China envoy heads to Seoul for North Korea nuclear talks

SEOUL - China’s top envoy on North Korea will visit South Korea for talks on the nuclear standoff this week, officials said Tuesday. Ning Fukui, Beijing’s special envoy for Korean Peninsula affairs, will arrive Wednesday on a two-day trip before flying to the United States, an official said on condition of anonymity. His tour, which may also include Japan signalled the beginning of a fresh round of shuttle diplomacy by host China aimed at convening a new round of six-party talks on the standoff, Yonhap news agency said. Ning is the deputy chief of the Chinse delegation to the talks which also include the two Koreas, Japan, Russia, and the United States. The parties last met in June in Beijing but their scheduled fourth round of talks in the Chinese capital in September failed to materialize when North Korea declined to show up. Pyongyang blamed US hostility and South Korea’s past clandestine nuclear experiments for its boycott, but analysts and officials said the Stalinist state may be waiting out the US elections on November 2. Ning is scheduled to hold talks here with South Korea’s lead negotiators at six-party talks, Deputy Foreign Minister Lee Soo-Hyuck and Cho Tae-Yong, head of the Foreign Ministry’s task force on the nuclear issue.

 EU lifts Libya arms curbs

LUXEMBOURG — The European Union agreed yesterday to lift an 18-year-old arms embargo on Libya, welcoming the country’s renunciation of weapons of mass destruction and movement towards ”responsible government.” But EU foreign ministers also voiced continued concern over a death sentence hanging over five Bulgarian nurses and one Palestinian medic accused by Libyan authorities of infecting hundreds of children with the Aids virus. “Libya is among the first countries to dismantle voluntarily its weapons of mass destruction programmes under international supervision through a transparent and cooperative process,” they said. But at the same time they “invited Libya to respond positively to the EU’s policy of engagement... In this light, it insisted that Libya resolves remaining EU concerns, notably the case of the Bulgarian and Palestinian medical workers.” Rome has for several months been pressing its EU counterparts to lift the arms embargo imposed on Libya in 1986, in order to be able to deliver equipment to Tripoli to beef up its frontiers. Sanctions were imposed on Libya because of its alleged role in  terrorism.

Spain tightens border to curb infiltration

MADRID — Spain will invest $160 million over four years to buttress its southern frontier against African illegal immigrants crossing over from Morocco, the daily El Pais reported yesterday. The Strait of Gibraltar already has an electronic surveillance system known as SIVE, which includes watchtowers and mobile units equipped with radars and infra-red thermal cameras. The system has proved efficient, helping to reduce the number of detained illegals arriving from Africa by 17 per cent to about 11,500 this year.
 

Turkey okays reforms

ANKARA — President Ahmet Necdet Sezer signed into law yesterday Turkey’s new penal code, a vital part of its drive to join the European Union, the presidential web site said. The European Commission recommended last week that the bloc open entry talks with Turkey, but one of its key conditions was enactment of the revised penal code.The new code bolsters women’s rights and individual freedoms and imposes tougher penalties against such crimes as rape and torture. Last month, Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan sparked a minor crisis in relations with the EU when he put the draft code on hold amid a row over government plans to outlaw adultery.

Philippine province plans name change

DUMAGUETE CITY — The province of Negros Oriental is planning to change its name to ‘Oriental Negros’ in a bid to draw more tourists and investments. Governor George Arnaiz said that the name change was considered following a series of mix-ups in media, where Negros Oriental was referred to as Negros Occidental. The governor, however, admitted that it was not easy to change the name of the province, as it would require public consultation, as well as an act of Congress. Negros Island used to be just one province with the seat of government in Bacolod. It was divided into two provinces on January 1, 1890 and Dumaguete was designated as Negros Oriental’s capital.

Howard says he plans no major changes in troop commitment to Iraq

SYDNEY - Prime Minister John Howard said on Monday that national security and keeping Australia’s booming economy strong would be the priorities of his fourth term, and that he had no plans for major changes in the number of troops Australia has in Iraq.  "We do not have any plans for any significant increase in our deployment in Iraq,” Howard told a press conference in Sydney, following his stunning, fourth-straight election victory on Saturday. The government sent 2,000 troops last year to fight alongside US and British forces in the invasion of Iraq and still has 900 military personnel in and around the country in non-combat roles. No Australian troops have been killed in Iraq. The opposition Labor Party had pledged to bring home the troops by Christmas if it won Saturday’s election, at which Howard increased his conservative coalition government’s majority in Parliament’s lower house. Howard said his government would keep the economy strong, and would continue cooperation “with our allies both in the region and around the world in the fight against terrorism.” The six-week election campaign was interrupted in September by a terror bombing of Australia’s embassy in the Indonesian capital Jakarta that killed nine people. On Tuesday, the nation was to mourn the 88 Australians who were among the 202 killed in the Oct. 12, 2002, blasts by Al Qaeda-linked terrorists on the Indonesian island of Bali. Howard said he would spend several days picking his new team, but that Alexander Downer would remain foreign minister and that Peter Costello would likely remain in position as Treasurer, the government’s chief finance minister. As well as increasing his House of Representatives majority, the election opened up the possibility Howard would also gain control of the upper house Senate for the first time in his nearly nine years in office. Howard said control of both houses of Parliament would not result in any abrupt changes in policy.  “It is not a mandate to do reckless, destructive things and we are not going to do either,” he said. Howard, 65, who is not expected to serve a full three-year term, refused to speculate on how long he would remain prime minister.