|
Prayer Time (Tehran)
|
|
Dawn: 5:34
Sunrise: 7:04
Noon: 11:57
Evening: 17:11
|
|
Weather Guide
|
|
|
WED |
THU |
Tehran: |
|
|
High: |
5 oC |
9 oC |
Low: |
2 oC |
2 oC |
|
|
|
Athens |
5 |
5 |
Ankara |
-12 |
-12 |
Paris |
2 |
5 |
New Delhi |
11 |
10 |
Rome |
8 |
8 |
Riyadh |
10 |
7 |
Frankfurt |
-3 |
1 |
Cairo |
9 |
7 |
Kuwait City |
6 |
5 |
Karachi |
15 |
16 |
Copenhagen |
2 |
2 |
London |
6 |
4 |
Moscow |
-13 |
-8 |
Madrid |
2 |
-1 |
Vienna |
-4 |
-5 |
|
|
Identification
|
|
Published by the Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA)
Address:
Iran Cultural & Press Institute, #212 Khorramshahr Avenue Tehran/Iran
Managing Director: Mohammad T. Roghaniha
Executive Editor: Amin Sabooni
Editorial Dept. Tel: 8755761-2
Editorial Dept. Fax: 8761869
Advertising Dept. Tel: 8753119, 8757702, 8733764
Internet Address:
www.iran-daily.com
E-mail Address:
iran-daily@iran-daily.com
|
|
|
|
Protesters to Seek End of Saudi Monarchy
|
|
Saad Al-Fagih
|
LONDON, Dec. 14--Rare protest marches planned in Riyadh and Jeddah this week will aim to overthrow the Saudi royal family, their exiled organizer said on Tuesday.
"The regime is unreformable," said Saad Al-Fagih, a Saudi physician who leads the Movement of Islamic Reform in Arabia from his modest suburban home in north London, Reuters reported.
"We have decided to call for a series of civil activities which are frankly aimed at total change. We are not asking for minor economic, political or social reform. We are marching to remove the current regime," he said.
Fagih said he expected tens of thousands of supporters to turn out for peaceful demonstrations after noon prayers on Thursday in defiance of an official ban on such protests.
Police broke up a much smaller street protest in Riyadh organized by Fagih's group last year to call for the release of political prisoners and greater political participation.
Authorities arrested 33 people but they were later released.
Fagih said one of his supporters had been arrested at the weekend for trying to organize this week's marches.
Saudi Arabia, which is fighting militants loyal to Saudi-born Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, has embarked on cautious economic and political reforms that include plans to hold the first nationwide municipal polls next year.
Reformists have called for a constitutional monarch with an elected parliament and an independent judiciary, but Fagih now says the royal family will not or cannot reform and must go.
Fagih said he wants an elected leadership to replace the royal family in a system that would provide "power-sharing, accountability, transparency and an independent judiciary, as well as freedom of expression and assembly".
It would be for the people to decide on a new constitution, but he said it would need "the stamp of Islamic law".
Fagih said women should be allowed to vote.
|
|
|
Khatami Reaffirms Support For Palestinians
TEHRAN, Dec. 14--President Mohammad Khatami Tuesday praised the Palestinian resistance and said Palestinians have been suppressed throughout history.
In his meeting with the head of Fatah movement, Farouk Kaddoumi, Khatami said, "Unfortunately, the so-called supporters of human rights do not protest the suppression of Palestinians," IRNA reported.
He stressed that the Iranian nation and government will always remain on the side of the Palestinian nation.
"We want the establishment of a free Palestine with an independent government and the Holy Qods as its capital," he said.
He then expressed his condolences on the demise of the late PLO Leader Yasser Arafat.
Kaddoumi said Iran's sympathy with Palestinians on the demise of Arafat proved that Palestine is not alone and there are still nations which support Palestine. He briefed Khatami on the continuing resistance in occupied Palestine and the current situation of the homeless people.
"The Zionist regime is not seeking peace. All groups in Palestine should do their best to create national unity and unified leadership," he said.
Kaddoumi arrived here on Sunday to discuss issues of mutual interest with senior Iranian officials.
Talking to reporters upon his arrival at Mehrabad International Airport, he said his visit is aimed at consolidating relations between the Iranian and Palestinian nations.
Kaddoumi is accompanied by Muhammed Jihad, a member of the Central Committee of Fatah movement, and officials of the Palestinian Authority.
|
|
|
World's Highest Bridge Links France With Spain
|
|
Pillars from the Millau Viaduct, designed by the British architect Norman Foster, rise above the cloud-covered valley of the river Tarn in France, Dec. 14. (Reuters Photo)
|
MILLAU, France, Dec. 14--President Jacques Chirac inaugurated the world's highest bridge on Tuesday, a creation taller than the Eiffel Tower, longer than the Champs Elysees and designed to end a traffic bottleneck in southern France.
Conceived by British architect Norman Foster, the slender white viaduct in the picturesque Tarn Valley will provide a new motorway link between Paris and the Spanish border, easing congestion in the Rhone valley during the busy summer months, Reuters reported.
Chirac unveiled a simple commemorative plaque before plunging into a throng of white helmeted construction workers, as an air display team flew past the bridge trailing red, white and blue smoke--the colors of the national flag.
He hailed the viaduct as a "marvel of art and architecture", a monument to French engineering genius that was a "miracle of equilibrium" and projected a bold, successful, modern image.
"The Millau Viaduct is a magnificent example, in the long and great French tradition, of audacious works of art, a tradition begun at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries by the great Gustave Eiffel," Chirac told a reception.
The highest of the bridge's seven concrete pillars stands at 343 meters (1,125 ft), 19 meters (62 ft) higher than the Eiffel Tower. At almost 2.5 km (1.5 miles), it is longer than the Champs Elysees and slightly curved to afford drivers a dramatic view of the surrounding countryside and the ancient town of Millau with its medieval bell-tower.
The engineering feat has drawn rapturous praise for its elegant lines, which allow it to blend seamlessly into the surrounding region famed for its gorges, medieval villages and Roquefort cheese.
|
|
|
GCÕs Electoral Proposal Rejected
TEHRAN, Dec. 14--Interior Minister Abdolvahed Mousavi Lari said on Tuesday the Guardians Council's proposal to hold the presidential election after May 20 is not acceptable.
The Interior Ministry had initially set May 13 for the presidential election, but rescheduled it to May 20 following the councilÕs objection, IRNA reported.
Lari said setting the election date does not fall under the jurisdiction of the Guardians Council and the ministry has made its complaint known to higher-ups.
The Interior Ministry is responsible for holding elections and the Guardians Council oversees the election process.
Disputes between the two bodies emerged after the Guardians Council embarked over the wholesale disqualification of reformist candidates in the last parliamentary election.
The Guardians Council had been well-known for blocking the legislation passed by the former reformist parliament on economic and political reforms.
Observers believe the Guardians Council will shift gear in the May 2005 presidential election by confirming reformist candidates to prove the legitimacy of election in Iran.
|
|
|
EU-Iran Working Groups Convene
Straw Keen on Long-Term Deal
BRUSSELS, Belgium, Dec. 14--Working groups set up jointly by the European Union and Iran on political and security issues, technology and cooperation and nuclear issues met in Brussels on Monday.
The groups discussed issues related to the establishment of different committees as well as the schedule for future meetings, IRNA reported.
"It was a positive meeting. Both sides were satisfied," Iranian diplomatic sources said on Tuesday.
The decision to establish the working groups was taken on Monday following talks between Iran's Supreme National Security Council Secretary Hassan Rohani and the foreign ministers of the UK, France and Germany--Jack Straw, Michel Barnier and Joschka Fischer respectively--and EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana in Brussels on Monday.
Straw told reporters that the EU and Iran on Monday launched a process for negotiating a long-term arrangement.
ÒThe two sides have decided to set up three working groups to take the process forward,Ó he said.
ÒSome of the issues are, of course, difficult. But we are all committed to a successful outcome for the process which we began together in Tehran 14 months ago.Ó
Under the agreement, the EU has offered to provide Tehran with "guarantees on nuclear, technological and economic cooperation and firm commitments on security issues," in return for Iran suspending its right to enrich uranium.
"One of the purposes of this negotiation is to provide objective guarantees that Iran's nuclear program can be used only for peaceful purposes," Straw said.
Meanwhile, the European Union Council of foreign ministers, in its meeting in Brussels on Monday, discussed EU-Iran relations and expressed support for negotiations launched between the EU and Iran.
|
|
|
Anti-Iran Claims ÔBaselessÕ
Cooperation Among Developing Countries Stressed
TEHRAN, Dec. 14--Foreign Minister Kamal Kharrazi said here on Tuesday accusations leveled recently by certain Egyptian and Iraqi officials against Iran were totally ÔbaselessÕ, and called on them to prove their charges.
Speaking to reporters after a meeting with his South African counterpart, Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma, Kharrazi said, "This kind of attitude will only poison the region's atmosphere."
He expressed regret that the Egyptians are making such accusations.
As to the US opposition to Iran's application for joining the World Trade Organization, Kharrazi said the European Union member-states are favorable to Iran's membership, but this has been repeatedly blocked by the US.
He said the European countries have promised to follow up Iran's membership application ÔseriouslyÕ.
Expressing hope that the second phase of talks, which began on Monday in Brussels, would proceed seriously, the minister said, "Tehran is opposed to wasting time and prefers to see the talks conclude as soon as possible."
According to a fax sent to Iran Daily by the Foreign Ministry, Kharrazi met his South African counterpart Zuma and said, "By forming the African headquarters and creating new mechanisms, Iran has started a new era for increasing cooperation among businessmen and owners of commercial and engineering companies in the state and private sectors."
Kharrazi expressed his satisfaction over bilateral ties with South Africa.
He referred to the capabilities of developing countries like Iran, South Africa, India, Brazil and Algeria, and expressed hope that developing countries would cooperate more effectively to confront imperialism.
Zuma, for her part, pointed to sound relations between the two countries and expressed satisfaction that cooperation between the two countries is growing Òby the dayÓ.
Zuma said the prevalence of unilateralist policies within international circles is a cause of concern. She hoped that developing countries would collaborate more effectively within the framework of South-South and Non-Aligned Movement cooperation.
|
|
|
Airline Industry Suffers From Oil Price Hike
GENEVA, Dec. 14--The world's major airlines are expected to rack up about $4.8 billion (3.6 billion euros) in losses this year and will climb back to profit next year only if oil prices fall, the top industry body said Tuesday.
The International Air Transport Association's chief economist, Brian Pearce, forecast that the world's top airlines should record profits totaling about $1.2 billion in 2005, AFP reported.
Pearce told journalists that the forecast was based on oil prices sliding to $34 a barrel.
"We could see modest profitability next year," he said. ÒHowever, if oil prices remain at around $40 a barrel, the industry would suffer even higher total losses of about $5.3 billion.Ó
Pearce said huge internal cost-cutting efforts by companies this year had been wiped out by the rise in oil prices.
IATA's chief economist put the breakeven point for the airline industry around the $36-a-barrel mark.
ÒIf oil falls to $30, total profits would rise to $5 billion, a figure the airlines would already have reached this year if oil prices had stayed at 2002 levels, of about $25 a barrel,Ó he said.
IATA groups 270 major airlines accounting for 95 percent of scheduled air traffic.
International air traffic grew by 16.9 percent in the first ten months of 2004 compared with the corresponding period of last year.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Building Alliances
By Nader Karimi Jooni
After arms trafficking, drug smuggling is the most lucrative illegal business on a global scale.
It is not unnatural that costly terrorist operations procure funds also from narco trade. As it is, illegal drugs can be moved around with relatively less problem compared to weapons.
Furthermore, the population of junkies on the global scale is increasing by the day and the drug market has become a growth industry despite the best efforts of many countries to fight the scourge.
This industry has many advantages for the terrorists. Among the advantages is that drugs could be sold in the producing country and immediately be transformed into cash.
But effective supervision over money transfers and creation of special committees to monitor suspicious movement of dirty money can greatly help check terror and its sponsors.
Close collaboration in fighting drug cartels can block one of the lifelines of terrorists and strike a major blow against their ugly work. Although such cooperation is in place within the framework of the United Nations Drug Control Programme (UNDCP), the point is that UNDCP largely pursues social and humanitarian aims and not the formidable security issues so closely knitted with the war against drugs and terrorism.
Therefore, it is crucial to revise the anti-drug strategy and focus more on security matters. This will certainly have an impact on terrorist operations.
Interestingly, all northern Persian Gulf littoral states as well as the Caucasus and Central Asia, given their climatic conditions, have the potential to produce drugs. Although currently regional drug production is limited mostly to Afghanistan, Pakistan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan, it is very likely that, depending on their needs, other regional states start producing drugs.
Drug-producing countries are also good markets for transit to Europe and Northern America. The southern Persian Gulf littoral states and the countries inside the Arabian Peninsula may not have the required climatic conditions for producing drugs, but convincingly are good markets for consumers.
There are coastal areas in all these countries and hence it is not difficult to smuggle drugs into these territories. Reports indicate that money from illegal drug trade is largely spent in the Persian Gulf Arab states. Saudi Arabia and also Uzbekistan, Chechnya and Tajikistan are places where drug revenues are used to nurture terrorists and fund their dangerous profession.
To say the least, narco trade has become a serious source of concern for social and security planners in our volatile region. Countries in the region need to cooperate meaningfully to tackle this growing epidemic.
Many regional countries suffer greatly from drug abuse and terrorism and their security is being undermined to degrees unseen in the past. Not to mention the destructive impact of the two scourges on their social fabric, especially after the inauspicious birth of the medieval Taliban and Osama bin Ladan's Al-Qaeda network.
The Persian Gulf sheikhdoms can cooperate within the framework of their (Persian) Gulf Cooperation Council while Russia can collaborate with the Economic Cooperation Organization and forge a regional alliance for combating terrorism and illegal drugs.
|
|
|
|
|
|
