WORLD IN BRIEF

Iranian Said to Offer Nuclear Concession

VIENNA -- Iran is ready to consider complying -- at least temporarily -- with a U.N. Security Council demand that it freeze uranium enrichment, which can be used in developing atomic weapons, diplomats said Sunday.

Such a concession would be a major departure by Tehran as it faces possible U.N. sanctions for its nuclear defiance and would be a huge step toward defusing a confrontation over the program it says is aimed only at generating electricity.

The compromise was mentioned by Iranian nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani during two-day talks with European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana, the diplomats said.

One diplomat said Larijani floated the possibility of Iran stopping its enrichment activities "voluntarily, for one or two months, if presented . . . in such a way that it does it without pressure." The diplomats did not say when such a move might occur.

Iran says its nuclear program is intended to produce fuel for nuclear reactors solely to generate electricity. But there are growing concerns Tehran seeks the technology to enrich uranium for atomic warheads.

THE MIDDLE EAST

· GAZA CITY -- An Israeli tank shell killed a boy, 14, and wounded his relative, 19, in the southern town of Rafah, witnesses and medics said.

· RAMALLAH, West Bank -- Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said he was ready to meet with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert to resume long-stalled peace negotiations. Olmert, voiced a willingness Saturday to hold talks with Abbas.

But Olmert has made clear there can be no progress toward peace unless the Palestinians meet their obligations under an internationally-backed "road map" that calls for the dismantling of armed groups, such as the governing Hamas movement.

· SANAA, Yemen -- Armed tribesmen kidnapped four French tourists in southeastern Yemen, the latest in a series of abductions that have embarrassed the Yemeni government.

ASIA AND THE PACIFIC

· KABUL, Afghanistan -- President Hamid Karzai presided over the opening of a new Coca-Cola plant in Kabul, more than 10 years after the previous Coke facility in the capital was ruined during a deadly civil war. Karzai praised the plant's developer for investing $25 million to build the facility, which provides 350 jobs.