http://www.moretothepoint.com/
The Interim Constitution and the Future US Role in Iraq listen
Coordinated bombings in Baghdad and Karbala made Tuesday the deadliest day in Iraq since the fall of Saddam Hussein. Vice President Cheney calls it "desperation" by those opposed to the interim constitution. Others fear a decline into religious civil war. With the approach of the June deadline for transferring political power, General John Abizaid, the head of US Central Command, told Congress today that despite an expected increase in violence, the US is reducing its profile in Baghdad, although he said that the US had mot intention of abandoning the Iraqi police. As the US begins its biggest troop transfer since World War II, we look at the prospects for stability before November's election with journalists in Iraq, experts in defense and conflict prevention and resolution, and former State Department and intelligence officers.



http://www.theworld.org/latesteditions/20040304.shtml
Loose nukes interview (4:30)
A former Soviet nuclear facility in the breakaway republic of Abkhazia is missing some of its weapons-grade uranium. Host Marco Werman speaks with London Times reporter Tom Parfitt who has been following the story.

China's Internet report (5:15)
China's government keeps watch over the Internet and blocks controversial websites. But some Chinese webusers won't be deterred. They're surfing past Beijing censors with help from the outside. The World's technology correspondent Clark Boyd tells how some Chinese are hacking through the great firewall of China.

France terrorism threat report (2:30)
Ten thousand people have been searching the French rail system, looking for ten bombs which a shadowy organisation called AZF says it has planted. Paris correspondent Genevieve Oger has the story.


>> AFRICAN CONNECTIONS...

Nucl?aire: le Nigeria met Islamabad dans l'embarras puis fait volte-face
04/03/2004 - 14:49
ABUJA, 4 mars (AFP) -
Le Nigeria a mis jeudi le Pakistan dans l'embarras en annon?ant qu'Islamabad lui avait propos? son aide pour acqu?rir l'arme nucl?aire avant de faire volte-face apr?s un d?menti tr?s sec des autorit?s pakistanaises.
Cette controverse intervient alors que le r?gime militaire pakistanais du g?n?ral Pervez Musharraf, alli? de Washington en Asie du Sud, est sous fortes pressions am?ricaines apr?s des "r?v?lations" sur des "fuites" de technologie nucl?aire pakistanaise, notamment vers l'Iran, la Cor?e du Nord et la Libye.
Jeudi matin, le minist?re nig?rian de la D?fense affirmait dans un communiqu? que le chef d'?tat major pakistanais, le g?n?ral Mohammed Aziz Khan, avait d?clar? la veille ? Abuja que "son pays oeuvre ? trouver une solution pour aider les forces arm?es nig?rianes ? renforcer leur capacit? militaire et ? acqu?rir la puissance nucl?aire".
Le texte pr?cisait que ces d?clarations avait eu lieu lors d'une rencontre entre le g?n?ral Khan, en visite de lundi ? vendredi au Nigeria et le ministre nig?rian de la D?fense, Rabui Musa Kwankwaso.
Un d?menti cinglant ne tarda pas ? fuser d'Islamabad. "Nous d?mentons. C'est sans fondement. Il n'a rien dit de cela", a affirm? ? l'AFP le porte-parole des forces arm?es pakistanaises, le g?n?ral Shaukat Sultan, ? propos du g?n?ral Khan.
Peu apr?s la r?action pakistanaise, les autorit?s nig?rianes revenaient sur leur communiqu? initial en ?voquant simplement une "erreur typographique" dont elles n'ont pas pr?cis? la nature.
"La r?f?rence ? la puissance nucl?aire dans le communiqu? publi? auparavant ?tait une erreur typographique", a d?clar? ? l'AFP un porte-parole du minist?re de la D?fense, Nwachukwu Bellu.
"Il n'y a pas eu de discussions sur le nucl?aire, sur son d?veloppement et son acquisition", a affirm? M. Bellu. "Il s'agissait d'une erreur", a-t-il ajout?. "Il ne faut pas tenir compte de la partie concernant la puissance nucl?aire. Ce sujet n'a pas ?t? abord? lors de la r?union".
"Les discussions ont ?t? centr?es uniquement sur la coop?ration militaire en terme d'entrainement et d'acquisition de nouveaux ?quipements. Rien sur la puissance nucl?aire", a rench?ri un porte-parole des forces arm?es, le colonel Ganiyu Adewale.
D?tenant l'arme nucl?aire depuis 1998, le Pakistan s'est livr? en d?but d'ann?e 2004 ? un exercice p?rilleux pour ?viter les critiques croissantes des Etats-Unis, soucieux d'imposer au monde leur vision de la non-prolif?ration.
Abdul Qadeer Khan, directeur du programme nucl?aire pakistanais de 1976 ? 2001, a ainsi "avou?" ? la t?l?vision nationale ?tre responsable de "fuites" de technologies nucl?aires, au b?n?fice notamment de l'Iran, de la Cor?e du Nord et de la Libye.
Ce scientifique a assur? que l'arm?e et le gouvernement du g?n?ral Pervez Musharraf, qui a pris le pouvoir fin 1999 lors d'un coup d'Etat, n'?taient pas au courant de ces fuites. Il a re?u le "pardon" du r?gime militaire Musharraf tandis que l'opposition d?mocratique d?non?ait une mascarade destin?e ? masquer les v?ritables responsabilit?s.
Le communiqu? nig?rian initial ne pr?cisait pas la r?ponse nig?riane ? une telle offre mais soulignait que le chef d'Etat major nig?rian, le g?n?ral Alexander Ogomudia avait "salu?" le programme nucl?aire pakistanais en jugeant que "le Pakistan n'est plus un Etat en d?veloppement car il poss?de la puissance nucl?aire".
Fin janvier, des responsables nig?rians avaient d?j? indiqu? qu'ils ?taient en discussions avec le r?gime nord-cor?en pour acqu?rir une technologie de fabrication de missiles alors que les Etats-Unis cherchent ? stopper le programme nucl?aire du r?gime communiste de Pyongyang.
Le bureau du pr?sident nig?rian Olusegun Obasanjo s'?tait empress? de d?mentir un accord militaire entre la Cor?e du nord et la puissance r?gionale d'Afrique de l'Ouest qui aurait imm?diatement d?clench? l'ire de Washington.
bur-eg-il/aml


? 2004 AFP. Tous droits de reproduction et de repr?sentation r?serv?s.
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BR?SIL
Scandale dans la maison Lula
Le gouvernement de Luiz In?cio da Silva fait face au premier scandale de corruption de son mandat. Un ?v?nement qui ternit l'image de probit? et d'intransigeance du Parti des travailleurs (PT) et qui pourrait remettre en cause son succ?s annonc? aux prochaines ?lections municipales, en octobre.
Waldomiro Diniz, l'homme par qui le scandale arrive... (AFP)
Le scandale a ?clat? le 16 f?vrier dernier, avec la une de Epoca annon?ant simplement "Argent sale". Dans ses pages, l'hebdomadaire relatait par le menu le contenu d'un enregistrement vid?o datant de la campagne ?lectorale qui a vu gagner Luiz In?cio da Silva, dit "Lula", en 2002, un enregistrement o? l'on voit Waldomiro Diniz, alors patron de la Loterie de Rio de Janeiro (LOTERJ) et depuis sous-chef des affaires parlementaires de la Maison civile (l'?quivalent de Matignon), n?gocier des dessous-de-table avec Carlinhos Cachoeira, l'un des patrons des jeux de hasard clandestins de Rio, pour financer la campagne de certains membres du Parti des travailleurs (PT) de Lula. Sur l'enregistrement, Diniz r?clame ?galement une commission de 1 % et promet de favoriser Cachoeira dans un march? public de loteries.
Contrairement ? ce que donne ? croire l'ampleur du scandale, l'information n'est pas nouvelle. D?s juillet 2002, l'hebdomadaire Isto? avait fait les premi?res r?v?lations sur "les relations compromettantes entre Diniz et les exploitants de jeux l?gaux et ill?gaux". A l'?poque, ce dernier avait ni? avoir des rapports avec les "bicheiros".
Un "coup" pour affaiblir Lula
Cette fois, la r?action de Lula n'a pas tard?. Il a limog? Diniz et ordonn? l'ouverture d'une enqu?te. L'affaire frappe cependant de plein fouet Jos? Dirceu, chef de la Maison civile et num?ro deux du gouvernement, qui a pr?sent? sa d?mission. Lula l'a refus?e. Le pr?sident br?silien ne pense pas que son bras droit ait ?t? au courant de l'affaire et estime donc qu'il n'en est pas responsable. Dirceu a ?galement ?t? assur? de la "totale confiance et totale solidarit?" du pr?sident du PT, Jos? Genoino.
Dirceu, le "siamois de Lula", selon le quotidien argentin Clar?n, son "mentor politique" d'apr?s l'hebdomadaire chilien Qu? Pasa, est surtout un homme fort et respect? sans qui, de l'avis de plusieurs analystes, le pr?sident br?silien ne pourrait contr?ler la machine politique. C'est pourquoi il s'agit d'un v?ritable coup dur pour le gouvernement, d'autant plus que "le PT a toujours brandi l'?tendard de l'?thique en politique comme principale diff?rence avec les autres partis", souligne la Folha de S?o Paulo. Le m?me quotidien ?voque d'ailleurs l'hypoth?se d'un "coup" de l'opposition pour affaiblir Lula.
La fin d'une cr?dibilit? ?
Mais, pour l'hebdomadaire Veja, de plus en plus critique ? l'?gard de Lula, la cause est entendue : cette histoire Diniz ne fait que confirmer une r?alit?, "le PT utilise des m?thodes qu'il a toujours critiqu?es lorsqu'il ?tait dans l'opposition". Une opposition qui a exig? la cr?ation d'une commission parlementaire d'enqu?te (CPI) sans l'obtenir, le gouvernement arguant que les faits se sont produits alors que le PT n'?tait pas encore au pouvoir. Le Congr?s vient d'ailleurs ?galement de rejeter cette demande, faute de preuves contre Dirceu.
De toute fa?on, les d?g?ts sont faits si l'on en croit la Folha de S?o Paulo. "L'une des cons?quences les plus importantes des r?v?lations sur les activit?s de Diniz est la perception, qui se g?n?ralise au sein de la soci?t?, qu'est en train de dispara?tre de la politique br?silienne ce p?le de r?f?rence ?thique qu'a ?t? le PT tout au long de sa trajectoire dans l'opposition." Si sa mani?re d'appr?hender la politique et l'?conomie ?tait souvent na?ve, pour ne pas dire irr?aliste ou irresponsable, on pouvait ?tre s?r qu'il ?tait du bon c?t? lorsqu'il s'agissait de questions relatives ? l'?thique", poursuit la Folha.
Aujourd'hui, les sp?culations vont bon train sur la capacit? du gouvernement ? passer l'?preuve du feu des ?lections municipales du mois d'octobre. Mais aussi sur l'existence d'autres affaires de corruption qui signeraient la fin d'une cr?dibilit? si ch?rement acquise. Les march?s financiers ?galement craignent les cons?quences de l'histoire Diniz. Cela n'emp?che pas 60 % des Br?siliens, d'apr?s un sondage d'opinion de l'institut Datafolha publi? mardi 2 mars dans la Folha de S?o Paulo, de continuer ? accorder leur confiance ? Lula.
In?s Bel A?ba
? Courrier international


Malaysian Leader Denies Nuke Whitewash
By SEAN YOONG
ASSOCIATED PRESS
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) -
Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi denied Thursday that his government whitewashed an investigation of Malaysia's role in a worldwide nuclear black market, and said he wasn't worried the issue would hurt him in upcoming elections.
The vote, which Abdullah called Wednesday, will be the first since former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad retired in October. The Islamic opposition has promised to focus on the nuclear network during its campaign for the election, expected by the end of March.
The government faces allegations that a Malaysian company owned by Abdullah's son played a key role in a nuclear black market, led the father of Pakistan's nuclear program, to traffic nuclear technology and know-how to Libya, Iran and North Korea.
A police investigation cleared Scomi Precision Engineering of knowingly making centrifuge components that were seized in October in the Mediterranean en route to Libya.
The Islamic opposition claims the government went easy on Abdullah's son, even while the prime minister wages a very public anti-corruption campaign. The opposition also says the government has detained about 70 terror suspects over the past three years without trial.
Badawi, speaking publicly for the first time since calling the elections, said he said he wasn't troubled by the Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party's allegations.
"I am not worried at all," Abdullah told reporters. "I think PAS just wants to find something to attack me and embarrass me. They are trying to resort to character assassination. They have nothing else to capitalize on."
Abdullah said police had investigated the trafficking case as "best they could" and that the results would be given to the International Atomic Energy Agency.
"They will scrutinize it," Abdullah said. "They are not fools. They cannot be misled."
A top U.S. nonproliferation envoy met Malaysian leaders this week to urge this Southeast Asian country to tighten export regulations and plug criminal loopholes to prevent trafficking.
Abdullah confirmed that he met John Stern Wolf, the assistant secretary for the State Department's non-proliferation bureau.
"He did not ask for strict controls," Abdullah said. "He is aware that we were already looking into it, even before this. Of course, we need time. It's not something that can easily be resolved."
Badawi called the elections in an apparent bid to solidify control of his 14-party coalition and reverse gains that the Islamic party made in a 1999 vote. The coalition, which has 152 of 193 seats in parliament, is almost certain to extend its 50-year grip on power. The date for the elections is to be announced Friday.

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Officials: N. Korea Denies Uranium Program
By HANS GREIMEL
ASSOCIATED PRESS
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) - Despite reported progress in recent North Korean nuclear talks, South Korean officials said Thursday that the North still denies having a secret uranium-based program and that other crucial issues - including an agenda for working-group meetings - are up in the air.
The agreement for lower-level officials to meet in working groups to nail down details of a possible deal was seen as a step forward at the six-nation talks that ended Saturday in Beijing.
Diplomats say they are crucial in striking common ground before the next round of six-way talks, expected before July.
But a South Korean diplomat familiar with the talks said the countries have yet to decide when those meetings will take place or what will be discussed.
That will require more haggling through diplomatic channels, he said.
"We don't know what the working group will really deal with," he said on condition of anonymity. "It's very difficult to predict what sort of job the working group will do."
Lee Soo-hyuck, South Korea's chief negotiator, said North Korea's stance had hardly shifted since the first round of talks last August among the United States, China, the two Koreas, Russia and Japan.
"Overall, the North Korean delegation's positions have not changed from those they expressed in the first round," Lee said this week in an interview with South Korea's CBS Radio. "They firmly denied that they have a uranium-based nuclear program, and they also did not change their position on security guarantees."
During the Beijing talks, North Korea insisted on keeping a nuclear program for medical and other peaceful purposes. But it said it would give up its weapons program in exchange for aid and U.S. security guarantees.
But Washington says North Korea must first start its nuclear dismantlement. It also insists that any deal include the North's alleged uranium-based program, in addition to a plutonium program it readily acknowledges.
The nuclear standoff flared in late 2002 when U.S. officials said North Korea admitted having a secret uranium program after being confronted with evidence.
Another diplomat familiar with the negotiations said Thursday that the latest talks allowed more "in-depth discussions on substantial matters of a North Korean nuclear freeze and related measures" but "didn't get into what to freeze and what to dismantle."
U.S. officials said earlier this week that the chief problem at the talks was North Korea's refusal to acknowledge having a uranium-based program.
James Kelly, the U.S. State Department's top official on Asia, told a U.S. Senate panel that the North Koreans "wouldn't give us any satisfaction" about the uranium claim.
But Kelly noted that North Korea was less vocal in asserting that position in Beijing than before because of what he said was growing evidence that the denials lack credibility.
Abdul Qadeer Khan, a Pakistani nuclear scientist, has admitted providing North Korea with assistance for developing a uranium bomb.


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Venezuela's U.N. Ambassador Resigns
By EDITH M. LEDERER
ASSOCIATED PRESS
UNITED NATIONS (AP) -
Venezuela's U.N. ambassador said Thursday he was resigning to protest human rights violations and threats to democracy in the South American nation.
Milos Alcalay, a career diplomat who has represented his country for 30 years, made his announcement at a news conference where copies of a letter to Venezuelan Foreign Minister Jesus Arnaldo Perez were handed out.
Alcalay said his diplomatic career has been guided by the principles of protecting human rights, operating through a transparent democratic process and supporting an open dialogue for international diplomacy.
"Sadly, Venezuela now is operating devoid of these fundamental principles, which I still remain intensely committed to. Therefore, it is with a heavy heart today that I am resigning from my position," he said in his statement.
Alcalay's resignation came amid opposition protests of the National Elections Council's decision to reject a petition for a recall vote against President Hugo Chavez.
On the issue of democracy, the ambassador said he believes the arguments set forth by the Elections Council violate "the spirit and the purpose" of Venezuela's constitution "and rob Venezuelans of the right to effect change through the democratic process."
He also denounced the Chavez government's human rights record.
"We've seen army and police repression, unacceptable loss of life, disappearance of political leaders and there have been allegations of torture," Alcalay said. "A peaceful demonstration of citizens is no longer feasible in Venezuela and brutal repression must stop."
The ambassador warned that "the increasing bipolarization and problems we are experiencing at home in Venezuela have impacted our relationships around the world."
"I cannot remain indifferent before the sad events in my country, the loss of many lives and the outcry of the Venezuelan people whose political and civil rights are under threat," he said.
The South American nation of 24 million people is torn between Venezuelans who say Chavez has become increasingly autocratic and those who say he speaks for the poor.

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Arab League Can't Agree on Reform Plan
By SALAH NASRAWI
ASSOCIATED PRESS
CAIRO, Egypt - Arab foreign ministers failed to agree Thursday on a new strategy for reform in the Middle East that was meant to be a response to a Bush administration proposal.
The ministers of the 22-member Arab League, finishing four days of meetings, will discuss the plans again when they meet in Tunisia just before a league summit March 29-30.
Officials did not explain why they couldn't agree on their response to Washington's recent initiative urging Middle East governments to adopt major political and economic reforms. The Bush administration plans to present the plan at the G8 summit of industrial nations in June.
Arab nations, led by Egypt and Saudi Arabia, have denounced the initiative as an imposition of foreign ideas and have pushed for Arabs to come up with their own reform package.
The ministers' discussions focused on an Egyptian-Saudi plan that encourages Arabs to play a larger role in running their political, economic, social and cultural affairs. The initiative, also backed by Syria, suggests Arabs coordinate their foreign and security policies through new supervision and follow-up agencies.
The Egyptian-Saudi does not address specific issues including the status of women, human rights, improving education and liberalizing political systems.

Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari said he championed broad reform. "The wind of change is blowing and Arabs should be prepared," Zebari told The Associated Press.

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Iraq Scrambles for New Oil Export Routes
By BRUCE STANLEY
ASSOCIATED PRESS
LONDON (AP) -
With oil exports from northern Iraq crimped by the persistent threat of sabotage, the Iraqi Oil Ministry is pursuing several options to increase crude exports along safer routes in the Persian Gulf, including deals to ship oil to two former foes.
The ministry is considering building pipelines to export limited amounts of crude to Iran and Kuwait. Both countries suffered enormous losses in wars launched by Saddam Hussein, and their interest in the oil projects could attest to a turnaround in relations with Baghdad.
In addition, the Oil Ministry has refurbished two of the four berths at its Khor al-Amaya export terminal in the Gulf. Tankers began loading oil there Friday for the first time since before the U.S.-led invasion.
Oil is Iraq's most valuable export, and the country must sell more to pay for rebuilding an economy shattered by wars, sanctions and misrule. Confronted with political tensions and terror attacks, Iraq's Governing Council and its American backers recognize that rising oil revenues are essential to the creation of jobs and social stability.
However, some analysts argue that the Oil Ministry risks giving Iran and Kuwait unnecessary leverage over Iraq's economic lifeblood. They say the ministry should focus instead on securing and reopening Iraq's northern pipeline to Turkey and on completing repairs to the Khor al-Amaya terminal, which was destroyed during the first Gulf War.
A few critics even allege the real rationale for exporting to Iran is a corrupt deal between Shiite advisers to Iraqi Oil Minister Ibrahim Bahr al-Uloum and their religious brethren in Iran.
"Definitely there is no coherent strategy," former Iraqi oil minister Issam Al-Chalabi said.
Iraq is now pumping more than 2 million barrels of crude a day, compared to some 2.8 million barrels on the eve of war last year. It exports most of what it produces.
Iraqi officials hope that new export outlets in the Gulf will help make up for their current inability to make full use of the oil pipeline from Kirkuk in northern Iraq to the port of Ceyhan, Turkey. Insurgent attacks have forced the pipeline's closure for all but a few days since Saddam's ouster.
With help from the U.S. military, the Oil Ministry is working to improve security. The northern pipeline is important because it gives Iraq a convenient outlet to markets in Europe, whereas Iraq has typically supplied customers in Asia from its southern facilities in the Gulf.
Ministry officials have been reluctant to announce a target date for resuming full use of the pipeline.
A Turkish oil official said modest amounts of oil began flowing through the pipeline on Monday, though it wasn't clear if this week's average volume of 377,000 barrels signified a resumption of normal shipments. The pipeline can handle up to 900,000 barrels a day.
"The Iraqis seem to be resigned to the instability in the northern part of Iraq continuing for a long time," said Manouchehr Takin of the Center for Global Energy Studies in London. "Otherwise it doesn't make sense to look at these other alternatives on a short-term basis."
Iraq has the world's second biggest proven reserves after Saudi Arabia, but politics has starved it of reliable export routes. Saddam's 1990 invasion of Kuwait led Saudi Arabia to halt Iraq's exports through a pipeline to the Red Sea, and the Americans closed Iraq's pipeline to Syria after toppling the former Iraqi leader.
Iraq's first pipeline, to what was then the port of Haifa in British-controlled Palestine, ceased operating after the 1948 war that resulted in the creation of Israel. Despite the pipeline's dilapidated condition, the change of regime in Baghdad has encouraged some Israelis to dream of importing cheap Iraqi crude.
A senior Iraqi oil official confirmed this week that the Oil Ministry now wants to build a small, six-mile pipeline to export up to 250,000 barrels of oil a day to a refinery in Abadan, Iran. Despite acrimonious relations between the United States and Iran, the Coalition Provisional Authority in Iraq has raised no objections to this deal, the official said, speaking from Baghdad on condition of anonymity.
Iraq already buys Iranian gasoline and kerosene, and the proposed pipeline would be just another commercial arrangement, the official said.
Under a separate deal announced Sunday, officials from Iraq and Kuwait are evaluating the feasibility of building a pipeline to ship up to 250,000 barrels of Iraqi oil each day through Kuwait and its port facilities in the Gulf.

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