LCCC ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN
DECEMBER 24/2006

Bible Reading of the day
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Luke 1,57-66.
When the time arrived for Elizabeth to have her child she gave birth to a son. Her neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord had shown his great mercy toward her, and they rejoiced with her. When they came on the eighth day to circumcise the child, they were going to call him Zechariah after his father, but his mother said in reply, "No. He will be called John."  But they answered her, "There is no one among your relatives who has this name." So they made signs, asking his father what he wished him to be called. He asked for a tablet and wrote, "John is his name," and all were amazed. Immediately his mouth was opened, his tongue freed, and he spoke blessing God. Then fear came upon all their neighbors, and all these matters were discussed throughout the hill country of Judea. All who heard these things took them to heart, saying, "What, then, will this child be?" For surely the hand of the Lord was with him.
 

Free Opinions
How can the Arab Christians survive? By Rami G. Khouri

Latest news from Miscellaneous Scources for December 24/06
U.N. to impose sanctions on Iran-AP
Moussa cautious on progress in Lebanon crisis-Jerusalem Post
Moussa Urges Rival Leaders to Practice Restraint, Warns of Escalation-Naharnet
Mussa's mediation fails to make breakthrough-Middle East Online
Spain's Defense Minister in South Lebanon for Christmas-Naharnet
Police Display Confiscated Explosives Designed for 'Terrorist' attacks-Naharnet
No deal reached on Lebanon crisis-Scotsman
U.S. Must Reach Out to Syria to End Lebanon Crisis: Policy Review-Naharnet
Delay Reveals How Much Is at Stake-Wall Street Journal
Arab League urges end to Lebanon crisis-NDTV.com
Mercenaries Grab Tug-of-love Girls In Lebanon -Playfuls.com - Targu Mures,Romania
Saskatoon Woman Takes Back Kids From Lebanon-Saskatoonhomepage.ca
UNHCR: Syria lied over return of Ahwazi refugees-British Ahwazi Friendship Society
Syrian deputy PM: Syria's isolation has ended-Jerusalem Post

Latest news from the Daily Star for December 23/06
Lebanese security officials display weapons confiscated from pro-Syrian party
Moussa extends Beirut mission in bid to end standoff
Hoping for a reversal of fortunes
Palestinian Organization for the Right of Return opens Beirut headquarters
Government-opposition struggle has even politicized Christmas
Belgian prime minister meets peacekeeping troops in South
Privatization goes to the back of the line - again
Lonely voices try to spur economy by encouraging consumers to spend
Chameleon cab driver knows how to blend in anywhere
Speeding driver kills woman in Sidon
Flights into Beirut are full - but not with tourists
Residents say polluted river has turned Chouf town into disease-ridden nightmare
Historic site in upper Metn faces possible collapse due to lack of restoration funds
Communist Party says pact with Fpm is about secularism
Expatriate Lebanese film critic has been at both ends of cinema industry

Moussa Urges Rival Leaders to Practice Restraint, Warns of Escalation
Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa on Saturday urged the rival Lebanese leaders to practice restraint, warning that escalation by the Hizbullah-led camp would trigger counter escalation by government supporters and pleaded for dialogue among Lebanese leaders .
Addressing a press conference before winding up the second phase of his mediation, Moussa said: "We hope to benefit from this (Arab) support and the refrain from escalation that would lead to counter escalation." "I heard that there are intentions to escalate (the protest). This would be very serious for Lebanon … I strongly call for avoiding escalation," Moussa said. Never the less, Moussa said: "I do not think that Lebanon is on the verge of civil war."
"Lebanon is going through a critical turning point," he warned. However, he said: "We shall maintain our contacts and the Arab mediation … during the holiday season." Moussa said his efforts to work out a compromise between the majority government of Premier Fouad Saniora and opponents from Hizbullah and its allies has reached "a point of understanding but the possibility of escalation exists." He urged the feuding sides to "come to terms … this is a phase where the Lebanese have to decide for themselves" how to work out a settlement in the ongoing crisis.
"Contacts between Lebanese leaders do not exist," Moussa said. "I strongly call on Lebanese leaders to establish the necessary contacts between them."
"We offered Lebanese leaders proposals aimed at resolving the issues in dispute and it is up to them to accept them," he said.
"Some proposals were accepted, others met with prevarication. We had hoped that these proposals would achieve a breakthrough but contacts between the various leaders do not exist, making an understanding very difficult," Moussa added.
Arab League Presidential envoy Osman Ismail also said at the joint press conference that Hizbullah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah vowed to stay calm during the holiday season. He said Nasrallah told him during a meeting Friday meeting that "the opposition is committed to calm during the holiday season after which they will meet to decide what to do."
Ismail said Hizbullah and its allies "strongly support the Arab league initiative and they want and Arab settlement" to the crisis.
Moussa and Ismail left Lebanon shortly after the press conference which lasted for about an hour. The Arab chief, who said he will continue his mediation after the Christmas and Adha holidays, had wished the Lebanese a New Year that would bring a "historic settlement" to the crippling crisis.
Moussa held separate talks on Friday which he described as "positive" with Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, Premier Fouad Saniora, parliamentary majority leader Saad Hariri, Free Patriotic Movement leader Michael Aoun and ex-president Amin Gemayel.
Addressing reporters after his talks with Saniora, Moussa said: "We've reached the details, and devils live in details."
He stressed that Arab backing for his mediation makes its success a "necessity." Moussa on Thursday met with Syrian President Bashar Assad who gave his full support to the Arab League mediation to end the impasse. Leaders of the Majority March 14 coalition that backs the Saniora government and heads of the political organizations allied in the March 8 anti-government camp have not been in direct contact since Dec.1, when the Hizbullah-led opposition staged an open-ended sit in to topple the cabinet. Moussa's visit to Lebanon was his second in less than a week amid plans by Hizbullah and its allies to escalate its open-ended street protests against the Saniora government. Lebanon has "a problem of multiple dimensions, whether the government of national unity or the tribunal", Moussa said, referring to the Special International Tribunal for Lebanon Saniora's government is trying to help establish to try suspects in the assassination of ex-Premier Rafik Hariri and related crimes. An initial U.N. probe implicated high-ranking Syrian and Lebanese officials in the Beirut seafront bombing that killed Hariri and 22 others, but Assad has denied any involvement.(Naharnet-AFP) Beirut, 23 Dec 06, 07:31

Spain's Defense Minister in South Lebanon for Christmas
Spain's Defense Minister Jose Antonio Alonso flew into Beirut Saturday to inspect his troops serving with the U.N. Interim Force in south Lebanon (UNIFIL) and wish them merry Christmas.Spain maintains a 1,200-strong contingent serving with UNIFIL, which numbers little over 11,000 now, in a stretch of south Lebanon that was controlled by Hizbullah fighters until U.N. Security Council Resolution 1701 ended a 34-day war between the Shiite faction and Israel on Aug. 14.
UNIFIL contingents from more than 20 countries will be inspected by their national officials during the Christmas-New Year-Adha holidays.
Meanwhile, The U.N. peacekeepers launched a series of Christmas celebrations in predominantly Shiite south Lebanon, with a half dozen Santas speaking different languages distributing gifts to children. A UNIFIL officer told Naharnet by telephone he was "excited to celebrate Christmas with Shiite Muslims. This is the first time I celebrate Christmas with non Christians." "We have a variety of Santas speaking French, English, Spanish and other languages distributing gifts to Shiite children in south Lebanon. This is a unique experience for many of us," he said. Asked about the language barrier that hampers communication with children who speak only Arabic, the officer said: "Children all over the world understand the language of love. We love them and we are here to protect them. They understand that." Beirut, 23 Dec 06, 12:30

U.S. Must Reach Out to Syria to End Lebanon Crisis: Policy Review
The United States must change policy and reach out to Syria if the crisis in Lebanon is to be resolved, the International Crisis Group think-tank said.
"Washington's strategy of pressure, isolation and implicit threats of regime change has backfired," the Brussels-based group said in a policy review on Lebanon, adding to a growing chorus of calls for the U.S. to engage Syria. "Damascus has proved it may destabilize Lebanon if what it considers its vital interests are ignored or if it feels cornered. There can be no stable solution for Lebanon without a viable solution for Syria," it said in its review released on Friday.
But Washington accuses Syria of undermining Lebanon's fragile democracy by funding and training the militant group Hezbollah, and letting extremists into Iraq, and US President George W. Bush has dismissed calls for talks. Syria was for decades the powerbroker in Lebanon until public outcry over the February 2005 slaying of ex-premier Rafik Hariri led to the exit of Syrian troops months later.
The Lebanese opposition, spearheaded by Hizbullah, has been holding demonstrations in Beirut calling for the Saniora to step down and form a national unity government. The Crisis Group said that serious U.S. involvement with Syria could encourage Damascus to keep a tighter rein on Hizbullah, particularly near the Israeli border. "There can be no sustainable resolution of the Lebanese crisis without a broader, regional solution. This must begin with immediate U.S.-Syrian engagement," it said.(AFP) Beirut, 23 Dec 06, 08:16

Mercenaries Grab Tug-of-love Girls In Lebanon
December 23rd 2006
A former Australian soldier and a New Zealander were in custody in Beirut Saturday after being charged in connection with the kidnapping of two children taken there by their Australian- Lebanese father in defiance of court rulings in Canada.
Brian Corrigan and David Pemberton were taken off a plane at Beirut's international airport on Wednesday. The pair face up to 15 years imprisonment over their alleged involvement in a five-member mercenary squad that could be in the pay of Canadian woman Melissa Hawach, the mother of Hannah, 5, and Cedar,3.
Australia's Foreign Minister confirmed Corrigan was being held in Beirut. "We understand he is being held in relation to a child custody matter," a DFAT spokeswoman said. Another former Australian soldier, James Arak, and two more New Zealanders, Simon Dunn and Michael Douglas have fled Lebanon.
Hannah and Cedar were taken to Lebanon by their father, Hawach's estranged husband, Joseph Hawach, ostensibly for a three-week holiday in July. He has not been in contact with the woman he married in Sydney in 1999. The mercenaries are believed to have kidnapped the girls and reunited them with their mother. The three of them are believed to be in hiding in Lebanon. Canadian authorities have charged Joseph Hawach with two counts of abduction and issued international arrest and extradition warrants. Melissa Hawach launched unprecedented legal action last month in the Australian courts against her in-laws and her former husband's extended family in a bid to force them to reveal the children's whereabouts. "I'm not going away, this will never go away until my girls are at home in bed," she said on the steps of the Supreme Court in Sydney. "They are the reason I get up every day. I won't stop looking until I find them."
The matter is complicated by the fact that the girls are considered Lebanese citizens.© 2006 DPA

Subject: Australia
Date: Sat, 23 Dec 2006 17:28:26 +1100
Une bonne leçon pour les autres gouvernements!!
Subject: Australia again
Muslims who want to live under Islamic Sharia law were told on Wednesday to get out of Australia , as the government targeted radicals in a bid to head off potential terror attacks.
A day after a group of mainstream Muslim leaders pledged loyalty to Australia and her Queen at a special meeting with Prime Minister John Howard, he and his Ministers made it clear that extremists would face a crackdown. Treasurer Peter Costello, seen as heir apparent to Howard, hinted that some radical clerics could be asked to leave the country if they did not accept that Australia was a secular state, and its laws were made by parliament. "If those are not your values, if you want a country which has Sharia law or a theocratic state, then Australia is not for you", he said on National Television.
"I'd be saying to clerics who are teaching that there are two laws governing people in Australia : one the Australian law and another the Islamic law, that is false. If you can't agree with parliamentary law, independent courts, democracy, and would prefer Sharia law and have the opportunity to go to another country, which practices it, perhaps, then, that's a better option", Costello said.
Asked whether he meant radical clerics would be forced to leave, he said those with dual citizenship could possibly be asked to move to the other country. Education Minister Brendan Nelson later told reporters that Muslims who did not want to accept local values should "clear off. Basically people who don't want to be Australians, and who don't want, to live by Australian values and understand them, well then, they can basically clear off", he said.
Separately, Howard angered some Australian Muslims on Wednesday by saying he supported spy agencies monitoring the nation's mosques Quote: "IMMIGRANTS, NOT AUSTRALIANS, MUST ADAPT. Take It Or Leave It. I am tired of this nation worrying about whether we are offending some individual or their culture. Since the terrorist attacks on Bali , we have experienced a surge in patriotism by the majority of Australians."
"However, the dust from the attacks had barely settled when the 'politically correct' crowd began complaining about the possibility that our patriotism was offending others. I am not against immigration, nor do I hold a grudge against anyone who is seeking a better life by coming to Australia ." "However, there are a few things that those who have recently come to our country, and apparently some born here, need to understand." "This idea of Australia being a multicultural community has served only to dilute our sovereignty and our national identity. And as Australians, we have our own culture, our own society, our own language and our own lifestyle."
"This culture has been developed over two centuries of struggles, trials and victories by millions of men and women who have sought freedom"
"We speak mainly ENGLISH, not Spanish, Lebanese, Arabic, Chinese, Japanese, Russian, or any other language. Therefore, if you wish to become part of our society .. Learn the language!"
"Most Australians believe in God. This is not some Christian, right wing, political push, but a fact, because Christian men and women, on Christian principles, founded this nation, and this is clearly documented. It is certainly appropriate to display it on the walls of our schools. If God offends you, then I suggest you consider another part of the world as your new home, because God is part of our culture."
"We will accept your beliefs, and will not question why. All we ask is that you accept ours, and live in harmony and peaceful enjoyment with us."
"If the Southern Cross offends you, or you don't like "A Fair Go", then you should seriously consider a move to another part of this planet. We are happy with our culture and have no desire to change, and we really don't care how you did things where you came from. By all means, keep your culture, but do not force it on others.
"This is OUR COUNTRY, OUR LAND, and OUR LIFESTYLE, and we will allow you every opportunity to enjoy all this. But once you are done complaining, whining, and griping about Our Flag, Our Pledge, Our Christian beliefs, or Our Way of Life, I highly encourage you take advantage of one other great Australian freedom, 'THE RIGHT TO LEAVE'."
"If you aren't happy here then LEAVE. We didn't force you to come here.
You asked to be here. So accept the country YOU accepted."
Maybe if we circulate this amongst ourselves, British or American or Canadians citizens will find the backbone to start speaking and voting the same truths!!!

UNHCR: Syria lied over return of Ahwazi refugees
Friday, December 22, 2006
The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has suggested that the Syrian government lied to the UN and broke international law when it secretly deported four Ahwazi Arab refugees to Iran in May (click here for UNHCR's statement).
UNHCR spokesman Ron Redmond said the organisation was "extremely worried" about the four Ahwazis who Syria deported to Iran despite promising not to, and despite resettlement places already having been secured abroad for them. The Syrian regime, which is allied to Iran, lied to the UN that the four were in custody after they had been forcibly removed to Tehran.
The British Ahwazi Frienship Society (BAFS) has learned that the prominent Ahwazi dissident Faleh Abdullah Al-Mansouri, a refugee who obtained Dutch nationality, is being held in Section 209 of Evin Prison, which operates as a torture centre run by the Ministry of the Interior. He had fled Iran after being sentenced to death in 1989 for his activities.
Redmond appealed to Iranian authorities "to ensure the well-being of the four and allow for a fair trial and the right to due process."
"Extradition does not mean that a refugee or asylum seeker loses his or her international protection status," he added. "UNHCR also appeals for access to the four refugees and we are prepared to find alternative solutions for them."
In a statement released to the media, the UNHCR calls on Syria to abide by its obligations under international law and to ensure that the principle of non-refoulement is recognised. According to Article 34 of the Syrian Constitution, the deportation of refugees to countries where they will face persecution should be prevented. Moreover, non-refoulement is a principle of customary international law which prohibits states from returning a refugee or asylum seeker to territories where there is a risk that his or her life or freedom would be threatened on account of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group, or political opinion. This principle has precedence over any bilateral or multilateral extradition agreement.
Amnesty International has been among those who have accused the Syrian regime of defying international law with the illegal deportation of Ahwazi refugees.
Labels: human rights, Mansouri, refugees

How can the Arab Christians survive?
By Rami G. Khouri
Daily Star staff
Saturday, December 23, 2006
"A commandment of love" was the theme that the Latin patriarch of Jerusalem, Michel Sabbah, stressed when I asked him last week about what Arab Christians should be doing to address the many challenges and threats in the Middle East today. I was especially interested in the role of Arab Christians because their plight is highlighted this Christmas week, even as a delegation of United Kingdom church leaders makes a timely Holy Land pilgrimage.
Christians experience the same pressures and challenges as the majority Muslim population living under Israeli occupation, the assault of Western armies, or the incompetent, autocratic mismanagement of their own Arab political leaders. A strangled Bethlehem, though, is likely to catch the attention of Western citizens and church leaders more than a stressed Alexandria, Aleppo or Casablanca. The four British pilgrims are the archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams; the archbishop of Westminster, Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor; the moderator of the Free Churches, the Reverend David Coffey; and the primate of the Armenian Church of Great Britain, Bishop Nathan Hovhannisian.
The focal point of their four-day visit is a pilgrimage to the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem. Their trip and witness will help Christians and other people of good faith around the world better appreciate the impact of the Israeli occupation on all Palestinians, including Christian communities.
Sabbah welcomed the pilgrimage and noted that, "at a time when our communities in the two Holy cities of Jerusalem and Bethlehem are separated by a wall and checkpoints, the visit of the churches' ecumenical delegation is a reminder to us, to the Israelis and the Palestinians, and to the world, that the pilgrims' path of hope and love must remain open."
Hope and love stand in sharp contrast to the Israeli colonization and control policies in and around Bethlehem that have shattered the physical, spiritual and economic integrity of the community, by cutting off the built-up areas from thousands of hectares of agricultural land and water resources. The main culprits are Israel's separation wall to fence in the Palestinians, and an associated system of smaller cement walls, 27 Israeli settlements, and a network of electric fences and apartheid-like "Jewish settlers-only" roads and checkpoints, almost all built on land confiscated from Bethlehem's private owners. The result is a prison-like environment for the people of Bethlehem, 70 percent of whom now live below the poverty line. After Israel's attacks and reoccupation of Bethlehem in 2001 and 2002, some 3,000 Christians emigrated, representing 10 percent of the local Christian population.
Leila Sansour, the Palestinian chief executive of the Open Bethlehem project that works to preserve the city's physical, spiritual, demographic and economic integrity, wrote last week: "A UN report into Christianity in Bethlehem predicts that our community will not survive another two generations. We live from pilgrimages, and our city is closed. We have traditionally stored our wealth in land, and our land behind the wall has been seized. Our lives are intimately bound up, economically and socially, with the Christian community in Jerusalem, yet we are forbidden to enter that city, which lies only 20 minutes away."
When I met with Sabbah in Larnaca, Cyprus, last week, I asked him if he saw a particular role that Arab Christians could and should play. His reply was clear, and challenging: "My vision is that we Christians, whatever are our numbers, are Christians in and for our society, which is a Muslim Arab society. Christians have something specific to give as Christians, because of their belief in Jesus Christ and all the values that Jesus Christ taught us. This is an obligation. Our commandment is a commandment of love, and it is shows the way to build a society. Christian love is about accepting the other or not accepting him. It is about building with the other or refusing to build with him. All the Christian Arabs can bring to Arab society this love as a power of cohesion within the society ... to love themselves and show how to live together with the Muslims who are the majority in these societies."
He went on to say: "There must be a broad project, a social, economic, political project so that people together can see how they can prepare a country and homeland, and enrich every citizen so that he or she feels at home, content and secure, without any fear of the other. All citizens must have the same place and opportunities in terms of their social and political rights."
In replying to a question of mine about whether Arab Christians could play a role as bridges to the West, he answered: "We Christians can be a true bridge through all the churches that are present in the world. All of us together can have an impact. We have an obligation to understand Islam for what it is, therefore we have the obligation even to have alliances with Muslims, in order to build a new type of society, and bring this as a model of coexistence to the West."
Love, indeed, seems worth a try. In that spirit, I say Merry Christmas to all, and early Eid al-Adha and Happy Hanukkah wishes to my Muslim and Jewish brothers and sisters, hoping that all of us together will respond to Michel Sabbah's call for an ideology of love to replace this time of war.
Rami G. Khouri writes a regular commentary for THE DAILY STAR.

U.N. votes for trade sanctions on Iran's nuclear work
Sat Dec 23, 2006
By Evelyn Leopold
UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The U.N. Security Council voted unanimously on Saturday to impose sanctions on Iran's trade in sensitive nuclear materials and ballistic missiles, a move aimed at getting Tehran to halt uranium enrichment work.
"Today we are placing Iran in the small category of states under Security Council sanctions," acting U.S. Ambassador Alejandro Wolff told the council before the 15-0 vote.Russia's U.N. Ambassador Vitaly Churkin, who was successful in watering down parts of the resolution, emphasized that the resolution did not permit any use of force Moscow's earlier hesitation over supporting the resolution prompted a phone call on Saturday from President George W. Bush to Russian President Vladimir Putin, who had reviewed the resolution until the last minute following two months of tough negotiations. Russia is building an $800 million light-water reactor for Tehran that is exempted in the resolution. The resolution demands Tehran end all research on uranium enrichment, which can produce fuel for nuclear power plants as well as for bombs, and halt research and development that can make or deliver atomic weapons.
The thrust of the sanctions is a ban on imports and exports of dangerous materials and technology relating to uranium enrichment, reprocessing and heavy-water reactors, as well as ballistic missile delivery systems. Iran has vowed to continue its nuclear program, which it says is for peaceful uses only.
On Saturday, its parliamentary speaker, Gholami Haddaddel, told state television Tehran would reconsider its relationship with the International Atomic Energy Agency, the U.N. nuclear watchdog, if the resolution passed. He did not elaborate.
Russia's Churkin said, "Russia views this resolution as a serious message being sent to Iran regarding the need to more openly and accurately cooperate with the IAEA to lift or resolve the remaining concerns and questions relating to the nuclear program."
The resolution is under Chapter 7 of under Article 41 of Chapter 7 of the U.N. Charter, which makes enforcement mandatory but restricts action to nonmilitary measures.(Additional reporting by Irwin Arieff)

No deal reached on Lebanon crisis
Sat Dec 23, 2006
By Yara Bayoumy
BEIRUT (Reuters) - Arab League Chief Amr Moussa said on Saturday he had failed to reach a deal to end Lebanon's political crisis and urged rival Lebanese leaders to communicate with each other to try and find a solution.
Moussa warned Lebanese leaders against escalating the crisis and said mediation was complicated by the fact that the opposing leaders were not communicating with each other. Moussa has intervened in a tense standoff between Lebanon's anti-Syrian government coalition and an opposition led by Shi'ite Muslim Hezbollah.
Prime Minister Fouad Siniora, who has Western and Saudi support, has so far rejected demands by Hezbollah, which is backed by Iran and Syria, for a decisive say in government. "We conducted a table of understanding ... and it is left to the different sides to decide what to do with regards to accepting it," Moussa told reporters before leaving for Cairo. "We hoped that these suggestions, formulas, and this agenda would make us reach a breakthrough in the trouble but ... communications between the different leaderships are severed or non existent or not existent enough."
Moussa had arrived in Beirut on Tuesday to renew his efforts to end the crisis. The showdown reflects regional tensions with Saudi Arabia showing increasing alarm at Iran's growing influence in the region, backed by its ally Syria. The opposition has staged an open-ended protest in central Beirut since December 1. It has declared the government illegitimate and has raised its demands by calling for early parliamentary elections. The anti-Syrian coalition say the opposition wants to open the door to more Syrian and Iranian influence. Moussa said his efforts would continue and had resulted in an "atmosphere of understanding". He refused to declare that the initiative had failed but put the ball in the court of the Lebanese leaders to try and end the deadlock.
Pro-Syrian Christian opposition figure Suleiman Franjieh said on Friday the opposition was considering ways of escalating its street protests to the point of civil insurrection by blocking roads after the holiday season, which includes Christmas, eid al-adha and New Year.
"The opposition will not go to the (Governmental Palace), there are roads, the airport and sea port," he said.
Moussa held talks during the past week in Saudi Arabia, met Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in Damascus and also held talks with an Iranian envoy in Beirut.
On Wednesday political sources said Moussa was working with the rival leaders on a draft agreement covering the points on which he hoped both camps could eventually agree.

Security Council approves Iran sanctions
By EDITH M. LEDERER, Associated Press Writer
UNITED NATIONS -23/12/06/ The U.N. Security Council voted unanimously Saturday to impose sanctions on Iran for refusing to suspend uranium enrichment, increasing international pressure on the government to prove that it is not trying to make nuclear weapons. Iran immediately rejected the resolution.
The result of two months of tough negotiation, the resolution orders all countries to stop supplying Iran with materials and technology that could contribute to its nuclear and missile programs. It also freezes Iranian assets of 10 key companies and 12 individuals related to those programs.
If Iran refuses to comply, the council warned it would adopt further nonmilitary sanctions, but the resolution emphasized the importance of diplomacy in seeking guarantees "that Iran's nuclear program is exclusively for peaceful purposes."
Iran insists its nuclear program is intended to produce energy, but the Americans and Europeans suspect its ultimate goal is the production of weapons.
The Iranian government immediately rejected the resolution, vowing in a statement from Tehran to continue enriching uranium, a technology that can be used to produce nuclear fuel for civilian purposes or fuel for a nuclear bomb. The government said it "has not delegated its destiny to the invalid decisions of the U.N. Security Council."
The United States said it hopes the resolution will clear the way for tougher measures by individual countries, particularly Russia.
"We don't think this resolution is enough in itself," Undersecretary of State Nicholas Burns said in Washington. "We want to let the Iranians know that there is a big cost to them," he added, so they will return to talks.
The administration had pushed for tougher penalties. But Russia and China, which both have strong commercial ties to Tehran, and Qatar, across the Persian Gulf from Iran, balked. To get their votes, the resolution dropped a ban on international travel by Iranian officials involved in nuclear and missile development and specified the banned items and technologies.
The U.N. vote came just a day after talks with North Korea — already under similar but tougher U.N. sanctions for conducting a nuclear test — failed to make any progress in halting that country's atomic program.
Israel, which considers Iran its single greatest threat because President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has called for the Jewish state's destruction, welcomed the resolution. Mark Regev, a Foreign Ministry spokesman, said the vote was "an important first step in preventing Iranian nuclear proliferation."
Iran's U.N. Ambassador Javad Zarif denounced the council for imposing sanctions on Iran, which opposes nuclear weapons and has its facilities under U.N. safeguards, while doing nothing about Israel, whose prime minister recently appeared to confirm long suspicions that it is a nuclear power.
"A nation is being punished for exercising its inalienable rights" to develop nuclear energy, primarily at the behest of the United States and Israel, "which is apparently being rewarded today for having clandestinely developed and unlawfully possessed nuclear weapons," Zarif said.
In a final attempt to win Russian support, the measure dropped one Iranian company from the list of those facing an asset freeze.
Ahead of the vote, Russian President Vladimir Putin called President Bush, agreeing on the need for a resolution, said Blain Rethmeier, a White house spokesman.
"We hope the Russian government is going to work with us in a very active way to send this message of unity to Iran and we hope Russia is going to take a very vigorous approach itself," Burns said after the vote.
Russia's U.N. Ambassador Vitaly Churkin said Moscow agreed to sanctions because it focuses on measures Iran must take, spelled out by the International Atomic Energy Agency, "to lift remaining concerns" about its nuclear ambitions.
He stressed that the goal must be to resume talks. If Iran suspends enrichment and reprocessing, the resolution calls for a suspension of sanctions and further negotiations.
China's U.N. Ambassador Wang Guangya called for stepped up diplomatic efforts, saying "sanctions are not the end but a means to urge Iran to resume negotiations," he said.
Acting U.S. Ambassador Alejandro Wolff said the United States hopes Iran "comes to understand that the pursuit of a nuclear weapons capability makes it less, not more secure."
The resolution authorizes action under Article 41 of Chapter 7 of the U.N. Charter. It allows the Security Council to impose nonmilitary sanctions such as severing diplomatic and economic relations, transportation and communications links.
To replace the travel ban, the resolution now calls on all states "to exercise vigilance" regarding the entry or transit through their territory of the dozen Iranians on the U.N. list. It asks the 191 other U.N. member states to notify a Security Council committee that will be created to monitor sanctions when those Iranians show up in their country.
The resolution also says the council will review Iran's actions in light of a report from the head of the IAEA, requested within 60 days, on whether Iran has suspended uranium enrichment and complied with other IAEA demands.
If the IAEA — the U.N.'s nuclear watchdog — verifies that Iran has suspended enrichment and reprocessing, the resolution says the sanctions will be suspended to allow for negotiations. It says sanctions will end as soon as the IAEA board confirms that Iran has complied with all its obligations.
Before the final text was circulated, Churkin pressed for amendments to ensure that Moscow can conduct legitimate nuclear activities in Iran.
Russia is building Iran's first atomic power plant at Bushehr, which is expected to go on line in late 2007. A reference to Bushehr in the original draft was removed earlier — as Russia demanded.
The six key parties trying to curb Iran's nuclear program — Britain, France, Germany, Russia, China and the United States — offered Tehran a package of economic incentives and political rewards in June if it agreed to consider a long-term moratorium on enrichment and committed itself to a freeze on uranium enrichment before talks on its nuclear program.
That package remains an option, but with Iran refusing to comply with an Aug. 31 council deadline to stop enrichment, Britain and France in late October circulated a draft sanctions resolution, which has since been revised several times