

India called the agreement an "important step" in normalising its relations with the rest of the world that would help meet the challenge of climate change and sustainable development.

The Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG), which controls the export and sale of nuclear technology, reached consensus on a one-off waiver of its rules for India, which refuses to sign the Non-Proliferation Treaty.

"This is a historic moment for the Nuclear Suppliers Group, for India, for US-Indian relations, indeed India's relations with the rest of the world," acting US Undersecretary for Arms Control and International Security John Rood, told reporters at the end of around 90 minutes of talks on Saturday.

"Today at the NSG, we have reached a landmark decision to allow for civil nuclear trade with India," Rood said. "This is an important moment also for the strengthening of the nuclear non-proliferation regime.

"This is a critically important moment for meeting the energy needs in India, and indeed dealing with the global need for clean and reliable energy supplies."

The NSG banned nuclear trading with India because it refuses to sign the Non-Proliferation Treaty, having developed atomic bombs in secret and conducted its first nuclear test in 1974.

Washington wanted a special waiver so it can share civilian nuclear technology with New Delhi.

Critics say the deal undermines international non-proliferation efforts and accuse the nuclear powers of pursuing commercial and political gains.

Three countries in particular-Austria, Ireland and New Zealand-had been holding out for a clear-cut commitment from India to refrain from nuclear weapons testing.

India finally made a "formal declaration" Friday to stand by its non-proliferation commitments and uphold its moratorium on tests.

Washington was keen to get a deal through so that the US Congress could ratify it before adjourning at the end of September for November's presidential elections.

US President George W. Bush and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh welcomed the "historic achievement" in a telephone conversation between them, the White House said.

"The two leaders congratulated each other on the consensus reached at the Nuclear Suppliers Group meeting in Vienna and expressed appreciation for the joint efforts made there to move forward with civil nuclear cooperation between the United States and India," spokesman Gordon Johndroe said.

"This is a historic achievement that strengthens global nonproliferation principles while assisting India to meet its energy requirements in an environmentally friendly manner," Johndroe said.

As members of his Congress Party danced in the streets in New Delhi, Singh said in a separate statement that the "historic" decision "marks the end of India's decades-long isolation from the nuclear mainstream."

"It is a recognition of India's impeccable non-proliferation credentials and its status as a state with advanced nuclear technology. It will give an impetus to India's pursuit of environmentally sustainable economic growth," he said.

But a senior leader of the main opposition Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party, Yashwant Sinha, said that "India has walked into the non-proliferation trap set by the US, we have given up our right to test nuclear weapons forever, it has been surrendered by the government."

Energy-hungry India, dependent on oil imports, is seeking to broaden its fuel sources to sustain its fast-growing economy. Nuclear power supplies around three percent of India's fuel needs but it aims to hike this to 25 percent by mid-century.

McCain, Obama jostle for mantle of change

AFP, Albuquerque

US presidential candidates jostled for the mantle of change Sunday as more bad economic news threatened to deepen electoral dissatisfaction with the state of the nation.

Republican contender John McCain touted his reputation as a maverick willing to buck his party on critical issues as he toured battleground states with newly-crowned vice presidential pick Sarah Palin.

The running mates spoke of their history of fighting corruption and "pork-barrel spending" and they vowed to reach across the aisle to reform Washington. "I understand who I work for. I don't work for a party, I don't work for a special interest and I don't work for myself. I work for you," McCain told a rally in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

"We're going to win this election and let me offer a little advance warning to the old big spending, do-nothing me-first country second Washington crowd: change is coming. Change is coming."

But Democratic rival Barack Obama ridiculed McCain's promise of change as he tied the Arizona Senator to the failed policies of the Bush administration and his decision to appoint lobbyists to run his campaign.

"Suddenly he's the change agent," Obama said at a campaign stop in Terre Haute, Indiana Saturday.

"He says I'm going to tell those lobbyists that their days of running Washington are over," Obama said.

Thai PM reassures country army 'will not stage coup’

AFP, Bangkok

Thailand's embattled prime minister Samak Sundaravej told the nation Sunday he was confident there would be no military coup, despite weeks of street protests calling for his resignation.

Some 5,000 protesters have been squatting in the grounds of his now-empty offices for nearly two weeks and a state of emergency has been declared across the capital, but Samak said a peaceful resolution was still possible.

"The military believes no coup is the best way to defend the country rather than a coup," Samak said.

After violent street clashes last Monday night, Samak invoked a state of emergency in Bangkok, handing control of the protests to the military.

The army has so far refused to disperse the protesters, but Thai media reported Saturday that senior commanders have ruled out staging a coup-for now.

"I can assure the public that we will not stage a coup because it will bring more complications and nobody agrees to it," Supreme Commander General Boonsrang Niumpradit told the daily Matichon newspaper.

"We are discussing how can we help the nation," he said.

Meanwhile, Samak said he planned to attend a scheduled meeting of the United Nations General Assembly in New York on September 25 -- unless further violence broke out.

"I can't go if there is a riot, but there will be no riot because people in this country know what is what," Samak said.

Israeli president opposes attack on Iran’s nuclear sites

AFP, Jerusalem

Israeli President Shimon Peres said Sunday he opposes a military strike on Iran and prefers the use of international economic sanctions to persuade Tehran to halt its nuclear enrichment programme.

"A military operation is not necessary. I do not think the Americans think in these terms because they have many other cards to play," Peres told Israeli public radio after a meeting with US Vice President Dick Cheney in Italy.

"If the Americans manage to form a coalition to unify their positions with those of Europeans, they have sufficient means to exert pressure on the Iranians," Peres added.

Peres had met Cheney on the sidelines of the Ambrosetti forum on Italy's Lake Como, an international gathering of leaders and experts focused mostly on economic issues.

Israel and the West have repeatedly called on Iran to halt its uranium enrichment programme, which they fear is aimed at developing nuclear weapons but which Tehran defends as part of a peaceful energy venture.

Israel, the region's sole if undeclared nuclear-armed state, has considered Iran its main strategic threat after repeated predictions of its demise by senior Iranian leaders.

Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak said last month after a meeting with visiting US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice that Israel would not rule out any options to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons.

Tehran meanwhile risks a possible fourth round of UN sanctions after it failed to give a clear response to an incentives package offered by six major world powers in return for halting uranium enrichment, a process which makes nuclear fuel but also the core of an atomic bomb.

China, Iran discuss nuclear issue

AP, Beijing

Chinese President Hu Jintao urged flexibility and a peaceful resolution of Iran's nuclear ambitions in a meeting with his Iranian counterpart on Saturday, days after Tehran announced it has increased its number of operating centrifuges.

In talks with President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who was in Beijing for the opening ceremony of the Paralympic Games, Hu said China respects Iran's right to peaceful energy and is pushing for the problem to be solved through negotiations.

"At present, the Iran nuclear issue is faced with a rare opportunity for the resumption of talks, and we hope all parties concerned could seize the opportunity and show flexibility, to push for a peaceful settlement of the issue," Hu was quoted as saying by the official Xinhua News Agency.

State television showed the two men warmly shaking hands and smiling for the cameras at the Great Hall of the People, where Hu had earlier welcomed world leaders to the Paralympics.

The meeting came a little over a week after Iran's Aug. 29 announcement that it had increased the number of operating centrifuges at its uranium enrichment plant to 4,000.

The number was up from the 3,000 centrifuges that Iran announced in November that it was operating at its plant in the central city of Natanz, but still well below the 6,000 it said last year it would operate by summer 2008.

The United Nations has already imposed three rounds of sanctions on Tehran for its refusal to freeze its enrichment program, which can be used to produce either fuel for nuclear reactors or the material needed for nuclear warheads.

US holds off on civilian nuclear pact with Russia

AP, Algiers

Now is not the right time for the U.S. to move forward on a once-celebrated deal for civilian nuclear cooperation with Russia, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Saturday. Her comment increased speculation that President Bush is planning to punish Moscow for invading Georgia, a former Soviet republic, by canceling the agreement. Such a move is being planned, according to senior Bush administration officials, but is not yet final.

"The time isn't right for the Russia agreement," Rice told reporters while flying from Tunisia to Algeria during a visit to North Africa. "We'll be making an announcement about that later." U.S.-Russian relations have cooled considerably since last month's military standoff between Russia and Georgia.

On Saturday, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said the war has shown the world that "Russia is a nation to be reckoned with."

Traveling in Italy, Vice President Dick Cheney pushed back against Moscow, saying: "Russia's actions are an affront to civilized standards and are completely unacceptable."

The nuclear deal was signed in May by U.S. and Russian officials and is now before Congress. It would give the U.S. access to modern Russian nuclear technology and clear the way for Russia to establish itself as a lucrative center for the import and storage of spent nuclear fuel from American-supplied reactors around the world.

Such a deal was seen as crucial to boosting relations with Russia, and to fulfilling Bush's vision of increasing civilian nuclear energy use worldwide as a way to combat rising energy demands and climate change.

Abbas casts doubt on Mideast peace deal this year

AFP, Cairo

Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas on Saturday said there were "no signs" Israel and the Palestinians could reach a peace deal by the end of the year as had been hoped.

"So far, there are no signs to reach an agreement by the end of the year that comprises all the issues" at stake, Abbas told reporters after talks in Cairo with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak.

"There was hope that 2008 would be the year of peace," Abbas said.

"Everyone has made huge efforts: the Palestinians, the Israelis and the Americanst but it does not necessarily mean that we will reach a solution" by the end of the year, he said.

The peace talks were launched at a US-sponsored conference in November with the goal of reaching a comprehensive peace deal by the time US President George W. Bush leaves office in January 2009.

But the two sides remain sharply divided on the core issues of the conflict, despite several meetings in recent months between Israeli and Palestinian negotiators.

Differences focus on the future status of Jerusalem, final borders, the fate of some 4.6 million UN-registered Palestinian refugees, and the future of Jewish settlements on Israeli-occupied territory.

Abbas insisted that the Palestinians "want a solutiont but it must not ignore any of the (key) issues."

On August 31 a senior Israeli government official said his country wants to reach a peace deal with the Palestinians by the end of the year but postpone a final agreement on the future of Jerusalem.

"Both sides are interested in reaching a full agreement by the end of 2008 and believe it is possible," the official said after a meeting between Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert.