Print

Email story

Comment

Email editor

Digest

Interim leader allowed to run for presidency

By TIMES WIRES
Published December 27, 2006

The country's top legislative body rewrote the constitution Tuesday to allow the acting president to succeed former President Saparmurat Niyazovits, the authoritarian leader who died last week. Acting President Gurbungali Berdymukhamedov and five other candidates won approval to participate in the Feb. 11 election. The five other approved candidates are a deputy energy minister, two town mayors, one deputy regional governor and one district head - little-known politicians apparently seen as necessary to create an appearance of a pluralistic election. Under the existing constitution, the acting president was not allowed to run for the full office, but the People's Council changed the constitution.

Parliament looks at U.N. sanctions

Iran's Parliament began debate on Tuesday on how to respond to sanctions imposed by a U.N. Security Council resolution on Saturday, but two high-level officials said they doubted Iran would bar nuclear inspectors and drop out of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty. Before the Security Council vote, hard-line politicians and conservative newspapers had called for taking those strong actions. The Security Council resolution is meant to curb Iran's nuclear program and bans the import and export of materials and technology used in uranium enrichment, reprocessing and ballistic missiles.

Mubarak vows democratic gains

President Hosni Mubarak said Tuesday that laws to be passed in 2007 would improve democracy and abolish Egypt's 25-year state of emergency, but rights activists said they doubted the long-serving leader would liberalize the country. Laying out next year's legislative agenda, Mubarak asked lawmakers to amend 34 articles in the constitution. A leading rights activist, Hesham Kasem, was skeptical of Mubarak's pledge as he has promised greater democracy many times before during his 25 years in power.

Envoy details U.S. offer to N. Koreans

The United States offered to remove North Korea from Washington's list of states sponsoring terrorism if the communist regime dismantles its atomic weapons program, South Korea's main nuclear envoy said Tuesday. The proposal was just one of the incentives the United States spelled out last week at six-nation nuclear disarmament talks with the North, along with offers of security guarantees, a peace treaty and normalization of relations, Chun Yung Woo said. North Korea was not prepared to review the offer at the talks, but promised to study it and bring a response to the next round of negotiations, he said. U.S. diplomats have declined to discuss specifics of their talks.

Elsewhere

Paraguay: The Vatican on Tuesday called on a retired Roman Catholic bishop to give up his plans to run for the presidency or face canonical sanctions. Retired Bishop Fernando Lugo said he had already resigned and would seek office in 2008.

Saudi Arabia: The Saudi government said Tuesday that it had released 18 men who were detained after returning to their homeland from the U.S. military prison in Guantanamo Bay. The Saudis, who returned to the kingdom last spring, were released after they finished unspecified sentences.

[Last modified December 27, 2006, 00:47:55]