World briefs 11/02/02

Sharon, Netanyahu talk about possible alliance

JERUSALEM -- Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon met Friday with former premier Benjamin Netanyahu, a sometimes ally and sometimes rival, and offered him the job of foreign minister in the fragile minority government.

The talks at Sharon's sheep farm in the Negev desert ended with neither man speaking to the reporters. A senior Israeli diplomatic official, speaking on condition of anonymity, confirmed that Sharon was offering Netanyahu the foreign minister's post.

The official said the two agreed to meet again Sunday -- an indication that Netanyahu had not turned down the offer. "The door hasn't been closed," the official said.

The moderate Labor Party, the largest faction in Sharon's coalition, quit the Cabinet this week over a budget dispute, leaving the government without a majority.

Nations OK declaration on global climate change

NEW DELHI, India -- Rich and poor nations agreed Friday on a compromise declaration on global climate change, unable to adopt a resolution that included a deadline to limit the emission of harmful gases from vehicles and industries.

After a delay of more than eight hours that saw last-ditch efforts to avert the collapse of the U.N.-sponsored climate change talks, environment ministers from 169 countries approved a revised draft of the Delhi Ministerial Declaration.

"It provides a new direction to our common approach to combat climate change," T.R. Baalu, the conference president and India's environment minister, told reporters.

The conference was held to thrash out final details of the 1997 Kyoto Protocol on global warming, expected to take effect early next year after ratification by Russia.

Pyongyang has right to nukes, says ambassador

BEIJING -- North Korea's ambassador to China on Friday defended his country's right to develop nuclear weapons, calling the United States a bully that used "gangster-like" tactics.

North Korea shocked the world with its admission last month that it has an active program to develop nuclear arms. The disclosure came in talks with Assistant Secretary of State James Kelly in Pyong-yang, North Korea's capital.

But Ambassador Choe Jin Su said the U.S. envoy "asserted with no evidence" that North Korea was engaged in an enriched uranium program to make nuclear weapons.

He complained that Kelly said unless the program is halted, there would be no talks between North Korea and the United States, and North Korea's links with South Korea and Japan would be harmed.

Ex-weapons inspector urges German opposition

BERLIN -- A former U.N. weapons inspector and Gulf War veteran on Friday appealed to German leaders to keep up their opposition to U.S. military action against Iraq, arguing that there are still alternatives to war.

Scott Ritter, who served as a weapons inspector in Iraq from 1991-98, said Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder's opposition to military action in Iraq during his campaign conveyed an important message to the American public.

"The German election resounded across America, Germany sent a clear signal to the American people that Germany would not participate in a war against Iraq," said Ritter.

Queen Elizabeth's surprise revealed: The butler did it

LONDON -- Queen Elizabeth II's surprise revelation that she knew that the butler had taken some of Princess Diana's posessions for safekeeping prompted prosecutors to drop theft charges Friday against the servant.

Buckingham Palace said the monarch had been traveling and did not realize conversations she had had with the butler, Paul Burrell, could be important to the case until she saw media reports. Skeptics, however, suggested the monarch acted to shield her family from further scandal.

The queen's revelation brought a dramatic end to Paul Burrell's a case that has fascinated Britain and put personal details of Diana's life on public display.

-- From wire reports