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Iran’s enrichment program « should be like a Christmas tree in full light, » he said

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Iran moved closer to being able to produce nuclear warheads Monday with formal notification that it will enrich uranium to higher levels, even while insisting that the move was meant only to provide fuel for its research reactor.

Iranian envoy Ali Asghar Soltanieh told The Associated Press that he informed the International Atomic Energy Agency of the decision to enrich at least some of its low-enriched uranium stockpile to 20 percent, considered the threshold value for highly enriched uranium.

Soltanieh, who represents Iran at the Vienna-based IAEA, also said that the U.N. agency’s inspectors now overseeing enrichment to low levels would be able to stay on site to fully monitor the process. And he blamed world powers for Iran’s decision, asserting that it was their fault that a plan that foresaw Russian and French involvement in supplying the research reactor had failed.

« Until now, we have not received any response to our positive logical and technical proposal, » he said. « We cannot leave hospitals and patients desperately waiting for radio isotopes » being produced at the Tehran reactor and used in cancer treatment, he added.

Western powers blame Iran for rejecting an internationally endorsed plan to take Iranian low enriched uranium, further enriching it and return it in the form of fuel rods for the reactor – and in broader terms for turning down other overtures meant to diminish concerns about its nuclear agenda.

At a news conference with French Defense Minister Herve Morin, U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates praised President Barack Obama’s attempts to engage the Islamic Republic diplomatically and chided Tehran for not reciprocating.

« No U.S. president has reached out more sincerely, and frankly taken more political risk, in an effort to try to create an opening for engagement for Iran, » he said. « All these initiatives have been rejected. »

Israel, Iran’s most implacable foe, said Iran’s enrichment plans are « additional proof of the fact that Iran is ridiculing the entire world. »

« The right response is to impose decisive and permanent sanctions on Iran, » said Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad had already announced Sunday that his country would significantly enrich at least some of the country’s stockpile of uranium. Still, Monday’s notification to the IAEA was important as formal confirmation of the plan, particularly because of the rash of conflicting signals sent in recent months by Iranian officials on the issue.

Although material for the fissile core of a nuclear warhead must be enriched to a level of 90 percent or more, just getting its stockpile to the 20 percent mark would be a major step for the country’s nuclear program. While enriching to 20 percent would take about one year, using up to 2,000 centrifuges at Tehran’s underground Natanz facility, any next step – moving from 20 to 90 percent – would take only half a year and between 500-1,000 centrifuges.

Achieving the 20-percent level « would be going most of the rest of the way to weapon-grade uranium, » said David Albright, whose Washington-based Institute for Science and International Security tracks suspected proliferators.

Soltanieh declined to say how much of Iran’s stockpile – now estimated at 1.8 tons – would be enriched. Nor did he say when the process would begin. Albright said enriching to higher levels could begin within a day – or only in several months, 청주 마사지 depending on how far technical preparations had progressed.

Apparent technical problems could also slow the process, he said.

Iran’s enrichment program « should be like a Christmas tree in full light, » he said. « In fact, the lights are flickering. »

While Iran would be able to enrich up to 20 percent, it is not considered technically sophisticated enough to turn that material into fuel rods for the Tehran reactor. A senior official from a member nation of the 35-country IAEA board said that issue cast Iran’s stated reason for higher enrichment into doubt.

Legal constraints could tie Iran’s hands as well. The senior official said he believed Tehran was obligated to notify the agency 60 days in advance of starting to enrich to higher levels.

The official asked for anonymity because he was not authorized to comment on the issue. The IAEA had no immediate comment.

On Sunday, Iranian officials said higher enrichment would start on Tuesday.

The Iranian move came just days after , which foresaw Tehran exporting the bulk of its low-enriched uranium to Russia for further enrichment and then conversion for fuel rods for the research reactor.

That plan was welcomed internationally because it would have delayed Iran’s ability to make nuclear weapons by shipping out about 70 percent of its low-enriched uranium stockpile, thereby leaving it with not enough to make a bomb. Tehran denies nuclear weapons ambitions, insisting it needs to enrich to create fuel for an envisaged nuclear reactor network.

The proposal was endorsed by the U.S., Russia, China, Britain, France and Germany – the six powers that originally elicited a tentative approval from Iran in landmark talks last fall. Since then, however, mixed messages from Tehran have infuriated the U.S. and its European allies, who claim Iran is only stalling for time as it attempts to build a nuclear weapon.

Even before Iran’s formal notification of the IAEA, some of those nations criticized the plan and suggested it would be met by increased pressure for new penalties on the Islamic Republic.

Iran has defied five U.N. Security Council resolutions – and three sets of U.N. sanctions – aimed at pressuring it to freeze enrichment, and has instead steadily expanded its program.

Iran’s enrichment plans « would be a deliberate breach » of the resolutions, the British Foreign Office said. In Berlin, Ulrich Wilhelm, the spokesman for German Chancellor Angela Merkel, said Germany and its allies were watching developments and were prepared to « continue along the path of raising diplomatic pressure. »By Associated Press Writer George Jahn; AP writers Danica Kirka in London, Anne Flaherty in Paris and Geir Moulson in Berlin contributed to this report

Haiti Earthquake – Latest CoverageHaiti Quake: How You Can Help The officials said they could not immediately provide the names of the hospitals but said they were in several parts of the country, including Port-au-Prince

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When the catastrophic earthquake struck Jan. 12, authorities immediately decided to make all medical care free. More than 200 international medical relief groups have sent teams to help, and millions of dollars of donated medicine has been flown in.

U.N. officials told The Associated Press they had information that about a dozen hospitals – both public and 천안 마사지 private – had begun charging patients for medicine.

Haiti Earthquake – Latest CoverageHaiti Quake: How You Can Help

The officials said they could not immediately provide the names of the hospitals but said they were in several parts of the country, including Port-au-Prince.

« The money is huge, » said Christophe Rerat of the Pan American Health Organization, the U.N. health agency in the region. He said about $1 million worth of drugs have been sent from U.N. warehouses alone to Haitian hospitals in the past three weeks.

Hospitals don’t need to charge patients to pay their staff, because Haitian Health Ministry employees are getting paid with donated money, Rerat added.

U.N. officials said that beginning now, any hospital found levying fees for medicine will be cut off.

But they added the U.N. would consider continuing to supply non-governmental groups working at private hospitals hit with embargoes if the NGO can make a convincing case that none of the people it is treating are being charged.

A member of the special Haitian government commission created to deal with the post-quake medical crisis, Dr. Jean Hugues Henry, said he had no knowledge of any hospitals charging for services or medicine.

« Tomorrow, we will clarify that the government never gave anyone permission to charge for medicine and services, » he said.

Haiti now has about 90 hospitals, including public and private hospitals and field hospitals set up in the quake’s aftermath.

A statement Tuesday said the former army chief’s reported call for anyone who committed war crimes during the conflict to be prosecuted showed he was « hell-bent on betraying the gallant armed forces of Sri Lanka. » More than 7,000 civilians were killed in the final months of the fighting that crushed the rebels last spring
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President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s decision follows his sweeping victory at the polls last month over his former army chief Gen. Sarath Fonseka who had defected to the opposition.

Fonseka, who last year led government troops in their crushing defeat of Tamil Tiger rebels, was dragged out of his office Monday by military police and arrested on charges he plotted to overthrow the government while running the army. He has repeatedly denied similar accusations lobbed at him since the election.

One-time allies, Fonseka and Rajapaksa were both considered heroes by Sri Lanka’s Sinhalese majority for ending the quarter-century civil war. However, their relationship deteriorated after hostilities ended, and Fonseka led the opposition’s attempts to unseat the president in an election last month. Rajapaksa won the election by 17 percentage points.

The new parliamentary poll will choose the country’s next 225 lawmakers, said a senior government official, who spoke on condition of anonymity in line with government policy. No date has been set.

If the presidential poll is anything to go by, the contest will be another bitter race between the government and the opposition. Rajapaksa’s party is hoping to secure a two-third majority in the country’s parliament, giving them the absolute majority and entrenching their grip on power.

Fonseka’s arrest leaves a mix of opposition parties – from ultranationalist Sinhalese Marxists to former Tamil separatists – in a difficult spot.

Fonseka’s wife Anoma Fonseka said Tuesday the former army chief has been cut off from family and friends and is being held at a secret location, though the government denied that.

After announcing Monday that Fonseka would face a court martial on sedition charges, the government heaped more accusations on him. A statement Tuesday said the former army chief’s reported call for anyone who committed war crimes during the conflict to be prosecuted showed he was « hell-bent on betraying the gallant armed forces of Sri Lanka. »

More than 7,000 civilians were killed in the final months of the fighting that crushed the rebels last spring. Human rights groups have accused the military, which was led by Fonseka at the time, of shelling hospitals and heavily populated civilian areas during the fighting, and the rebels of holding the local population as human shields.

« It seems the government is preparing for the next parliamentary election, » he said at a gathering of opposition leaders, where they also announced a countrywide protest, starting Wednesday.

(Left: An opposition party supporter holds a placard during a protest in Colombo, Sri Lanka, Feb. 3, 2010. Thousands of opposition supporters took to the streets of Sri Lanka’s capital Wednesday to protest the results of the recent presidential election, which they say was marred by fraud.)

Fonseka’s wife, Anoma, told reporters Tuesday that she has not been allowed to meet her husband or told where he is being held.

« He was dragged like an animal, » Anoma said. « Is this what he gets for ending a 30-year war? »

« He never wanted to topple the government, while he was in uniform. While he wore the uniform, he never talked about politics, » she said.

Military spokesman Maj. Gen. Prasad Samarasinghe denied that Fonseka is cut off from family or friends.

« Family members are allowed to see him, and he has been allowed to obtain legal advice also, » he said, adding that the former commander is not even in a cell.

Since the Jan. 26 election, Fonseka has complained that the government was attempting to arrest him on trumped up charges. Even as returns came in, troops surrounded the hotel where he was staying, in a massive show of force. Last week, security forces raided his office and arrested at least 15 of his staff. A number of serving military officers, which the government said were considered to be a threat to national security, have been fired.

The opposition has rejected the results of the presidential election, accusing the government of stealing more than 1 million of Fonseka’s votes during the tallying process, and 천안 안마 said it will challenge them in court.

It has also accused the government of a campaign of threats, intimidation and illegal imprisonment of its supporters and activists.By Associated Press Writer Fisnik Abrashi

U.S. Inches Closer to Major Afghan Assault

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A NATO spokesman in Brussels called on Taliban militants holding Marjah to surrender. But a Taliban spokesman boasted that the militants were prepared to « sacrifice their lives » to defend the town against the biggest NATO-Afghan offensive of the eight-year war.

The date for the main attack by thousands of Marines and Afghan soldiers has not been announced for security reasons. However, preparations have accelerated in recent days, and it appeared the assault would come soon.

Unlike previous military offensives here, coalition forces are telegraphing their punch, dropping thousands of pamphlets warning civilians to distance themselves from Taliban fighters, reports CBS News correspondent Mandy Clark.

Marjah Marines Brace for OffensiveU.S. Tightens Noose around Taliban Town

U.S. mortar crews fired two dozen smoke rounds Wednesday at Taliban positions on the outskirts of the farming community, a center of the opium poppy trade about 380 miles (610 kilometers) southwest of Kabul in Helmand province. Marine armored vehicles also drove closer to Taliban positions. Both moves are designed to lure the militants into shooting back and thus reveal their positions. The Marines did draw small arms fire but suffered no casualties.

« Deception is pretty important because it allows us to test the enemy’s resistance, » said Lt. Col. Brian Christmas, the commander of 3rd Battalion, 6th Marines Regiment. « There’s a strategy to all this show of muscle. »

The U.S. goal is to quickly retake control of Marjah to enable the Afghan government to re-establish a presence. Plans call for civilian workers move quickly to restore electricity, clean water and other public services in hopes of weaning the inhabitants away from the Taliban.

Civilians could be seen fleeing their mud brick farming compounds on the outskirts of Marjah as soon as the American and 청주 안마 Afghan forces appeared, though vast numbers do not seem to be leaving. The moves did not draw much of a response from the fighters, who appeared to be waiting behind defensive lines for the Marines to come closer to the town.

To the north, a joint U.S.-Afghan force, led by the U.S. Army’s 5th Stryker Brigade, pushed into the Badula Qulp region of Helmand province to restrict Taliban movement in support the Marjah offensive.

But bombs planted along a canal road slowed progress of a convoy Wednesday, damaging two mine-clearing vehicles and delaying the Stryker infantry carriers and Afghan vehicles from advancing for hours. There were no casualties.

« It’s a little slower than I had hoped, » said Lt. Col. Burton Shields, commanding officer of the 4th Battalion, 23rd Infantry Regiment.

Shields said the joint force was facing « harassing attacks » by groups of seven to nine insurgents.

« They’re trying to buy time to move their leaders out of the area, » he said.

U.S. officers estimate between 400 and 1,000 Taliban and up to 150 foreign fighters are holding Marjah, which is believed to have a population of about 80,000. It’s unclear how many of them will defend the town to the end and how many will give up once the main assault begins.

In Brussels, a NATO spokesman James Appathurai said the Taliban garrison in Marjah had the options of surrendering, leaving or fighting, adding they « are well advised to take up options one or two. »

« The area which is the focus of this operation has been known for years as an insurgent stronghold. It is actively defended and will require a large military operation to clear, » he said.

Marjah is key to Taliban control of vast areas of Helmand province, which borders Pakistan and is major center for Afghanistan’s illicit poppy cultivation, which NATO believes helps finance the insurgency.

Officials said Afghan soldiers and police would join the operation in greater numbers than in any previous one. Appathurai said the offensive was designed to show that the Afghan government can establish its authority anywhere in the country and « will establish a better life to the people who are there. »

But Taliban spokesman Qari Yousef Ahmadi scoffed at NATO threats, saying American and Afghan forces would face a hard fight to take Marjah.

« The Taliban are ready to fight, to do jihad, to sacrifice their lives. American forces cannot scare the Taliban with big tanks and big warplanes, » Ahmadi told The Associated Press by telephone. « American forces are here in Afghanistan just to create problems for Afghan people. This operation is to create problems for the villagers in winter weather. »

So far, there are few signs of a major exodus of civilians from Marjah, although U.S. aircraft have been dropping leaflets in the town for days warning of the offensive. Some residents contacted by telephone said the Taliban were preventing people from leaving, telling them it was unsafe because the roads had been mined.

Helmand provincial spokesman Daoud Ahmadi said about 300 families — or an estimated 1,800 people — have already moved out of Marjah in recent weeks to the capital of Lashkar Gah, about 20 miles (30 kilometers) northeast.

Most moved in with relatives but about 60 families are sheltering in a school, where the government provides them with tents, blankets, food and other items. Ahmadi said preparations have been made to receive more refugees if necessary.