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Bushehr reactor tops the agenda for Russia
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The Associated Press
MOSCOW - President Vladimir Putin and visiting Iranian Foreign Minister Kamal Kharrazi last week underlined their commitment to continued bilateral cooperation, in a relationship that has vexed Washington and tarnished the recent U.S.-Russian honeymoon.
At their Kremlin meeting on Friday, Putin pointed to the "very important role" that Iran plays in the region of central Asia and the Middle East. Kharrazi responded that Iran "gives special importance" to closer cooperation with Russia "both in bilateral and international issues."
The administration of U.S. President George W. Bush has warned that a $800-million deal to build a Russian nuclear reactor in the Iranian city of Bushehr could help Iran build nuclear weapons.
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Iranian dissident refuses to appear in court
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Prima News Agency
Los Angeles, USA -- Famous Iranian dissident and former political prisoner Heshmatollah Tabarzadi refused to appear in the Islamic Revolutionary Court Department 26 branch in Tehran, April 9. Another five activists of the oppositionist student movement, who had also been subpoenaed for the court, ignored the hearings either.
Tabarzadi is the head of the outlawed Iranian People and Democratic Front, established in May 2000. The organization’s objective is to create a secular state in Iran.
For the three recent years, Tabarzadi has been repeatedly arrested. On April 16 last year, the Ministry of Information (State Security) agents took him to the Islamic Revolutionary Guards (Pasdaran) Prison. Six
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Commission on human rights continues debate on the violation of human rights around the world
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United Nations Press Release
The Commission on Human Rights this afternoon continued its debate on the violation of human rights and fundamental freedoms in any part of the world by hearing statements from representatives of Governments and non-governmental organizations about alleged violations in specific countries and regions.
Many delegates defended their Governments' records of human rights promotion and respect and some highlighted the human rights violations committed in other countries. Some delegations also spoke against what they termed as selectivity and double standards used by some States in the Commission.
Violations were alleged in Iraq, Myanmar, Zimbabwe, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Colombia, China, Cuba, the Republic of Chechnya, Sierra Leone, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Rwanda, Burundi, the Central African Republic, Pakistan, Israel, Indonesia, Burma, Cambodia, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq, the occupied
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Kuwait aims to boost Iran ties
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Reuters
Amid escalating tension in the Middle East, Kuwait said it aims to develop into a major trading hub through rail links with Iran across the Gulf, but lack of ties with former occupier Iraq could be an obstacle.
Kuwait said on Sunday it was setting up the "committee for reviewing prospects of development cooperation between Kuwait and Iran", to oversee the ambitious plan.
A member of the new body, former oil minister Ali Al Baghli, said yesterday that the aim is "to link continents and revive the old silk route...railway links between the Gulf and Central Asia, linking East and West, is among the ideas..."
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Cheney demands Syria's Assad rein In Hizballah
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The Right Voice
Jerusalem - Hizballah fired mortar shells and anti-tank missiles against Israeli positions along the Lebanese border on Wednesday, one day after Vice President Dick Cheney demanded that Syrian President Bashar Assad rein in the militant Islamic group's cross-border attacks against Israel. Israeli jets, artillery and tanks returned fire, an army spokesperson said. Four Katyusha rockets slammed into the northern Israeli town of Kiryat Shemona near the Lebanese border earlier on Wednesday. There were no casualties. Assad, whose country is the main powerbroker in Lebanon, reportedly said he has no control over Hizballah and no desire to see the situation escalate. Israel, which holds Syria and Lebanon responsible for Hizballah's actions, has said that it has no interest in opening up another front in the Middle East.
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Tehran radio reports indirect US contact with Iran
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BBC Monitoring Service
The American secretary of state has expressed anxiety about the attacks by Lebanon's Hezbollah on the positions of the Zionist regime in the north of occupied Palestinian and the possibility that they may escalate, and said: Washington has asked Syria and Iran to rein in Lebanon's Hezbollah.
Speaking to reporters in Madrid, Gen Powell added: America's request has been conveyed to Syria directly
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Powell's disastrous trip
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The Weekly Standard
SECRETARY OF STATE Colin Powell's trip to the Middle East is shaping up to be a disaster. Vice President Cheney's recent trip marked a detour from the Bush Doctrine; the president's recent statements pressuring Israel to stop its campaign against terrorism, a retreat; the secretary's trip so far risks turning a retreat into a rout.
President Bush's goal in sending the secretary to the Middle East was to arrange a cease-fire by insisting that Israel end its military operations on the West Bank, while in exchange insisting that the Arab states pressure Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat to give up his campaign of terror against Israel.
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Executions doubled in '01, report finds
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Los Angeles Times
GENEVA -- The number of known executions around the world doubled last year, with China accounting for 80% of that total during its crackdown on crime, Amnesty International said Tuesday.
In its annual report on the death penalty, the human rights group said at least 3,048 people were executed in 31 countries last year.
That includes 2,468 executions in China. From April to July 2001, China executed at least 1,781 people during its national "strike hard" campaign against crime. Four countries--China, Iran, Saudi Arabia and the [an error occurred while processing this directive]
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Hypocrisy: Iran daily believes oppressors, tyrants cannot last
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IRNA
Tehran -- `Kayhan International' on Wednesday warned
that arrogant countries, tyrants and those who trample on the rights
of others in the hope of intimidating the rest of the world into
submission are actually creating an "anti-thesis" within themselves
which, in all probability, could help eradicate oppression per se.
It said trants and world oppressors could actually be "paper
tigers," nefarious but excruciatingly vulnerable and incredibly
fragile.
It recalled the belligerent accusations of US President George W.
Bush naming countries such as Iran "an axis of evil," adding that
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Tensions reported rising near Iranian border
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Associated Press
PESHAWAR, Pakistan - Rival Afghan factions are massing fighters in Nimroz province along Afghanistan (news - web sites)'s border with Iran, the Afghan Islamic Press reported Wednesday.
Forces opposed to Gov. Abdul Karim Brohi have seized Guldana and its nearby areas, the Pakistan-based agency reported. The governor have sent 500 fresh fighters to strengthen his position near the area, the agency said.
Guldana is important because it controls a key trade route and that whoever controls the area can collect [an error occurred while processing this directive]
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U.S. fears 2nd front in Mideast conflict
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The Washington Post
Israel, Hezbollah Clash on Northern Border
The Bush administration is increasingly concerned about a possible second front in the Middle East conflict opening along Israel's northern border with Lebanon. In the latest of a series of exchanges over the past two weeks, Israel launched airstrikes yesterday against a southern Lebanese village in response to rocket attacks on a disputed frontier area by the militant group Hezbollah.
In an unusually direct and high-level diplomatic warning, Vice President Cheney telephoned Syrian President Bashar Assad on Monday to say that the border situation could spiral out of control in the region's current volatile atmosphere and undermine already-fragile U.S. peace efforts, an administration source said.
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Aridi meets Hamdan, reiterates right to free Shebaa farms
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The Daily Star
Information Minister Ghazi Aridi said Monday that Lebanon adhered to its right to liberate the Shebaa Farms and to free Lebanese captives held in Israeli prisons, adding that the government continuously coordinated with the resistance.
However, Aridi said: “We do not approve any (military) action if it is not within the framework of the Lebanese resistance, because any uncalculated move would not yield the anticipated results or help Lebanon or the Palestinians.” Aridi, who made the comments after talks with Hamas’ Lebanon representative, Osama Hamdan, said he held Washington responsible for Israeli aggression and atrocities in the Palestinian territories.
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Police, protesters clash in Bahrain
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The New York Times
MANAMA, Bahrain -- Police clashed Wednesday with several hundred high school students trying to march to the U.S. Embassy in Bahrain. Many were treated for tear gas inhalation as protests that have swept the Arab world are turning increasingly violent.
Doctors at the nearby Salmaniya Medical Complex said they treated about 300 protesters. Some were hurt by rubber bullets fired by police, but most were suffering from tear gas. There were no serious injuries.
Some doctors staged their own small protest in support of the demonstrators, marching in the hospital compound chanting, ``Death to America!'' and ``Death to Israel!''
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Poppy harvest begins in Southern Afghanistan despite government eradication plan
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The Associated Press
ESSAZAI KILI, Afghanistan -- Some poppy farmers in Afghanistan's biggest opium-producing region have started harvesting this year's crop early in hopes of finishing before the government moves to destroy their narcotic-bearing plants.
"We're in a hurry. We're afraid the government will come and eradicate our fields," village chief Mohammed Agha said Tuesday. His workers were slitting the green poppy bulbs and collecting the milky opium resin 10 days ahead of harvest time.
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Saudi newspaper poll finds 60 percent of Saudis hate the United States
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Associated Press
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia - A Saudi newspaper published a poll Monday that found that 60 percent of Saudis hate the United States, the kingdom's close ally, mostly because of its policy toward the Palestinians.
The poll in the Al Watan daily, owned by the royal family, questioned 2,000 Saudi men and women from 15 Saudi cities a few days before Israel's incursion into the West Bank on March 29. The poll did not give a margin of error.
Responding to a question, "Do you hate the West in general?" 49 percent of Saudis said yes, 30 percent said no and 21 percent said they don't care.
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