UN Radio Iran to Allow Tougher Nuclear Inspections

UN Radio: Iran to Allow Tougher Nuclear Inspections

IAEA Welcomes Iran's Intention to Allow Tougher Nuclear Inspections

The International Atomic Energy Agency has welcomed news that Iran has agreed to allow tougher UN inspections of its nuclear programme and to suspend its enrichment of uranium. Iran's position came out in talks of senior Iranian officials with the visiting British, French and German foreign ministers. IAEA Spokesman Mark Gwozdecky says the news, coming in the wake of last week's visit to Iran by Director-General Mohammed ElBaradei, is an encouraging sign that Iran will meet the end of the month deadline for full disclosure of its nuclear activities:

"The Director General hopes and expects that in the next few days, Iran will deliver to the IAEA a complete declaration of all its past nuclear activities and an official notification of its readiness to conclude an Additional Protocol."

UN Secretary-General, Kofi Annan, also welcomed Iran's decision and expressed appreciation for the negotiation efforts of France, Germany and the United Kingdom.

General Assembly Seeks to Determine if Israel Security Barrier Is Illegal

The UN General Assembly will vote on Tuesday afternoon on the separation barrier being built by Israel between itself and Palestinian territories. The meeting was requested mainly by Arab representatives in reaction to a veto by the United States last week in the Security Council. A draft resolution proposed by the Arab Group seeks to have the barrier declared illegal by the General Assembly, as it had asked the Security Council to do. The representative of Malaysia, Rastam Mohd Isa, speaking on behalf of the Non-Aligned Movement, said he was deeply disappointed that the Council had been prevented from declaring the illegality of the Israeli expansionist wall:

"It is unfortunate that a veto once again has been exercised once again in the Council. This was the 27th veto on a draft resolution pertaining to Palestine. This latest veto does not bode well for future progress towards a just lasting and comprehensive peaceful solution."

A second draft text being considered by the General Assembly would ask the International Court of Justice in The Hague to issue an advisory opinion on whether Israel should cease construction of the barrier and dismantle the existing parts. The Security Council also met Tuesday morning on the issue of Palestine.

UN and Sierra Leonean Forces Begin Joint Border Operations

Troops from the United Nations Mission in Sierra Leone (UNAMSIL) have launched a joint border operation with local police and air force units. It is designed to increase security in the frontier with Liberia, and to enhance the capabilities of Sierra Leone's armed forces. The Mission said the exercise, named "Operation Blue Vigilance," will serve to prevent potential infiltrations of Liberian combatants into Sierra Leone and will collect information for further operations by Sierra Leone's security agencies. ICTY Tells Serbia it Must Extradite Indicted War Criminals

The International Criminal Tribunal on the Former Yugoslavia says Serbia has a clear obligation to extradite for trial four of its citizens, whose indictments for war crimes were revealed on Monday. They are two former top soldiers, an ex-police chief and the current head of Serbia's public security, Sreten Lukic. They are charged with having planned, instigated, ordered, committed or otherwise aided crimes against humanity, including executions and the deportation of some 800,000 ethnic Albanians from Kosovo in 1999. Serbian officials have indicated that extraditing the four men, who are considered heros by many at home, would lead to internal instability. But Tribunal Spokesman Jim Landale says they are expected to comply with their obligations under international law:

"We will give them a bit of time to work through their procedures according to their law and cooperation. If that is not forthcoming, then it is a matter for the Prosecutor and the President of the Tribunal to decide what measures to take."

Angelina Jolie Opens Film "Beyond Borders" on UN Relief Workers

Movie star, Angelina Jolie, a goodwill ambassador for the UN refugee agency, attended a premiere of her film BEYOND BORDERS Monday in New York. The film is about a UN relief worker caught up in conflicts in Ethiopia, Cambodia and Chechnya:

"It's for people in the field who dedicate their lives and hopefully, it will shed some light on them and people will remember them and look into other parts of the world, in Ethiopia today, in Chechnya today and maybe do some research and not rely on the front page of the local papers, invest some time and thought in the entire world, because we are very separated here and often don't get the full picture. "

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