Ahmadinejad faces world nuclear spotlight

By Lachlan Carmichael (AFP)

UNITED NATIONS — Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was to deliver a closely-watched speech Wednesday at the UN General Assembly where US President Barack Obama put Iran on the spot over its nuclear aims.

The speeches from the Iranian, US and other leaders come before the chief diplomats of the United States, Russia, China, Britain and France as well as Germany meet here later to prepare for key talks with Iran in Geneva next week.

Though known for his fiery and provocative rhetoric, the Iranian leader was due to send a message of peace to the world leaders gathered in the assembly -- many of whom fear Iran's nuclear program has military aims despite its denials.

Taking a more conciliatory tone than his predecessor George W. Bush, US President Barack Obama has asked Iran to accept an outstretched hand of friendship and engage with the United States on nuclear and other issues.

However, Obama called on leaders here to hold Iran -- as well as North Korea -- to account for their nuclear programs, warning they threatened to take the world down a "dangerous slope."

Speaking before more than 120 world leaders, Obama renewed his pledge to work toward a world without nuclear weapons and said all nations would be less secure if some avoided international inspections.

"In their actions to date, the governments of North Korea and Iran threaten to take us down this dangerous slope," Obama said at the United Nations.

And French President Nicolas Sarkozy was due to mention France's concerns about Iran's nuclear program in his own speech at the podium later Wednesday, according to sources at the United Nations who asked not to be named.

French officials said delegations from the 27 member countries of the European Union could leave the General Assembly if Ahmadinejad utters provocative remarks during his speech.

Protests also are being planned outside the UN headquarters by Iranians and others enraged by the government-led crackdown against the political opposition following Ahmadinejad's disputed re-election in June.

The six powers meanwhile will try to coordinate their points of view in preparation for the resumption of a dialogue with Iran on October 1 in the Swiss lakeside city of Geneva.

They hope to reconcile the aims of the United States and Europe -- which seek new sanctions if Iran continues to enrich uranium -- and a more cautious attitude from Russia and China.

However, France's foreign minister Bernard Kouchner said in an interview Wednesday he was not in favor of plans floated by some US lawmakers that would impose fuel sanctions on Iran to make it come clean on its nuclear program.

Kouchner, speaking in New York where he is attending the General Assembly, told the International Herald Tribune that a fuel blockade would harm the Iranian people, "and mainly poor people."

Javier Solana, the European Union's foreign policy chief, said he hoped for a "consensual statement" on Iran without denying it could lack substance.

The United States is still counting on the United Nations to get their partners to toe the new tough line.

Obama therefore asked his Chinese counterpart Hu Jintao to show solidarity on Iran.

The Financial Times reported meanwhile that China is potentially undermining US-led efforts aimed at curbing Iran's nuclear ambitions by supplying the Middle Eastern state with petrol.

Citing unnamed traders and bankers, the Financial Times said state-owned Chinese oil companies were selling the petrol through intermediaries and now accounted for a third of Tehran's gasoline imports.

It added that the sales are legal because the current sanctions do not cover fuel imports.

Analysts said although Iran is a major crude producer and exporter, it imports refined products such as gasoline because it lacks the refining capacity. Link...

Indian soldiers, militants die in Kashmir battles

Police said an army major and a special commando were among the dead

SRINAGAR - Four Indian soldiers and four Muslim militants were killed as gun battles raged in Kashmir on Wednesday after months of relative calm, police said.

They said four soldiers were also wounded in two clashes that broke out in north Kashmir.

"Fierce encounters are still going on. We are sure these militants have recently infiltrated from PoK (Pakistan Occupied Kashmir)," an army spokesman said.

New Delhi says Pakistan-based militant groups have stepped up efforts to push their members into Indian Kashmir before winter snow blocks the Himalayan mountain passes.

Kashmir remains at the core of a six-decade-long conflict between India and Pakistan, which both claim in full but rule in part.

Tens of thousands of people have been killed since a simmering discontent against Indian rule turned into a full-blown rebellion in 1989. Link...

Palestinian settlement workers carry on building

By Joseph Nasr

BEITAR ILLIT, West Bank, Sept 23 (Reuters) - From up here in the hills beyond Jerusalem, President Barack Obama might get a different view of Israeli settlements frustrating his ambitious drive to resolve the 60-year-old Middle East conflict.

Whether their construction is "frozen" or just "restrained" seems too fine a point for Palestinians to whom the fenced-off, red-roofed towns all over the West Bank are immovable facts on the ground that have been part of their lives for years.

Even if peace were agreed, they know, Israel would hold onto its biggest West Bank settlements in a land-swap with a new Palestinian state.

Building work continues as usual on the breezy slopes, regardless of Tuesday's damp squib summit in New York where Obama failed to persuade Israel to stop building so stalled peace talks might resume.

Many of the workers are Palestinians, men who say they long for an end to Israeli occupation and a state of their own, but also need to earn a livelihood and refuse to let their families go hungry when there are jobs to be had, even from Israelis.

"If Obama came here of course it would give him a different view of reality because hearing about it is not like seeing it," said Abu Saeed, a contractor who undertakes work in the settlement of Elazar, near Bethlehem.

From the rocky edge of the Palestinian village of Wadi Nis (Porcupine Valley) he points to five Israeli settlements on the nearby ridges and hilltops south of Jerusalem, towns that would be either have to handed over to a new Palestinian state or bought in land swaps elsewhere on the borderline.



STEADY GROWTH

Settlement began after Israel seized the West Bank in the 1967 Middle East war, and advanced rapidly in the 1980s. About 300,000 Israelis inhabit 100 settlements, in plush villas with leafy gardens and spartan apartments still smelling of concrete.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas insists he will not resume peace talks with Israel which broke off late last year until the government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu agrees to freeze all settlement activity.

Netanyahu has offered no more than a 9-month suspension.

Obama had also insisted on a "freeze" until this week when, facing a stalemate that threatens to keep negotiations suspended indefinitely, he urged Israel to show "restraint".

The nuance was lost on workers at Beitar Illit, one of the newer settlements south of Jerusalem, where orthodox Jewish families of modest means occupy flats in 6-storey blocks made presentable by honey-coloured facades of cut Jerusalem stone.

"It's empty talk, this settlement freeze," said the ganger of a six-man Palestinian squad building sidewalks for the community. "Yesterday we had this summit about freezing settlements and here we are today back at work as usual."

"The Jews will never leave the settlements," said a co-worker. "This is a false dream. What was taken by force will only be won back by force."

The men do not give their names but do not object to talking on camera. They come from Hebron, a town proud to be considered a stronghold of Palestinian nationalism, where nevertheless, they say, neighbours show understanding for the choice they made.

Like Abu Saeb, whose says his business earns enough to support his extended family "and educate my kids to stay on the land instead of giving up", the labourers say the wages they can earn here are vital.

"We work here to the highest standards," one winked as they sat on the roadside eating a simple meagre lunch off a scrap of discarded carton. "You see, we hope that one day the Israelis will move out of here and we will move in." Link...