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In Brief

Report: Iran seeks nuclear talks with U.S.

TEHRAN, Iran - Iran has followed President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's recent letter to President Bush with explicit requests for direct talks on its nuclear program, the Washington Post reported, citing U.S. officials, Iranian analysts and foreign diplomats.

The eagerness for talks demonstrates a profound change in Iran's political orthodoxy, emphatically erasing a taboo against contact with Washington that has both defined and confined Tehran's public foreign policy for more than a quarter-century, they said.

Though the Tehran government in the past has routinely jailed its citizens on charges of contact with the country it calls the "Great Satan," Ahmadinejad's May 8 letter was implicitly endorsed by Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and lavished with praise by perhaps the most conservative ayatollah in the theocratic government.

"You know, two months ago nobody would believe that Mr. Khamenei and Mr. Ahmadinejad together would be trying to get George W. Bush to begin negotiations," said Saeed Laylaz, a former government official and prominent analyst in Tehran. "This is a sign of changing strategy. They realize the situation is dangerous and they should not waste time, that they should reach out."

The Bush administration repeatedly has rejected talks, saying Iran must continue to negotiate with the three European powers that have led nuclear diplomacy since the Iranian nuclear program emerged from the shadows in 2002.

Meanwhile, Iran closed a newspaper and detained its chief editor and cartoonist Tuesday for publishing a cartoon that sparked riots by ethnic Azeris, the first such move since Ahmadinejad came to power last year.

The response was a sign of the hard-line government's concern over any internal divisions amid its confrontation with the United States - and suggested there were worries the United States may stir up trouble among Iran's ethnic minorities.

The indefinite closure of the state-run Farsi language newspaper Iran, one of the country's most influential publications, came after it published a cartoon of a cockroach speaking Azeri, the language of Iran's largest ethnic minority.

Well-known cartoonist Mana Neyestani and editor in chief Mehrdad Qasemfar were sent to Evin prison to await trial, said Tehran's chief prosecutor, Saeed Mortazavi.

Hundreds of Azeris marched Monday in the northwestern city of Tabriz, protesting the cartoon. Azeris make up about a quarter of Iran's 70-million people, dominated by ethnic Persians.

Israeli troops capture wanted Hamas militant

RAMALLAH, West Bank - A top Hamas fugitive blamed for attacks that killed dozens of Israelis and five Americans surrendered to Israeli troops Tuesday after they ringed his West Bank hideout and threatened to demolish it with him inside.

The capture of Ibrahim Hamed, 41, was a blow to Hamas' morale as the Islamic militants engaged in an increasingly bloody power struggle with gunmen and police loyal to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

Army Col. Amir Abulafiyeh, who oversaw the capture, described Hamed as "creative and cruel" in plotting attacks on a Jerusalem university, where the Americans were killed; an Israeli fuel depot; Israel's rail system; and a pool hall.

Troops acting on a tip surrounded Hamed's hideout in a two-story building in a well-to-do district of Ramallah.

In Washington, President Bush met with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and urged Israel to reach out to Abbas as an alternative to the Hamas-dominated government.

Abbas "speaks out for peace and negotiations," Bush said.

Greek, Turkey warplanes collide; one pilot rescued

ATHENS, Greece - Warplanes from Greece and Turkey collided over the Aegean Sea as they shadowed each other Tuesday in disputed airspace, and officials said the Turkish pilot was rescued unhurt.

There were conflicting reports on the fate of the Greek pilot. A Turkish Foreign Ministry statement said the Greek pilot died, but officials in Athens said a rescue operation was under way.

The two F-16 fighter jets collided over international waters near the island of Karpathos after two Greek jets intercepted two Turkish warplanes, military officials from both countries said.

Greek officials said the Turkish planes were acting as escorts to a photo-reconnaissance plane.

Fighter planes from the two NATO members frequently intercept each other over the Aegean, mostly in areas of disputed airspace. Long-standing disputes over airspace and territorial rights in the Aegean have nearly led to three wars between them since 1974.

The Greek and Turkish military chiefs as well as both nations foreign ministers said the crash would not escalate tensions.

[Last modified May 24, 2006, 05:13:20]