Iraqis hold a poster of Mohammed Sadeq Al-Sadr, the assassinated father of Muqtada Sadr and a placard that reads ÒIraq will never become an American ColonyÓ, during a protest in Kufa on May 30.

Former Iraqi Prime Minister Ibrahim Al-Jaafari on Saturday criticized the long-term Iraq-US agreement, noting he renounces the humiliating agreement between Iraq and the United States.
Jaafari said in a press conference that he was informed of the security deal and a number of its articles several months ago, describing them as vague and solely in the interest of US forces, Voices of Iraq reported.
Jaafari also emphasized his rejection of the presence of US-led occupation forces in Iraq for long term, believing that this weakens the Iraqi forcesÕ sovereignty.

Public Referendum
Loyalists of Muqtada Al-Sadr called on the Iraqi government Saturday to hold a public referendum on a long-term security deal with the United States.
Widespread opposition to the deal has raised doubts that negotiators can meet a July target to finalize a pact to keep US troops in Iraq after the current UN mandate expires at the end of the year, AP reported.
The Iraqi monthly death toll was down, with 516 violent deaths reported by police and other officials, the lowest since 375 were killed in December 2005.
Senior Sadrists, including lawmakers Falah Hassan Shanshal and Maha Adel Al-Douri, met in Sadr City in Baghdad and issued a statement calling on the Iraqi government to stop negotiations with the US and to hold a public referendum on the issue.
Sadr has also called for weekly protests against the deal. And, opposition has been growing among other groups.
US and Iraqi officials began negotiations in March on a blueprint for the long-term security agreement and a second deal to establish the legal basis for US troops to remain in the country after a UN mandate runs out. Few details have been released about the talks.
IraqÕs Ayatollah Mohammad Sadegh Shirazi voiced concern over Washington Ôs proposals for a long-term security agreement with Baghdad .
Based on one of the proposals of the US-Iraqi agreement, American citizens would be granted immunity from legal prosecution in Iraq , AP reported.
ÒAny agreement which would guarantee the dominance of infidels over believers or infringes upon the sovereignty of the country is opposed to Sharia,Ó said the Ayatollah in a statement on Saturday. Ayatollah ShiraziÕs objection to the security agreement follows opposition from other religious and political figures including Iraq Ôs most revered Shiite cleric Grand Ayatollah Ali Al-Sistani.
He voiced his strong opposition to the deal in a meeting with Prime Minister Nouri Al-Maliki in the holy city of Najaf last Thursday.

Tensions Rise
More protests also rose when Nassar Al-Rubaie, the leader of the Sadrist bloc in parliament, was stopped at a police checkpoint outside Diwaniyah, south of Baghdad .
The six-car convoy, en route from Basra to the holy city of Najaf , was held up for nearly two hours without explanation, Al-Rubaie told AP in a telephone interview. He called for the government to stop harassing Sadrists and put those responsible on trial.

Bribing for Deal
The US has offered bribes to Iraqi MPs to lure them into endorsing the security deal that critics believe would make Iraq a US colony.
Sources in IraqÕs parliament told Press TV on Thursday that Washington has offered three-million dollars in bribe to the lawmakers who sign the Òframework accord.Ó
Under the agreement, the US would be allowed to set up at least 13 permanent military bases in Iraq and US citizens would be granted immunity from legal prosecution.
Iraqi lawmakers, however, vowed that they would never sign the agreement which would turn their country into Ôa US colonyÕ.

Renewed Commitment
French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner arrived in Iraq on Saturday on an unannounced visit to underline the Òrenewed political commitment of France Ò to the war-ravaged nation, diplomats said.
Kouchner arrived in Nasiriyah in southern Iraq at the start of a two-day trip during which he held talks with Vice-President Adel Abdel Mahdi and later traveled to the capital Baghdad , diplomats told AFP.
Mahdi, a Francophone who lived in French exile, is one of the leaders of the Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council (SIIC), a key member of the governing coalition.
Kouchner attended a conference of investors at Nasiriyah University and traveled with Mahdi to the archaeological site of the ancient Sumerian civilization of Ur , 18 kilometers southwest of the city.
He arrived in Baghdad later Saturday and opened talks with President Jalal Talabani, who had invited him to Iraq.

Yemeni government forces have beaten back an advance by northern rebels who brought their fight to within 12 miles of the capital, officials and witnesses said Saturday.
Eyewitness Hamoud Mohammed said many houses were demolished in the village of Bani Heshiash near SanÕa after three days of air strikes and shelling by government forces battling the rebels.
Artillery shells could be heard exploding in the area over the weekend, AP said.
ÒThe bodies of the dead were seen in the streets, left unburied because of the intensity of the strikes,Ó Mohammed said.
ÒWater and medicine is scarce and the injured have to drive dangerous roads to the capital for proper treatment.Ó
Tribal officials and medics said scores have been killed on both sides in fighting over the past few weeks.
They spoke on condition of anonymity because of security concerns and the government did not provide any casualty figures.
But in the last three days, government forces pounded advancing rebels in the mountainous around Bani Heshiash, 12 miles north of SanÕa, tribal and local officials said speaking on condition of anonymity because of security concerns.

The Guardian: Four years ago you made a televised confession offering your Òdeepest regrets and unqualified apologiesÓ for selling nuclear technology to Iran , North Korea and Libya . Was it genuine?
Abdul Qadeer Khan: I never was selling. This is the western garbage that uses the word selling. I never sold anything to anyone. I never sold anything and I never got any money. Nobody has proved this and nobody can prove it.

Was your confession made of your own free will?
It was not of my own free will. It was handed into my hand.

So why did you agree to go along with it?
Oh, in the national interest I guess. And the promises which were made.

What promises?
Freedom, rehabilitation, all these things.

Are you happy that you went along with it?
No, not now. I was hand-tied. I think it was a mistake. At that time things were not so clear and you couldnÕt see that people could go back on their words and renege their promises.

Do you hold President Pervez Musharraf personally responsible for this?
One person holds the reins, the others follow ... There are always self-seekers and sycophants and more lies. This goes on.

President Musharraf might say that American evidence forced him to act against you?
The Americans presented to the whole world the proof against Iraq . And you know what it was. And now about Iran , and so it goes on. ItÕs unbelievable that Bush and Colin Powell and Dick Cheney and Condoleezza Rice are bringing lies, lies, lies, bringing photos and false documents ... it can happen everywhere.

Do you feel any responsibility for the nuclear programs in North Korea , Libya or Iran?
No ... you must have read that the Swiss president destroyed papers that included weapons blueprints. [That shows that] the western countries have all those blueprints and technology and papers and know-how. So they were supplying to everyone. They were supplying to us, they were supplying to them. The only thing is that they were using the same route as we were using.

Which route was that?
Dubai . It was a free port. We were importing all our things from Dubai and all the other countries were importing from Dubai.

Some people say you were running a Ònuclear supermarketÓ, ÒTimeÓ magazine called you a Òmerchant of menaceÓ. How do you feel about these terms?
I donÕt care. It doesnÕt bother me at all. They donÕt like our God, they donÕt like our prophet, they donÕt like our holy book, the QurÕan. So how could they like me?
I have come to realize that one person writes Ð sorry to use the word Ð a ÒshitpileÓ and everyone picks up and quotes him whether it is true or not.
It is meant for the western public, the western media, who are mostly totally ignorant of the facts here. [They say that] my house is a huge white villa, I have 43 villas here, I have so many bank accounts. Nobody could ever prove anything. [They say that] I had a very huge 10-million-dollar hotel in Timbuktu . You should have gone and seen Ð it was an eight-room mud brick house where the poor people reside.

So you are not a rich man?
Never was, never will be.

The IAEA wants to send its investigators to speak with you. Would you speak to them?
Why should I talk to them? I am under no obligation. We are not signatory to NPT [Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty]. I have not violated any international law. So why should I talk to them?

So even if it were possible, you wouldnÕt?
Why should I? This is my internal affair and my countryÕs affair Ð why should I talk to them?
They say they want to make sure no other country can illegally acquire the bomb. Why donÕt you talk about Israel, why donÕt you talk about South Africa. Why did you supply and help South Africa to manufacture six bombs ... this is a discriminatory approach. That is wrong with us and it should be wrong with them also.

ThereÕs been a lot of speculation that you are keeping an Òinsurance policyÓ -- documents that show links between nuclear smuggling and the Pakistani military Ð with your daughter in London. Are you?
No such thing happened. MI6 has spoken to my daughter; they have been to her house. I did not keep any official paper in my house or anywhere. I know itÕs an official secret. É When I left I had a few ballpoints and a small table calendar and nothing else.

What did you do for the celebrations to mark 10 years since Pakistan became a nuclear power?
I stayed at home. I saw on the TV what was going on, I saw on the newspapers. Some people sent flowers, some people phoned and congratulated.

How did you feel?
Two days are important in the history of Pakistan --the 14th of August, when Pakistan was created, and this 28th May, when at least Pakistan got the capacity of protecting itself against aggression and threats and blackmailing.
It was a very big day. And since you have been a part of it, you feel proud of being such an historical movement.

What has Pakistan gained from having the bomb?
Peace. No attacks from India in the past 36 years. Otherwise there might have been a war in Kashmir, there might have been a war in Punjab ... that has given something, some sense of security to the country.

How has it defined Pakistan Ôs relationship with the West? You said in the past the west was hostile to Islam. So what has it done?
You know very well the West never likes any country to be a bit independent, whether it is making a bomb, or whether it is financial position and stuff. They want to keep them under thumb. It is not giving any threat to anyone ... . We have to look after our interests as the western countries look after their interests.
Where are you speaking from?
I am inside my house. IÕm in the living room. I can see the guards. You can see them, they are all around.

Do you hope your house arrest will be lifted soon?
ThereÕs always hope as long as the world is there.
As long as you are living there is always hope. Without hope you canÕt survive.