2 - The Michigan Daily - Wednesday, February 23, 2005
NATION/WORLD
I
Bush denies plans to attack Iran NEWS 1N BRIEF
4
BRUSSELS, Belgium (AP) - Presi-
dent Bush said yesterday that it is "sim-
ply ridiculous" to assume that the United
States has plans to attack Iran over its
alleged nuclear weapons program.
"This notion that the United States
is getting ready to attack Iran is simply
ridiculous. Having said that, all options
are on the table," Bush said after dis-
cussing the issue with European allies.
Bush used his bluntest language yet
to give assurance to Iran's leaders. Last
week, in a series of pre-trip interviews
with European journalists, he also tried
to dispel talk of a military attack, an
issue that has been raised repeatedly
since the United States went to war with
Iraq primarily over its alleged weapons
of mass destruction. No such weapons
have been found in Iraq.
On Iran, Bush has walked a careful
line in expressing support for a Euro-
pean-led approach offering Iran techno-
logical, financial and political support in
return for scrapping its uranium enrich-
ment program.
"It's in our interests for them not to have
a nuclear weapon," Bush said in a news
conference with European Union leaders.
The United States has refused to get
involved in the bargaining with Teh-
ran or to make commitments about
incentives, insisting that Tehran aban-
don its program.
Also yesterday, Bush hailed NATO's
modest pledge to help train security
forces in Iraq, saying "every contribu-
tion helps."
"The NATO training mission is an
important mission, because after all, the
success of Iraq depends upon the capac-
ity and the willingness of the Iraqis to
defend their own selves against terror-
ists," he said during an earlier news con-
ference at NATO headquarters.
Bush also made clear his intention
to challenge Russian President Vladi-
mir Putin on recent actions, including
restrictions on the press and Moscow's
treatment of neighboring Baltic coun-
tries, that U.S. officials view as harm-
ful to democracy there. The two leaders
meet Thursday in Slovakia.
"A constructive relationship allows me
to remind him that I believe Russia is a
European country and European coun-
tries embrace those very same values that
America embraces," Bush said. "I'm con-
fident that can be done in a cordial way."
Putin defended his approach.
"Russia chose democracy 14 years ago
not to please anyone, but for its own sake,
for the sake of the nation and its citizens,"
Putin said. "Naturally, basic principles
and institutions of democracy must be
adapted to today's realities of Russian
life, to our traditions and history."
Bush also reiterated U.S. opposition
to Europe's plans to lift its 15-year arms
embargo against China.
"There is deep concern in our coun-
try that a transfer of weapons will be
a transfer of technology, that it will
change the balance of relations between
China and Taiwan," Bush said.
He said he understands that the Euro-
peans are working on a Way to address
U.S. worries about allowing China to
modernize its military with arms and
communications, intelligence and sur-
veillance equipment that would give
Beijing anedge over Taiwan.
"They know the Congress is con-
cerned," Bush said. "And so they'll try
to develop a plan that will ease concerns.
Now, whether they can or not, we'll see."
French President Jacques Chirac,
while stressing that security guaran-
tees could be worked out, indicated that
Europe remains steadfast in its desire to
end the ban. "We intend to lift the last
obstacles in our relations (with China),
and this within a spirit of responsibil-
ity," he said.
In Beijing yesterday, Chinese Foreign
Ministry spokesman Kong Quan said
that abolishing the "erroneous and out-
dated measure" would help move for-
ward China-EU relations.
As Bush shuttled in between NATO
headquarters and meeting with Euro-
pean Union leaders, opposition to
the U.S. president was evident in
the streets of Brussels as protest-
ers lobbed a fire bomb at riot police.
Police responded with water cannons
to disperse the crowd that they esti-
mated was 1,000 strong.
Police said they did not know if
anyone was injured. Associated Press
Television News reporters saw several
people arrested.
On Iraq, Luxembourg Prime Minis-
ter Jean-Claude Juncker, whose coun-
try holds the rotating European Union
presidency, said the United States and
the EU will host a conference to rally
international support for Iraq if the new
government there requests it.
NATO succeeded after struggling for
months to get a commitment from all
allies to join the mission in Iraq, includ-
ing those that vigorously opposed the
U.S.-led war there.
Earthquake kills
420 people in fran
BAGHDAD, Iraq
A1-Jaafari may become prime minister
Interim Vice President Ibrahim al-Jaafari was chosen as his Shiite ticket's can-
didate for prime minister yesterday after Ahmad Chalabi dropped his bid, senior
alliance officials said.
Al-Jaafari's selection means he likely will lead Iraq's first democratically elected
government in 50 years. But first he has to be approved by a coalition that likely
will include the Kurds, and then he must be approved by a majority of the newly
elected National Assembly.
Pressure from within the ranks of the United Iraqi Alliance, which won Iraq's
landmark Jan. 30 election, forced the withdrawal of Chalabi, a one-time Pentagon
favorite, said Hussein al-Moussawi from the Shiite Political Council, an umbrella
group for 38 Shiite parties.
Two explosions echoed through Baghdad at midday. A plume of black smoke
rose from the Green Zone, where Iraqi government offices and the U.S. Embassy
are located.
Police Capt. Muthanna Hassan said one of the blasts was a car bomb that explod-
ed as an Iraqi special forces convoy passed by, killing two soldiers and wounding
20 others. It was not clear what caused the other blast.
SEOUL, South Korea
North Korea sets conditions for nuclear talks
China urged the United States and North Korea yesterday to be more flexible
in trying to resolve their nuclear standoff after communist leader Kim Jong II said
his government would return to six-party disarmament talks if Washington shows
sincerity and meets his conditions.
Kim said in a rare comment on the nuclear dispute that his government remained
committed to a peaceful solution.
"We will go to the negotiating table anytime if there are mature conditions for
the six-party talks thanks to the concerted efforts of the parties concerned in the
future," the reclusive leader told a visiting Chinese envoy, according to Pyongyang's
official Korean Central News Agency. He expressed the hope that the United States
would show "trustworthy sincerity," it said.
KCNA did not elaborate on what conditions Kim cited to the envoy from China,
his impoverished country's only remaining major ally.
RAMALLAH, West Bank
Qureia promises to reform Palestinian cabinet
Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qureia yesterday promised a drastic
overhaul of his Cabinet, signaling the start of long-sought reform, after his
original lineup of political old-timers prompted an angry outcry and threats of
a no-confidence vote.
Qureia told parliament he would largely appoint experts, rather than politicians,
to the Cabinet, which will be presented to parliament for approval Wednesday.
Sweeping change in the Cabinet would mark a first for the Palestinian Authority.
Until now, the ministers were largely chosen from a small circle of cronies of the
late Yasser Arafat, often regardless of expertise.
Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas appeared to be largely untouched by the
political turmoil. Abbas could simply appoint a new prime minister if Qureia fails
to win approval for his Cabinet.
KABUL, Afghanistan
U.S. considers permanent bases in Afghanistan
The United States needs permanent military bases in Afghanistan to protect its
"vital national security interests" in the region, Arizona Sen. John McCain said
yesterday after talks with the Afghan president.
McCain's remarks were the latest indication of American and British aspirations
to cement their influence in this former al-Qaida stronghold on the doorstep of
Iran, China and nuclear-armed rivals Pakistan and India.
McCain, part of a five-member Senate delegation that met President Hamid
Karzai at his palace in the Afghan capital, said he was committed to a "strategic
partnership that we believe must endure foriny, inany years."
- Compiled from Daily wire reports
SARBAGH, Iran (AP) - A powerful
earthquake flattened villages and col-
lapsed mud-brick homes in the moun-
tains of central Iran yesterday, killing at
least 420 people and injuring hundreds.
In-a cold rain, survivors dug franti-
cally through slabs of concrete and
piles of dirt, searching for loved ones
buried under the rubble of destroyed
homes. Iranian television showed sur-
vivors slapping their faces in grief as
they sat beside dead relatives wrapped
in blankets.
"Where have you gone? I had a lot of
plans for you," Hossein Golestani sang
softly to his lifeless 7-year-old daughter,
who he held in his arms. His 8-year-old
daughter lay dead beside him.
Mohammad Javad Fadaei, deputy
provincial governor of Kerman, told
The Associated Press that 420 people
were killed and about 900 injured.
The magnitude-6.4 quake was cen-
tered on the outskirts of Zarand, a
town of about 15,000 people in Ker-
man province 600 miles southeast of
AP PHOTO
People search for victims of the earthquake in Dahoueieh, Iran, on the out-
skirts of Zarand, 35 miles northwest of the Kerman province yesterday.
Tehran, according to the seismologi-
cal unit of Tehran University's Geo-
physics Institute.
It struck the mountainous region at
5:55 a.m., damaging at least 40 villages
with a total population of about 30,000
people, officials said.
Residents of Khanook village car-
ried bodies to the morgue for washing
before burial. Others crowded around
lists of the dead posted on the morgue's
wall, breaking into cries if they found a
relative's name.
"I lost everything! All my life is
gone!" sobbed Asghar Owldi, 60, his
face bandaged. His wife and two chil-
dren were killed.
A heavy rain hampered rescue efforts,
and temperatures dropped after sun-
down and snow began falling in some
villages. Survivors huddled around fires
to keep warm, covering themselves with
blankets and sipping soup.
Emergency officials tried to evacu-
ate survivors to nearby towns and cities
and some 1,500 workers from the Ira-
nian Red Crescent with sniffer dogs and
mountain rescue teams fanned out with
tents and tarps to the affected villages.
Officials said yesterday's quake was
not a replay of the devastating Bam
earthquake in December 2003 because
the epicenter was near lightly populated,
remote villages. Yesterday's quake was
also much deeper - 25 miles under-
ground. The 6.6-magnitude quake that
flattened Bam and killed 26,000 people
was six miles underground.
While homes made of mud col-
lapsed, cement buildings did not
appear heavily damaged.
The tiny villages that dot the moun-
tain ranges were hit hard. Kerman's
governor, Mohammad Ali Karimi,
said several villages were destroyed.
In the village of Sarbagh, near Zarand,
nearly 80 percent of the buildings
were destroyed.
Iranian television reported that all
hospitals in Zarand were filled to capac-
ity with the injured, showing elderly
women and men lying on beds and vic-
tims wrapped in bloody bandages or
with broken bones.
The governor of Zarand told state-
run television that power in the
region has been disrupted, and sup-
plies were needed.
The Iranian Red Crescent told inter-
national relief officials it did not need
outside aid, said Roy Probert, a spokes-
man for the Geneva-based International
Federation of Red Cross and Red Cres-
cent Societies.
"They seem to have the situation
well in hand," Probert told The Asso-
ciated Press.
Relief officials said they learned
many lessons from the Bam quake.
"The earthquake in 2003 gave us a
very good experience of how to deal
with such a natural disaster. Despite
the rain, relief operations are going
smoothly. Relief teams have reached
the villages and are helping the survi-
vors," Soltani said.
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