Korea, Russia Agree to Develop Arms...and more

[Gloria]

Links and full excerpts up now at http://www.zianet.com/insightanalytical
Tomorrow at Buzzflash.com



WORLD MEDIA WATCH FOR APRIL 25, 2005



1//The Daily Times, Pakistan--CLINTON BACKS BLAIR’S LABOUR PARTY IN BRITISH ELECTION (Former US president Bill Clinton on Sunday rallied in support of Prime Minister Tony Blair’s Labour Party, urging British voters to turn out in force for a May 5 general election. Appearing on a giant screen at a Labour Party meeting in London, the former Democrat leader warned that when a country has “a progressive government in power, our people get a little easily disillusioned”. “They don’t like this policy or that policy. They sometimes fall into the trap of thinking it doesn’t matter and there are no consequences. But if you believe that, look at the difference in the US between now and four years ago,” he said, in a reference to the election of President George W Bush, a Republican, in the US.)

2//The Moscow Times, Russia--TOKYO READY TO SUPPORT WTO BID (Japan's foreign minister said Friday that Tokyo was ready to formally endorse Moscow's bid to join the World Trade Organization by the end of this year, after the two sides signed a memorandum to boost trade. Foreign Minister Nobutaka Machimura had met with Industry and Energy Minister Viktor Khristenko to discuss steps to increase two-way investment and trade, ahead of a vote on adding Russia to the WTO, the body that sets rules for global commerce. "Russia's inclusion in the WTO will be a win-win for trade for Japan and Russia," Machimura told reporters after their meeting. . … . Bilateral trade between Japan and Russia has surged in recent years, reaching a record-high $9 billion in 2004 — and this year's figures were expected to outstrip that tally, Khristenko said. On Thursday, Japan's trade minister, Shoichi Nakagawa, told Khristenko that Japan was willing to help "in every way possible" if Moscow gives priority to building a 4,100-kilometer crude oil pipeline from Siberia to the Pacific coast, from where oil could be shipped to energy-hungry Japan. Russia has not ruled out building a branch of the pipeline to China, Khristenko said last week.)



3//The Daily Star, Lebanon--IRAN GIVES CIVIL WAR WARNING TO LEBANON OPPOSITION (Iranian President Mohammad Khatami warned Sunday Lebanon was susceptible to another civil war and said instability in Syria could lead to chaos in Lebanon. During a meeting with visiting leading Lebanese opposition member Walid Jumblatt, Khatami said Lebanon was "vulnerable" and risked the return of civil war, the ISNA news agency reported. . … . Jumblatt traveled to Iran in a surprise visit Saturday. Iran is a key backer of the Lebanese resistance group Hizbullah and Syria's closest ally in the region. Tehran has been vigorously opposing international pressure on Damascus and the pressure to disarm Hizbullah in accordance with UN Security Council Resolution 1559. According to a leading member of Jumblatt's Progressive Socialist Party, Wael Bou Faour, the Druze leader had headed to Iran to discuss ways in which Hizbullah could be protected. He said: "In our contacts with Khatami and the Europeans, we are trying to balance the U.S. pressure in an effort to protect Hizbullah.")



4//Deutsche Welle/DW-Worlde.de/Germany--IRAN DENIES BUYING ARMS IN GERMANY (Iran on Sunday dismissed a report that it bought equipment from Germany for its ballistic missile program, and complained that European restrictions were damaging trade with the Islamic republic. "This is an unfounded theory," foreign ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi told reporters. "It's not very clear how crane equipment can be used in Shahab 3 and 4 production." The weekly Der Spiegel magazine said in a report that a company blacklisted by the German authorities bought a crane to help in the manufacture of Iran's Shahab missile program. . … . Iran has recently upgraded the Shahab-3 ballistic missile, believed to be based on a North Korean design, to have a range of at least 2,000 kilometers (about 1,200 miles). Iran has, however, denied working on a Shahab-4 -- even though Asefi referred to one.)



5//The Chosun Ilbo, Korea--KOREA, RUSSIA AGREE TO DEVELOP ARMS (Defense Minister Yoon Kwang-ung and his Russian counterpart Sergei Ivanov agreed on Friday to conclude a memorandum of understanding on transfer and joint development of weapons technology. In a Moscow meeting, they also agreed to set up a hotline to swap aviation information. “The MOU goes beyond the current Russian arms imports that put priority on completed products and sets as its goal joint weapons development,” a Defense Ministry official at the talks said. “The two nations agreed to conclude the MOU by the end of the year.”)