Foreign Desk

EASTERN EUROPEREFORMIST WINS ROMANIAN RUNOFFBUCHAREST, Romania – Bucharest mayor and reformist opposition candidate Traian Basescu won an unexpected victory yesterday in Romania’s presidential runoff election, ending a decade of rule by successors to this country’s former Communist regime.Mr. Basescu, a former ship captain, vowed to fight widespread corruption, restore press freedoms, and prepare Romania to join the European Union by 2007.He has also said he supports social reform, including greater rights for gays – a stance that drew heavy criticism from the country’s powerful Orthodox Christian Church. He defeated Prime Minister Nastase, who was supported by outgoing President Iliescu, Romania’s leader for 11 of the last 15 years since the revolution that deposed former dictator Nicolae Ceausescu.Mr. Iliescu said the elections were fair and confirmed that Romania now has a working democracy.– Associated PressUKRAINE MOVES TO CONTROL INVESTIGATION OF LEADER’S ILLNESSUkraine’s outgoing government sought yesterday to control the inquiry into the poisoning of presidential candidate Viktor Yushchenko, with officials close to the government taking charge of investigations into who tried to harm or kill the leader of the “Orange Revolution.”The head of a new inquiry by lawmakers – an ally of Mr. Yushchenko’s opponent in the court-ordered December 26 presidential rematch – immediately cast doubt on whether deliberate poisoning could be proven. The decision by a parliamentary commission to reopen its probe came a day after a similar move by the country’s new top prosecutor.Mr. Yushchenko praised the prosecutor general, Svyatoslav Piskun, on Sunday for resuming the investigation after an elite clinic in Austria determined over the weekend he had been poisoned by dioxin.But he said he hoped the investigation would be conducted after the election because he didn’t want it to influence the vote “positively or negatively.”– Associated PressPERSIAN GULFTEENAGE SEX SLAVE SENTENCED TO DEATHA 19-year-old Iranian girl with a mental age of 8 who was forced into prostitution by her mother has been sentenced to be flogged and executed for “morality-related” offenses, Amnesty International said yesterday. The human rights pressure group has asked Iran’s Supreme Court to stay the execution. The girl, named only as Leyla M., had suffered a “litany of abuse,” it said.“Sold into prostitution at the age of eight, she has experienced horrific sexual violence. We will not stand by mutely and let Leyla become the fourth child to be executed in Iran this year.” Leyla, who was born in the central Iranian city of Arak, was sold by her family to an Afghan man to become his “temporary wife,” at the age of 12. The man’s mother became her new pimp, according to an Iranian newspaper report.Two years later, Leyla became pregnant and received 100 lashes before being sold to a 55-year-old man who continued to force her into prostitution. The sentence was passed on the basis of a confession from Leyla despite her mental age.Iran, as a party to the International Convention on Civil and Political Rights, has technically agreed not to execute anyone for an offense committed when they were under 18.– The Daily TelegraphIRAQ AMBASSADOR CHIDES U.N.Iraq’s ambassador to the United Nations, Samir Sumaidaie, yesterday chided the organization for the small number of officials it has sent to Iraq, calling for a significant addition before the January 31 election there.“We would like the U.N. to be more widely present in Iraq,” Mr. Sumaidaie told reporters yesterday after a meeting with the Security Council. While he acknowledged that the security situation is not yet perfect, he nevertheless said that some areas in the northern and southern regions of Iraq are safe enough for the U.N.“In Irbil and Basra conditions now are sufficiently calm and secure for U.N. to have a presence,” he argued, adding that a “significant” addition of U.N. officials in the country could add to the perception of a fair and credible election. “We want not only to do the election properly but to be seen as to be done properly,” he said.Secretary-General Annan’s personal representative in Iraq, Ashraf Qazi, said that the U.N. presence in Iraq is adequate and that there will be a sufficient number of U.N. officials there at the time of the election, adding that sending U.N. officials to areas beyond Baghdad is “under consideration.”“I believe there will be enough” officials, he said, adding that currently there are 23 U.N. election experts in Iraq. With the addition of a dedicated protection force, he added, “The chief electoral expert will supervise over 50 people.” He added that it was unfair to compare the U.N.’s numbers in Iraq to their recent staffing levels in Afghanistan, where the U.N. was responsible for supervising the presidential election.– Special to the Sun

Foreign Desk

Foreign Desk

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