A round-up of today's other stories in brief
Iran threatens to speed up atomic plans
Iran said yesterday it would freeze ties with the UN nuclear watchdog and speed up its atomic programme if international sanctions are imposed upon it.
"If you impose sanctions, Iran will suspend its relations with the agency," chief nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani told a conference on nuclear issues in Tehran. "Suspension means we will accelerate our activities."
US secretary of state Condoleezza Rice said in Greece: "I suppose the Iranians can threaten, but they are deepening their own isolation."
The verbal sparring preceded an influential report on Iran that International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) head Mohamed ElBaradei is to deliver to the UN Security Council on Friday. - (Reuters)
Zarqawi vows more resistance
BAGHDAD - Al-Qaeda leader in Iraq Abu Musab al-Zarqawi said in a rare video yesterday that his mujahideen will fight on in the three-year-old war against the "crusader enemy", and that the US is behind efforts to form a new government.
The message from Zarqawi, who has kept a low profile for months, appeared two days after an audio tape from Osama bin Laden. - (Reuters)
Threatened oil firm tightens security
LAGOS - US energy giant ExxonMobil imposed security restrictions at a major oil export terminal in southern Nigeria yesterday due to a threat of attack by militants, a company spokesman said. Oil production and exports at the 420,000 barrel-a-day Qua Iboe terminal continued normally, he added. - (Reuters)
Russian diplomat accused in US
UNITED NATIONS - The United States asked Russia yesterday to let New York City prosecute a Russian diplomat accused of driving while drunk and striking a police officer with his car last weekend.
An official at Russia's Mission to the United Nations said the mission had received a diplomatic note from the US government concerning 28-year-old envoy Ilya Morozov, but would have no immediate comment. "We are studying this document," the official said. - (Reuters)
Militants tried to attack in Jordan
AMMAN - Jordan said yesterday that a group of Hamas militants arrested last week were close to staging attacks inside the kingdom on orders from the Palestinian group's Syrian-based leadership.
Security sources said Jordan's intelligence community is checking whether the Hamas plot represented a shift in strategy. - (Reuters)