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Saudi Arabia Exempt From Nuke Inspections

By GEORGE JAHN, Associated Press Writer

VIENNA, Austria - Board members of the U.N. atomic watchdog agency approved a deal Thursday that exempts Saudi Arabia from nuclear inspections, despite serious misgivings about the arrangement in an era of heightened proliferation fears.

Although the Saudis resisted Western pressure to compromise and allow some form of monitoring, the board of the International Atomic Energy Agency had no choice but to allow it to sign on to the agreement.

Called the small quantities protocol, the deal allows countries whose nuclear equipment or activities are thought to be below a minimum threshold to submit a declaration instead of undergoing inspection.

There is little concern the Saudis are trying to make nuclear arms, but diplomats accredited to the meeting said Riyadh's resistance to inspections — and any new deals limiting the IAEA's powers to investigate — were disconcerting at a time of increased fears countries or terrorists might be interested in acquiring such weapons.

With the deal approved, delegates focused on a report on Iran, to be presented later Thursday to the closed board meeting and given ahead of delivery to The Associated Press.

It says Iran has acknowledged working with small amounts of plutonium, a possible nuclear arms component, for years longer than it had originally admitted and receiving sensitive technology that can be used as part of a weapons program earlier than it initially said it did.

The agency has no authority in North Korea, the other main proliferation concern since being kicked out in December 2002. Senior U.S. delegation member Cristopher Ford warned Pyongyang that unless it abandoned "its pursuit of nuclear weapons ... we will have to consult with our allies and partners on other options" — diplomatic jargon for referral to the U.N. Security Council.

The Saudis insist they have no plans to develop nuclear arms — and no facilities or nuclear stocks that warrant inspection.

As such, they qualify for the protocol, which has been implemented by 75 nations, most of them small and in politically stable parts of the world and which puts the onus on the nations to truthfully report that they have nothing to inspect.

But the timing of the deal for the Saudis comes amid persistent tensions in the Middle East and concern about Iran's nuclear ambitions. It also coincides with an agency push to tighten or rescind the protocol, as suggested in a confidential IAEA document prepared for the board and also made available to AP on Tuesday.

While the Saudi government insists it has no interest in nuclear arms, in the past two decades it has been linked to prewar Iraq's nuclear program and to the Pakistani nuclear black marketeer A.Q. Khan. It also has expressed interest in Pakistani missiles capable of carrying nuclear warheads, and Saudi officials reportedly discussed pursuing the nuclear option as a deterrent in the volatile Middle East.

The Saudis have resisted pressure from the United States, the European Union and Australia to either back away from the small quantities protocol or agree to inspections, as reflected by a confidential EU briefing memo given to the AP earlier this week by a diplomat accredited to the agency who insisted on anonymity because he was not authorized to release it.

It quoted the Saudi deputy foreign minister, Prince Turki bin Mohammed bin Saud al-Kabira, as telling EU officials in Riyadh that his country would be "willing to provide additional information" to the IAEA "only if all other parties" to the protocol did the same.

Diplomats inside Thursday's closed meeting said the Saudis repeated those conditions as part of debate over their deal.

The report on Iran does not prove or disprove that Tehran had weapons ambitions. But its details are significant as the agency tries to piece together the puzzle of nearly 18 years of a clandestine nuclear program first revealed in February 2002.

The IAEA first said that Iran produced small amounts of plutonium as part of covert nuclear activities in November 2003.

The agency has not linked the laboratory-scale experiments to weapons, nor has it done so for other parts of the program — including ambitious efforts to be able to enrich uranium. But it criticized Tehran for not voluntarily revealing its plutonium work and other activities that could be linked to interest in making nuclear arms.

Plutonium can be used in nuclear weapons but it also has uses in peaceful programs to generate power — which is what Iran says is the sole purpose of its nuclear activities.

The document says that while Iran had said its plutonium experiments were conducted in 1993 "and that no plutonium had been separated since then," Iranian officials revealed two months ago that there had been linked experiments in 1995 and 1998.

Focusing on shipments of equipment for uranium enrichment, the report said Tehran earlier this year provided documents showing that in at least two instances some components arrived in 1994 and 1995.

Those dates "deviate from information provided earlier by Iran," said the report, saying one particular delivery had earlier been said to have reached the country in 1997.

Such discrepancies are important as the agency tries to establish how long Iran has been trying to assemble a program for enrichment, which can generate both fuel for power and weapons grade uranium.

The report also outlined discrepancies about when Iranian officials said the first meetings with nuclear black marketeers were.

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On the Net:

www.iaea.org

A suspect waits to be questioned following his arrest Thursday, June 16, 2005, in Siem Reap, Cambodia, following a hostage incident at the Siem Reap International School that left at least one child dead. (AP Photo/David Longstreath)

One Child Dead, Others Rescued in Cambodia

By DANIEL LOVERING, Associated Press Writer

SIEM REAP, Cambodia - Masked gunmen seized dozens of children at an international school Thursday in northwestern Cambodia, killing a 3-year-old Canadian boy and vowing to shoot the others one by one before police rescued the hostages, authorities said.

The attackers stormed Siem Reap International School, grabbed students from several countries, and demanded money, weapons and a vehicle before police ended the six-hour standoff and took four young gunmen into custody.

The attackers shot the boy when authorities refused to meet all of their demands, then "threatened to kill the other children one by one," said Information Minister Khieu Kanharith.

Authorities said they managed to talk the attackers out of the building after giving them a minivan and $30,000 in cash. When the men got into the vehicle with four children, security forces closed the gate to the school compound and launched an assault, yanking the men from the van.

A suspect in the taking of hostages at an international school in Siem Reap, Cambodia, is questioned by police after being arrested Thursday. (AP/David Longstreath)

Nearly 40 children, some as young as 2, rushed past the school gate and into the arms of their panic-stricken parents.

"I'm very relieved," said Tan Seok Ho of Singapore, who rushed to the school when she heard about the crisis from a friend. Her youngest child Levon was among those taken and released unharmed. "I'm happy to have him back in my arms again."

Some parents, meanwhile, grabbed three of the hostage-takers from police and began beating and kicking them, said Prak Chanthoeun, the military commander. "We could barely control the angry crowd," he said.

A Cambodian official rescues a child out of Siem Reap International School where gunmen held a teacher and pupils hostage in Siem Reap, northwestern Cambodia, June 16, 2005. A Canadian child and two gunmen were killed on Thursday as Cambodian troops and police stormed a school in the tourist town of Siem Reap to end a six-hour hostage drama near the Angkor Wat temples, police said. REUTERS/John McDermott

The crisis unfolded at Cambodia's tourism hub of Siem Reap, near its historic Angkor temples — one of the world's most famous archaeological sites. The town is home to many expatriates, and the school killing quickly drew concern from governments around the region. Children from at least 15 nations — including the United States — attend the school.

Hundreds of people gathered outside the yellow schoolhouse during the tense standoff, and three armored personnel carriers were parked on the road.

The identity of the attackers was unclear, even after the standoff ended. Prime Minister Hun Sen said they appeared to be security guards at the school, but police later said teachers did not recognize them.

The men originally took about 70 people but later released 30 of them, Khieu Kanharith said.

They "were armed with shotguns" and demanded money, six AK-47 assault rifles, six shotguns, grenade launchers, hand grenades and a car, said Deputy Military Police Commander Prak Chanthoeum, who said three teachers were among those seized.

Denis Richer, a Frenchman who teaches at another school in Siem Reap, said he tried to comfort the father of the young boy who died. "He was completely lost. He asked me to look for his wife, which I did. I found an ambulance to bring the couple to the clinic."

Police initially said there were six attackers, but later put the number at four. They said the hostage takers were 22 to 25 years old, and were from the southeastern province of Kandal. Witnesses said one of the attackers lay wounded on the ground after the siege had ended.

The children, most of them aged 2 to 6, come from a variety of countries, including the United States, Italy, Japan, Britain and Australia.

Khieu Kanharith described the boy who was shot as a 3-year-old Canadian. Embassy officials could not immediately confirm that, but a witness who knew the child also identified him as Canadian.

A suspect lies on the ground outside Siem Reap International School where gunmen held a teacher and pupils hostage in Siem Reap, northwestern Cambodia, June 16, 2005. A Canadian child and two gunmen were killed on Thursday as Cambodian troops and police stormed a school in the tourist town of Siem Reap to end a six-hour hostage drama near the Angkor Wat temples, police said. REUTERS/John McDermott

Cambodian soldiers sit on top of an armoured vehicle in front of Siem Reap International school. A two-year-old Canadian boy was shot dead during a siege at the school where four men took around 30 people hostage, police said.(AFP/Pornchai Kittiwongsakul)

Parents wait with a Cambodian official (2nd L) outside Siem Reap International School where gunmen held a teacher and pupils hostage in Siem Reap, northwestern Cambodia, June 16, 2005. A Canadian child and two gunmen were killed on Thursday as Cambodian troops and police stormed a school in the tourist town of Siem Reap to end a six-hour hostage drama near the Angkor Wat temples, police said. REUTERS/John McDermott

Cambodians are seen in front of the Siem Reap International School where gunmen took a teacher and pupils hostage in Siem Reap, Cambodia, June 16, 2005. A Canadian child and two gunmen were killed on Thursday as Cambodian troops and police stormed a school in the resort town of Siem Reap to end a six-hour siege near the Angkor Wat temples, police said. REUTERS/Chaiwat Subprasom

Cambodian authorities inspect the Siem Reap International School after gunmen took a teacher and pupils hostages in Siem Reap, Cambodia, June 16, 2005. A Canadian child and two gunmen were killed on Thursday as Cambodian troops and police stormed a school in the resort town of Siem Reap to end a six-hour siege near the Angkor Wat temples, police said. REUTERS/Chaiwat Subprasom