APS Diplomat Recorder articles from February 2004

APS Diplomat Recorder archives from February 2004

ARAB-EUROPEAN RELATIONS - Feb. 2 - Blair Agrees To WMD Inquiry.
February 7, 2004... British PM Blair agrees to a full independent inquiry into the failure to find weapons of mass destruction (WMD) in Iraq, conceding the possibility that his chief argument for war may have been wrong. He bowed to demands for a probe from Labour...

ARAB-EUROPEAN RELATIONS - Feb. 2 - Italian Court Convicts 5 Arabs Of Terror Links.
February 7, 2004... A Milan court convicts 5 Arabs of supporting terror groups and sentences them to 4-8 years in jail. It says they gave financial and logistic support to a militant Algerian organization, the Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat, believed to...

ARAB-EUROPEAN RELATIONS - Feb. 2 - EU Opposes Court Case Against Israeli Barrier.
February 7, 2004... The EU has written to the World Court (ICJ) to express its opposition to the opening of legal action against the West Bank security barrier that Israel is building. Although the EU has repeated its criticism of the barrier in this letter, the...

ARABS-ISRAEL - Feb. 1 - Soldiers Kill Jericho Militant.
February 7, 2004... Israeli soldiers kill a Palestinian militant in a raid on a house in Jericho (the first incursion into the Jordan Valley town in many months). The dead man was later identified as a member of a military offshoot of Arafat's Fatah. The Israeli...

ARABS-ISRAEL - Feb. 3 - Sharon May Exclude Israeli Arabs.
February 7, 2004... Maariv daily quotes PM Sharon as saying he is considering a proposal to redraw Israel's border to exclude tens of thousands of its Arab citizens, turning them over to a Palestinian state in a peace accord. (Such a territory-and-population...

ARABS-ISRAEL - Feb. 4 - Sharon Ready For Referendum.
February 7, 2004... Sharon says he is prepared to hold a referendum on plans to evacuate Jewish settlements in the Gaza Strip. This has enraged settlers and their rightist patrons, putting Sharon's coalition in jeopardy. But polls show most Israelis favour...

ARABS-UN - Feb. 3 - Annan On Ending Iraq Deadlock.
February 7, 2004... Speaking in the White House with Pres. Bush at his side, Sec-Gen Annan says: "The CPA, that is the coalition led by Mr [Paul] Bremer, and the IGC, when they met me in New York (on Jan. 19), indicated that they would accept the conclusions of...

ARAB-US RELATIONS - Jan. 31 - Bush OKs Inquiry Into Intelligence On WMD; Kay's Comment.
February 7, 2004... Prompted by the comments of former chief weapons inspector in Iraq David Kay, Pres. Bush has agreed to a bipartisan, independent investigation of the flawed pre-war intelligence on Iraq's WMD, which has compelled British PM Blair to do the same...

ARAB-US RELATIONS - Feb. 5 - Tenet Admits Faults.
February 7, 2004... In a (hurriedly arranged) speech at Georgetown University, CIA Director George Tenet acknowledges that the agency might have over-estimated Iraq's WMD capabilities, blaming inaccurate human intelligence for some of the flaws. But he adds: "No...

ARAB-US RELATIONS - Feb. 5 - Bush Admits Iraq May Not Have Had WMD.
February 7, 2004... (In an intense, hour-long interview to be broadcast on NBC's Meet the Press and recorded in the White House on Feb. 7), Bush denies he led the US into war on false pretences but acknowledges for the first time that Iraq might not have had...

AFGHANISTAN - Feb. 4 - Intelligence Chief Out.
February 7, 2004... The removal of Mohammad Arif Sarwari from the National Security Directorate is announced by the official Bakhtar news agency. Four provincial governors and several police chiefs in the regions were named last week as part of the government's...

IRAN - Feb. 1 - MPs Resign.
February 7, 2004... More than a third of the MPs present their resignations after the Guardians Council confirmed the banning of 2,450 candidates, including at least 80 deputies, from the Feb. 20 elections. (The GC decision, after 3 weeks in which reformist...

IRAN - Feb. 4 - Poll Goes Ahead, says Khamenei.
February 7, 2004... Supreme Leader Khamenei insists that the Feb. 20 parliamentary elections would go ahead as planned and thereby "intimidate the enemies of Islam". He says any "withdrawal" from the political process is against both Iranian law and the Sharia....

IRAQ - Feb. 1 - Suicide Bombs Kill Over 100 Kurds.
February 7, 2004... Two suicide bombers blow themselves up almost simultaneously in KDP and PUK offices in Arbil, killing more than 100 people and shattering the start of the Muslim feast of Eid Al-Adha. (These are the bloodiest attacks in Iraq since a bomb in...

IRAQ - Feb. 3 - Saddam Oil Bribe Claims To Be Probed.
February 7, 2004... The IGC launches an investigation into alleged bribes by Saddam Hussein as it asks Oil Minister Ibrahim Bahr Al-Uloum for an official report on the subject. The request follows allegations in the Iraqi press that scores of senior officials and...

IRAQ - Feb. 6 - Sistani Murder Attempt.
February 7, 2004... Feb. 5 claims that Shiite Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani survived an assassination attempt in Najaf are denied by members of his entourage.

ISRAEL - Feb. 5 - Sharon Questioned Over Bribery.
February 7, 2004... Police questioned PM Sharon about a scandal in which leading businessman David Appel was last month indicted for giving him bribes. (Sharon, who has denied any wrongdoing, may also face charges if the new Attorney-general Menachem Mazuz decides...

PAKISTAN - Feb. 4 - Top Scientist Admits To Proliferation; Musharraf Pardons Him.
February 7, 2004... Top scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan appears on national TV and admits to - as well as apologise for - having sold nuclear secrets and equipment to Libya, Iran, and North Korea. He exonerates the country's political and military leaderships, saying...

RUSSIA - Feb. 2 - Yukos Fires Manager.
February 7, 2004... Based on a recommendation from Yukos' board of board that "no shareholders should interfere in the company's operational management", Mikhail Brudno is removed as acting president of Yukos-RM, or Refining Marketing. (Brudno was recently put on...

RUSSIA - Feb. 5 - Legislators To Vote On Longer Term For Putin.
February 7, 2004... The Duma (parliament) unexpectedly schedules a vote this month on legislation that could extend the presidential term to 7 years, even though Pres. Putin has publicly opposed such constitutional changes. The decision is made by the committee...

RUSSIA - Feb. 6 - Bomb Kills 39 In Moscow.
February 7, 2004... A bomb explodes inside a crowded subway train during the morning rush, killing at least 39 people and wounding more than 130 in what officials say is the latest in a series of terrorist attacks linked to the war in Chechnya. The bomb - said to...

SAUDI ARABIA - Feb. 1 - Stampede Kills 244 Pilgrims.
February 7, 2004... A hajj stampede kills 244 and wounds an equal number of pilgrims during the ritual stoning of Satan. The stampede, during a peak event of the annual Muslim pilgrimage, lasted about half an hour. Hajj Minister Iyad Madani later said: "All...

SAUDI ARABIA - Feb. 5 - Mosque Siege.
February 7, 2004... Security forces stage a six-hour siege of the Suhail Ibn Saad Mosque in the King Faisal Quarter in the east of Riyadh, after a wanted Wahhabi militant took refuge there following a car chase in the city. The siege started at 10 pm on Feb. 4...

SAUDI ARABIA - Feb. 6 - Al-Qaeda Tape Shows Suicide Bombers.
February 7, 2004... Al Arabiya TV airs parts of a video showing Al-Qaeda militants preparing for a bomb attack that killed 18 people in Riyadh in November 2003. (The Saudi authorities have been battling a tide of Wahhabi militancy since May 2003, when triple...

ARAB-EUROPEAN RELATIONS - Feb. 10 - Libyan-UK Talks As Berlusconi Visits Tripoli.
February 14, 2004... Several hours of "milestone" talks are held in London between British PM Tony Blair and Libya's Foreign Liaison Secretary (FM) Abdurrahman Shalgam. As a result, Britain is to press for the EU arms embargo against Libya to be lifted as soon as...

ARAB-EUROPEAN RELATIONS - Feb. 14 - UK Firms Win Share Of Iraq Contracts.
February 14, 2004... British companies are winning a reasonable share of the multi-billion dollar contracts for Iraqi reconstruction being distributed by the US. But London has been "disappointed" that UK bidders gained none of the oil rehabilitation deals handed...

ARABS-ISRAEL - Feb. 8 - Sharon To Reroute Part Of Wall.
February 14, 2004... PM Sharon adviser Zalman Shoval says Israel is working to reroute parts of its West Bank separation barrier to make it less burdensome on the Palestinians and more acceptable to the US. His government has made minor adjustments and is...

ARABS-ISRAEL - Feb. 11 - Israeli Raids Kill Many.
February 14, 2004... Israeli Army raids into Gaza City and the town of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip results in the death of 14 Palestinians and the wounding of dozens others. In Gaza City, Palestinian men hid behind walls or sprawled flat on the ground as...

ARABS-ISRAEL - Feb. 13 - Army To Stay After Gaza Pullout.
February 14, 2004... Israeli Defence Minister Shaul Mofaz says during a London visit the army would stay in the Gaza "area" after settlements have been evacuated. He says this is a security necessity and a way of denying Hamas the opportunity to claim a victory...

ARAB-OPEC AFFAIRS - Feb. 10 - Algiers Meeting Cuts Output.
February 14, 2004... OPEC's oil ministers meeting in Algiers decide to stop cheating on the group's official 24.5m b/d production ceiling, a move that would cut output by 1.5m b/d. OPEC's 10 active members (Iraq's struggling industry is not subject to the quota)...

ARABS-UN - Feb. 8 - Iraq Mediation.
February 14, 2004... Iraq's IGC holds its first meeting in Baghdad with a 9-member UN team headed by Lakhdar Brahimi to look at the feasibility of holding full elections before a transfer of sovereignty at end-June. Brahimi says: "The UN can only emphasise its wish...

ARABS-UN - Feb. 9 - Annan Says Date of Iraq Handover Can Change.
February 14, 2004... Sec.Gen Annan says: "If the (Iraqi) parties were to agree to other arrangements, I think it would be very difficult to reject it. We will have to consider it". (Officially, Annan's position is "to listen, not to float ideas on his own". The UN...

ARABS-UN - Feb. 12 - Brahimi Meets Sistani.
February 14, 2004... After meeting with Ayat. Sistani in Najaf for 2 hours, Brahimi says the Shiite religious leader "insists on holding elections, and we are with him on this 100% because elections are the best means to enable any people to set up a state that...

ARAB-US RELATIONS - Feb. 11 - $6 Bn In Iraq Contracts.
February 14, 2004... The US has opened up $6 bn in prime contracts to rebuild Iraq. But US-financed construction deals are still limited to nations that supported the war effort, a US government-financed Iraq procurement website says. It invites companies from all...

ARAB-US RELATIONS - Feb. 12 - Iran Nuclear Arms 'Deception'.
February 14, 2004... US Under-secretary of State for Arms Control John Bolton, seized on IAEA's discovery of an undeclared centrifuge design in Iran, says: "This is another act of Iranian deception. It does not lead to any feeling of security that Iran is carrying...

ARAB-US RELATIONS - Feb. 13 - Report Warns Of Iraq 'Balkanisation' As Insurgents Attack Abizaid.
February 14, 2004... A confidential report prepared by the CPA in Baghdad says the attacks by insurgents in Iraq have escalated sharply, prompting fears of what it terms Iraq's "Balkanisation". (The findings emerge after a rocket-propelled grenade attack on US...

BAHRAIN - Feb. 9 - Caution On Democracy.
February 14, 2004... Crown Prince Shaikh Salman Bin Hamad Al Khalifa tells a joint press conference with US Secretary of State Colin Powell the US proposal of fostering democracy in the Middle East could be a complicated task as no one model for democratisation can...

IRAN - Feb. 11 - Revolution Day.
February 14, 2004... Hundreds of thousands mark the 25th anniversary of the Islamic Republic by marching in central Tehran. The crowd is a mixture of revolutionary veterans and young people not yet born when Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini returned from exile in France...

IRAQ - Feb. 9 - 'Revolution' If Citizens Feel Excluded.
February 14, 2004... IGC's envoy to Washington Ms Rend Rahim Francke tells a conference on the Iraq's reconstruction in the US capital the Iraqi people are not participating sufficiently in the rebuilding of their country and warns of political disaster if the...

KUWAIT - Feb. 10 - MPs Press For Probe Of Halliburton Deal.
February 14, 2004... MPs vow to launch their own probe into allegations that state oil company officials profited from a deal with US oil services giant Halliburton to supply fuel to the US military in Iraq. "Tomorrow (Wednesday) we will submit a request to form a...

PALESTINE - Feb. 12 - Arafat's Wife Says Sharon Behind Money Rumours.
February 14, 2004... Suha Arafat says Israeli PM Sharon was behind reports of a probe by French prosecutors into alleged transfers $11.4m to bank accounts she holds. A preliminary inquiry, opened by the Paris prosecutor's office in October, is looking into the...

RUSSIA - Feb. 8 - Chechens Blamed For Metro Bomb.
February 14, 2004... Pres. Putin blames Chechen guerrillas for a Feb. 6 bomb that exploded inside a crowded subway car as it carried rush-hour commuters towards a busy Moscow Metro station, killing 39 people. Moscow Mayor Yuri Luzhkov said the bomb appeared to have...

RUSSIA - Feb. 10 - Huge War Games.
February 14, 2004... Col.Gen. Yuri Baluyevsky, the first deputy chief of the general staff, tells a news conference exercises underway since late January and involving ballistic missiles and strategic bombers are not aimed against the US. He says: "The enemy is...

RUSSIA - Feb. 12 - Putin Launches Presidential Election Campaign.
February 14, 2004... Putin launches his re-election bid with a pledge to speed social and economic reform and a promise to improve life for ordinary people. Speaking on state television, he says he should be judged on the successes of his past 4 years in power. He...

UAE - Feb. 11 - Visa Law Changed After Iran Plane Crash.
February 14, 2004... Abu Dhabi abolishes a law that required foreign workers to briefly exit the emirates to comply with visa regulations, a day after a Kish Air plane crashed into a residential area near Sharjah airport, killing 43 of the 46 people aboard....

ARAB AFFAIRS - Feb. 19 - Saudis To Revive Peace Plan.
February 21, 2004... Saudi Arabia is trying to revive its peace plan for the Palestinian-Israeli conflict by mobilising support from other Arab states and enlisting EU help. FM Prince Saud Al Faisal spells out the agenda in a speech in Brussels to the European...

ARABS-ISRAEL - Feb. 18 - Settlements Funding Despite Withdrawal Plans.
February 21, 2004... The Israeli Knesset Finance Committee approves in new spending for Jewish settlements 2 weeks after PM Sharon suggested he might remove most of the settlers in the Gaza Strip. Palestinians and Israeli opposition politicians say Feb. 17 the move...

ARABS-UN - Feb. 19 - Iraqi Sovereignty To Precede Polls.
February 21, 2004... Sec-Gen Annan says there is "wide agreement" that elections for a new Iraqi government could not be held before June 30, but adds that the US-led coalition and Iraqis are "firmly agreed" that sovereignty should be restored on that date. (His...

ARABS-UN - Feb. 20 - Libya Had Diverse Nuclear Weapons Programme.
February 21, 2004... Libya secretly assembled a wide range of nuclear materials, technology, expertise and weapons design and had produced a small amount of plutonium as part of a nuclear weapons programme, says a confidential report by IAEA Dir-Gen Mohamed...

ARAB-US RELATIONS - Feb. 15 - Bremer Open To Deal On Iraq Transfer.
February 21, 2004... CPA chief Bremer tell US TV networks the Bush administration might be open to compromise on how the transfer of power to Iraqis would take place. He says the US remains committed to June 30 as the target date for the handover. (The...

ARAB-US RELATIONS - Feb. 21 - Iraq Elections Not Possible For A Year.
February 21, 2004... Bremer tells Al-Arabiya it would not be possible to hold elections in Iraq for a year to 15 months for "technical reasons". He adds: "These technical problems will take time to fix - we estimate somewhere between a year to 15 months...There...

EGYPT - Feb. 17 - Protests On Scarf Ban.
February 21, 2004... About 4000 university students stage fresh protests against the French Parliament's approval of a law banning the Muslim head scarf from state schools at the University of Kafr Al-Sheikh in the Nile Delta and the university of Ain Shams in...

IRAN - Feb. 17 - Tehran 'Capable Of Exporting Nuclear Fuel'.
February 21, 2004... FM Kamal Kharrazi says Tehran has the capacity to export nuclear fuel. This follows his announcement on Feb. 15 that Iran registered "an important achievement" in acquiring the technology for enriching uranium for peaceful use. He adds: "This...

IRAN - Feb. 17 - Reformists Challenge Supreme Leader.
February 21, 2004... A group of reformist deputies banned from Feb. 20 parliamentary elections openly challenge Ayat. Khamenei in a letter implying he played a partisan role in the disqualification of more than 2,000 candidates. (The letter clearly breaks a...

IRAN - Feb. 18 - Over 330 Dead In Train Blast.
February 21, 2004... Runaway train wagons laden with a lethal cocktail of fuel and fertilisers crash into Khayyam north-east Iran, blowing up and killing at least 330 people. The wagons of petrol, fertiliser and sulphur products careered down the line, derailed,...

IRAN - Feb. 19 - Papers Shut.
February 21, 2004... The conservative Tehran General Prosecutor Saeed moved against reformist newspapers and campaign offices. Neither the Yas-e No nor the Shargh daily appear after they carried long extracts of the Feb. 16 letter criticising Khamenei in their...

IRAN - Feb. 20 - Conservatives Win.
February 21, 2004... Little known figures are among the conservative winners of parliamentary elections boycotted by most reformists. But the turnout appears to be the lowest in many years, though exact figures will only be announced next week.

IRAQ - Feb. 15 - No. 41 On US Wanted List Held.
February 21, 2004... Former Baath Party Chairman, No. 41 on the US military's most-wanted list, Muhammad Zimam Abdul-Razaq, is arrested at one of his homes in western Baghdad. He did not resist arrest. When Saddam was president, Abdul-Razaq was the Baath Party...

IRAQ - Feb. 16 - Blast Kills 2 Children.
February 21, 2004... A homemade bomb explodes in the corner of a crowded grammar school playground in northern Baghdad, killing 2 children and wounding 3 others. Upon arriving at the scene, Iraqi police discovered an improvised explosive device, at the Asmaa...

IRAQ - Feb. 17 - Liquor Sales Deadly In Basra.
February 21, 2004... Police officials are investigating the killings of at least 5 men who were selling alcohol on a busy street in the old part of Basra when they were shot to death on Feb. 15.The mystery surrounding the shootings has grown with each passing day....

IRAQ - Feb. 17 - Polish-Led Troop HQ Attacked.
February 21, 2004... 11 Iraqis are killed and dozens more wounded in a co-ordinated suicide bombing attack on a military base at Hilla, 100km south of Baghdad. The base is HQ of the Polish-led multinational brigade responsible for a large part of southern Iraq. One...

IRAQ - Feb. 21 - Graft Probed.
February 21, 2004... The IGC has appointed KPMG accountants and Freshfields, the international law firm, to investigate allegations of corruption under the UN' oil-for-food programme (set up to alleviate the impact on ordinary Iraqis of sanctions against Saddam...

RUSSIA - Feb. 16 - Putin Vows Justice In Water-Park Deaths.
February 21, 2004... Pres. Putin vows to bring to justice those responsible for a Feb. 14 water park tragedy that left up to 40 people dead and missing, as rescuers called off their search for survivors in the freezing snow. Putin demands that "the guilty be...

RUSSIA - Feb. 16 - Top Yukos Shareholders Offer A Deal.
February 21, 2004... Major Yukos shareholders offer to cede control of the company in exchange for the release of the jailed tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky, the former chief of Yukos and Russia's richest man. Leonid Nevzlin, says he and other major shareholders -...

RUSSIA - Feb. 18 - Moscow'More Dependent On Oil & Gas Than Accounts Show'.
February 21, 2004... A World Bank report says Russia's economy is significantly more dependent on oil and gas than the country's official accounts show. It says oil and gas account for 25% of the country's GDP rather than 9% reported in official data. The reason...

RUSSIA - Feb. 18 - Putin Sees Missile Fizzle.
February 21, 2004... On Feb. 18, for the second day in a row, Pres. Putin oversees one of Russia's largest strategic military exercises in years, and for a second day in a row something went wrong. An intercontinental ballistic missile fired from the nuclear...

ARAB-EUROPEAN - Feb. 24 - Libyan PM Denies Lockerbie Blame & Fletcher Killing.
February 28, 2004... Libyan GPC Sec-Gen. (PM) Shokri Ghanem denies his country is to blame for the Lockerbie bombing, in which 270 passengers on Pan Am flight 103 lost their lives - although his government has agreed to pay $2.7 bn compensation to the victims'...

ARAB-ISLAMIC AFFAIRS - Feb. 25 - Qaeda Leader Threatens New Attacks.
February 28, 2004... In messages broadcast by Al-Arabiya and Al-Jazeera, Bin Ladin's deputy Ayman Al-Zawahiri threatens further attacks against the US and lambasts France for banning Islamic head scarves. (The recordings are of recent vintage, as one mocks remarks...

ARABS-ISRAEL - Feb. 22 - Suicide Bomb Kills 8.
February 28, 2004... A suicide bomber kills 8 people aboard a Jerusalem bus on the eve of an International Court of Justice (IJC) hearing on the legality of the controversial West Bank barrier Israel says is vital to prevent such attacks. Around 60 are wounded in...

ARABS-ISRAEL - Feb. 23 - ICJ Hearing On WB Barrier.
February 28, 2004... Addressing the first of a three-day ICJ hearing, with the UN General Assembly having asked the court's 15-judge panel to deliver an advisory opinion on the legality of the barrier, Palestinian observer at the UN Nasser Al-Qidwa says the wall...

ARABS-ISRAEL - Feb. 25 - Palestinian Funds Seized.
February 28, 2004... Israeli security forces seize cash worth more than $8m (6.38m) from 4 Palestinian bank branches, saying much of the money was sent by Iran, Syria and Lebanese Hizbollah guerrillas to fund Palestinian militants. Describing the raid as an...

ARABS-ISRAEL - Feb. 27 - Jerusalem Protest.
February 28, 2004... Israeli police use stun grenades and storm one of Jerusalem's holiest sites after Palestinians threw stones at Jews praying at the Western Wall on what Muslims call Al-Haram Al-Sharif and Jews call Temple Mount.

ARABS-UN - Feb. 23 - Iraq Needs More Time For Poll.
February 28, 2004... In a report to the Security Council, Sec-Gen Annan says Iraq needs many more months to prepare for direct elections for a new government, but warns the country's political class is becoming fragmented, sectarianism entrenched and inter-communal...

ARABS-UN - Feb. 24 - Inspectors Find Secret Iran Experiments.
February 28, 2004... In a report to the IAEA board members, ElBaradei says his inspectors discovered a range of experiments that had not been declared by Iran on Oct. 20, 2003 - despite a Tehran announcement that it planned to suspend all its uranium enrichment...

ARAB-US RELATIONS - Feb. 23 - Al-Qaeda In Iraq.
February 28, 2004... Defence Secretary Rumsfeld, in Iraq on an unannounced visit, says Al-Qaeda guerrillas are among insurgents launching deadly attacks to spark civil war among the Iraqis. He vows that democracy in Iraq will take root despite current "untidiness"....

ARAB-US RELATIONS - Feb. 25 - CIA Sees Iran Theocracy Secure For Now.
February 28, 2004... In testimony to the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, CIA Director George Tenet says Iran's theocracy is secure after hardliners dealt a big blow to government reformists in Feb. 20 parliamentary elections. He says the prospect for...

ARAB-US RELATIONS - Feb. 25 - Bush Hits Iran Poll Results.
February 28, 2004... Pres. Bush condemns the outcome of the Feb. 20 polls. He charges the regime's disqualifying of reform candidates and its shutting of two leading reformist newspapers, saying such moves "undermine the rule of law and are clear attempts to deny...

ARAB-US RELATIONS - Feb. 26 - US Oil Groups Allowed Into Libya.
February 28, 2004... The White House says it will let US oil companies reopen negotiations with the Libyan government over leases that have been off-limits since Washington imposed sanctions on the Qadhafi regime in 1986. The concession is among measures announced...

AFGHANISTAN - Feb. 26 - Kabul Declares Taliban Defeated.
February 28, 2004... Pres. Karzai tells a news conference, after meeting with US Defence Secretary Rumsfeld at the presidential palace in Kabul, the Taliban is a defeated movement and its former members appeal daily to his government to be allowed to return home....

IRAN - Feb. 23 - Conservatives Win.
February 28, 2004... The conservatives savour victory in the Feb. 20 elections. Supreme Leader Ayat. Khamenei says the polls represented a "national and an Islamic epic". The conservative Kayhan newspaper says the result was a "sweet experience for those interested...

IRAN - Feb. 22 - Tehran Admits Secretly Buying Nuclear Components.
February 28, 2004... Faced with the imminent release of an IAEA report (see Arabs-UN), the Foreign Ministry acknowledges publicly it secretly purchased components for its nuclear programme from a network of international suppliers, but continues to insist this is...

IRAQ - Feb. 23 - Suicide Bomber Kills 6.
February 28, 2004... A suicide bomber kills himself and 5 other people at a police station in Kirkuk, shortly before US Defence Secretary Rumsfeld flew into Baghdad on a previously unannounced visit to assess security in the troubled country almost a year after a...

IRAQ - Feb. 23 - Stop Stalling, US Told.
February 28, 2004... SCIRI leader and IGC member Abdel Aziz Al-Hakim demands there be no more "stalling" on arranging for elections for a new government. In an interview broadcast by Al Jazeera, he says the coalition powers should have begun planning for elections...

IRAQ - Feb. 23 - Debt Unsustainable.
February 28, 2004... The Senior Director of Sovereigns at Fitch Ratings, James McCormack, says: "Iraq's ($120 bn foreign) debt stock would need to fall by about 90% to $14 bn for its interest service burden to compare with the median for sovereigns rated B+ or...