Foreign Desk

This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.

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PERSIAN GULF


IRAN PRODUCING URANIUM METAL


Iran is still converting uranium in a process that can be used to make nuclear weapons as it exploits a loophole in a recent deal it made to freeze such activities, diplomats said yesterday. The diplomats said that Tehran is still turning tons of raw uranium into uranium metal and has said it would continue to do so until February. The metal is a precursor of uranium hexafluoride – a substance that can then be used to produce weapons-grade uranium.


Concerns about Iran grew after revelations in mid-2002 of two secret nuclear facilities – a uranium enrichment plant at Natanz and a heavy water production plant near Arak. That led to a subsequent IAEA investigation of what turned out to be nearly two decades of covert nuclear activities, including suspicious “dual use” experiments that can be linked to weapons programs.


– Associated Press


MIDDLE EAST


WORLD BANK URGES PALESTINIAN ECONOMIC REFORM


JERUSALEM, Israel – The president of the World Bank pushed yesterday for Palestinian Arab economic reforms and the lifting of Israeli travel restrictions in the West Bank in exchange for an additional $500 million in desperately needed aid to the Palestinian Arabs.


The visit by James Wolfensohn, his first since the outbreak of Israeli-Palestinian violence in 2000, came as Prime Minister Blair arrived in Jerusalem for talks today with Israeli and Palestinian Arab officials. Mr. Blair was the most senior in a stream of international officials traveling here in recent weeks to bolster new peace efforts following the death of Yasser Arafat last month. The diplomats also hoped to build on Prime Minister Sharon’s plans to pull out of the Gaza Strip next year. Britain is proposing a Middle East conference to promote peace prospects. However, no date has been set, and Israel has said it will not attend.


– Associated Press


EASTERN EUROPE


PUTIN SAYS HE WOULD WORK WITH YUSHCHENKO


DONETSK, Ukraine – Supporters of presidential candidate Viktor Yushchenko traveling in a convoy of 50 orange-draped cars ran into a roadblock of his rival’s backers yesterday and failed to carry their campaign into this industrial city – a center of opposition to Mr. Yushchenko. With five days until Sunday’s court-ordered rerun of Mr. Yushchenko’s runoff election against Prime Minister Yanukovich, the face-off underscored the division in this former Soviet republic of 48 million people between the expanding European Union and a reinvigorated Russia.


But in a conciliatory gesture, President Putin, who has strongly backed Ukraine’s prime minister, said yesterday that he could work with an administration headed by Mr. Yushchenko, a former prime minister and head of the Central Bank. “We have worked with him already and the cooperation was not bad,” Mr. Putin said during a visit to Germany. “If he wins, I don’t see any problems.” Mr. Putin had irritated Western nations by quickly congratulating Mr. Yanukovich after he was declared the winner of last month’s presidential runoff, only to see his purported victory canceled because of vote-rigging.


– Associated Press


SOUTHEAST ASIA


INDONESIAN CLERIC LINKED TO BOMBING


JAKARTA, Indonesia – A witness yesterday for the first time linked an aging Indonesian cleric to a regional terror group affiliated with Al Qaeda and blamed for nightclub bombings in Bali that killed 202 people two years ago. The witness, Nasir Abbas, said he was a former operative with the Jemaah Islamiyah terror group and that cleric Abu Bakar Bashir claimed to have met with Al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden in Afghanistan.


Mr. Bashir is being tried on charges of leading Jemaah Islamiyah and inspiring his followers to carry out the October 12, 2002, bombings – whose victims included seven Americans – and last year’s attack on the J.W. Marriott hotel in Jakarta that killed 12 people. If convicted, Mr. Bashir could be sentenced to death.


– Associated Press


SOUTH ASIA


INTERNET SEX SCANDAL IN INDIA


NEW DELHI – It was a private act of two hormone-charged teenagers that lasted 2 minutes and 37 seconds on digital video. But offered for sale on the Internet, the fuzzy images of the 17-year-old girl having oral sex with her high school sweetheart has sent shock waves through urban India, exposing the growing friction between the conservative middle class, its increasingly Westernized progeny and modern technology.


India may be the birthplace of Kama Sutra, the 6th century sex manual, but sex today is a generally taboo subject. Premarital sex is not widely condoned, and public displays of affection draw frowns. Caught in the scandal’s stinging sweep is Avnish Bajaj, the Indian-born American who heads eBay’s Indian subsidiary Baazee.com, where the video clip – shot by the schoolboy himself using his cell phone camera – was put up for sale. Arrested last week under an ambiguous Indian law on cyber porn, Mr. Bajaj was freed after posting bail yesterday, but his American passport remained confiscated. Mr. Bajaj’s arrest triggered a diplomatic spat between America and India and a threat by eBay executives to reconsider doing business in a country that would toss one of their top managers in jail as a scapegoat.


– Associated Press


SOUTHERN AFRICA


RULING PARTY CANDIDATE DECLARED WINNER


MAPUTO, Mozambique – Ruling party candidate Armando Guebuza was declared the winner yesterday of Mozambique’s presidential election – a poll marred by such voter apathy that it raised questions about the health of an emerging democracy in one of the world’s poorest countries. Mozambique’s Electoral Commission said Mr. Guebuza received 64% of the vote in the December 1-2 elections, and his ruling Frelimo party took control of Parliament by winning 161 of 251 seats. The leader of the opposition Renamo party, Afonso Dhlakama, finished second in the presidential race for the third consecutive time after receiving 29% of the vote. His party won the remaining 90 seats in Parliament, the commission said. No more than 40% of Mozambique’s eligible voters cast ballots.


– Associated Press

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This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.


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