Transcript
News Wrap
Thursday June 26, 2008
North Korea submits nuke declaration to China
North Korea today delivered a declaration of its nuclear activities to China-one of six parties involved in nuclear negotiations with Pyongyang-as a G8 meeting convened
in Kyoto, Japan today for two days of talks.
Soon after the declaration, President George Bush notified Congress of his intent to reconsider North Korea’s status as a state sponsoring terrorism. Bush also announced that the U.S. will lift the trade ban on North Korea.
Speaking at the White House this morning, President Bush gave a cautious welcome to the declaration, and emphasized that there are still differences between the major powers and North Korea.
“"The United States has no illusions about the regime in Pyongyang. We remain deeply concerned about North Korea's human rights abuses, uranium enrichment activities, nuclear testing and proliferation, ballistic missile programs and the threat it continues to pose to South Korea and its neighbors," Bush told reporters at the White House.
The six parties involved in the talks also include Japan, Russia, South Korea, and the US. They will meet at the July G8 summit in Japan, where discussion on North Korea and Iran’s nuclear programs will continue.
MPs, graduates call for trial of Tehran’s Chief prosecutor
Members of Iran’s Majlis and graduates of Iranian universities yesterday called on the Judiciary to put on trial the Prosecutor General of Tehran, Saeed Mortazavi.
In two separate letters addressed to the Judiciary, 208 Majlis deputies and 600 graduates of Iran’s universities called for Mortazavi to be tried in a “fair and open” court for what they called “cursing and insulting…members of the Majlis and the media”.
Mortazavi is remembered for closing over 300 publications and jailing over 30 journalists and is also known for his involvement in the case of Iranian-Canadian journalist Zahra Kazemi. He had ordered her arrest, and when she died in custody, Mortazavi was appointed to oversee the investigation into her death.
Extraction of minors continues in Iran
A copy of the birth certificate of Mohammad Hassanzadeh, a Kurdish boy who was hanged on June 10 on charges of manslaughter, shows that he was 16 years and 11 months old at the time of execution. Iranian authorities said earlier he was 18 years of age.
E’temd newspaper published a photocopy of Hassanzadeh’s Birth certificate on Wednesday. The sentence was handed down after he killed a 10 year old boy in a brawl.
Judiciary Taking “revenge on the Majlis,” Say MP’s
Tensions between the Majis and Judiciary increased further today as 212 Majlis deputies wrote a letter to the head of the Majlis Presidium, Ali Larijani, protesting the summoning of three deputies by the Judiciary to appear before the chief prosecutor of Tehran, Saeed Montazari.
The lawmakers described the summons and interrogations as the Judiciary taking “revenge on the Majlis”.
On Tuesday, deputies Hassan Kamran and Mohammad Dehqan, were summoned to appear before Tehran’s public prosecutor in connection with the case of Abbas Palizdar, the imprisoned secretary of the Majlis committee investigating the judiciary.
In a statement published on Tuesday, the Judiciary accused Palizdar of colluding with other Majlis deputies, including Fatemeh Ajorlou, Hassan Kamran and Mohammad Dehqan, to copy confidential documents. The statement called on the Majlis to agree to a Judiciary writ summoning the deputies for questioning.
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