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President Mohammad Khatami
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PARIS, April 5--President Mohammad Khatami described negation of violence, terrorism and war as the essence of Dialogue Among Civilizations and cultures.
He made the remark while addressing hundreds of world’s political and cultural figures gathered in the headquarters of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) on Tuesday, IRNA reported.
In his speech, the president said those who seek violence try to eliminate their opponents from the scene through every possible means.
“By so doing, they actually paved the way for the emergence of the sinister and terrifying phenomenon of terrorism on the one hand and war, destruction and occupation on the other,“ he said.
He also said greater attention paid by the organization to issues of ethics in science and life indicated that the international community is growing aware of the neglect facing such important issues.
On the importance of Dialogue Among Civilizations in politics and economy, Khatami voiced his determination to set up a non-governmental organization that would include international figures, scholars and organizations after the end of his presidential tenure in Iran.
“As a Muslim, I firmly believe that the beauty of religion stems from the beauty of justice and not vice versa, because justice is the core of all divine religions,“ he said. <br>
The president said any interpretation of religion which would give rise to any form of injustice was definitely a negation of the notion of religion. <br>
Khatami also referred to the poverty overwhelming the world, the shocking number of both children and adults dying of hunger and diseases, extensive destruction of man’s living environment, fragile family relations, immorality and lack of access to education for children and adolescents as issues that should be dealt by peace-loving politicians who established UNESCO. <br>
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Arab Report Faults US Approach <br>
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CAIRO, Egypt, April 5--In a long-awaited report contested by the United States and Egypt, Arab intellectuals and reformers said they saw no significant advances towards democracy in the Arab world in the year after October 2003.<br>
The third Arab Human Development Report (AHDR), released on Tuesday under UN auspices, says most reforms were “embryonic and fragmentary“ and did not amount to a serious effort to end repression in the region, which has some of the world’s most authoritarian governments, Reuters reported.<br>
“The United States, which says its policy is to promote democracy in the region, contributed to an international context which hampered progress through its policy towards Israel, its actions in Iraq and security measures affecting Arabs,“ it said. <br>
The US and Egyptian governments had criticized parts of an early draft of the UN report, leading to a dispute which held up its release for at least three months.<br>
But the UN Development Program (UNDP) eventually decided to put it out under its logo, with a disclaimer in the preface.<br>
The most controversial parts of the report, subtitled Towards Freedom in the Arab World, describe the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territory and the occupation of Iraq by the United States and its allies as violations of freedom and obstacles to human development there and in the region.<br>
It says that the occupations gave Arab governments an excuse to postpone democratization, forced Arab reformers to divert some of their energies away from reform and strengthened extremist groups advocating violence.<br>
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Peaceful Nuclear Program Will Not Be Abandoned<br>
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PARIS, April 5--Iran will not abandon nuclear activities, despite its negotiations with the European Union about ensuring its nuclear program cannot be used for weapons, President Mohammad Khatami said in an interview published But it will continue for now to discuss the issue with Europe and the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog, Khatami told the French newspaper Le Figaro, AFP reported.<br>
Washington backs these talks but insists, like the EU, that they must end with Iran giving up uranium enrichment, a process that can produce material for nuclear weapons as well as fuel for power plants. Iran says it has no ambitions to develop nuclear weapons.<br>
“We are ready to consider any reasonable solution, but we refuse to suspend our (nuclear) activities for good,“ Khatami told Le Figaro.<br>
“The Europeans have to understand that the (nuclear) non-proliferation treaty and international agreements allow us to possess nuclear technology for peaceful purposes.“ <br>
Khatami had talks scheduled later on Tuesday with French President Jacques Chirac. France, Britain and Germany are offering Iran political and economic incentives to terminate and dismantle its uranium enrichment program.<br>
Iran says it has suspended all work linked to enrichment while the talks proceed.<br>
The European Union says that if Iran resumes enrichment, it will support a US plan to refer Tehran to the UN Security Council, which could impose economic sanctions.<br>
“I hope that this problem can be resolved as soon as possible. But if, through pressure, people try to force us to give up peaceful nuclear power, that will be unacceptable,“ Le Figaro quoted Khatami as saying.<br>
He said he took seriously the threat of a possible military attack by the United States on Iran’s nuclear facilities. <br>
“We are preparing for it, but it seems unlikely. Such a strike would be detrimental to Iran and its attackers. Let’s hope that the latter remain rational. But we are prepared to defend ourselves against any form of irrationality,“ he said.<br>
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Calls for Asian Cooperation, Integration <br>
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ISLAMABAD, Pakistan, April 5--Asian ministers on Tuesday called for cooperation that went beyond economics to achieve genuine integration of the countries of their diverse region stretching from the Middle East to the Pacific.<br>
Singaporean Foreign Minister George Yeo told a seminar ahead of a meeting in Islamabad of ministers from 26 Asian states the future held great promise but also “huge problems and enormous challenges,“ Reuters reported.<br>
“If the politics don’t catch up with the economics, many things can go wrong. We need leadership, we need institutions, we need cooperation in many dimensions,“ he said.<br>
The Asian ministers will meet on Wednesday under the umbrella of the Asian Cooperation Dialogue (ACD), a body set up in 2002 to promote pan-Asian cooperation unencumbered by the many thorny political issues that have restricted such efforts in the past.<br>
The opening session will be addressed by visiting Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao.<br>
Yeo said the Sept. 11 attacks in 2001 had created a gulf between the West and the Middle East, while at the same time political reform and market liberalization had brought Middle Eastern states closer to the rest of Asia.<br>
Pakistani Foreign Minister Khursheed Mehmood Kasuri said there was a common desire to move towards regional integration. <br>
“Though it is driven by economics, it is not merely an economic process,“ he said.<br>
ACD members are Bahrain, Bangladesh, Brunei, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Japan, Kazakhstan, South Korea, Kuwait, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Oman, Pakistan, the Philippines, Qatar, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Vietnam. Members enrolling this year are Iran, Mongolia, United Arab Emirates and Bhutan.<br>
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India Distant From Long-Term Growth <br>
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Manmohan Singh<br>
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NEW DELHI, India, April 5--Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, the architect of India’s decade-old economic reforms, said Tuesday the country was not on track to achieving long-term growth targets.<br>
He told a meeting of the economic think-tank, the Planning Commission, that objectives such as improving employment generation had been “unsatisfactory so far“, AFP reported.<br>
“There are several positive features which are noted, but there are also signs that the economy is not on track to achieve many of the important targets ... Corrective policies are therefore urgently needed,“ Singh said.<br>
The economic growth during a five-year period up to 2007 was not likely to cross 7 percent even with optimistic projections for the next two years, “well-below the growth target of 8.1 percent“.<br>
The prime minister said a cornerstone of the long-term growth plan was reversing the decline in growth in the farm sector, but said the “performance of agriculture appeared to have deteriorated even further“.<br>
He said the sector--which employs more than 60 percent of India’s workforce--is likely to record an average growth of 1.5 percent in the first three years as compared with the target of more than 4 percent growth for a five-year period.<br>
The Planning Commission sets five-year targets for various sectors of the economy, a legacy that carries on from its socialist past.<br>
The country’s economy grew 6.2 percent year-on-year in the December quarter--its slowest rate in 18 months--pegged back by a poor summer monsoon that hit farm output.<br>
Economists say India is likely to achieve a growth rate of 7 percent in the financial year ending March next year.<br>
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3,797 Executed Worldwide in 2004 <br>
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GENEVA, April 5--During 2004, more than 3,797 people were executed in 25 countries and at least 7,395 were sentenced to death in 64 countries, said Amnesty International here on Tuesday. <br>
Releasing its annual worldwide statistics on the use of capital punishment, Amnesty International called on the United Nations Commission on Human Rights, currently meeting in Geneva, to condemn the death penalty as a violation of fundamental human rights, amnesty.org reported. <br>
“The figures released are sadly only the tip of the iceberg. The true picture is hard to uncover as many countries continue to execute people secretly--contravening United Nations standards calling for disclosure of information on capital punishment,“ said Amnesty International. <br>
A few countries accounted for the majority of executions carried out during 2004. China executed at least 3,400 people, but sources inside the country have estimated the number to be near 10,000. <br>
Iran executed at least 159 and Vietnam at least 64. There were 59 executions in the USA, down from 65 in 2003.<br>
“Despite the worldwide trend towards abolition, these figures highlight the ongoing need for concerted action by the international community to consign the death penalty to history. <br>
It is worrying that the vast majority of those executed in the world did not have fair trials. Many were convicted on the basis of ’evidence’ extracted under torture,“ it said.<br>
In 2004, Ryan Matthews became the 115th prisoner in the USA since 1973 to be released from death row on the grounds of innocence. He had been sentenced to death in Louisiana in 1999 for a murder committed when he was 17 years old. His death sentence was overturned in April 2004 after an appeal judge found that the prosecution had suppressed evidence at the trial, and on the basis of DNA evidence that pointed to another person as being the murderer. <br>
“The case of Ryan Mathews and scores of others sentenced to death in the USA for crimes they did not commit demonstrate that no judicial system is infallible. However sophisticated the system, the death penalty will always carry with it the risk of lethal error,“ Amnesty International said.<br>
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Thousands Pay Tribute to Pope <br>
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Berlusconi Electorally ’Massacred’ <br>
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Yushchenko Urges Emigrants to Return <br>
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Etesami’s Works Feature Eternal Themes<br>
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Persepolis Documentary Under Production<br>
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Raising Awareness <br>
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By S. Sadeghi<br>
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Outcome of the June presidential race will be another important test of our political maturity and set the course of the country for at least the next four years.<br>
As priorities change, one key element that demands attention is that those who for any reason remain outside the present power structures and the third generation of the Islamic Revolution should be given the opportunity to assume a fair share of executive power.<br>
In a world where culture and technology are developing rapidly, traditional values need to be presented in compliance with progressive norms and standards. For sanctities and traditions to be respected, grounds should be paved for the participation and promotion of our youth in all affairs. <br>
Should this important feature be neglected for long, we will see the emergence of a fourth generation of the Islamic Revolution without the forces of the first willing to step aside.<br>
The bitter truth is that the forces of the first generation do not show any inclination to embrace realities and relegate some of their responsibilities to the second generation. However, it cannot and should not be denied that the key players from the first generation have to the best of their ability done everything possible to help the country move forward despite heavy odds.<br>
To address the needs and huge contradictions and complexities in our country whose population doubled in less than a quarter century, it is absolutely essential to make enough room for the voice and vision of our youth. <br>
At this juncture that our people and the outside world are awaiting the presidential election, it is the duty of the friends of Iran, writers, analysts, sociologists, political activists, parties and the elite to concentrate on this vital issue.<br>
So far some interesting ideas have been floated to help ensure the maximum participation of the public in the next experiment with democracy. Among these are diversity of candidates, clear presentation of their plans of action, and resorting to democratic and reformist themes in the electoral campaigns, which will start in full swing in the coming weeks.<br>
One tried and tested way to encourage the people to come out and vote is to focus on programs not personalities, and ensure them that their voice counts even after the votes are counted.<br>
Today it is of paramount importance that the youth of the land increase their awareness, rise to the occasion and prepare for the challenges and responsibilities that lie ahead. In the highly competing world, we need doers and responsible managers to take the reigns of political, economic, cultural and scientific power.<br>
Those who have already announced their candidacy for the presidency have held senior posts in the Islamic state over the past two decades and have drawn on their previous and current portfolios to appeal to the electorate. <br>
It would be appropriate if those who have sociopolitical depth and know how to use the world instead of being used by it contest the June 17 vote. Given our demographics and the difficulties that lie ahead, conventional wisdom demands we help our youth to increase awareness, believe in their ingrained abilities, and join hands for the betterment and improvement of the nation.<br>
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