WESTERN EUROPE

DIPLOMATS: IAEA TO GO BACK TO IRANIAN SITE

VIENNA, Austria – The U.N. nuclear watchdog agency is pushing for a fresh look at an Iranian military complex linked by America to possible atomic arms research just days after being granted limited access, diplomats said yesterday.

The International Atomic Energy Agency is interested in testing another part of the sprawling Parchin complex just outside Tehran in its search for radiation that could point to such research, the diplomats said.

The Bush administration has accused Iran of being part of an “axis of evil” with North Korea and prewar Iraq. America alleges Iran may be testing high-explosive components for nuclear weapons, using an inert core of depleted uranium at Parchin as a dry run for a bomb that would use fissile material.

The request by the Vienna-based IAEA comes just days after its inspectors were given partial access to the site and were allowed to take environmental samples for analysis in the agency’s European laboratories. The diplomats, who are familiar with the agency’s investigation of Iran’s nuclear programs, said that as far as they knew the IAEA experts were not impeded beyond the limitations placed on where they could take their samples. But one of the diplomats said the fact that the agency had requested fresh access to another part of the site suggested there are continued open questions about the nature of the work conducted at Parchin. Meanwhile, Iran says it could deter attacks against it, its defense minister said in remarks published yesterday, one day after President Bush said he would not rule out action against Iran, according to Reuters.

– Associated Press

CAR BOMB EXPLODES IN SPAIN’S BASQUE REGION

GETXO, Spain – A car bomb exploded yesterday near the main Basque city of Bilbao after a warning call purportedly from the armed separatist group ETA, and a policeman was slightly wounded, the Interior Ministry said.

The bomb exploded in Getxo, a wealthy town nine miles north of Bilbao, a ministry official in Madrid said. The explosion came amid growing speculation that ETA might call a cease-fire.

The explosion occurred after a person claiming to represent ETA called the Basque newspaper Gara, which often serves as a mouthpiece for the group.

One policeman was slightly injured while helping cordon off the area identified by the caller as the target, the Interior Ministry office in Bilbao said.

The bomb destroyed the car carrying it and shattered many nearby windows, witnesses said. Getxo is home to many wealthy Basques who have been targeted by ETA for extortion payments – a key source of funding its violent campaign for independence. The town has been targeted by ETA bombers several times in recent years.

– Associated Press

BRITISH ABUSE CASE IN IRAQ GOES TO TRIAL

OSNABRUECK, Germany – A court-martial jury viewed photos of what prosecutors called “shocking and appalling” mistreatment of Iraqis as three British soldiers went on trial yesterday for the alleged abuse.

One soldier pleaded guilty to beating an Iraqi detainee, but he and the two others rejected all other charges at the opening of Britain’s first case of its kind to go to trial. In America last week, American Army Specialist Charles Graner Jr. was sentenced to 10 years in prison in the first trial stemming from scandal over abuse of prisoners at the Abu Ghraib prison.

Photos taken in May 2003 by British soldiers showed a bound Iraqi being dangled over a loading dock by a forklift, another being subjected to a simulated kick, and both Iraqis stripped and simulating sexual acts together.

“It cannot be said that those images depict something that is anything other than shocking and appalling,” prosecutor Lieutenant Colonel Nick Clapham told the court.

Photos of alleged mistreatment published in a British newspaper led to investigations against the three men.

Prosecutors alleged the events happened on a single day at a warehouse compound west of Basra that British troops had taken in April 2003 and were using to stockpile food aid for Iraqis.

– Associated Press

MIDDLE EAST

REPORT: ISRAEL, BANKS HAVE MILLIONS BELONGING TO HOLOCAUST SURVIVORS

The Israeli government and several banks hold assets belonging to Holocaust victims worth $212 million, according a parliamentary report released yesterday.

The unclaimed accounts belong to European Jews who deposited money in banks in what was then the British Mandate of Palestine. Many of the account holders were among the 6 million Jews killed in the Nazi genocide during World War II, the report by a government committee said.

The report comes after banks in Switzerland agreed to pay out hundreds of millions of dollars and open their records, after they were accused of hiding and misappropriating Jewish accounts from the war.

Israel’s Parliament approved the panel’s report yesterday, saying the money must be returned to the heirs of the account-holders. The names of known account owners were published on the parliamentary Internet Web site.

The committee’s 57-page report criticized the government and banks for not doing enough to find the accounts’ owners.

– Associated Press

SOUTH ASIA

INDIA ACCUSES PAKISTAN OF BREAKING CEASE-FIRE

NEW DELHI – India accused Pakistani soldiers yesterday of firing mortar shells across the dividing line in Kashmir in the first violation of a 14-month cease-fire between the South Asian nuclear-armed rivals.

The cease-fire was the longest since an insurgent campaign in the divided Himalayan province began in 1989. Both countries claim the mainly Muslim, former princely state in its entirety and have fought two wars over it.

A senior army official said there were no casualties on the Indian side, and Indian troops had not retaliated.

The reports of firing came hours after another setback to the ties between the traditional South Asian rivals, which are now pursuing peace. Islamabad accused New Delhi of deliberately scuttling talks on a disputed dam that India is building on its side of Kashmir and appealed to the World Bank to help resolve the issue. Pakistani Foreign Ministry spokesman Masood Khan said the dispute will cast a “bad light” on the peace dialogue.

– Associated Press