Around the World

Saturday, July 19, 2008

SAUDI ARABIA

Interfaith Conference In Spain Draws Praise

Saudi Arabia won praise Friday for taking a leading role in an interfaith conference in Madrid, with participants saying it was another sign the conservative Muslim kingdom is opening up.

Rabbi David Rosen, the only Israeli who attended the three-day meeting led by Saudi King Abdullah, said he believes the oil-rich Persian Gulf kingdom also wants to reaffirm leadership in the Muslim world for fear of greater instability.

"I have heard from the Saudis that this is a culmination of a process that began the moment Abdullah ascended to the throne and that he actually wants to open up Saudi society," said Rosen, who heads interreligious relations for the American Jewish Committee.

The king unexpectedly called the conference about a month ago. It brought together Jews, Muslims, Christians, Hindus and Buddhists, among others, and was hosted by Spain. The meeting ended Friday.

IRAN

Optimism on U.S. Talks

Iran's foreign minister said Friday that he expects weekend talks with the United States to produce agreements on opening an American diplomatic outpost in Tehran and restoring direct flights between the two countries.

Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said at a news conference with Turkish Foreign Minister Ali Babacan that Iran backs both moves, which he said reflected a mutual "will to do business."

COLOMBIA

Uribe Drops Vote Plan

Colombian President Álvaro Uribe has scrapped his plan to rerun the 2006 election in which he won reelection, the government said Friday, a move that could set the stage for him to seek a third term.

Uribe said last month he would try to repeat the vote after the Supreme Court ruled that the constitutional amendment that allowed him to run for and win a second term was tainted by corruption.

That raised uncertainty about how the election could be repeated and whether it could give him a fresh mandate lasting beyond 2010, when his current term ends.

CHINA

Online Dissident Held

A Chinese dissident who wrote politically sensitive articles, including some criticizing the government's handling of the May 12 earthquake, was arrested Friday on charges of possessing state secrets, a rights group said.

Prosecutors in the southwestern city of Chengdu approved the arrest of Huang Qi, founder of the human rights Web site 64Tianwang, said Nicholas Bequelin, a researcher for Human Rights Watch.

FRANCE

Leak at Nuclear Site

Uranium-bearing liquid has leaked from a broken underground pipe at a nuclear site in southeastern France, the national nuclear safety authority said Friday.

A spokesman for the nuclear company Areva said the leak of lightly enriched uranium did not spread beyond the plant in the town of Romans-sur-Isere and had "absolutely no impact on the environment."

Gunmen Kill 3 Elders in Somalia

Gunmen shot dead three Somali elders who were helping local aid workers distribute food in a refugee camp outside Mogadishu.

Aid Staff Seized in Afghanistan

Two French humanitarian workers were kidnapped at gunpoint in Afghanistan and spirited out of the house in which they were sleeping in Daikundi province. The two are believed to be alive.

From News Services