Iraq: UN inspectors welcome conditionally

By: Nabil Raza

UNITED NATIONS: Iraqi ambassador to United Nations Muhammad Al douri has said the door was open to UN arms inspectors with the condition that the global organization first discuss a variety of issues on what remained to be done.

Talking to CNN, Aldouri said if UN inspectors believed Iraq was hiding weapons of mass destruction they should analyze outstanding arms issues in advance. UN Secretary General Kofi Annan has rejected this condition until the experts are back on the ground.

He said: “We would like to have those inspectors. But before that, we have to discuss, to have a common ground.”

The ambassador said Iraq did not want war with the US and had nothing to do with Al Qaeda, the Taliban or the Sept. 11 attacks.

“I am here asserting that we have no (relations of) any kind whatsoever with all those groups and terrorist groups in the world. So these allegations are completely false,” Al douri said.

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UN says Iran doesn’t violate NPT

By: Special Reporter

TASHKENT, Uzbekistan: The UN Under-Secretary General for Disarmament Affairs said that Iran-Russia's nuclear cooperation is conducted under the supervision of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and no violation has yet been observed.

The Islamic Republic of Iran is a signatory to the Nuclear Proliferation Treaty and no violation of the treaty by that country has been reported, Jayantha Dhanapala told reporters at a news conference at the end of his four-day trip to Tashkent on Saturday.

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Terror Lab found at Ex-Saudi NGO office in Kabul

By: Rafiullah

KABUL, Afghanistan: Afghan police found a store of chemicals in a house in Kabul formerly occupied by a Saudi NGO named as Al Wafa aid organization, International peacekeepers said Sunday.

Local media reports called the store a terrorist laboratory, which discovery was made on Saturday afternoon.

Maj James Kelly, a spokesman for the ISAF in Afghan capital Kabul said: “Some sealed containers and documents have been found by the police authorities. Reports suggest possibly 16 types of chemicals.”

According to the Kelly he had been handed Afghan intelligence reports about the discovery, and that the substances had not yet been identified.

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Israel raids West Bank; Pals arrested

By: Ahmad Hammadi

WEST BANK: Israeli forces launched an incursion into the West Bank town of Salfit early Sunday and arrested at least five Palestinians, the army spokesman said.

According to reports the operation north of Ramallah began before dawn and continued into the early morning.

Meanwhile, an additional five Palestinians were captured elsewhere in the West Bank on Saturday night.

The raid followed a firefight on Saturday in the West Bank city of Jenin in which a Palestinian was martyred.

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US rebukes Russia over bombings in Georgia

By: Special Reporter

WASHINGTON: The United States has strongly condemned Russia over reported bombings of Georgian villages by Russian aircrafts, warning the raids violated Georgian sovereignty and may further worsen relations between the two ex-Soviet states.

“President George W Bush regrets the loss of life and deplores the violation of Georgia's sovereignty,” White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said Saturday.

According to Fleischer US Secretary of State Colin Powell had delivered the same message to his Russian counterpart. He said the stern language did not reflect a sign of souring relations between Moscow and Washington.

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Japan, N Korea re-launch first high-level talks

By: Khadija Chinese

PYONGYANG, North Korea: Japan and North Korea on Sunday have opened their first high-level government talks in almost two years as the reclusive communist nation shows signs it wants better relations with the rest of the world, partly because of a painful need for economic help.

Two-day talks between senior foreign ministry envoys are taking place at the People's Palace of Culture at Pyongyang, capital of North Korea.

The head of the Japanese delegation, Hitoshi Tanaka, director general of the Japanese Foreign Ministry's Asian and Oceanic Affairs, while speaking at the opening session expressed hope that progress can be made during a limited amount of time. His North Korean counterpart, Ma Chol Su, director general for Asian affairs of the North Korean Foreign Ministry, termed the talks as encouraging.

Pyongyang demanded Tokyo apologize and pay reparations for its 35 year colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula, which lasted in 1945.

While Japan wants to know the whereabouts of eleven of its citizens who Tokyo says were kidnapped by North Korea in the 1970s and '80s to train spies in Japanese language and customs. Pyongyang has repeatedly denied the allegation.

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