Extracts.
Friday, December 15, 2000, updated at 09:58(GMT+8)
Iran Offers Plan to Resolve POW Issue with Iraq
Iran has proposed a plan to resolve the thorny issue
of prisoners of war (POWs) that is still blocking the
normalization of ties with Iraq 12 years after their
bloody war, an official said on Thursday, December
14.
The plan was welcomed by the Iraqi side during a
recent meeting between officials of both countries,
said Brigadier General Abdollah Najafi, head of
Iran's commission for POWs.
However, Najafi did not give details of the plan or
disclose the date and place of the meeting, the
Islamic Republic News Agency reported.
He said the Iraqi side has pledged to study the plan
and inform Iran's Foreign Ministry of its views in
writing.
The Iraqi delegation also expressed hope that the
plan would be accepted by high-ranking Iraqi
officials, he added.
Iran and Iraq fought a devastating war from 1980 to
1988, claiming some 1 million lives on both sides.
Since the end of the war, the two countries have
released more than 90,000 POWs through the help of
the International Committee of the Red Cross. But
both sides still accuse the other of holding
thousands of others.
Iranian Foreign Minister Kamal Kharrazi paid a
landmark visit to Baghdad in mid-October and held
talks with Iraqi officials, during which the two
sides agreed to reactivate all joint committees set
up more than a year ago to resolve the lingering
problems of the war.
****
Friday, December 15, 2000, updated at 09:58(GMT+8)
Arafat, French FM Discuss Situation in Palestinian
Territories
Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat met with visiting
French Foreign Minister Hubert Vedrine on Thursday,
December 14, to discuss the latest development of the
situation in the Palestinian territories and ways of
saving the peace process.
During the meeting, Arafat stressed the necessity for
France and the European Union (EU) to play a more
effective role in helping promote the Middle East
peace process, Palestinian Planning Minister Nabil
Shaath said after the meeting.
Vedrine, whose country is holding the rotating EU
presidency, arrived in Gaza earlier in the day after
a short visit to Egypt. He will further hold talks
with Israeli officials.
Shaath said that Arafat and Vedrine agreed on the
necessity to adhere to the peace process and to exert
every possible effort to help push the process
forward.
The Palestinian minister urged France to play an
active role in helping stop the bloody clashes in the
Palestinian territories and realize a just, lasting
and comprehensive peace in the Middle East.
The Palestinian territories have been rocked by
nearly 11 weeks of clashes between Israeli troops and
Palestinians, sparked by Israeli violation of Islamic
holy sites in Jerusalem. The violence has left more
than 310 people dead, most of them Palestinians.
Vedrine expressed deep concern over the situation in
the occupied Palestinian territories, noting that
there were strong reactions in the European public
opinion to the current situation.
"I will discuss, upon my return home, a number of
ideas with EU Mideast peace envoy Miguel Moratinos to
find a way out of the current misery," he said.
The French minister stressed EU's readiness to make
every possible effort to help bring the peace process
back on track.
****
55,000 People at Three Gorges to Be Resettled from Next Year The year 2001
will see some 55,000 people at the Three Gorges on China's longest river of
Yangtze resettled for the construction of the world's largest hydropower
project, according to a senior resettlement official.
Qi Lin, director of the Resettlement Development Bureau with the State
Council Three Gorges Project Construction Committee, announced that the
resettlement of rural residents will be a top priority of the bureau's work
next year.
He said that when the electricity begins to be generated in 2003, the water
level at the Three Gorges will be 135 meters above sea level. Resettlement
for next year will focus on farmers living below this level.
According to the official, some people are to be relocated in the rural
area of Shandong, Zhejiang, Jiangsu Jiangxi, Guangdong, Fujian, Anhui,
Sichuan and Hubei provinces as well Shanghai.
To better protect the ecological environment near the dam area, the State
Council has decided to move farmers further away from the originally
planned area of higher grounds nearby, said the official.
Qi said that so far this year over 1,700 households with some 7, 000 people
have been moved out of the dam area, and properly settled elsewhere, which
is ahead of the scheduled 6,600 people to be relocated.
****
Serbian Protesters Urge Settlement of Crisis More than 2,000 local Serbian
residents and refugees in the southern city of Bujanovac, Yugoslavia,
blocked the road Wednesday linking Belgrade to Skopje, the capital of
Macedonia, to press for a rapid solution to the month-long crisis in the
area.
Local reports said that the protesters, who crammed the road with trucks
and buses, set three conditions for ending their protest.
They demanded that ethnic Albanian extremists be immediately driven out of
southern Serbia and Yugoslav authorities come up with a quick settlement to
the Kosovo issue and to conduct an across-the-board implementation of UN
Resolution 1244. They also demanded an urgent meeting with Yugoslav
President Vojislav Kostunica and other international institutions based in
the country to search for a solution to the crisis.
Since November 21, an array of ethnic Albanian extremists have attacked
Serbian police in the south of the Republic of Serbia, inflicting heavy
casualties and triggering tension there.
In response to the attacks, Belgrade has increased army and police
reinforcements in the area, where over 1,000 ethnic Albanian terrorists
have currently holed up.
The military authorities warned recently that if extremists do not
surrender, the conflict will most likely accelerate.
****
China to Launch 30 Satellites in Next Five Years China will launch some 30
satellites and several other spacecraft during the next five years.
According to sources from relevant departments, the 30 satellites cover 15
different categories including communication, positioning, meteorology,
earth resource observation as well as space exploration.
Statistics show that since China's maiden satellite launch in April 1970,
73 more satellites have been sent into space, of which, 47 were made in
China. Total launch success rate was over 90 percent.
China is expected to witness faster growth in the space industry in the
21st century. Starting from next year, China will launch several unmanned
spacecraft before putting manned spacecraft into orbit.
Astronauts are currently being trained in China and relevant experiments
are being conducted, sources noted.
China has made considerable progress in the space industry, which, in
return, has greatly contributed to the national economic development and
scientific and technological advancement.
In 1992, China kicked off an ambitious space program to develop manned
spacecraft. In November 1999, the first unmanned experimental spacecraft,
"Shenzhou", was successfully launched.
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