[Peace-discuss] Just Foreign Policy News - July 7, 2006

Fri Jul 7 15:47:31 CDT 2006

Just Foreign Policy News - Abridged
July 7, 2006

 [For full text of the articles, contact naiman at justforeignpolicy.org]

In this issue:
1) Iran has Positive Impression of Nuclear Proposal
2) EU Upbeat After First Iran Nuclear Talks
3) Ahmadinejad Warns of Islamic 'Explosion'
4) Iran keeps world guessing on nuclear answer
5) Insight on the Iranians
6) In Conn., Lieberman Defends Seat, War Stance
7) Review: Filmmaker gives a powerful glimpse inside Guantanamo
8) Conservative Calderón Wins, but Left Challenges Result

Summary:
Iran's chief nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani said on Friday he had a
positive impression of a proposal for Iran to halt nuclear enrichment,
but would not be rushed into responding. "The Iranian nuclear issue is
not so complicated that it cannot be resolved by dialogue,'' Larijani
said.  He told a news conference there was no reason to be pessimistic
about an impasse, but that setting time limits undermined confidence
on both sides. "We don't need people to set us deadlines,'' he said.
"This pressure creates an atmosphere of a lack of trust and doubt
between the two parties,'' he said. Larijani said his meeting with the
European Union's foreign policy chief had been "very fruitful and
constructive.''

The EU said on Friday it expected a "substantial response'' from Iran
at talks next week on a package of incentives to end a nuclear
standoff, describing an initial meeting as constructive. "It's a good
start for what we expect will be a positive meeting on July 11,'' a
spokeswoman for EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana said of his
meeting Thursday with Iran chief nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani. "We
expect on Tuesday that they will be able to give us a substantial
response,'' she said by telephone on Friday of a second round of July
11 talks on a package of incentives for Iran to halt uranium
enrichment. Asked whether the EU was confident Iran would comply with
Western demands for a full answer by the G8 summit, she said: " I have
always said we are not using the word 'deadlines','', adding that the
summit was nonetheless a key date.

Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul told reporters Thursday that he
saw a change of attitude among the Iranians about the most recent
offer to resolve a standoff over Iran's nuclear ambitions. Gul, who
said he had been involved in this issue at the request of the Iranian
government, noted that he could attest to their willingness to find a
way out of the impasse."From the Iranian side, I see that they see the
package is good. They see there is a change in the position and there
is a real intention for a diplomatic solution," he said. "I met most
of them, and they are forthcoming for a solution." Gul said, however,
that the Iranians were seeking guarantees that the suggested package
of measures would be delivered.

Russian President Vladimir Putin urged Tehran to speed up its reply
Thursday but said talk of sanctions was premature."To wait endlessly
is counter-productive, but it would be more counter-productive to
drive this problem into a dead-end and that is why I would not speak
about sanctions at the moment," Putin said.

Iran's president warned Friday that continued Israeli strikes against
Palestinians could lead to an Islamic ''explosion'' targeting Israel
and its Western supporters. President Ahmadinejad told thousands of
demonstrators gathered in the capital, Tehran, to condemn the strikes
in the Gaza Strip that Israel's supporters could be the target of
revenge by Muslims.

Sen. Joseph Lieberman clashed in a debate Thursday with his primary
opponent Ned Lamont, a ctitic of the US occupation if Iraq. The
Washington Post notes that recent polls suggest that Lieberman could
lose the primary. The Post article seems to suggest that Lamont has
extreme views since he said that the administration should set a
deadline for withdrawing troops from Iraq, saying that this is a view
shared by only a small number of Democrats in the Senate. Recently
thirteen Senators voted for an amendment setting a deadline of July 1,
2007 for a redeployment of US troops from Iraq, including four
Senators from New England (Jeffords, Kennedy, Kerry, and Leahy.) Some
national opinion polls have suggested that a majority of Americans now
support a timetable for withdrawal. Lieberman's decision to run as an
independent if necessary has led some national party leaders to
distance themselves. Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) took the
unusual step of declaring before the primary that she would not
support him as an independent candidate this fall.

A review in the Chicago Tribune describes the documentary "The Road to
Guantanamo" as "political drama of extraordinary impact and ferocity,"
based on the real experiences of four British Muslims accidentally
swept up in the war against the Taliban and then into the Guantanamo
camps.

The final official count in Mexico's presidential election gave a
narrow victory to the governing party candidate, Felipe Calderón. But
his rival Andrés Manuel López Obrador continued to challenge the
result and questioned the actions and independence of the electoral
authorities. The official tally gave Calderón 35.88 percent of the
vote, just over a half of one percentage point more than the 35.31
percent obtained by López Obrador. The candidate and his party have
four days to present their allegations to the Federal Elections Court.
The Court would then have until Aug. 31 to reach a verdict and
proclaim the winner. The federal tribunal would also have the final
decision of whether to carry out a new ballot-by-ballot count. The
National Union of Workers (UNT), one of Mexico's main union
federations, announced that it would back "peaceful civil resistance"
in support of López Obrador in the fight for "the legality of the
vote." López Obrador called on his supporters to rally on Saturday
afternoon, Jul. 8, in the Zócalo, Mexico City's main square, for an
"information day" when he will reveal the details of his allegations.

Articles:
1) Iran has Positive Impression of Nuclear Proposal
Reuters
Filed at 1:09 p.m. ET
July 7, 2006
http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/news/news-nuclear-iran.html

MADRID (Reuters) - Iran's chief nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani said
on Friday he had a positive impression of a proposal for Iran to halt
nuclear enrichment, but would not be rushed into responding.

Western powers have demanded Iran make a full reply to an offer of a
package of incentives for it to halt nuclear enrichment by a July 15
Group of Eight (G8) summit in St. Petersburg. Tehran says it will
respond to the offer by August 22.

Speaking through an interpreter, Larijani said:

``The Iranian nuclear issue is not so complicated that it cannot be
resolved by dialogue.''

He told a news conference during a visit to Madrid there was no reason
to be pessimistic about an impasse, but that setting time limits
undermined confidence on both sides.

``We don't need people to set us deadlines,'' he said.

``This pressure creates an atmosphere of a lack of trust and doubt
between the two parties,'' he said, answering a question about the
timing of Iran's response.

2) EU Upbeat After First Iran Nuclear Talks
Reuters
July 7, 2006
Filed at 10:34 a.m. ET
http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/news/news-nuclear-iran.html

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Union said on Friday it expected a
``substantial response'' from Iran at talks next week on a package of
incentives to end a nuclear standoff, describing an initial meeting as
constructive.

``It's a good start for what we expect will be a positive meeting on
July 11,'' Cristina Gallach, spokeswoman for EU foreign policy chief
Javier Solana said of his meeting late on Thursday with Iran chief
nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani.

``We expect on Tuesday that they will be able to give us a substantial
response,'' she said by telephone on Friday of a second round of July
11 talks on a package of technology, trade and other incentives for
Iran to halt uranium enrichment.

Asked whether the EU was confident Iran would comply with Western
demands for a full answer by a summit of Group of Eight industrial
powers in St Petersburg four days later, she said:

``We want to create the conditions for the start of negotiations as
soon as possible ... I have always said we are not using the word
'deadlines','' she said, adding the summit and an earlier meeting of
major power foreign ministers in Paris on July 12 were nonetheless key
dates.

3) Ahmadinejad Warns of Islamic 'Explosion'
Associated Press
July 7, 2006
Filed at 10:36 a.m. ET
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/world/AP-Iran-Israel.html

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) -- Iran's hard-line president warned Friday that
continued Israeli strikes against Palestinians could lead to an
Islamic ''explosion'' targeting Israel and its Western supporters.

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad told thousands of demonstrators gathered in the
capital, Tehran, to condemn the strikes in the Gaza Strip that
Israel's supporters could be the target of revenge by Muslims.

4) Iran keeps world guessing on nuclear answer
Parisa Hafezi
Reuters
Friday, July 7, 2006; 12:46 AM
 http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/07/06/AR2006070600183.html

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Iran kept a frustrated world guessing about its
response to proposals aimed at defusing a standoff over its nuclear
program Thursday when Tehran's chief negotiator met the European
Union's foreign policy chief.

Ali Larijani, secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council,
told reporters he would give a preliminary response next week to a
package of economic, technological and political incentives designed
to entice Iran to halt uranium enrichment.

"We are serious about continuing negotiations and will start next
Tuesday with talks," he told reporters on meeting EU foreign policy
chief Javier Solana in Brussels. The two men are due to meet again
next week.

Pressed to say if he had brought with him an initial answer to the
major powers' package, which Solana delivered to Tehran on June 6,
Larijani said: "We will talk about it Tuesday."

5) Insight on the Iranians
Nora Boustany
Washington Post
Friday, July 7, 2006; A11
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/07/06/AR2006070601629.html

Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul told Washington Post columnists
and reporters Thursday that he saw a change of attitude among the
Iranians about the most recent offer to resolve a standoff over Iran's
nuclear ambitions.

6) In Conn., Lieberman Defends Seat, War Stance
Shailagh Murray
Washington Post
Friday, July 7, 2006; A01
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/07/06/AR2006070601755.html?sub=AR

HARTFORD, Conn., July 6 -- Shunned by many in his own party because of
his vigorous support for the war in Iraq, Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman
clashed in a debate Thursday with a well-financed challenger who has
roiled Connecticut politics and turned the Democratic primary into a
national test of the antiwar movement.

In a hard-hitting 30-minute exchange about the war, Lieberman sought
to portray his opponent, Ned Lamont, as a fringe candidate with little
grasp of the military and geopolitical stakes in Iraq. Lamont assailed
the incumbent for ignoring reports of rising violence and instability,
and for cheering on President Bush "when he should have been asking
the tough questions."

7) Review: Filmmaker gives a powerful glimpse inside Guantanamo
Michael Wilmington
Chicago Tribune
July 7, 2006
http://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/custom/friday/chi-0607070352jul07,1,3958645.story

Set largely in the Guantanamo Bay prison camps and in Afghanistan,
Michael Winterbottom and Mat Whitecross' "The Road to Guantanamo" is a
mix of dramatic and documentary techniques that hits like a shock
wave. It's a fervent, topical political drama of extraordinary impact
and ferocity, based on the real-life misadventures of four young
British Muslims accidentally swept up in the war against the Taliban
and then into the Guantanamo camps.

8) Conservative Calderón Wins, but Left Challenges Result
Diego Cevallos
Inter Press Service
Friday, July 7, 2006
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines06/0707-05.htm

MEXICO CITY - The final count in Mexico's presidential election gives
a narrow victory to the governing party candidate, Felipe Calderón.
But his leftist rival Andrés Manuel López Obrador announced that he
would challenge the result and he questioned the actions and
independence of the electoral authorities.

Calderón, of the conservative National Action Party (PAN), won the
election with 35.88 percent of the vote, just over a half of one
percentage point more than the 35.31 percent obtained by López
Obrador, of the left-leaning Party of the Democratic Revolution (PRD),
according to the recount of the ballot returns carried out between
Wednesday morning and Thursday.

--
Robert Naiman
Just Foreign Policy