Iran's right move

Iran has done well by agreeing to a suspension of its uranium enrichment programme. The move comes in the wake of a qualified declaration by the International Atomic Energy Agency that Iran was not trying to manufacture nuclear weapons. The decision gives several advantages to Iran. First, the suspension has put Britain, France and Germany on the defensive. The European three now have no reason to complain of non-cooperation by Iran on the nuclear issue.

The decision has paved the way for the signing of the much-awaited deal with the European Union. Second, the freeze decision will enable Iran to get nuclear technology for peaceful purposes from the EU. In fact, nuclear technology will come to Iran as part of an EU package that may include better trade terms. Third, and more important, the issue will not go to the Security Council. The US has been keen on taking it to the council, where it can have an anti-Iran resolution passed. After Sunday's announcement by Iran, it would be difficult for Washington to get a majority in the 35-member IAEA board for referring the issue to the world body.

While announcing the suspension, Iran has made it clear that it is not surrendering its sovereign right to resume enrichment. As an Iranian spokesman put it, Tehran has accepted the suspension "as a voluntary step" and the decision does not impose any obligations on it. For the US, however, there is still room for making noises. Monday's IAEA statement said it was giving clearance to Tehran on the basis of "the declared materials".

The UN watchdog body implied that Iran could still pursue a clandestine weapons programme because it was not sure there were no "undeclared materials or activities". The US could use this reservation in the IAEA report and insist that Iran was going ahead with prohibited nuclear activity.

With the announcement of the suspension, concerns about Iran's nuclear plans should stand allayed. The focus of the plans is the Russian-built nuclear reactor at Bushehr. Now Moscow and Tehran are close to striking a deal under which Iran will send spent fuel rods to Russia. Since spent rods can be re-used for enriching uranium, the agreement with Russia should be seen as Iran's commitment not to produce nuclear weapons.

There is in Iran an anti-nuclear lobby which opposes the production of nuclear weapons. In fact, a member of the lobby said it would introduce a bill in the Majlis to seek to outlaw the making of nuclear weapons. However, what America fails to realize is that the more it puts pressure on Tehran, the more it makes the task of Iran's own domestic anti-nuclear lobby difficult. As a developing country, Iran has the right to acquire nuclear technology. The suspension decision has paved the way for the EU's help in this respect.

However, the American obsession with Iran, fuelled no doubt by Israel's own view of the revolutionary regime, perpetuates a crisis that otherwise is on the point of ending. Israel has also threatened more than once to attack Iran's nuclear installations, prompting Tehran to say that it would hit back. What Washington should do now is to let Iran and the European three finally sort out the issue to the satisfaction of both. Israeli-American pressure tactics will only worsen matters and perhaps delay the signing of the Iran-EU agreement.

Stranded umrah pilgrims

A right royal mess seems to have been created for the several thousand umrah pilgrims stranded in Saudi Arabia during the Eid holidays. Because of their inability to get confirmed bookings, the Saudi visas of many of the stranded pilgrims expired while others did not have enough money to rent a hotel room while waiting out the delay.

The situation necessitated the appearance of the minister for religious affairs on PTV who blamed PIA. Part of the reason why close to 20,000 Pakistanis found themselves stranded was the unusually large number who chose to perform umrah this year in Ramazan: 62,000 compared to 28,000 last year. An increasing trend towards religious observances, coupled with a rise in the number of tour operators offering umrah 'packages,' might be reasons for the sharp rise.

The PIA chairman responded when the minister accused the airline on national television of being responsible for the situation. The chairman might be partially right in suggesting that to ensure the return of all 62,000 pilgrims by the second day of Eid would be next to impossible for his organization. However, the fact of the matter is that the situation should not have been allowed to come to the present pass, with thousands of pilgrims, including many claiming to have confirmed seats, still stranded at Jeddah. Also, to blame the tour operators, as the PIA chief has done, is merely to pass the buck.

The federal government should conduct an inquiry into the whole affair. PIA's unenviable track record in bumping passengers with even confirmed seats or in overbooking does not help its case. Apart from compensating passengers who were denied travel despite confirmed seats, the airline should work more closely with tour operators to ensure that umrah flights are not overbooked in the future. As for the religious affairs ministry, instead of deflecting responsibility, it should exercise greater control over tour operators and consider placing a cap on the number of umrah pilgrims during Ramazan so that those given visas can be accommodated on flights back home without unreasonable delay or hassles.

Margaret Hassan lives on

Through her tireless humanitarian work under extremely trying circumstances, Margaret Hassan personified the spirit of all that is good in the human soul. In her tragic death at the hands of her kidnappers, Iraq has lost a benefactor and the world a kind and caring person. The revulsion shown by ordinary Iraqis as soon as the news of her assassination broke last Tuesday speaks for the affection and respect she commanded among the people she chose to call her own and serve in their hour of distress.

Living in Iraq for the past 30 years with her Iraqi husband, the humanitarian aid and relief worker was abducted by on October 19 by unknown militants who demanded that Britain call back its occupation troops from Iraq in return for her release. She held Irish, British and Iraqi nationalities, but Iraq was the place she called her home, choosing to stay in the country through the two Gulf wars and the hardship that was the lot of the Iraqi people as a result of international sanctions.

Margaret Hassan's cold-blooded murder brings the number of foreigners or those of foreign origin kidnapped and killed by militants to over 100 since the invasion of Iraq by the US-led forces in March last year. The extremists held responsible for such acts are said to operate through gangs of bandits who abduct targeted individuals and then sell them to their tormentors. Western media has linked several terrorist organizations operating as proxy for Al Qaeda in the Iraq kidnapping ring.

The majority of those kidnapped and killed so far comprises Iraqi and Arab Muslim nationals, which negates the kidnappers' claim that they are waging a religious war on the occupation forces. The truth remains that Islam does not condone the killing of innocent people, much less of those engaged in humanitarian causes in difficult circumstances. Margaret Hassan will always be remembered as one such person.