World briefs 11/3/03

Palestinians return to jobs in Israel; ready for peace

JERUSALEM -- Following an Israeli offer, Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat said Sunday he is ready for peace talks, while about 6,000 Palestinians returned to jobs in Israel for the first time in a month.

In an abrupt turnaround last week, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said contacts were already under way with Palestinian officials, adding, "We are ready to enter negotiations at any time." Sharon had previously conditioned talks on a crackdown on violent Palestinian groups responsible for attacks on Israelis.

Asked about Sharon's remarks, Arafat told reporters he would accept an offer for talks.

"There is no official communication, but we are ready," he said after meeting a delegation of Greek lawmakers at his headquarters in the West Bank town of Ramallah.

Talks on the U.S.-backed "road map" peace plan have been stalled for weeks because of Palestinian bombing attacks and Israeli military operations, along with the Palestinians' inability to form a stable government.

U.S. campaigning U.N. for treaty against cloning

UNITED NATIONS -- The United States is campaigning for a General Assembly vote on a resolution calling for a treaty to ban all forms of human cloning, but 23 countries are opposed and Islamic nations want a two-year delay.

U.S. ambassador John Negroponte sent letters to ambassadors from about 100 countries that support a total ban, saying a delay would be "extremely unfortunate" and urging them to adopt the resolution when it comes up for a vote Thursday in the General Assembly's legal committee.

"There is a need to act now to confront the emerging threat of human cloning," Negroponte said, appealing to the ambassadors to vote against any motion to delay the resolution, which was sponsored by Costa Rica.

Demands could end Iran's accessibility to inspectors

TEHRAN, Iran -- Iran's supreme leader said Sunday that "excessive demands" from abroad could prompt Tehran to retreat from a recent commitment to give inspectors from the U.N. nuclear watchdog more access to its atomic facilities.

The warning by Ayatollah Ali Khamenei comes as the International Atomic Energy Agency evaluates a dossier on Iran's nuclear program that Tehran supplied to meet an Oct. 31 deadline to prove it is not developing atomic weapons -- as U.S. officials believe.

Iran agreed last month to allow unfettered inspections of its nuclear facilities and to stop enriching uranium -- a process that creates fuel for nuclear plants but also can be used to build weapons.

Russia blasts U.S. criticism of Yukos case

MOSCOW -- Russia's foreign minister criticized the United States on Sunday for expressing concern about actions against the oil giant Yukos, but President Vladimir Putin's new chief of staff said he doubted the wisdom of freezing a large chunk of the company's shares.

Last week, U.S. State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said the Bush administration regarded the arrest and jailing of Yukos head Mikhail Khodorkovsky, and the freezing of 44 percent of the company's shares, as raising "serious questions about the rule of law in Russia."

-- From wire reports