Number 3925 ● Thursday April 7, 2011 ● Farvardin 18, 1389 ● Jamadi Al-Aval 3, 1432 ● Price 2,000 Rials/1TRY ● 12 Pages
MPs, President
Confer
See Page 2
Clerics Support
Bahrain Uprising
Political Desk
Mideast Violations
T
03
A statement signed by over 200 MPs
denouncing the recent crimes in
some regional states was read out on
Wednesday’s open session of the Majlis.
Asia Outlook
05
The Asian Development Bank raised its 2011
economic growth forecast for the region and
said policymakers should consider capital
controls and more flexible currencies as part of
their inflation-fighting strategies.
Iranian Relics
06
The recent US court order preventing
the auction of ancient Iranian tablets
neutralized the plot of a few Jewish
families.
Successful Drama
12
There are five main reasons to watch
Asghar Farhadi’s fifth successful drama
‘Nader and Simin: A Separation’.
Firstly, the film won the Berlinale’s
Golden Bear, making history as the first...
NATO Pledges to “Protect” Misrata
Less than a week after taking over the Libyan military campaign,
NATO was forced onto the defensive Wednesday as opposition forces
and France urged the alliance to do more to protect the city of Misrata.
NATO insisted that the pace of air strikes against Moammar Gaddafi's forces has not slowed down since the 28-nation alliance took
command on March 31 of a Western bombing campaign that had been
led by the United States.
But the alliance acknowledged that Gaddafi has made it harder to
target his heavy artillery by hiding tanks in populated areas and using
human shields to prevent NATO from conducting air strikes.
"Misrata is our number one priority," NATO deputy spokeswoman
Carmen Romero told AFP on Wednesday, but she only confirmed that
alliance warplanes hit regime targets around Libya's third largest city
on Monday.
"We have a clear mandate and we will do everything to protect
the civilians of Misrata," Romero said, referring to the UN Security
Council resolution permitting "all necessary measures" to defend Libya's population.
Doing Nothing
The top commander of opposition forces, General Abdelfatah Yunis, accused NATO-led aircraft of doing nothing while Gaddafi-loyal
forces kept up their 40-day long artillery bombardment of civilians in
the western city of Misrata.
NATO "is letting the people of Misrata die every day," Yunis told
reporters in the rebel stronghold of Benghazi late on Tuesday. "If
NATO waits one more week, there will be nothing left in Misrata."
French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe said the situation in Misrata,
214 kilometers (132 miles) east of Tripoli, was not tenable and that he
would discuss it with NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen.
"Misrata is in a situation which cannot continue and I am going to
discuss it in a few hours time with the secretary general of NATO,"
Juppe told France Info radio.
Romero confirmed that Rasmussen and Juppe would speak by telephone later Wednesday.
The United States, France and Britain launched a barrage of cruise
missile and aerial strikes on March 19 after Gaddafi's regime violently repressed protests challenging the Libyan leader's four-decade hold
on power.
NATO took command of the operations on March 31 after much
debate within the alliance, with France opposed to handing the baton
to the Western military organization and Turkey criticizing the scope
of the coalition strikes.
Accuracy Unchanged
Romero said the operations have continued "at the same rhythm"
since NATO took control last week. "The accuracy of our strikes has
not changed," she added.
02
Local Satellite Carriers
Can Launch Mesbah
Yemenis Rally Against
Killings
Indigenous satellite carriers are capable of
launching the Mesbah satellite. Hamid Fazeli,
the head of Iranian Space Organization
(ISO), also told IRNA on Tuesday...
08
Tens of thousands of Yemenis rallied
on Wednesday as police shot dead one
demonstrator and wounded 30 others even
after calls mounted for...
09
Arab Turmoil to Affect Energy Markets
Algeria's former energy minister warned Wednesday the ongoing political and social turmoil in the Arab world will have "dramatic" implications for energy markets in coming years.
While the outcome of the Arab revolutions is "by no means certain," it is already evident that "important changes are in progress
that is likely to impact energy markets in the long term," Nordine AitLaoussine said.
Ait-Laoussine made the comments in Paris as he opened a daylong
conference of representatives of oil and gas producing countries, including Iraq and Nigeria, and industry executives to discuss changes
in the energy sector, AP reported.
Unrest in Libya, Tunisia, Egypt and elsewhere in the region has
sent shock waves through global oil markets, pushing price of a barrel
above $108, the highest price since 2008.
Libya's entire capacity of 1.6 million barrels a day has been shut
down since February.
"Western oil company departures, the military intervention and
sanctions will severely curtail oil exports" from Libya in the months
ahead, said Didier Houssin, director of energy markets at the International Energy Agency.
Events like the Arab revolutions, Japan's earthquake and tsunami, and other rare, so-called "black swan" events seem to be on the
rise, said Mark Williams, downstream director at Dutch oil giant
Shell.
"The scientist in me says they aren't, but it sure seems like they are,"
Williams said.
02
housands of theology students held
rallies across Iran to condemn the
Bahraini regime’s brutal crackdown
on anti-government demonstrators.
They also denounced Saudi Arabia for its
military role in the crackdown in the tiny
Persian Gulf kingdom.
In recent weeks Saudi troops along with
soldiers from the UAE and Kuwait have
been helping the Sunni monarchy in Manama suppress a Shiite-led protest movement
that seeks equal rights and a political voice.
The theology students chanted slogans
against the US-Saudi interference in Bahrain's internal affairs and called for strengthening unity among Muslims, Presstv reported.
They expressed support for the innocent
people and their cause in Muslim countries,
in particular Bahrain.
Addressing a rally in Qom, Ayatollah
Seyyed Ahmad Khatami said arrogant powers are mobilizing forces against Islam and
said the Ummah shoulders a religious duty
to defend the divine faith.
Ayatollah Khatami, a member of Assembly of Experts, told clerics in the holy city
that Bahraini protesters should continue to
oppose the pro-Western monarchy. Others
denounced Bahraini King Hamad bin Isa Al
Khalifa who they said lacks legitimacy, and
called Saudi Arabia an occupier.
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad earlier
this week demanded that the Saudi regime
withdraw its troops from Bahrain.
More than 25 people have been killed,
hundreds arrested and thousands injured in
the violence in Bahrain since February 14,
when a popular uprising started against the
monarchy that has ruled the island-state for
more than 200 years.
02
Japan Plugs Nuclear
Reactor Leak Into Sea
A leak of highly radioactive water into the Pacific Ocean from Japan's crippled Fukushima
Daiichi nuclear plant has been stopped, its operator reported on Wednesday.
The Tokyo Electric Power Co (TEPCO)
said it had injected chemical agents to solidify
soil near a cracked pit that was the source of
the leak, BBC reported.
Engineers have been struggling to stop
leaks since the plant was damaged by the
earthquake and tsunami on 11 March.
They are currently discharging less contaminated water into the sea so more radioactive water can be stored.
Since the earthquake knocked out cooling
systems workers have been pumping water
into reactors to cool fuel rods, but must now
deal with waste water pooling in and below
damaged reactor buildings.
Engineers also face a potential new problem of a build-up of hydrogen gas in one of
the reactors at the six-unit plant. TEPCO said
it could inject nitrogen gas into the No 1 reactor to prevent an explosion.
Blasts caused by a build-up of hydrogen gas
took place in three reactors in the aftermath of
the earthquake.
Engineers Desperate
Plugging the leak from the pit in the No 2
reactor represents a measure of success for engineers at the plant, analysts say.
It is thought to have been the source of high
levels of radiation found in seawater close to
the plant.
In order to stem the leak, TEPCO injected
''water glass'', or sodium silicate, and another
agent into the pit.
Desperate engineers had also used sawdust,
newspapers and concrete in recent days to try
to stop the escaping water.
The government's top spokesman said
workers could not rule out other leaks at the
reactor.
"Right now, just because the leak has
stopped, we are not relieved yet," said Chief
Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano.
02