Volume 27, Issue 11, october 21, 2004

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Iran to Consider EU Nuclear Demands

In a major strategy shift in the standoff over its nuclear program, Iran said on Monday it was ready to consider a European request to maintain a suspension on enriching uranium.

The surprise comments by Iran's top nuclear negotiator marked a notable softening of Tehran's line towards a deal proposed last week by European countries, coming only a day after officials described the offer as "unbalanced."

"The European proposal for an unlimited suspension of uranium enrichment can be implemented, provided it does not contradict the Islamic republic's criteria," Iran's chief nuclear negotiator Hassan Rowhani said on state television.

Three European states offered Iran a deal on Thursday under which Tehran would receive valuable nuclear technology if it indefinitely suspended all uranium enrichment activities, a key stage in the nuclear fuel cycle.

The three countries -- Britain, France and Germany -- hope that if Iran agrees to the deal it will be possible to stave off US demands for the nuclear issue to be sent before the UN Security Council.

The UN's nuclear watchdog -- the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) -- has given Iran a Nov. 25 deadline to allay concerns about its nuclear activities.

Suspension, not permanent halt?

Rowhani made clear that in Tehran's eyes suspending uranium enrichment indefinitely was not the same as imposing a permanent halt on the practice.

The term "unlimited does not mean permanent. The Europeans are talking about an unlimited (suspension) during the negotiations as it is forseen that long-term negotiations are starting with the Europeans," he said.

"They say for example that if the negotiations last seven months, Iran must respect the suspension. We have always said that if the Islamic republic accepts the suspension at whatever level, this will be a voluntary decision."

Depending on the level of purification, enriched uranium can be used either as fuel for a civilian reactor or as the explosive core of a nuclear bomb. Iran strongly rejects US accusations it is seeking to manufacture atomic weapons.

EU must recognize Iranian sovereignty

Rowhani said Tehran would continue cooperating with the international community but insisted that European nations must also recognise its right to civilian nuclear technology, according to the official IRNA news agency.

"The Europeans must accept that our red lines and national rights cannot be violated," he said.

But his remarks appeared to strike a remarkably conciliatory tone and are likely to be welcomed by the three European heavyweights ahead of a meeting this week to hear the Islamic republic's response to the offer.

"Iran's patience to establish confidence with the world is great," Rowhani said."It will not be exhausted at this early stage. We will calmly continue to work at winning confidence. We are going to carry out any necessary action to create confidence as we want to work with the world in the areas of politics, economy, society and culture and we do not want to worry the world unnecessarily."

Rowhani said the European proposal recognized the rights of Iran under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, notably "the right of Iran to possess nuclear power stations."

"Iran has as many rights as a European country under the NPT," he added.

Rowhani vowed that Iran would continue cooperation with the IAEA, "not to make the Europeans happy but to prove the United States is lying when it says Iran is trying to manufacture a nuclear weapon."

Rugova Wins Boycotted Kosovo Election

Kosovo President Ibrahim Rugova's party won general elections, boycotted by ethnic Serbs, but fell short of winning an overall majority to form a government by itself, estimates by independent observers showed Sunday.

Rugova's Democratic League of Kosovo garnered 47 percent of the vote, said Ibrahim Makolli of the non-government monitor Center for the Defence of Human Rights and Freedoms.

His main rival, the Democratic Party of Kosovo of former
guerrilla leader Hashim Thaci, gained 27 percent, while the Alliance for the Future of Kosovo of former guerrilla leader Ramush Haradinaj came third with eight percent, Makolli said.

If the results were confirmed, no single party would be able to form a government and a future coalition government would have to be negotiated, as had been the case after the 2001 election. First preliminary results were expected on Monday.

The central electoral commission said turnout among Kosovo's 1.4 million voters was 53 percent. But a massive boycott by the Serb minority overshadowed the election, the second in the UN-administered Serbian province since the 1998-99 war between Serbian forces and ethnic Albanian separatists.

The vote for Kosovo's 120-seat assembly was seen as a test for the international community's effort to build a multi-ethnic democracy in the southern Serbian province which has been administered by the United Nations since a NATO bombing campaign forced Belgrade to withdraw its troops in June 1999.

Serbs boycott

But as the polls closed it became clear that the vast majority of ethnic Serbs had boycotted the vote to demand greater autonomy and security in the mainly ethnic Albanian province.

Some 2,000 extra NATO peacekeepers were deployed to secure the election after 19 people died when an ethnic Albanian mob rioted in Serb-populated villages in March, in the worst unrest since the war.

Despite the security fears UN officials said no major incidents disturbed the election. But Kosovo's chief UN administrator Soren Jessen-Petersen said pressure brought on the 80,000-strong Serb minority was the main reason for the boycott.

"More Serbs have decided not to vote because of the pressures," Jessen-Petersen told reporters after the polls closed. He said that "there would have been more Serb voters if those who wanted to have a monopoly over the Kosovo Serbs had not appeared," in a reference to nationalist community leaders, still influential in the province.

Some 200,000 Serbs have left Kosovo since the end of the war, faced with reprisal attacks by Albanian extremists after more than a decade of Serbian repression under former strongman Slobodan Milosevic.

Only a handful of voters cast their ballots in Serb areas. In
one polling station in the central village of Gracanica, only three of 340 registered voters showed up at the polling station.

Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica as well as the Serbian Orthodox Church backed the boycott, insisting that greater local autonomy was the only way to ensure security for non-Albanians.

A turning point?

Jessen-Petersen has said that the election marked a "turning point" and would set the stage for a UN review of democracy standards early next year and possible talks on the province's final status. He insisted that only Serb politicians who had taken part in the polls "are legitimate representatives" of the Serb minority who could participate in any future talks on Kosovo's status.

The UN has promised a review of Kosovo's progress in meeting standards of democracy and human rights which could eventually lead to a dialogue on the province's final status.

Ethnic Albanians demand complete independence from Serbia but ethnic Serbs and the government in Belgrade insist that the territory is an inalienable part of the former Yugoslav republic.

More Germans Caught in Spiral of Debt

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Leipzig Hopes to Gain DHL Hub

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Gay TV Channel Hits French Airwaves

France's first gay and lesbian television station went on the air Monday, ready to beam a steady diet of homosexual porn, daily repeats of "Wonder Woman" and English language comedies into subscribers' homes. more >>

Auschwitz Victim's Novel Creates Sensation

A lost novel by a once-famous Jewish author who was murdered in Auschwitz is being hailed as the literary event of the year in France, not least because of the extraordinary story that has finally led to its publication. more >>

Are You (Genetically) Up to the Job?

Germany's cabinet is due to discuss a law that would regulate limited genetic testing for employees in jobs like public transportation. Ethicists warn of dangerous terrain. more >>

Bavaria Sculptured from Space

The hills, lakes and pock-marked fields around the Bavarian town of Altötting have held a secret for over 2000 years. Scientists believe a comet once slammed into this area of Germany, irrevocably changing the landscape.
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Where the World Wide Web was Born

Fifty years ago, the world's largest particle physics research center, CERN, was founded. One of its most popular inventions was actually just a by-product: the World Wide Web. more >>

Trivializing the Wall

As Germany celebrates Tourism Day on Wednesday, a row has erupted over controversial plans to rebuild a part of the Berlin Wall near one of the country’s most famous tourist attractions, Checkpoint Charlie. more >>

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