Venezuela's government rejects early end
to Chavez tenure
 Venezuelan
Foreign Minister Roy Chaderton affirmed
Thursday that the government rejects any
initiative for an early end to the
administration of President Hugo Chavez
and early elections.
"The
government will not gather signatures, nor
will it participate in formulas to reduce
its duties, for that is up to the
opposition," the diplomat told the
local radio.
Chaderton
is one of the representatives of the
government in dialogues with the
opposition, promoted by the Organization
of American States (OAS) to solve the
political crisis in Venezuela.
The senior
official added "there are no moves
for early elections, nor for a change of
government, not even within the
constitutional framework."
"The
fact we respect that within the
Constitution there are considerations for
the anticipation of elections to comply
with the goal of a particular sector of
the population, does not mean the
government has to back such an
initiative," he said.
The
opposition, headed by businessmen and
trade union workers, concentrated in the
so-called Democratic Coordination (CD),
Thursday called for a constitutional
amendment in order to oust Chavez.
On Jan. 22,
Jimmy Carter, former US president and
Nobel Peace Price winner in 2002, claimed
as a solution to the crisis in Venezuela
the drafting of a constitutional amendment
or a referendum on the fate of the Chavez
government on August 19.
Iraq
invites chief UN inspectors for talks in
Baghdad
Iraq has
invited chief UN arms inspectors Hans Blix
and Mohamed ElBaradei to return to Baghdad
before Feb. 10 for fresh talks on
cooperation in Iraq's disarmament, a
Foreign Ministry statement said on
Thursday.
The
invitation was sent by Iraqi President
Saddam Hussein's science adviser Amer al-Saadi
to Blix, head of the United Nations
Monitoring, Verification and Inspection
Commission (UNMOVIC), and ElBaradei,
director of the International Atomic
Energy Agency (IAEA).
The Foreign
Ministry statement said their meetings
with Iraqi officials would focus on
"a number of questions related to
enhancing cooperation and
transparency" between the two sides.
Both parties would discuss "ways to
improve the mechanisms of cooperation and
consultation to re-establish a better
monitoring regime," the statement
said.
Their
discussions would also include some
questions on Iraq's disarmament raised by
the two chief inspectors in their reports
to the Security Council on Monday. In the
crucial report on Iraqi disarmament to the
UN Security Council, Blix and ElBaradei
gave a better-than-expected assessment of
Iraq's cooperation, but called for more
efforts on the Iraqi side to resolve
remaining unanswered questions. They are
scheduled to make their next update report
to the UN Security Council on Feb. 14.
It was not
immediately known whether the two
inspectors had accepted Baghdad's
invitation.
Sharon
rejects Arafat's offer to meet and resume
peace talks
Newly-elected
Israeli hawkish leader Ariel Sharon on
Wednesday rejected Palestinian National
Authority (PNA) Chairman Yasser Arafat's
offer to meet immediately and resume peace
talks, Israeli media reported Thursday.
"Arafat
-- who continues to finance, initiate,
operate and dispatch terrorists -- will
not be a partner for negotiations,"
Sharon's office said in a statement. It
added that Israel will only speak to those
Palestinians "who are not involved in
terror in any way, shape or form."
In an
interview with Israeli Television on
Wednesday, Arafat said he would talk with
Sharon, who always labels the Palestinian
leader as a "terrorist."
"Tonight! We insist on returning to
negotiations as soon as possible,"
said Arafat.
Palestinians
voiced fears, however, that a right-wing
surge behind Sharon's re-election on
Tuesday would lead to an Israeli
reoccupation of the Gaza Strip. Israeli
Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz had hinted in
Israel Army Radio earlier in the week,
that Israel had not ruled out the option.
Palestinian
cabinet minister Azzam al-Ahmed said
Sharon would exploit a looming US-led war
on Iraq to "escalate his aggression
against Palestinians, including the
reoccupation of Gaza."
But Ahmed
Abdel Rahman, an aide to Arafat, said
Tuesday's elections crystallized divisions
over peace strategy within Israel and
predicted that the left-wing could rebound
if the conflict dragged on under Sharon's
leadership.
Canada's
position on Iraq remains unchanged
 Canadian
Prime Minister Jean Chretien told the
parliament Wednesday that Canada continues
to insist that the United Nations lead any
efforts to disarm Iraq.
In response
to the opposition's questions concerning a
possible war with Iraq, Chretien said
Canada is looking forward to seeing the
evidence the Americans will give to the
United Nations next week.
Canada has
refused to join other US allies in
declaring Iraq to be in breach of the
Security Council's order to disarm.
Canadian
Foreign Affairs Minister Bill Graham is to
meet US Secretary of State Colin Powell in
Washington on Thursday. He said" I
will bring clearly to him the Canadian
position that the best possible way out of
this situation is through the Security
Council."
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