Iran Rejects European Proposal To Stop Nuclear Plans
Iran rejected the EU's offer to stop the production of enriched Uranium.
"The proposals are unacceptable because Iran's right to enrich uranium is not included," Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi told IRNA news agency. "The Europeans' submitted proposals regarding the nuclear case are not acceptable for Iran," he added.
The European mediators, Britain, France and Germany, had offered Teheran a package of incentives in order to stop the nuclear activity. They also scheluded a meeting on Tuesday with the UN's nuclear agency, the IAEA. In the case that the IAEA decides positively, the issue could be passed over to the UN Security Council.
Asefi has also said that during the next week-end, his country could give a definitive answer on the matter.
In the meantime,
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was being appointed as Iran's new Prime Minister by one of the most powerful political figures in this country: the Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Ahmadinejad is now called to decide the names of the new Ministers to be appointed in his government, in order to accomplish the goals of social justice and peace.
He said, "we want justice, peace and honor for all" and "managers of the Islamic government have no duty but to serve the people," while holding the Quran during the parliamentary ceremony.
Speaking about the nuclear issue, Ahmadinejad remarked how his country need not be considered a menace by the Westerners:
"We are logical and respect international rules, but will not give in to those who want to violate our rights," and "The Iranian nation cannot be intimidated."
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Il Romanaccio at 11:47 AM
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Il Romanaccio at 3:32 PM
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ISRAELI SECURITY FORCES IN ALERTTask forces of Israeli soldiers were sent to the heavily Arab northern areas in order to avoid riots after
Thursday's incident in which a young Jewish man killed four Israeli-Arabs.
Tension is now high in and around the site of the attack, the town of Shafa Amr. As a result, the government decided to declare a state of alert, as there is fear of "a possible wave of Arab unrest", said al-Jazeera.
A shrine in Jerusalem is another hotspot for possible attacks since prayers for the next Friday were scheluded to take place there.
Hamas has threatened to avenge the death of the four Arabs in a statement, while security agencies have warned about the possibility of having young Jews murdering Arab citizens in an attempt to delay the pull-back from the occupied territories.
Israeli Prime Minister, Ariel Sharon has defined the tragic event has "a despicable act by a bloodthirsty terrorist". His Palestinian counterpart, Mahmmoud Abbas, has instead blamed the Israeli authorities on the grounds that the settlers are free to own weapons, "because they are dangerous to the security and peace between the two people."
Another comment on the issue comes from a member of the Israeli Parliament, Muhammad Baraka:
"We are witnessing attempts by extreme right-wing people - terrorists - who want to set the region ablaze and feel they have freedom of action in light of the behavior of the security, political and judicial establishment," he told Israeli Radio.
The hardest challenge for the authorities is now trying to avoid clashes between Jewish and Arab civillians, as underlined by another member of the Arab Knesset, Ahmed Teibi, who said,
"This is the inevitable outcome of years of racist and fascist incitement against everything and anything Arab."
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Il Romanaccio at 1:11 PM
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Il Romanaccio at 2:57 PM
Bush Thinks Twice: We Are Staying in Iraq
US President George W. Bush announced that the troops are going to stay in Iraq until the end of the war. The decision was made after the death of fourteen marines yesterday in the city of Haditha.
Meanwhile, the American people are more pessimistic about the accomplishment of operation "Enduring Freedom", turning the nickname into "Enduring Struggle". The death toll of more than 1,800 US troops since the war started is now becoming a big problem for the government.
According to the BBC, a US general said:
If we lose America, we lose the war.
"We're at war. We're facing an enemy that is ruthless. If we put out a (pullout) timetable the enemy would adjust their tactics," said Bush, speaking at a meeting in Texas.
"They want us to retreat. They will fail. They do not understand the character and the strength of the United States of America," he added, contradicting his general's opinion.
He also expressed the concept that the best way to honor the dead soldiers is to accomplish the mission in Iraq: spread democracy with weapons. It sounds like a joke but is not. Moreover, the president is always concerned about the draft of the new Iraqi constitution, scheduled for August 15 and the forthcoming December election.
The Ansar al-Sunna group has claimed responsibility for the Monday attack with an internet statement not yet verified.
Senior US officers privately told the press that their greatest concern is to avoid having a bad effect on public opinion because of the high death toll...
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Il Romanaccio at 12:17 PM
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Il Romanaccio at 1:55 PM
AHMADINEJAD'S FIRST DAY AS THE NEW IRANIAN PRESIDENTMahmoud Ahmadinejad on his first day as the new Iranian President has to face mounting international pressure on the nuclear issue in his country. The 48 year-old extremist politician easily won the presidential election in June and was appointed as the new President by Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Ahmadinejad was suspected of taking part in the attack of the US Embassy in Teheran in '79. He was recognized by some of the victims from the United States.
The USA is now accusing Iran of trying to estabilish a nuclear program in order to be able to make atomic bombs. Teheran says it intends a peaceful use of every nuclear activity. The ex-President Umar Karami successfully convinced Russian President Vladimir Putin to join their coalition and Moscow became an ally of Iran on the issue.
According to al-Jazeera, the reason why Ahmadinejad won the past presidential election is because he conviced the voters that he is a honest Muslim who cares about the economic problems of the people.
Having an anti-US President in Iran will be problematic and he probablywon't do anything to change the situation. Moreover, he already said that his country is strong enough even without any help from Washington.
Iranian diplomats and far right groups said the new president will probably not change his attitude toward the rest of the world, as Katmai did not.
A diplomat commented, "I ask if Iran could possibly be more hardline on nuclear policy than it is at the moment," and "the resumption of these nuclear activities seems to show that there will be continuity in policy."
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Il Romanaccio at 11:39 AM
King Fahd To Be Buried, Dignitaries Pay VisitBorn in 1923 in Riyadh and raised as one of the most influential political figures in Saudi Arabia,
Fahd bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud led this country since 1982.
His father, King Abdud Aziz Al Saud, had previously founded it in 1932.
A heart disease suffered in 1995 forced Fahd to leave the leading role to
Crown Prince Abdullah. He died on August 1, 2005 and dignitaries from around the world are now going to pay a visit in his honor.
"We feel sorrow and pain over the death of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Fahd. We have known this man for a long time... he showed support and commitment to the Palestinian revolution and to Fatah since the 1960s," said the first to arrive,
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. The Saudi Ambassador for the UK, Prince Turki al Faisal, wanted to underline some political goals reached by the monarch:
"[Fahd was responsible for] the establishment of human rights, stress on the fact that women should play an equal role in the development of Saudi Arabia as men, and also stressing of the fact that the practice of Islam in Saudi Arabia is a practice of the middle road, as the prophet Mohammed defined it."
French President Jacques Chirac said the king was an important diplomatic figure as well as a good mediator:
"King Fahd was also committed to the strong and trusting relations between France and Saudi Arabia. This old friendship, which began with an exceptional link established by General De Gaulle, took on a new dimension under his reign, helped by a shared vision of what was at stake regionally and internationally," said the French politician.
George W. Bush said:
"King Fahd was a man of wisdom and a leader who commanded respect throughout the entire world. He was a friend and strong ally of the United States for decades."
UK Prime Minister
Tony Blair's words appeared very sincere:
"King Fahd was a man of great vision and leadership who inspired his countrymen for a quarter of a century as king. He led Saudi Arabia through a period of unparalleled progress and development."
According to the heritage of
Wahhabism, the funeral ceremony will be short and simple. Also the King, who died at the age of 84, will be buried among his half brothers Saud, Faisal and Khaled, at the al-Oud cemetery, near the Imam Turki bin Abdullah Mosque.
"His grave will be like the grave of all Muslims...
There is no difference between him and other Muslims," as Grand Mufti Sheikh Abdulaziz bin Abdullah al-Sheikh explained.
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Il Romanaccio at 1:12 PM
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Il Romanaccio at 1:23 PM
IRAN TO RESTART NUCLEAR PLANSThe Iranian government announced on Sunday that they will partially restart the production of enriched uranium, due to the expiration of the August 1 deadline previously agreed with the international mediators.
The new Teheran cabinet will, however, continue talks with the European commission over the issue in an attempt to reach a new agreement. A political and economic offer from the so-called European "big three", France, Britain and Germany, is ready to balance the loss of the nuclear opportunity by Iran.
"We will continue our talks with the EU. Iran will not resume uranium enrichment," and "the Europeans have until 1700 (1230 GMT) today to submit their proposals," a spokesman for the Supreme National Security Council told Reuters.
Ali Aghamohammadi also added that, in case Iran does not receive any proposal from the EU,
"
the only activity we will resume is to lift part of the uranium conversion facility at Isfahan and it will be only limited activities."
Meanwhile,
London denies the existence of any deadline related to the issue on the grounds that they wanted to talk about the nuclear program with
President Ahmadinejad and his cabinet on August 3.
Teheran has instead claimed its right to a peaceful nuclear program under the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT). But even if the
ex-Iranian President Katami wanted to wait for the European approval, "we prefer to do it with their agreement", he said, the USA is still an arch enemy of the Middle Eastern state.
A European diplomat, speaking from the International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna, said that they were "warning about the consequences of breaking the suspension and that this will lead to the matter being taken to the UN Security Council." This seems a straight message to the new Iranian cabinet, which is now forced to make a decision on the matter in a short amount of time.
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Il Romanaccio at 11:31 AM