Free Republic

President Bush has issued a statement on "Ten Years of Democracy in South Africa," conveniently ignoring the fact that South African President Thabo Mbeki is a Marxist who has surrounded himself with followers of radical Islam. The other curious omission is that while the president complimented "South Africa's commitment to progress at home and around the world," evidence is emerging that South Africa has played a role in nuclear weapons proliferation, including to Iran. The evidence is contained in a hot new book, Iran's Nuclear Option: Tehran's Quest for the Atom Bomb, by journalist Al Venter. Some people forget that...

SANTIAGO, Chile (Reuters) - President Bush (news - web sites) on Saturday warned Iran of growing international concern over reports that Tehran is preparing large amounts of uranium for an enrichment process that can be used to make nuclear weapons. "This is a very serious matter. The world knows it's a serious matter and we're working together to solve this matter," Bush told reporters during a meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi in Santiago. The two leaders were in Chile for a summit hosted by the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (news - web sites) forum.

JERUSALEM - While Israel is at daggers drawn with Iran, its preoccupation with its daunting domestic concerns that are tearing apart the Jewish population and the non-conducive international environment are likely to deter it from the earlier posturing of carrying out a preemptive strike to foil the Islamic Republic's nuclear ambitions. The indications here suggest that Jerusalem instead would prefer sticking to its already-launched diplomatic initiatives that it sees as "working" and carry out a military offensive only as a last resort. While there was no dearth of rhetoric when Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom met with his French counterpart, Michel...

WASHINGTON - With Iran stepping up its nuclear program, a top White House aide said Sunday the world finally is "worried and suspicious" over the Iranians' intentions and is determined not to let Tehran produce a nuclear weapon. National security adviser Condoleezza Rice also said the Bush administration sees a new international willingness to act against Iran's nuclear program. She credited the changed attitude to the Americans' insistence that Iran's effort put the world in peril.

It is playing a key role in curbing and caging North Korean dictator Kim Jong-Il. It played a key role in disarming Libya, discovering and rolling up the Pakistani A.Q. Khan nuclear smuggling network, and has become a framework for international military and police exercises organized by the United States. Its membership includes most of the world's largest economic powers, most of the world's largest military powers, and most of the most influential states on earth. The United States, Japan, the United Kingdom, Russia, the Netherlands, France, Australia and Germany are among its 15 member states, and it is one...

WASHINGTON (AFP) - The United States warned North Korea that it would face action from the international community if it does not stop exporting dangerous weapons and other illegal activities. "If North Korea will not act, it will find the United States, its allies and other partners equally prepared to respond with measures that ensure North Korea cannot threaten our countries or international stability," said Mitchell Reiss, the department's director of policy planning. Speaking at the Heritage Foundation, one of Washington's leading repositories of expertise on East Asia, Reiss said the United States was taking steps to enforce its laws...

TOKYO - Russia, China and South Korea may supply oil to North Korea if it agrees to freeze its nuclear programme and admit inspectors, a Japanese newspaper said yesterday ahead of six-way talks on the issue next week. Quoting a South Korean government source, the Asahi Shimbun said in its late edition that supplying oil was part of a three-stage strategy developed by Beijing and Seoul ahead of the talks. The first stage would involve North Korea agreeing to a complete, irreversible and verifiable dismantling of its nuclear weapons. In return, the other five nations at the talks would provide...

WASHINGTON – As the Pakistani nuclear proliferation story widens, U.S. intelligence officials say top atomic scientists from that country met with Osama bin Laden and Mullah Omar in Afghanistan. Two former senior Pakistani nuclear scientists who were based in the Afghan town of Kandahar met Mullah Omar and Osama bin Laden several times before the fall of the Taliban. They were later detained and questioned on their return to Pakistan. Last week, after it became clear that Pakistan was the center of what has become known internationally as the "nuclear bazaar," President Pervez Musharraf agreed to pardon nuclear scientist Abdul...

wo of Pakistan's top atomic scientists were grilled yesterday about possible contacts with Afghanistan's Taliban rulers amid reports Osama Bin Laden had obtained nuclear material. Sultan Bashiru-Din Mehmood, one of the founders of the country's nuclear program, was detained Tuesday in Lahore, Interior Ministry officials said on condition of anonymity. They said Abdul Majid, a scientist who worked with Mehmood at the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission, also was being held. "The investigation has nothing to do with the nuclear program," said Rashid Qureshi, a Pakistani military spokesman. However, the Interior Ministry officials said the men were questioned about possible links ...

ISLAMABAD : A top Iranian official said Iran sought no help from foreign scientists for its nuclear programme but that five brokers helped buy equipment on the international market, state media reported. "No scientist from any other country has helped in this regard," visiting Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Mohsin Aminzadeh was quoted as telling reporters here by the state-run Associated Press of Pakistan (APP). Referring to Iran's talks with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Aminzadeh said Iran only gave the global nuclear watchdog information about five individuals -- three Europeans and two from this region - who helped Iran...

VIENNA -- Evidence discovered in a probe of Iran's secret nuclear program points overwhelmingly to Pakistan as the source of crucial technology that put Iran on a fast track toward becoming a nuclear weapons power, according to U.S. and European officials familiar with the investigation. The serious nature of the discoveries prompted a decision by Pakistan two weeks ago to detain three of its top nuclear scientists for several days of questioning, with U.S. intelligence experts allowed to assist, the officials said. The scientists have not been charged with any crime, and Pakistan continues to insist that it never wittingly...

Translation from Hebrew to English by me "Russia is about to aid Libya to develop a civilian nuclear program," the United States has brought Israel up to date in the last few days, as a result of info it got from Moscow. Israel and the United States are now trying to stop the Russian-Libyan cooperation in the nuclear field, using many ways such as talking with a few european countries. A senior Israeli security source said yesterday that a nuclear civilian ability in the hands of Libyan Ruler, Mulmar Qadaffi, could threaten Israel. To this statement, joins the head of...

VIENNA (AFP) Nov 19, 2003 Despite its claims of cooperation, Iran is still hiding a nuclear weapons program from international inspectors and even led them to a phony site, an Iranian resistance group said Wednesday. The claims by the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) came the day before the UN nuclear watchdog is to meet in Vienna Thursday to consider a report that Iran hid nuclear activities for 18 years, including the making of small amounts of plutonium and enriched uranium. The United States charges that Iran is secretely developing nuclear weapons, but International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)...

November 14, 2003, 9:18 a.m. Recipe for Disaster Asking the right Iran questions. By Amir Taheri Is Iran producing nuclear weapons? Tehran says: No. Washington says: Yes The European Union says: Maybe. And next week the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is expected to say: Maybe yes, maybe not! Why are there such divergent views on an issue that, given the wealth of data now at the disposal of the IAEA, should not be so hard to handle? Part of the confusion is because the wrong question is asked. Iran is right in saying that it is not producing nuclear...

Nov. 3, 2003 Sharon raises concerns over Russia's nuclear aid to Iran By JPOST.COM STAFF Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon on Monday hailed friendly ties with Russia and called President Vladimir Putin a "true friend of Israel." Welcoming Sharon to the Kremlin, Putin said Russia would continue trying to help the Mideast peace settlement and added that recent violence in Israel had caused much concern in Russia for former citizens who have emigrated to Israel. "We know Israel is striving for peace," Putin said. "The Jewish people have suffered a lot over the last decades." Sharon, who arrived in Moscow...

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) - In a sudden shift, North Korea said Saturday that it would consider President Bush's offer of written security assurances in return for dismantling its nuclear weapons programs. Pyongyang had earlier dismissed Bush's offer as laughable and "not worth considering." The abrupt change brightens prospects for restarting talks to ease tensions in the yearlong standoff over North Korea's nuclear programs, which some experts say could produce several more atomic bombs within months. Separately, the Japanese government said North Korea may have test-fired a short-range missile off its eastern coast Saturday. It would be the third suspected...

Statement by Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom following meeting with German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer Berlin, October 22, 2003 (Communicated by the Foreign Minister's Media Adviser) Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom with German FM Joschka Fischer in Berlin (Oct 22, 2003) I have just concluded a very constructive and important meeting with my good friend, Foreign Minister Fischer. Our discussions covered the full range of issues, including bilateral relations between Israel and Germany, the Middle East peace process and other regional issues of mutual concern. The Foreign Minister updated me on his visit to Tehran this week. I reiterated the cardinal importance...

Oct. 4, 2003 UN, Iran form plan to show nuclear program peaceful By ASSOCIATED PRESS TEHRAN, Iran Representatives of the UN nuclear watchdog have left Iran after reaching "total agreement" on measures to prove the country's nuclear program is peaceful, Iran's representative to the IAEA said Saturday. Ali Akbar Salehi said the International Atomic Energy Agency delegation left Tehran on Friday "with complete satisfaction." "The two sides reached total agreement and approved a plan of action on the basis of which we will work together on a timetable to achieve the expected results," Salehi told The Associated Press. The IAEA...

The United Nations' nuclear watchdog agency took a dramatically tougher line with Iran yesterday after months of diplomacy, setting an Oct. 31 deadline for the Islamic republic to prove to the world that it is not secretly building nuclear weapons. Iranian representatives to the International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna walked out in protest after the agency's 35-nation governing board unanimously approved the U.S.-backed deadline. In an ominous turn, the leader of Iran's delegation warned that the country may cease cooperating with U.N. nuclear inspectors, prompting fears that Iran could follow North Korea in renouncing international treaty obligations that prohibit...

NAVY LOOKS TO LASERS The U.S. Navy is eyeing a significant expansion of its work in countering ballistic and cruise missile threats, the July 8th Aerospace Daily reports. Capt. Roger McGinnis, who heads the Navy's directed energy weapons program, tells the Daily that his office is seeking increased funding for ship-based laser weapons, including approximately $150 million over four years to fund development of a solid state laser for Navy vessels. McGinnis also said that the Navy hopes for greater funding to enable expanded work on free electron laser technology and a proposed test center for maritime directed energy weapons...