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Volume 27, Issue 12, october 26, 2004 Home |
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Iran to Stop Nuclear Program The EU has welcomed an Iranian pledge to fully suspend uranium enrichment, ending a deadlock over Washington's charges that Tehran is secretly developing nuclear weapons. A European diplomat said that formal reactions could be expected on Monday from Britain, France and Germany -- the three EU states spearheading the negotiations with Iran -- but added that signs were good. "This is very good news," he told AFP news agency, after the UN's nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency, said it received an official letter from Iran confirming the suspension. "It opens the way to start a new chapter of relations" between Iran and the EU, which has sought to remain constructively engaged with Tehran in contrast to the hardline US stance, he added. He cautioned that the EU still has to digest the details of the agreement, and that London, Paris and Berlin are likely to make a coordinated response along with EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana. But from initial reports it appears that "the impasse in which we were last week...is over and (the Iranians) fully agree to what has been negotiated," the diplomat said. In Vienna a source close to the IAEA said Iran has agreed "to implement a full suspension of its uranium enrichment program," the process that makes fuel for nuclear reactors but also the explosive core of atomic bombs. The IAEA is to mention Iran's agreement in a report to be released Monday ahead of a board meeting Nov. 25 that will decide whether to send Iran to the UN Security Council for possible sanctions, as the United States wants. Palestinians Look to Future Without Arafat A day after Yasser Arafat was buried, Palestinians began taking stock of a future without the man who led their fight for independence, while Europe and the US look at ways to revive the stalled peace process. In stark contrast to the dramatic outpouring of emotion among the Palestinian people in Ramallah on Friday, Arafat's successors gathered solemnly for prayers on Saturday at the Muqata compound that had been a virtual prison for the last years of the Palestinian leader's life. The newly appointed Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) chairman Mahmud Abbas, Prime Minister Ahmed Qureia and the caretaker head of the Palestinian Authority Rawhi Fattuh gathered at Arafat's marble tomb. They were joined by the deceased leader's nephew Nasser al-Qidwa and the Palestinian representatives to the United Nations for the intimate morning prayer service marking the end of the holy month of Ramadan. After the ceremony, ordinary residents of Ramallah filed past the burial site, reciting verses of the Koran and kneeling at the grave of the only leader most of them had ever known, a man who championed their cause for two generations. Meanwhile the Palestinian leadership began preparing for elections due to be held in two months time. Fattuh will serve as caretaker head of the Palestinian Authority for 60 days, at which time presidential elections must be held under Palestinian basic law. Restoring the peace processMany in the Middle East and the international community are viewing the death of Arafat and the election of a new leader as an opportunity to revive the stalled peace process. On Friday, President George W. Bush promised to rally the international community to the cause. "I believe we've got a great chance to establish a Palestinian state. I would like to see it done in four years. I think it is possible, " Bush said after a summit with British Prime Minister Tony Blair. Blair, who has been pushing his US colleague to take a more active role in the peace process, said a Palestinian state must be nothing less than a "proper democratic state" and the first step is to ensure that elections take place. German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer, who has traveled frequently to the Middle East as a negotiator in the peace process, expressed condolences for the loss of Arafat, but said it was time for the Palestinian people to pull together and "find the strength to turn itself into a sovereign, independent and democratic state, existing side-by-side in peace with its neighbor Israel." "Everything must be done to ensure a civil transfer of power. Elections must lead to the naming of a legitimate leader, who is committed to the peace process," Fischer said in the name of the German government. Legitimate representation"I hope Europe and the United States will stand shoulder-to-shoulder with us in order to carry out the presidential elections," Palestinian Negotiations Minister Saeb Erakat told AFP newswires. "If we can do that, the transition will be smooth and will take the Palestinians towards democracy, pluralism and peace." Unlike Arafat, the new head of the Palestinian Authority must be recognized by Israel, he said. Since coming to power in early 2001, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, with the support of Washington, had boycotted Arafat, rejecting him as an unsuitable partner for peace talks. "In the last four years, the obstacle to peace was Sharon," Jibril Rajub, chief of security in the West Bank and Arafat's former security advisor, told AFP. But the entire international community also needs to recognize and endorse the newly elected leader for the Palestinian people in order for the peace process to succeed. The United States, the European Union, Russia and the United Nations -- the so-called Middle East quartet -- need to work together with Israel and the Palestinians to make sure the roadmap to peace, which foresees the creation of an independent Palestinian state, can be realized. The euro smashed through the symbolic 1.30-dollar level on Wednesday for the first time since it began trading on foreign exchange markets in January 1999. What Next for German Auto Industry? Germany produces some 5.5 million cars every year, but the German car industry is most likely to remember 2004 for poor sales and industrial strikes. Can it be salvaged? more >> Most Germans have never seen Indian films with their elaborate satins and silks and lavish musical numbers. But one German network is bringing a Bollywood soap opera to television, hoping it will catch on. more >> A priest is granted a nine-day furlough from the Nazi camp Dachau, but is forced to make a terrible choice. The film "The Ninth Day" explores tensions between the Church and the Nazis, betrayal and the will to survive. more >> Drivers in Berlin can fill up their cars with hydrogen at the world's largest service station for fuel cell vehicles. Opened on Friday, the project paves the way for widespread use of alternative energy. more >> German Forests Sicker than Ever Each year before Christmas, Environment Minister Renate Künast reports on the state of German forests. This year, she's releasing her report a month early, with the bad news that the forests are worse off than ever. more >> Bush Intends to Repair Ties to EU Looking to improve transatlantic ties strained by the war in Iraq, US President George W. Bush has promised to visit Europe "as soon as possible" after his inauguration in January. more >> Opinion: A Model Worth Repeating While several EU countries plan to put the proposed EU constitution before voters, Lithuania this week became the first country to ratify the document in parliament. It was a wise step, according to DW's Klaus Dahmann. more >> |
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