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if the country does not stop enriching uranium.

By Scott Stearns ,
White House
09 June 2006

President Bush says there will be U.N. Security Council action against Iran,, if the country does not stop enriching uranium.  The U.N. nuclear agency says Iran this week launched a new round of uranium enrichment,, as it received details of a new diplomatic effort to end the standoff.

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President Bush says the government in Tehran has weeks, not months,, to respond to the latest proposal by the United States and its European allies.

By offering to meet with Iran if it agrees to suspend uranium enrichment,, President Bush says the move represents a shift in U.S. tactics,, not in strategy.

Iran has previously said it will verifiably suspend enriching uranium. President Bush says it is time now to see whether the government in Tehran means it.

"If they choose not to suspend verifiably, there must be a consequence,," said Mr. Bush.  "There must be a sense of urgency on our part to send a common message to them." 

The president spoke following talks with Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen. The prime minister said he is pleased that Washington has joined European allies in presenting a unified package of proposals to Tehran.

"It's now up to the Iranians to take advantage of this window of opportunity,," said Mr. Rasmussen.

During Friday prayers in Tehran a leading hard-line cleric said the country should continue enriching uranium. Ayatollah Ahmad Jannati said the U.S.-European package of incentives is, in his words,, "good for them,," but not for Iran.

Details of those incentives are still sketchy, but are thought to include support for Iran joining the World Trade Organization,, help in building a nuclear power plant,, and the suspension of some U.S. trade sanctions that prevent Iran from buying spare parts for an aging fleet of American-made aircraft.

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) says Iran launched a new round of uranium enrichment this week. President Bush says Iran is secretly developing a nuclear weapons program. Tehran says it is enriching uranium only for the peaceful civilian purpose of generating electricity.

since the United States was going to war

By Mike O'Sullivan
Los Angeles
03 July 2006

Writer Amanda Roraback says Americans want to know more about places in the news,, such as Muslim countries. Her book series called "Nutshell Notes" helps readers learn about those regions.

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Six years ago,, historian Amanda Roraback became interested in Afghanistan under the Taliban,, the fundamentalist Islamic party that restricted women's rights and zealously suppressed non-Islamic parts of Afghan culture. She started a website to share the results of her studies.

After the terrorist attacks of September 2001 in the United States,, believed orchestrated by Afghanistan-based al-Qaida,, she compiled her notes into a book called Afghanistan in a Nutshell. With the help of her friends and family, she got copies into bookstores around Los Angeles, in the days before the US-led invasion of that country.

"And everybody was just dying for information on Afghanistan, since the United States was going to war, so they ended up on front counters, and just a couple of days after that, ended up on the LA Times bestsellers list," said Amanda Roraback.

The book was the first of six in the Nutshell Notes series, each inspired by developments in the news.

"After that, Osama bin Laden has escaped into Pakistan,, or so they thought, and so I followed it up with a book called Pakistan in a Nutshell, she said. "And because neither of these books really can be understood unless one understands Islam, I did a book called Islam in a Nutshell.

A book followed on Iraq,, which also made the Los Angeles Times bestsellers list.

The Nutshell Notes are short, mostly between 60 and 80 pages,, and they summarize the history, religion and politics of a region. 
 
The writer says she tries to be impartial. Her book on Israel and Palestine is divided in two sections, back to back. The reader can flip the book over,, seeing what seems to be a front cover on either side.

"I did it as a flip-book, tried to make the pages equal, put bar codes and the price on both sides to make everything very, very equal," noted Amanda Roraback. "The intention of that book is to present both sides in such a compelling way that, once somebody finishes it, they understand why it's a big quagmire, why there is constant conflict in that area, because both sides have very compelling reasons to be in that region and to feel that it is their land."

Roraback's latest book is called Iran in a Nutshell.

In each case, she faces a problem in keeping pace with fast-changing events.

"I read the paper every day and wonder, is my book obsolete yet? What I try to do is bring the very far past up to the present, and include all the issues,," she said. "The problem is, these situations change on a regular basis."

The Palestine-Israel book, published two years ago, is already in need of revision, and the writer says a new edition should be out in a month or two.

She says the books are especially popular with students and teachers.

"Teachers love these books," said Amanda Roraback. "I sell a lot to teachers because they are really called upon to teach a lot of different subjects,, and to keep up with what's going on today. In fact, in California and I'm sure other parts of the United States,, students are required to learn about Buddhism and Islam, and there are sections on the Middle East, and there are lot more subjects being taught that relate to the rest of the world. And since 2001, there has been a much greater interest in what's going on "over there," in the other part of the world.

Upcoming Nutshell Notes will look at China, and North and South Korea.

they can blend in with the population

By Benjamin Sand
Burmel,, Afghanistan
18 May 2006
 
A "summer offensive" by Taleban militants is reportedly behind violent attacks perpetrated throughout Afghanistan in recent weeks. U.S. and Afghan forces say the insurgents are increasingly dependent on training camps and safe haven in neighboring Pakistan.

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U.S. forces in Afghanistan's Paktika Province fire mortar rounds at a nearby mountaintop.

Insurgents have been using the isolated ridgeline to launch rockets into the U.S. camp in Orgun-E,, not far from the Pakistan border.

These are America's frontline troops against the insurgency in Afghanistan. Their heavily fortified camp occupies a narrow strip of land separating the unstable border region from the rest of the relatively stable province.

First Lieutenant Sean Parnell says that in the past month, the attacks in this area have intensified.

"Just within the past four weeks, things have picked up so much it has been pretty much continuous operations. Every single man out here has been running hard," he said.

Lieutenant Colonel Chris Toner says most of the insurgents in this area make their base inside Pakistan, and only cross into Afghanistan for combat operations.

Pakistan originally rejected suggestions that Taleban and al-Qaida militant were using Pakistani territory to launch attacks into Afghanistan.

The Pakistanis now insist they are doing everything they can to help secure the border. The Pakistani military has deployed 80,000 troops to the region,, and is increasingly coordinating its efforts with U.S.-led coalition forces inside Afghanistan.

Key to that coordinated strategy are forward bases like the U.S. camp in the town of Burmel,, located closer to the border than Orgun-E, inside a dense network of dirt roads and narrow trails crisscrossing the porous border.

Soldiers based here use armed trucks to patrol the dusty countryside, avoiding roads that could be mined by insurgents.

In one of the small border villages, Captain James Dye orders house-to-house searches for any sign of militant activity.

"They do not stand out, that is the hardest thing with this enemy, they can blend in with the population, and without the population's help, pointing at a guy [and] saying, that guy does not live here, its very hard to distinguish them,," he said.

He says the villagers here have been reluctant to help identify militants.

But that does not mean they are not here. A convoy passing through this village just last week was ambushed by at least a dozen suspected Taleban fighters. The U.S. forces say they escaped injury, and killed at least eight of the attackers.

On this visit, the village elders again insist there has been no sign of any insurgent activity.

He says he considers the Taleban outsiders,, and promises they are not receiving any assistance from his community.

But just a few minutes later, a burst of gunfire sends the soldiers running for cover.

Insurgents on a nearby hilltop open fire on the soldiers down below before retreating into the surrounding countryside.

Within minutes, the troops are on the move, hoping to capture the militants before they slip back across the border. By early evening, though,, it appears that the attackers have gotten away.

Colonel Toner says it is rare these days for U.S. forces to launch sweeping combat operations in the area. The goal now is twofold: limiting the conflict to the border, and making sure the rest of the impoverished province is safe for development.

"If I am fighting along the border,, I am winning,, because the population base is inside," he said. "Really what I am doing is, I am providing an opportunity for the government to get established, and for the people to get some sort of economic stability."

The U.S. forces in Afghanistan do not focus solely on military operations. They are paying local contractors millions of dollars for development projects including new schools,, roads and water systems.

They are also helping train the new Afghan National Army,, which has 30,000 troops and hopes to more than double in size in the next few years.

Almost all the U.S. bases in Paktika province include barracks for Afghan troops, and the two armies now work side by side on most operations.

But Colonel Toner admits it will be a long, slow fight.

He says most of the insurgents are Taleban, some al-Qaida, and he says there are also at least two local warlords with their own militia in the region staging attacks on coalition forces.

He says the insurgents themselves are from the surrounding area, a traditional Taleban stronghold,, but there is mounting evidence that foreigners, including Arabs, Chechens, and Uzbeks, are helping train them inside Pakistan.

They typically attack at night, he says, and then slip back into Pakistan before sunrise. As long as they stay on the far side, the U.S. and Afghan troops cannot touch them.

who met with Ms. Rice at his residence outside Moscow.

By Bill Gasperini ,
Moscow
15 October 2005 

Russia and the United States did not agree on measures to pressure Iran on its nuclear program during talks between Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and top Russian officials. Moscow says referring the issue to the United Nations Security Council is not the way to proceed.

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Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice appeared to make little headway in her Moscow meetings on the dispute over Iran's nuclear program.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov says Russia is confident that Tehran is not seeking to develop nuclear weapons,, and has a right to enrich uranium under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.

But Secretary Rice disagreed with him,, saying that Iran is not living up to its obligations under the treaty,, and is not being clear about the full extent of its nuclear ambitions.

Ms. Rice came to Moscow for a brief overnight visit primarily to discuss Iran,, as the United States is considering whether to refer the matter to the United Nations Security Council.

Russia strongly opposes such action,, saying the issue should be handled within the International Atomic Energy Agency.

Mr. Lavrov says Iran could not develop weapons covertly using technology supplied by Moscow.

Iran wasn't the only item on the agenda of talks with both Mr. Lavrov and President Vladimir Putin,, who met with Ms. Rice at his residence outside Moscow.

Mr. Putin noted the secretary had come to Moscow after a tour of Central Asian countries,, and the two discussed her trip there.

Ms. Rice visited three of the former Soviet republics in Central Asia,, where she spoke of the need for democratic change to accompany economic development in the region.

She also made stops in Afghanistan and Pakistan,, which suffered a devastating earthquake a week ago.

Duran says he will not rest until justice is served.

By Amberin Zaman ,
Diyarbakir,, Turkey
13 April 2006

Violence has been steadily rising in Turkey's predominantly Kurdish southeast region ever since rebels of the Kurdistan Workers Party,, or PKK,, ended a five-year truce in June 2004. Two weeks of violent protests left at least 10 Kurdish demonstrators dead in the provinces of Diyarbakir and Batman. At least two Turkish soldiers and 12 rebels were killed in fighting Tuesday in Sirnak Province.

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In a dark cramped apartment in Diyarbakir's Baglar district,, Mahmut Duran can barely hold back his tears as he greets a steady stream of visitors . They are bringing condolences for the death of his nine-year-old son Abdullah. Duran says his son was shot and killed by Turkish security forces during last month's demonstrations.

Duran says he will not rest until justice is served.

Abdullah is one of four children killed in the worst bout of violence in Turkey's Kurdish region in recent years. The trouble started on March 28 during the burial ceremony of four rebels belonging to the separatist Kurdistan Workers' Party known as PKK.

The funeral degenerated into a rampage,, as enraged Kurdish youths firebombed banks,, stoned police stations and shattered hundreds of shop windows. Two Kurds died in ensuing clashes with police.

Their funerals sparked a new round of protests that engulfed the neighboring provinces of Batman,, Mardin and Hakkari further east. Retaliatory attacks by the PKK that claimed the lives of two

Turkish women in Istanbul have stoked nationalist anger across Turkey.
 
There is mounting pressure on Turkey's prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan to take tougher action against the rebels. But analysts warn that addressing the Kurdish problem through military measures alone may jeopardize Turkey's hopes of joining the European Union. Human rights activists in Diyarbakir say that arbitrary arrests and torture of detainees has sharply increased in recent weeks.

Since coming to power three years ago Mr. Erdogan's ruling Justice and Development Party pushed through reforms that persuaded the 25-member European alliance to open membership talks with Turkey last October. They include laws that allow the country's estimated 14 million Kurds to teach their long banned language in private schools.

Last month private television stations were granted official permission to broadcast in Kurdish.

Ahmet Turk is the co-chairman of Turkey's largest pro-Kurdish party,, the Democratic Society Party,, or DTP. He says the reforms are a step in the right direction but they fall short of addressing the Kurds' demands for lasting peace in the region.

Turk says that one of the foremost conditions for securing peace in the region would be for the government to declare an amnesty for some 5,,000 PKK rebels,, whose leaders are based in Kurdish controlled northern Iraq.

He says the government's refusal to grant amnesty to PKK members was one of the main reasons why the rebels abandoned their unilateral cease-fire last June and resumed their violent campaign.

Abdurrahman Kurt is the provincial chairman of the ruling Justice and Development Party in Diyarbakir. He says government reforms and rising economic prosperity have combined to erode public support for the PKK. He says the recent violence is a clear sign of PKK's waning influence.

Kurt says the government now provides free health care for poor families and around $20 in educational support for each of their children every month. He admits more needs to be done to win the hearts and minds of Turkey's restive Kurds and that military action against the rebels needs to be tempered with further democratic reforms.

Kurdish politician Ahmet Turk agrees that the PKK's decision to resume its armed campaign is unpopular with many Kurds. He says Kurdish issues should be addressed in peaceful negotiations.

Over 200

By Pearse Lynch ,
Nairobi
04 July 2006

Rebels from the Sudanese region of Darfur have carried out an attack outside the region on a town about 400 kilometers from Khartoum. Government aircraft have been sent to Hamrat al-Sheikh,, where fighting is continuing,, the army says. A local official said 12 people had died. 

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The Sudanese army said the town of Hamrat al-Sheikh in North Kordofan province was attacked Monday by forces linked to the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM).

The rebels attacked the town with 50 trucks armed with heavy weapons,, some of which were posted outside Hamrat al-Sheikh to seal it off,, according to police reports. They said they outnumbered the security forces to seize the town.

The attack came despite a truce between the Khartoum government and Darfur rebels since April 2004. But the JEM rejects a peace deal signed in the Nigerian capital Abuja in May by Khartoum and the main Darfur rebel group,, the Sudan Liberation Movement.

Head of the United Nations mission in Sudan,, Jan Pronk,, has warned the fragile peace deal may collapse all together if further concessions are not granted to rebel groups.

But Foreign Minister Lam Akol speaking from Khartoum on Monday said the deal cannot be changed.

The United States has leveled accusations of ethnic cleansing against the government in Khartoum citing evidence that they are backing Arab Janjaweed militias who target black African ethnic groups.

Khartoum continues to deny allegations of genocide and cites the rebels as the cause of unrest in region.

Over 200,,000 people have been killed and two million people displaced in the three years of civil war.

"The best one [option] is to

By Jim Malone ,
Washington
21 November 2006

This month's congressional election results suggest the U.S. public is demanding a change in the U.S. strategy in the war in Iraq.  But in the two weeks since the election,, it is clear there is no consensus emerging among congressional and Bush administration policy makers about what to do next.  VOA National correspondent Jim Malone has more on the intensifying post-election debate over Iraq from Washington.

Democrats believe much of their success in the congressional elections was due to public unhappiness about the war in Iraq,, so many of them are pressing ahead with calls for troop withdrawals to begin within four to six months.

Even Republicans are showing signs of disenchantment with the Bush administration's approach on Iraq.  Among them is Arizona Senator John McCain, a likely presidential contender in 2008.

But unlike many of his colleagues, McCain is pushing to send more U.S. troops into Iraq to help quell the sectarian violence there.

"No, we are not winning in Iraq.  That is why we have to have more troops there and we have to do it quickly," McCain said.

Democrats will take control of both houses of Congress in January.  But they remain divided on how best to proceed in Iraq.

A few Democrats advocate a quick withdrawal of U.S. forces.  But most prefer what they like to call a phased withdrawal of U.S. forces over a period of several months that would put pressure on the Iraqis to solve their political differences and take greater responsibility for their own security.

Among those who favor that approach is Senator Joseph Biden of Delaware.  He spoke on NBC's Today program.

"The best one [option] is to, in fact, begin to let the Iraqi leadership know that we are not going to be staying," Biden said. "Over the next four months,, let them know we are going to start to phase out, force them to have to address the central issue and that is not how to stand up Iraqis, but to get Iraqis to stand together."

Politicians from both parties are talking about change in the U.S. policy toward Iraq,, and political analysts say that is because most of them are taking heed of the election results earlier this month.

Larry Sabato directs the Center for Politics at the University of Virgina.

"America has a vibrant democracy and the people are still in charge.  When they speak clearly and loudly,, as they did on November 7, they direct policy," Sabato said.  "And so the president and Congress have to adjust to that reality."

How receptive the Bush administration will be in responding to the call for change in Iraq remains an open question.

In a recent Washington speech,, Vice President Dick Cheney told a conservative audience that the election results will not deter the administration from completing the mission in Iraq.

"The key is to get Iraqis into the fight, and we will continue training local forces so they can take the lead in defending their own country," Mr. Cheney said. "America is going to complete our mission, we are going to get it done right and then we will bring our troops home with victory."

But the pressure for change in Iraq is not just coming from Democrats and political independents.  It is coming from conservatives as well.

Again, political analyst Larry Sabato.

"He [President Bush] has very little choice at this point.  Even many conservative Republicans and some neo-cons [neo-conservatives] are deserting the ship and making it clear that the current policy in Iraq is unsustainable," Sabato said.

Politicians from both parties are awaiting recommendations on Iraq from a special bipartisan commission set up by Congress and headed by former Secretary of State Jim Baker and former Congressman Lee Hamilton.

The Iraq Study Group is expected to release its findings and recommendations next month.

Some members of Congress hope the commission will provide a way forward in Iraq that will appeal to Democrats and Republicans in Congress and the Bush administration.

But Chuck Todd, editor of the Hotline political newsletter, is skeptical that the commission will be able to provide a bipartisan solution that can unify official Washington.

Todd was a guest on VOA's Encounter program.

"My gut [instinct] is that there is not going to be too much agreement on exactly the plan of what to do," Todd said. "Look,, if there were an easy plan, somebody would have it, OK?  It is not easy."

As Democrats prepare to take over Congress in January,, many experts predict a renewed focus on Iraq.

This is author and political scholar Norman Ornstein.

"I think you will get [congressional] hearings that will push toward at least consideration of forward-looking plans and alternatives that we would not have otherwise," Ornstein said. "I think you are going to see a significant focus on foreign policy, but that is not going to result itself in a change in direction."

Another expert,, John Fortier of the American Enterprise Institute, believes it will be difficult for the president and congressional Democrats to bridge the gap over Iraq.

"Six months down the road, I think there is still a pretty fundamental divide between Republicans and Bush, who want to find a way to win in Iraq and are not looking to reduce troops right away,, and Democrats who would like to see those troops come home more soon,," Fortier said.

Politics will also play a role in the Iraq debate.  Several senators from both parties are either planning or contemplating a run for president in 2008, and many have their own proposals for what should be done in Iraq.

Under the new rule the government can physically shut television stations, fine them and even suspend broadcast licenses for alleged "misconduct."

" he said.

By David Gollust ,
United Nations
23 September 2006 

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is warning Sudan the international community could take punitive action against Khartoum if it continues to refuse to accept a United Nations peacekeeping force in Darfur. Rice and her Danish counterpart, Per Stig Moeller, convened a 20-nation meeting on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly Friday to try to build diplomatic pressure on Sudan.

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The meeting, which included among others U.N. Security Council member counties and Arab allies of Sudan, heard an appeal from Secretary Rice that time is running out for political action to head off a renewal of the kind of genocidal violence that ravaged Darfur two years ago.

The Sudanese government, citing threats to its sovereignty, has resisted compliance with a U.N. Security Council resolution approved last month that would replace the current seven thousand member African Union observer mission in Darfur with a full-scale U.N. peacekeeping mission three times as large.

In a talk with reporters after the Darfur meeting at a New York Hotel, Secretary Rice said no one intends to impinge on Sudan's sovereignty. But she said Sudan has not fulfilled its responsibility to protect the weakest in its society and so there will have to be a U.N. force.

Discussion at the U.N. of possible sanctions against Sudan, if it continues its defiance of the Darfur resolution, has made little headway. But without elaborating, Rice said there are various other measures available to punish Sudan, implicitly outside the United Nations framework. "There was a very clear indication by several speakers today that there are other measures at the disposal of the international community, should we not be able to get the agreement of Sudan in the way that we would like to get the agreement of Sudan,, which is that they would accede to the desires of the international community to stop the violence and to stop the rape of women and children, and allow humanitarian workers to work," she said.

Rice cited a new report by U.N. human rights monitors accusing Sudan's army of bombing Darfur villages,, and reporting a new outbreak of sexual violence against displaced persons, activity she said that simply cannot continue.

The co-chair of the meeting, Rice's Danish counterpart Per Stig Moeller, insisted that international pressure on Sudan can succeed despite Khartoum's adamant refusal thus far to accept the new force.

"It, of course,, makes an impression (on Sudan) that every government, that all the world,, is assembled in calling the situation unacceptable,, the murders unacceptable. All countries in here find it unacceptable,, Arab, African, Asian, European, America. This of course means something in Khartoum. Otherwise they will know that the world stands side-by-side to have other measures,, if we cannot protect the people of Darfur through political means," he said.

Rice and Moeller said the same grouping would convene again next month to assess progress, if any,, on the issue. Time pressure for the peacekeeping upgrade in Darfur eased somewhat earlier this week when the African Union agreed to keep its force in Darfur until the end of the year,, extending a mandate that was to have ended September 30th.

The A.U. mission has been under-funded and lacks the mobility to patrol the entire Darfur region. The remote,, arid western region has been torn by violence since early 2003, when Arab militiamen backed by the Sudanese military began waging a scorched-earth campaign against local Darfur rebels.

More than 200-thousand people have died as a result of the conflict and more than two-million others have been displaced. Violence has continued,, and even increased in recent months, despite a Darfur peace accord reached in Nigeria in May.

Under the new rule the government can physically shut television stations, fine them and even suspend broadcast licenses for alleged "misconduct."

and a lot of nuclear preparedness

The leaders of Saudi Arabia and Iran have agreed to work together to end sectarian violence in the region. Leslie Boctor reports from VOA's regional bureau in Cairo on the meeting Saturday between the two leaders.

The talks took place in Riyadh in what was the Iranian president's first official visit to Saudi Arabia.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said he and Saudi King Abdullah agreed to fight what he described as "enemy" plans to divide the Muslim world.

Saudi Arabia's official news agency reported that the leaders agreed that they must work to counter attempts to fan sectarian strife between Sunni and Shi'ite Muslim.

Saudi Arabia, the major Sunni heavy weight in the region,, has been at political odds with Iran,, the influential Shia power, over Iran's growing influence in Iraq.

But Saudi and Iranian officials have met several times in recent weeks to broker talks between Lebanon's Hezbollah-led opposition and Prime Minister Fouad Siniora's U.S. and Saudi-supported government.

The political crisis in Lebanon and the growing sectarian violence in Iraq have led to fears of sectarian conflict spreading across the region.

Abdel Monein Sa'id,, the director of the Cairo-based Al Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies,, says with both Afghanistan and Iraq destabilized, Iran is in a position to exert more influence in the region. He says its nuclear ambitions and its military capabilities should not be taken lightly.

"Iran is one of the pillars of the Middle East. It is also a revolutionary country. It is trying to acquire nuclear capability,," he said. "So, the mix of an important state with an ideology that is Islamic revolutionary,, plus nuclear capacity,, and a lot of nuclear preparedness, I think in itself is worrisome,, whether in normal times or crisis times,, and, certainly, the Saudis and many of the moderate countries in the region, they do not want to take that formula into a kind of confrontation."

Sa'id says the Saudis fear a worsening situation in Iran that could escalate to a violent stand-off with Western powers.

"The biggest fear of the Saudis is that we get a war that nobody wants,, and the war evolves and develops in such a way that brings to the region a kind of a chaos, more than that of what the Iraq war is doing for at this moment," he added.

There are great expectations for Arab efforts to calm sectarian violence in Iraq,, as well as in Lebanon and the Palestinian territories. The talks between the two countries preceded a conference planned for Saturday in Baghdad of Iraq's neighbors,, as well as the United States and Britain.

Under the new rule the government can physically shut television stations, fine them and even suspend broadcast licenses for alleged "misconduct."