The Olympic flame was lit Thursday in Greece, marking the beginning of the flame's journey to Vancouver to open the 2010 Olympic Games. At exactly 12:39 p.m. local time, a strong sun showed up, allowing high priestess Maria Napfliotou to light the flame in the Temple of Hera, and kick off the start of the longest national torch relay in Olympic history. In a ceremony that was without incident, but watched under a heavy police presence, Napfliotou lit the Vancouver torch, carried by Vassilis Dimitriadis, a Greek giant-slalom skier, who then carried it out of the ancient stadium where more than 2,700 years ago the Olympic Games were born. The lighting kicks off a week-long relay through Greece until Oct. 29, when it will be flown to Victoria for the start of a 106-day, 45,000-kilometre run across Canada. The lighting took place as several thousand people sat on the edge of the stadium. Many were tourists who happened to be in Olympia on excursions. But there was a small corps of Canadians who had made the pilgrimage to Olympia just to see the lighting.
Afghanistan is the most complex challenge that NATO has ever undertaken, but the alliance must remain engaged there to prevent the country turning back into an Al Qaeda training ground, the organization's top official said Thursday. Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said some critics are starting to say that the cost of engagement in the 8-year-old war is too high, but he countered that "the cost of inaction would be far higher. Leaving Afghanistan behind would once again turn the country into a training ground for Al Qaeda. The pressure on nuclear-armed Pakistan would be tremendous. Instability would spread throughout central Asia and it would only be a matter of time until we here in Europe would feel the consequences of all of this," Fogh Rasmussen said in a speech at a security conference in Bratislava ahead of a meeting of NATO defense ministers. The NATO chief is pushing for greater cooperation between NATO and Russia. He said he hopes to convince Moscow to become more engaged in Afghanistan, where a resurgent Taliban has been making gains and forcing a U.S. review of its strategy there. Fogh Rasmussen's warning about the dangers of disengaging from Afghanistan were echoed Thursday by French Defense Minister Herve Morin, who said on RTL radio that "if the Taliban take power tomorrow, terrorism can prosper and one day or another will strike all western democracies." U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates is expected to brief allies in Bratislava about progress in a review of recommendations by American Gen. Stanley McChrystal, the top U.S. and NATO commander in Afghanistan. McChrystal has called for more troops, and Fogh Rasmussen hopes NATO members can endorse that recommendation.
Iran's deputy parliament speaker on Thursday dismissed an internationally backed draft plan to have Tehran ship its uranium abroad for enrichment. The remarks by Mohammad Reza Bahonar were the first reaction in Tehran on the proposal, presented Wednesday after three days of talks between Iran and world powers in the Austrian capital, Vienna. The plan is seen by international community as a way to curb Iran's ability to build a nuclear weapon. Iran says its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes only. Tehran is expected to decide by Friday on whether to approve the plan that calls for shipping Iran's uranium to Russia for enrichment to a level that renders it suitable as nuclear fuel for energy production — not for nuclear weapons. There has been no response so far to the offer from Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has final say on all state matters, or President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. The proposal may meet resistance by some Iranian leaders because it weakens Iran's control over its stockpiles of nuclear fuel and could be perceived as a concession to the United States, which took part in the Vienna talks with France and Russia. Under the Vienna-brokered draft, Iran is required to send 1.2 tons of low-enriched uranium to Russia in one batch by the end of this year, French Foreign Ministry spokesman Bernard Valero said Thursday. After further enrichment in Russia, the uranium will be converted into fuel rods that would be returned to Iran. Valero said France would be the one making that conversion. In Washington, State Department spokesman Ian Kelly said the draft agreement was "a very positive step."
The standing contract between Moscow and Tehran on delivery of the long-range air defense system “S-300” has been frozen, according to a source in the Russian arms trade. Experts are split over the damage this may cause. Implementation of the S-300 deal was frozen for an unspecified period of time, over a number of political issues, right after it was signed, the source told Interfax news agency. At the moment the delivery is on hold, although Moscow does not intend to cancel it altogether. “A lot depends on the political environment, since the contract has long ceased to be a merely commercial deal,” the source is cited as saying. The deal to deliver several S-300 divisions to Iran was signed several years ago, but was not executed. It came under the spotlight in December 2008, when Iranian media reported on the upcoming delivery of the advanced system. The news came amid tension between Iran and several other countries, including Israel and the United States, over Tehran’s nuclear advances. Iran’s opponents voiced their concerns over the deal, since deployment of S-300 would have greatly impeded their ability to deliver air strikes on Iranian territory. If the deal is broken in the end, this may close the Iranian market for Russian arms suppliers. In addition to losing an estimated $1 billion from the deal itself, and paying $300-400 million for canceling the contract, Russia may lose customers in the Iranian Republic to Chinese competitors. S-300 is a long-range air defense system capable of shooting down aircraft and missiles at a range of up to 150 kilometers. It’s meant to be used with a closer-range system like the Tor-M1.
The Russian Interior Ministry will buy two Israeli-built unmanned aerial vehicles in 2010, a senior police official said on Thursday. Maj. Gen. Vladimir Lukyanov, head of the Interior Ministry Logistics Directorate, said the Israeli UAVs would be used for "special operations." He said the ministry would buy certain other types of weapons and equipment abroad, but only in limited amounts. The general added that "in literally one year," Russia would start the production of its own unmanned planes, on a par with Israeli versions. The Russian Defense Ministry has already bought 12 Israeli UAVs in a deal worth $53 million. The Russian military has stressed the need to provide its Armed Forces with advanced theater reconnaissance systems in the wake of a brief military conflict with Georgia last August, when the effectiveness of Russian military operations was severely hampered by the lack of reliable intelligence. According to various estimates, the Russian military needs up to 100 UAVs and at least 10 guidance systems to ensure effective battlefield reconnaissance.
Serbia favors a solution in Bosnia-Herzegovina which can only be reached through dialogue, says Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremić ahead of his visit there today. Jeremić will visit Bosnia-Herzegovina just a day after negotiations between domestic political leaders and U.S. and EU representatives over reforms necessary for further Euro-Atlantic integration ended without agreement. Ahead of his visit he said that Serbia wanted “the best possible relations with Bosnia-Herzegovina” and added that stability there was of key importance for peace and stability in the entire region. “It is in Serbia’s interests that a compromise be found which will make Bosnia-Herzegovina function more efficiently and speed up the European integration process,” said Jeremić. During his visit he will talk to officials in Sarajevo and Banja Luka.
VII. Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew Officially Opens Eighth Environmental Symposium in New Orleans
His All Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew officially opened today the Eighth Religion, Science and the Environment (RSE) Symposium, entitled “Restoring Balance: The Great Mississippi River,” which takes place here for the next five days under his high patronage and includes a large and diverse group of theologians, scientists, policymakers, environmentalists, representatives of business and NGOs, and media. Roman Catholic Archbishop Gregory Aymond of New Orleans welcomed the Ecumenical Patriarch and read a cordial, prayerful and personal message from Pope Benedict XVI in which he conveyed his support and solidarity in the effort of caring and protecting the environment and “the safeguarding of God’s creation.” Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew in his very significant opening address said that “we have reached a defining moment in our history…the point where absolute limits to our survival are being reached,” and we “instead of living on income, or the available surplus of the earth, we are consuming environmental capital and destroying its resources as if there is no tomorrow.” Following the Patriarchal Address, retired US Senator Paul Sarbanes, who is a participant in the symposium read a message from former Vice President Al Gore, in which he expressed his esteem and respect for the Ecumenical Patriarch’s perseverance demonstrated by this Eighth Environmental Symposium. Al Gore was the first to address Patriarch Bartholomew as the “Green Patriarch” in 1997 when welcoming him to Washington D.C. Finally, Archbishop Demetrios, as the Primate of the Greek Orthodox Church in America, offered an official welcome to the Ecumenical Patriarch both to the United States and the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America, which is an eparchy of the Ecumenical Patriarchate. “We are in this wounded city, New Orleans, and in an equally wounded River, the mighty Mississippi. And we are here to contribute, as much as it is possible, to the healing of both,” said Archbishop Demetrios and added that His All Holiness is “the Healer Patriarch who laboriously, incessantly, and deliberately serves in an extraordinary way the ecological healing process and tends to the wounds inflicted upon nature by human beings.” Information on the Ecumenical Patriarch and his visit to the U.S. can also be found online here or here and on the Mississippi symposium site, by clicking here.