Excerpts: Iran-Syria re-arm Hizbullah. New nuke-talks in Geneva next week

.one-third eligible Egypt voters voted December 01, 2010 +++SOURCE: Naharmet (Lebanon) 1 Dec '10:"U.S. Lawmaker: Hizbullah Is

Rearming,

Lebanese Government Becoming More Subordinate to Iran and Syria",Agence

France Presse SUBJECT: Iran,Syria re-arm Hizbullah QUOTE:" 'the line between the Lebanese Armed Forces and and Hizbullah is

gradually being erased' " FULL TEXT:: The Lebanese government is increasingly "subordinate" to Iran

and Syria, who have been helping Hizbullah rearm, a top U.S. lawmaker told

U.N. special envoy Terje Roed-Larsen.

Republican Representative Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, the top Republican on the

House Foreign Affairs Committee, told the diplomat on Tuesday(30 Nov) that

she was "concerned" U.S. and U.N. efforts in Lebanon were failing to counter

Hizbullah's growing power.

"Hizbullah, with the help of Iran and Syria, is massively rearming, the

Lebanese government is becoming more and more subordinate to Iran and Syria,

and the line between the Lebanese Armed Forces and Hizbullah is gradually

being erased," she said in a statement summarizing their meeting.

"We need to have a clear vision of what the end-state is and how we can

achieve it.

"Above all, we must protect the security of the U.S. and our allies, uphold

Lebanon's sovereignty, and ensure that those responsible for (late) Prime

Minister (Rafik) Hariri's murder are held responsible," the Florida lawmaker

added.

Roed-Larsen has been overseeing U.N. Security Council Resolution 1559, a

text adopted in 2004 by the 15-member body that calls for "the disbanding

and disarmament" of all militias in Lebanon.(AFP) +++SOURCE: Jordan Times 1 Dec'10:"Iran nuclear talks back on, in Geneva next

week", AFP SUBJECT:New nuke-talks in Genva next week Backgrounder:

FULL TEXT:BRUSSELS (AFP) - Negotiations between Iran and Western powers on

Tehran's controversial nuclear drive will resume next week in Geneva, more

than a year after they ground to a halt with sanctions having multiplied.

After months of cat-and-mouse offers and countre bids, the talks will

finally restart in Switzerland, on December 6 and 7, the office of the

European Union's chief diplomat Catherine Ashton announced on Tuesday.

Iran chief negotiator Said Jalili will meet Ashton, who will lead the

international delegation, a spokesman said, in the same city where the last

talks fell apart in October 2009.

"We've now received a response from the Iranian authorities in which they

have said that Dr Jalili has accepted Catherine Ashton's proposal to meet in

Geneva," the spokesman said.

"Talks between Catherine Ashton and Dr. Jalili will now take place on Monday

and Tuesday next week in Geneva."

The talks are aimed at allaying longstanding Western concerns that Iran's

nuclear programme masks a weapons drive under the guise of a civilian

programme, something Tehran denies.

Washington said it hoped Iran will come to the talks table ready to pursue

"a serious process" to clear up international fears about its nuclear

ambitions.

"Now that the meeting is set, we hope Iran will come to the table prepared

to engage in a serious process to address the international community's

concerns about its nuclear programmes," State Department spokesman Philip

Crowley told AFP.

The United States, Europe and Israel fear that Iran wants to use nuclear

technology to build a bomb but Tehran insists that its programme is a

peaceful drive to produce civilian energy.

English baroness Ashton would lead the "5+1" nations negotiating with Iran

made up of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council (the United

States, Russia, China, France, and Britain) and Germany.

Iran is under four sets of UN sanctions over its refusal to suspend uranium

enrichment, the sensitive process which can be used to make nuclear fuel or,

in highly extended form, the fissile core of an atom bomb.

The restrictions have "without doubt pushed Tehran back to the negotiating

table", a senior EU official said on condition of anonymity.

Also Tuesday, the US treasury department announced sanctions against 10

businesses linked to Iranian weapons programmes, including eight on the Isle

of Man, one in Switzerland and one in Malaysia.

The firms are affiliated with the Islamic republic of Iran Shipping Lines

and Bank Mellat, which have been previously targeted.

Disagreement over the meeting's agenda has held up a resumption of the

dialogue. The world powers want the talks to focus on Iran's uranium

enrichment programme but Tehran wants a wider discussion that includes

regional security issues.

"We're also prepared to talk about other issues," a spokeswoman for Ashton

said, but "the main goal we were always very clear about.

"We see these talks as a starting point in a process," stressed the

spokeswoman, Maja Kocijancic. "We don't expect to solve all issues in one

day."

After Ashton first suggested Vienna, which plays host to the International

Atomic Energy Agency, Tehran proposed Istanbul instead.

Turkey, along with Brazil, agreed a nuclear-swap deal with Tehran in May,

exchanging enriched uranium for fuel for Tehran's scientific research.

France said Tuesday the six powers were still prepared to provide Tehran

with fuel for a civil research reactor if Iran agrees not to try to enrich

its own uranium.

"The proposition made by the six is still on the table," said French foreign

ministry spokesman Bernard Valero. "What the six are waiting for is a

response from Iran, which they have yet to receive."

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad ordered Iran's atomic body in February

to start refining uranium to 20 per cent purity levels after an original

version of the nuclear fuel swap deal drafted by the UN atomic watchdog fell

through.

World powers responded on June 9 by backing new UN sanctions against Iran.

Sanctions notably ban investments in oil, gas and petrochemicals while also

targeting banks, insurance, financial transactions and shipping - all of

which Tehran has brushed off as having no impact. +++SOURCE: Egyptian Gazette 1 Dec.'10:"35 Pct voter turnout in Egyptian

election" SUBJECT: One-third elegible Egytian voters voted EXCERPT:CAIRO-- Nearly 35 per cent of Egypt's eligible voters turned out to

cast their ballots in Sunday's legislative elections, the Higher Election

Committee said late Tuesday.

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Sue Lerner - Associate, IMRA