PERSIAN GULF

IRAN APPEARS TO HAVE PLANNED FOR ATOMIC TEST, OFFICIALS SAY

Iranian engineers have completed sophisticated drawings of a deep subterranean shaft, according to officials who have examined classified documents in the hands of American intelligence for more than 20 months.

Complete with remote-controlled sensors to measure pressure and heat, the plans for the 400-meter tunnel appear designed for an underground atomic test detonation that might one day announce Tehran’s arrival as a nuclear power, the officials said.

By the estimates of American and allied intelligence analysts, that day remains as much as a decade away – assuming that Iran applies the full measure of its scientific and industrial resources to the project and encounters no major technical hurdles. But whether Iran’s leaders have reached that decision and what concrete progress the effort has made remain divisive questions among government analysts and U.N. inspectors. In the three years since Iran was forced to acknowledge having a secret uranium enrichment program, Western governments and the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency, have amassed substantial evidence to test the Tehran government’s assertion that it plans to build nothing more than peaceful nuclear power plants.

– The Washington Post

GUNMEN ASSASSINATE SUNNI LEADER; FOUR MARINES DIE IN IRAQ

BAGHDAD, Iraq – Gunmen assassinated a Sunni community leader yesterday in the former extremist stronghold of Fallujah – part of an insurgent campaign to prevent prominent Sunni Arabs from joining the American-backed political process. Bombs and bullets killed at least 11 other people, including four Marines who died in a pair of bombings in western Anbar province.

– Associated Press

WESTERN EUROPE

RADICAL CLERIC SENTENCED TO SEVEN YEARS FOR INCITING TO KILL

LONDON – A radical Muslim cleric linked to September 11 plotter Zacarias Moussaoui was sentenced to seven years in prison yesterday for inciting followers to kill non-Muslims. Abu Hamza al-Masri also faces terrorism charges in America, and a Justice Department spokesman said America “stands ready to resume extradition proceedings” when the British case is completed. Yesterday, Judge Anthony Hughes told Mr. al-Masri that his sermons at the Finsbury Park mosque had endangered people around the world.

– Associated Press

EASTERN EUROPE

POLAND MAY EXTEND IRAQ MISSION TO 2007

WARSAW, Poland – Poland’s new president, speaking ahead of his first visit to America, said yesterday that his country could extend its military mission in Iraq into 2007. President Kaczynski said in an interview with The Associated Press that “staying beyond 2006 is subject to consideration,” although such a move “would call for a new decision.”

– Associated Press

CARIBBEAN

MASSES OF VOTERS OVERWHELM ELECTION WORKERS

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti – Scuffles broke out and polling stations opened hours late yesterday as masses of Haitians waited – sometimes in mile-long lines – to vote under the protection of U.N. peacekeepers crouching behind machine guns and patrolling alongside armored vehicles.

Outside the gang-controlled Cite Soleil slum, frustrated voters pounded on empty ballot boxes and chanted, “It’s time for Cite Soleil to vote!” Government officials sought to maintain calm, assuring Haitians that everyone would have a chance to vote. By mid-afternoon, the process appeared more orderly. U.N. troops were deployed in force to calm the crowds.

– Associated Press

EAST ASIA

BEIJING REJECTS PENTAGON DESCRIPTION OF CHINA AS MILITARY RIVAL

BEIJING – China said yesterday it has formally complained to Washington over a Pentagon report that calls China a potential military threat, and the foreign ministry accused America of trying to mislead public opinion. The report, released Friday, expressed concerns about Beijing’s rising military spending to project power beyond China’s borders.

– Associated Press

PREGNANT PRINCESS COULD CLOUD DEBATE ON JAPANESE SUCCESSION

TOKYO – The people of Japan were astonished to learn yesterday that Princess Kiko is expecting a baby, throwing into turmoil a campaign to allow women to ascend the Chrysanthemum throne. Princess Kiko, 39, is the wife of 40-year-old Prince Akishino, the younger son of Emperor Akihito and second in line to the throne. Under Japan’s current laws, a son born to the couple would enter the line of succession behind his uncle, Crown Prince Naruhito, and his father.

– The Daily Telegraph

MIDDLE EAST

TABOO ‘BEHIND THE VEIL’ NOVEL TOPS THE SAUDI BEST-SELLER LISTS

JERUSALEM – Its heroines are four well-to-do girls about town and its subject their hot gossip on love, lust, men, and money. But the setting for this tale of sex and the city is not New York. It is Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Lamees, Sadeem, Qamrah, and Mashael are “The Girls of Riyadh” – the title for a tell-all novel. The book’s Saudi author, Rajaa al Sanie, is just 24. But in the few months since her novel was published in the Beirut, it has been banned in her country and she has been propelled from unknown dental student to celebrity author. The censor’s stance, however, has made the book much sought after – black market editions are selling for up to 10 times their cover price of $10.

– The Daily Telegraph