Iran Already Seeking Nuclear Waiver

ByABC News
November 29, 2004, 12:02 PM

Nov. 24, 2004 --

The agreement between Iran and the EU for the suspension of uranium enrichment went into effect Monday, but the Islamic Republic is already requesting that it be allowed to operate dozens of centrifuges "for research purposes," an activity it had agreed to ban. Meanwhile, a new CIA report says that an arms trafficking network led by a Pakistani scientist helped Iran with its nuclear program.

A report by the International Crisis Group (ICG) described the new agreement signed between Iran and a number of European countries for the suspension of uranium enrichment as a positive step that could temporarily interrupt nuclear efforts, but warned that at best it is only a prelude to more critical negotiations over long-term arrangements that must include the U.S. Britain, Germany, and France have demanded full access to all of Iran's nuclear site.

Before Ink Dries, Iran Wants Exemptions

Tehran requests EU allow it to conduct nuclear tests despite recently signed agreement to forgo them. (CS Monitor)

Iran: Where Next on the Nuclear Standoff?
With Iran's nuclear clock ticking, the U.S. must become engaged in seeking a comprehensive resolution to the crisis that includes addressing. (ICG)

Demand For Full Access To Iran's Nuclear Sites
Britain, Germany, and France are demanding that UN nuclear inspectors in Iran be allowed to go wherever they see fit in their efforts to investigate Tehran's nuclear program. (The Guardian)

C.I.A. Says Pakistanis Gave Iran Nuclear Aid
A new report from the Central Intelligence Agency says the arms trafficking network led by the Pakistani scientist A. Q. Khan provided Iran's nuclear program with "significant assistance," including the designs for "advanced and efficient" weapons components. (NY Times)

Jordan Gives Zarqawi 10 Days to Capitulate

The Jordanian Security Court has given 10 days for the Jordanian fundamentalist leader, Abu Musab Zarqawi and three other men to turn themselves in for plotting attacks in Jordan. (Zaman)

Authorities Deny Any Falluja Fighters Entered Jordan
Jordan has denies that any insurgents who were fighting U.S. and Iraqi forces in Falluja have entered the country. The Jordanian authorities assured that Iraqis' entrance into Jordan is done after coordination and approval by the Iraqi border security. (Asharq Al Awsat)

Police Reject 9/11 Suspects' Claims

One of Germany's top policemen told the current Hamburg 9/11 trial on Tuesday that the Federal Crime Office BKA did not believe claims made under interrogation by two captured al-Qaeda operatives about the 2001 attacks. (Expatica)

No Deal For Freed Hostages

The release of three U.N. workers who had been held hostage for more than three weeks took place early Tuesday in what appeared to be an orchestrated handover. But the Afghan interior minister denied that a deal had been made with the kidnappers. (NY Times)

Four People Detained In France For Terrorism Link

Four people, including a brother of one of three French nationals still held as terror suspects at Guantanamo Bay, have been detained in connection with a probe concerning the financing of Islamic terrorism, officials said Tuesday. (AFP)

Indonesian Police Announce Terror Arrests

Four Islamic militants wanted for the Sept. 9 suicide bombing at the Australian Embassy in Jakarta have been arrested, including the alleged planner and two bomb-makers, Indonesia's police chief announced Wednesday. (AP)

Terror Alert: U.S. Consulate, Center Closed

The American Center and the consular section of the American consulate in Mumbai were closed Tuesday due to security concerns. (Rediff)

The One That Got Away

Declan Walsh on the young militant from the tribal regions who has become the scourge of the Pakistani government. (The Guardian)

The Story of the Secret Negotiations for the Hand Over of Four FundamentalistsA special report in Al Hayat newspaper today sheds light on secret negotiations that allegedly took place end of the 1990s between the Egyptian and British authorities for the hand over of a number of wanted Islamists living in London. The British government had a reputation for rejecting extraditions of wanted radicals. Court documents however show that the government was actually eager to send four members of Egyptian Jihad group to Egypt. Negotiations ultimately failed to secure an extradition. The newspaper however publishes details about the contacts between the two countries. (Al Hayat)

Al Zarqawi Tape First Shown in Jan 04
ABCNEWS has confirmed that an audio tape of Abu Musaab Al Zarqawi posted on the internet today is actually an excerpt of a 60-minute statement that was first posted last January. In the tape al Zarqawi had attacked Muslim scholars for not supporting the mujaheddin. (ABCNEWS Investigative Unit)

Iraqi Groups Threaten to Intensify Attacks Baath party, Islamist groups vow to step up armed attacks on US-led forces following Sharm el-Sheikh conference. (Middle East Online)

U.S. Expanding Iraqi Offensive in Violent Area
Thousands of American, British and Iraqi troops began a new offensive sweep on Tuesday across a region south of Baghdad known as the triangle of death. The area earned its fearsome reputation as a haven for thieves, killers, crime families and terrorists, as well as insurgents who fled Falluja before the fighting started there. (NY Times)

Neighbors Plan to Help Fight Rebels
Leaders gathering this week for a conference on Iraq's future are planning to give strong backing to the interim government's war against insurgents. (LA Times)

Medics Testify to Fallujah's Horrors
The first time Jose Ramirez saw a human body ripped apart by a rocket, it took hours for him to regain his composure. Nothing in his training as a Navy medical corpsman had prepared him for the sight of the dead Marine brought in September to the military field hospital outside Fallujah. (Washington Post)

Video Shows Insurgents On Haifa Street
An 11-minute video posted on the Internet by "the media department of al Qaeda organization in Iraq" shows insurgents walking around with weapons on an empty street. The group claims the video is proof they're in control of Haifa Street in Baghdad. Special calls to prayer however which mark the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan and are heard in the background indicate that the tape was shot around Nov 14th. Towards the end, excerpts from a Nov 12th audio statement of Abu Musaab al Zarqawi are heard. (ABCNEWS Investigative Unit)

A Good Delay
Last weekend Congress passed up the opportunity to adopt, after scant consideration, the largest reorganization of the U.S. intelligence community in half a century -- a measure that was rushed through both houses with election-year zeal and then concocted by a conference committee into a 500-page omnibus that hardly anyone had read, much less considered. (Washington Post)

Iraq's New Court Finds Itself on Trial
The worst kind of hypocrisy is the sort that pretends to stand on principle. The latest example is the failure of the United Nations, our European allies and nongovernmental groups to support Iraqi efforts to bring Saddam Hussein and his henchmen to justice. (NY Times)

Autumn Offensive
Why does it suit the government to put the message that it is waging war on fear and insecurity at the heart of yesterday's Queen's speech? (The Guardian)

Fallujah And Its Aftermath Did Not Break The Iraqi Insurgency's Back
It is far from clear what the U.S. "victory" in Fallujah really means in a military, political and economic sense. There are, however, good reasons to question whether the tactical victory will have a positive strategic effect. (The Daily Star)