Iran tells UN of enrichment plan as new sanctions loom

(AFP) 8 February 2010,

TEHRAN - Iran said on Monday it has formally told the UN nuclear watchdog of its plan to produce higher enriched uranium, sparking fresh warnings by world powers of new sanctions against the defiant Islamic republic.

“Iran’s official letter about commencing the 20 percent enrichment activity in order to provide fuel for the Tehran reactor has been handed over to the IAEA,” Ali Asghar Soltanieh, Tehran’s envoy to the International Atomic Energy Agency, told the state-owned Arabic language Al-Alam television from Vienna.

Iran’s atomic chief Ali Akbar Salehi announced late on Sunday that Tehran would begin enriching uranium to 20 percent from Tuesday, and that the IAEA would be informed of its decision beforehand.

The announcement was met with a sharp riposte on Monday from world powers, which fear that Iran’s nuclear enrichment programme masks a bid to make atomic weapons, despite Tehran insisting its purpose is entirely peaceful.

French Defence Minister Herve Morin warned after meeting his US counterpart Robert Gates in Paris that both countries will push for new UN sanctions against Iran.

“We spoke about Iran. Our positions are in complete agreement,” Morin told reporters at a joint appearance with Gates. “We have no choice but to work on other measures.”

Gates, whose aides said earlier the United States would ask France to submit a sanctions motion at the council, which it currently chairs, said: “We are very much agreed that action by the international community is the next step.”

Ehud Barak, defence minister of Israel which is widely believed to be the Middle East’s sole if undeclared nuclear-armed power, told a meeting of his Labour party that new sanctions were needed.

He said Tehran’s enrichment decision was “further proof that Iran is deceiving the whole world and the correct response is to begin a determined campaign of decisive and permanent sanctions against Iran.”

Neither the United States nor Israel has ruled out taking military action against Iran’s nuclear facilities.

French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner, meanwhile, insisted that Iran does not have the ability to enrich uranium to 20 percent and accused Tehran of “blackmail.”

The Iranians “do not know how to make fuel” for their existing medical reactor, he told reporters in Paris. “For what purposes do they want to enrich it to 20 percent?”

Iran’s announcement “is really blackmail. One could call it diplomacy, but if that is what is then it is truly negative,” Kouchner said.

Doubts have also been expressed that Iran has mastered the enrichment process sufficiently to be able to produce the fuel it needs.

“They can’t manufacture the fuel assemblies,” said one diplomat close to the IAEA in Vienna.

Karim Pakzad, at the IRIS institute for strategic and international relations in Paris, saw hardline President Mahmoud Ahaminejad’s move as a “bluff, because the Iranian government is weakened domestically.”

Germany and Britain warned of fresh sanctions, while Russia, a close ally of Iran, reiterated that Iran should send its uranium abroad for higher enrichment in line with a UN-brokered deal.

Salehi’s announcement of plans to enrich uranium to 20 percent — the level required for reactor fuel — came just hours after he was ordered on Sunday to do so by Ahmadinejad.

“The higher enrichment will begin at the Natanz plant from the day after tomorrow (Tuesday),” Salehi said.

Iran’s main uranium enrichment facility is in the central city of Natanz where it has continued sensitive atomic work defiantly for years despite three rounds of UN sanctions.

In a separate comment to the official IRNA news agency, Soltanieh said Iran’s letter to the IAEA invited the agency’s inspectors “to be present at the site, since all nuclear activities of the Islamic republic are under the IAEA supervision.”

He also told IRNA that “without doubt we could not wait any longer for the needs of our sick people who required the radio isotope medicines.” The Tehran reactor that needs the fuel makes medical isotopes.

Salehi, however, said Tehran would stop further enrichment if the long-negotiated UN-drafted deal with world powers is concluded.

That deal envisages shipping out Iran’s low-enriched uranium (LEU) of 3.5 percent abroad for conversion into 20 percent enriched uranium for the Tehran reactor.

“Our proposal (to swap Iranian LEU for the fuel) is valid but if we receive the fuel then we will stop the enrichment” of 20 percent uranium, Salehi said, leaving the door open for a possible last-minute deal

Bahrain schools face shortage of women teachers

February 8, 2010

Manama: Bahrain's education minister has attributed the "sharp" shortage of women teachers in several schools to the law that gives them two breastfeeding hours daily.

Public schools in Bahrain are not mixed and only women teachers are allowed to teach in all girls' establishments.

However, the limited number of trained women substitutes has often caused problems for schools with a high number of breastfeeding mothers.

"The number of women teachers who benefit from this law reached 3,400 by the end of 2009, a fact that puts tremendous pressure on the schools and the ministry," Majed Al Nuaimi, told the upper chamber on Monday.

The situation is most dramatic in large schools where the high number of teachers who leave classes makes their replacement a demanding task for the administration and the ministry, he said.

The law which applies to all government sector employees was enacted by the parliament to help breastfeeding mothers look after their babies and help them compromise between their role as mothers and as professionals.

However, schools have complained that substitutes were not easy to find, forcing them to increase workloads on other teachers.

"We lose around 1,200,000 hours annually as a result of the two hours taken by female teachers as their breastfeeding right. This has inevitably affected the performance of schools and students," Al Nuaimi said.

An experiment to have women teachers teach young boys until the fifth grade had been successfully implemented. However, women teachers have invariably refused to teach boys in the sixth grade and beyond.

Amnesty for expats in Oman to be extended, says Tharoor

February 8, 2010         

Muscat: India's Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Shashi Tharoor, left Muscat on Sunday night after revealing unexpected good news for the hundreds of Indian workers waiting to make good use of "amnesty' offered by Oman.

According to Tharoor, Oman's Manpower Minister Shaikh Abdullah Bin Nasser Bin Abdullah Al Bakri had assured him that the March 31 deadline, for exit without paying fines, would be extended. "If overstaying expatriate workers cannot leave Oman before the March 31 deadline then they would get more time," the Indian Minister assured.

"So far, the average processing time by the Omanis has been 500 workers per day," Tharoor said while interacting with media on Sunday night before leaving Oman.

He also felt that at the rate at which exit permits were being processed, it would not permit any government, including Omani government, to meet the March 31 deadline. "The sheer scale of the problem, the numbers involved would need more time."

He said the Indian embassy had so far registered 18,300 workers seeking exit without paying fine. "We expect more to register plus more such expatriate workers from the other countries," he said.

Tharoor said the Omani minister had agreed to expedite the process. He also announced that the Manpower Ministry had decided, at his request, to process exit applications on Thursday only for Indians. "It is an exclusive arrangement only for the Indian workers seeking amnesty," he said.

The Indian Minister known to keep close contacts with his followers and Indians in general around the world through the social networking website, Tweeter, went out of his way to meet a large number of Indian workers gathered at the Indian embassy to register for an exit pass.

Some of the workers, he said, complained about their passports being held by their respective companies. "The Manpower Minister has assured me that strict actions would be taken against such companies if workers complained," he said.

According to Tharoor, the Omani minister thought that the companies were in violation of ILO (International Labour Organisation) standards that Oman had endorsed by retaining the passport.

He said that 3,000 Indian workers were suffering because employers were holding their passports. "Some of them have no food, no shelter," he said, adding that Manpower Ministry was not comfortable with embassy opening a shelter for these workers, as it was not in conformity with the Omani laws.

However, the India's ambassador to Oman, Anil Wadhwa, has arranged with a local company to give shelter to these workers at their existing camp.

Tharoor also said these workers would get priority for flying back home.

He also spoke about the generous word for the Indian workers by Oman's Deputy Prime Minister for the Council of Ministers, Sayyid Fahd Bin Mahmood Al Saeed.

"The Omani Deputy Prime Minister told me that the Indian workers were innocents and had contributed to Oman's well-being and were only victims of some unscrupulous agents," he said.

According to the Indian Minister, Sayyid Fahd said Oman, in spirit, would not object to these workers regularise their status and return. However, those taking amnesty are being stamped for no re-entry.

"I took this up with the Manpower Minister and mentioned what Sayyid Fahd had said, and the minister has assured me that they would look into the matter." Therefore, there is hope for these 'illegal" workers to return to Oman after legalising their status.

Time for action on five-year plan: Kuwaiti PM

February 08, 2010

KUWAIT: HH the Prime Minister Sheikh Nasser Al-Mohammad Al-Sabah headed a meeting of the Higher Council for Planning and Development yesterday at Seif Palace. Sheikh Nasser underscored the importance of following up the implementation of the 2010-2011 development plan, part of the state's five-year development plan. This follow-up by the council, he said, would "emphasize the links between development plans and connect development plans with the government's action agenda.

He explained that this would in turn allow for achieving economic goals paced on a specific timeline, thus reflecting the government's "seriousness" in implementing its agenda and the five-year plan approved by the National Assembly last week. The premier noted that the council played an important role in implementing the state's five-year development plan and its strategic goals aimed at developing the country in general, and singling out the mega-projects needed, as well as mapping out policies to make these projects a reality.

These projects, Sheikh Nasser said, would bring development and advancement to Kuwait's economic and social sectors. He added that the "planning period is over and the time now is for execution", adding that the council's follow-up of the 2010-2011 plan would be the "measure of success" of the government in its strive towards creating a "qualitative leap" in governmental activities that would push the country along the track of development and advancement.

He added that referring the issue of stateless persons illegally residing in Kuwait (bedoons) to the council for review was a reaffirmation by the government of the important role that this council plays and the confidence it had in its experienced members and in their ability to find a "conclusive" solution to this matter. Sheikh Nasser also thanked the council members for agreeing to share with him the burden of "serious national work during this critical stage" involving the march towards prosperity and advancement.

Speaking to KUNA following the meeting, the council's Secretary General Dr Adel Al-Waqian said that the council members discussed measures that needed to be taken to implement the 2010-2011/2013-1014 development plan (medium-term development plan). The council members also discussed the annual plan (2010-2011) which was presented by the Cabinet to the Assembly for the first time, he said, explaining that this included the projects of government bodies for 2010-2011.

Moreover, he said discussions included coordination with the aim of creating harmony between the annual plan (2010-2011) and the state budget (2010-2011). Also, the meeting saw the discussion of the report of the council's economic development committee on improving the law regulating construction, as well as that on partnership between the public and private sectors. This issue was referred to the Cabinet, he said. Another report by the council's human and social development committee was also discussed,

regarding higher education in Kuwait, Al-Waqian said, adding that the members made several proposals in this regard.

UAE hospital offers medical treatment that's for the birds

ABU DHABI

Under the watchful eyes of a white-coated doctor, two orderlies in scrubs sedate the patient on a paper-covered stainless steel table, then begin the procedure -- trimming her vital hunting tools.

One of the orderlies carefully snips the brown and white falcon's wicked, two-centimetre (one-inch) talons, then files them back to points. Twenty-one other falcons, their heads covered in small leather hoods, sit across the room on perches that are covered with green artificial turf.

These falcons are just a few of the 5,000 treated each year at the Abu Dhabi Falcon Hospital (ADFH), which is located just a few kilometres (a couple of miles) outside the United Arab Emirates' capital city.

"This hospital is the largest falcon hospital in the whole world," says its director, German veterinarian Margit Muller. "It was the first public falcon hospital," she adds.

"The original idea behind the hospital was to provide the best possible medical care for the falcons of the Abu Dhabi emirate," she says. But "now we treat falcons of all the UAE, plus the adjacent Gulf countries."

Hunting with falcons is a longstanding tradition in the Arab Gulf states. The late Abu Dhabi emir and UAE founder Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan al-Nahayan was a notable devotee.

Most Emirati falconers hunt in Pakistan or north Africa, as hunting with falcons is banned in the UAE.

When Abu Dhabi maintained ties with the Taliban administration in Kabul prior to its overthrow after the September 11, 2001 attacks, some UAE sheikhs flew to Afghanistan with their falcons for hunting trips.

Traditionally, the Gulf's nomadic bedouin tribes used to use wild falcons, but today, hunting falcons are captive-bred, and most cost between 800 and 4,000 dollars.

Falconry "is part of my life and my family's life in the past," says Mubarak Saeed Obaid al-Mansouri, a falconer and resident of Abu Dhabi who brought all eight of his falcons to the ADFH for check-ups.

Falconry "means too much to me", he says, adding that his falcons are "like one of my sons".

"My father was my first teacher, who taught me how to hunt with falcons and how to treat it like a good friend," he says.

The ADFH's director says such devotion is widespread among the UAE's Arab citizen population.

"Here, falconry is not a sport. It is a part of the culture, a part of the tradition," Muller says. "Falcons are regarded... like part of the family."

A curly-haired, middle-aged woman in gold-rimmed glasses and white lab coat, she shares her customers' passion for her patients.

"Falcons are absolutely fascinating," she says with a broad smile. She describes them as "huge, beautiful, majestic" birds, gesturing with both hands as she speaks.

"Each one has an individual character," she says. "Each one has an individual personality."

But treating them, Muller says, can be difficult.

"Falcons are usually only showing symptoms of diseases when they are extremely sick," she says. "Sometimes you have a falcon that is really sick, but it's almost impossible for the owner to detect."

For this reason, the hospital conducts routine checkups on falcons, which usually include blood work, an X-ray, a faecal sample and checking the falcon's internal organs for problems. Falconers bring in their birds for checkups, which usually take a few hours, two to four times a year.

Sick or injured falcons can also be hospitalised at the ADFH, which, Muller says, is an official Abu Dhabi government institution.

"We can, at the moment, keep more than 150 falcons here for treatment," says Mohammed Nafeez, a research associate at the ADFH, adding that between 60 and 70 are currently in the hospital.

And birds can be boarded at the ADFH when their owners are on holiday.

The hospital also has two large aviaries to hold falcons while they are moulting, or changing their feathers.

One aviary currently holds 12 falcons, which periodically wing across the enclosure. When not in the mood for flying, the birds can sit in one of the air-conditioned rooms at each end.

Muller emphasises that the ADFH is more than just a hospital for falcons.

"We are not only treating falcons, we are doing research work on falcons," she says.

As there is no specific course of study on falcon medicine, "we have set up a special training programme for falcon medicine here in the Abu Dhabi Falcon Hospital," she says.

"We have a lot of veterinarians and students coming to us from all over the world to study here."

In 2006, seven years after the ADFH's foundation, it began treating other species of birds as well.

Now, the hospital treats "everything that has wings," Muller says, "from canaries until ostriches."