Pressure Mounts on King of Nepal to Return to Democracy; Interview with Prime Minister of Lebanon
GORANI: This is YOUR WORLD TODAY. I'm Hala Gorani.</s>CLANCY: I'm Jim Clancy, and these are the stories that are making headlines around the world. China's president Hu Jintao and U.S. President George W. Bush are scheduled to meet Thursday. The agenda will likely include trade, China's appetite for oil and the Iranian nuclear crisis, just to name a few. Tuesday, Mr. Hu enjoyed an evening with about 100 political and corporate leaders, including Bill Gates, the co-founder of software giant Microsoft.</s>GORANI: In Washington, the shake-up at the Bush White House continues. Press Secretary Scott McClellan announced his resignation Wednesday. Senior presidential adviser Karl Rove is keeping his job as deputy chief of staff, but he will focus more on long-term strategic planning rather than day-to-day policy. They're the latest in a series of top level changes in the administration.</s>CLANCY: In Nepal, security forces opened fire on pro-democracy protesters, killing two people and wounding several others. Eight people have died thus far in two weeks of protests against the autocratic rule of King Gyanendra, who suspended the democratic forms of the government some months ago. Nepal's government has issued an 18-hour curfew now for Kathmandu on Thursday. That would block a planned major rally.</s>GORANI: An update now on Italy's disputed election. There's word a top court has confirmed that Central Left leader Romano Prodi has finally emerged the winner in the lower house of Parliament. He's also expected to prevail in the Senate over current Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi. But official word on that could take a few more days. The judges have been reviewing a slim number of disputed ballots, and they've rejected so far Berlusconi's complaints about those ballots in the lower House. Members of the U.N. Security Council will meet for a second day to discuss how to curb Iran's nuclear program. Delegates from the five permanent member nations of the council, plus Germany, met Tuesday in Moscow, but couldn't agree on a course of action. The U.S. advocates sanctions, including a freeze on Iranian assets and travel restrictions for members of Iran's regime. Russia opposes such moves, preferring to wait until the U.N. atomic watchdog agency files a formal report on Iraq.</s>CLANCY: French President Jacques Chirac says Iran's handling of its nuclear program has created great anxiety, both in the Middle East and the international community at large. Mr. Chirac is on a two-day visit to Egypt, where he is going to be holding talks with the President Hosni Mubarak on the Iranian situation, as well as the Israeli/Palestinian conflict. In comments published in the state-run Egyptian newspaper, the president said the door is still open for talks once Iran complies with U.N. Security Council demands. But he added, the prospect of Iran with nuclear weapons is unacceptable to the international community.</s>GORANI: The flurry of meetings comes amid growing concerns that the dispute could deteriorate, and it could deteriorate all the way into a military conflict. Brent Sadler looks at the historic roots of the tensions between the United States and Iran, and how recent U.S. actions may be increasing Iran's regional prominence.</s>BRENT SADLER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Last week's stunning declaration from Tehran: President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad claims that Iran has joined the club of nuclear nations.</s>RAMI KHOURI, MIDDLE EAST ANALYST: I think we are potentially on the verge of a catastrophe in the Middle East if you get military strikes against Iran from Israel or the</s>U.S. SADLER: Rami Khouri, a lecturer at the American University of Beirut, has spent more than 30 years studying the cause and effects of Middle Eastern conflicts. He is an experienced observer and has monitored the pulse of reaction in the Arab street after the Iranian nuclear breakout.</s>KHOURI: My sense is that most people are pleased with the Iranian enrichment capability. They don't want to be ruled by Iran, they don't want an Iranian-style theocracy, but they like the fact that Iran has resisted and defied American threats.</s>SADLER: Tehran's nuclear ambitions of today should be calculated in part, says knowledgeable Iran watcher Ibrahim Moussawi, as a reaction to the vulnerability it feels from relentless U.S. pressure since the shah was deposed.</s>IBRAHIM MOUSSAWI, HEZBOLLAH MEDIA EXECUTIVE: Yes, of course. This would add more credibility to the already credible Iranian position, vis-a-vis the enmity with the United States, and facing and standing up and continue fronting the American support of Israel.</s>SADLER (on camera): An emboldened nuclear capable Iran plays well here in Syria, where hardline anti-Israeli extremist groups like Hamas, Islamic jihad and Hezbollah all enjoy strong support, actively confronting U.S. policy in the region. (voice-over): Iran is winning greater regional prominence, too, gaining after its enemies were systematically attacked by American military might, first against the Taliban in Afghanistan; followed by the invasion by Iraq, toppling Iran's arch foe, Saddam Hussein; empowering Iraq's majority Muslim Shias, now subject to broad Iranian influence.</s>BOUTHAINIA SHAABAN, SYRIAN CABINET MINISTER: I think it's leading to Iran becoming a very important country in the Muslim world, a leader in the Muslim world.</s>SADLER: And the use of force by the U.S. to try to prevent Iran's nuclear development remains a possible option.</s>MOUSSAWI: I believe this would open the doorways of hell.</s>SADLER: Iran's bare-knuckled militancy of the early 1980s challenged U.S. warships escorting Kuwaiti oil tankers the Gulf. But Tehran's new policy of confrontation risks escalating hostilities into a much more serious dimension if nuclear brinkmanship triggers another Middle Eastern conflict. Brent Sadler, CNN, Beirut.</s>CLANCY: There was no invasion or intervention. But in a troubled Middle East, Lebanon can fairly be called a success story of democracy today. Progress toward freedom has not come amid the kind of chaos that's been seen in Iraq. Still, the Lebanese have paid dearly in their on blood. This week, Prime Minister Fouad Siniora of Lebanon made a call on the White House where President Bush praised the so-called Cedar Revolution that reclaimed Lebanon for Syria to withdraw and launched a new political movement.</s>BUSH: There's no question in my mind that Lebanon can serve as a great example for what is possible in the broader Middle East, that out of the tough times the country has been through will rise a state that shows that it's possible for people of religious difference to live side by side in peace.</s>GORANI: All right, joining us now with a view of what came out of his talks at the White House and what lies ahead, the challenges for his country, is Lebanon's Prime Minister Fouad Siniora. He joins us from Washington. Mr. Prime Minister, thank you so much for being with us.</s>FOUAD SINIORA, LEBANESE PRIME MINISTER: Thank you.</s>CLANCY: It would appear that it was a very warm meeting between yourself and President George W. Bush, but what does Lebanon need in terms of support in the days ahead?</s>SINIORA: Well, actually, the meeting, as you said, it was very warm meeting, and the thing was an opportunity to really brief the president about the developments that have been taking place in Lebanon, and to seek his support, and support of the United States to really empower Lebanon and the Lebanese government to -- politically, an on a security side, as well as on the economic side. Politically, actually, Lebanon still has a grave problem with the situation as it stands that there is a still a land which is being occupied by Israel, despite that Israel has withdrawn from Lebanon in the year 2000.</s>CLANCY: Let's discuss that specifically. Did you ask President Bush to pressure Israel to pull out of the Shaba Farms that is part and parcel to the claim by Hezbollah that it must remain armed.</s>SINIORA: Well, you see, this land, actually belongs to Lebanon, and Lebanon always exercised its authority and sovereignty of that part of the -- of Lebanon, and...</s>CLANCY: But Mr. Prime minister, did you ask President Bush...</s>SINIORA: Yes, I did.</s>CLANCY: What did he say?</s>SINIORA: Yes, I did.</s>CLANCY: Did he understand the logic?</s>SINIORA: Yes, I think -- I made it very clear in this respect. And I said that I will continue the matter with the secretary general in order to get all what is necessary to declare that part of land to be Lebanese. You see, there has been some misunderstanding about this plot of land, to be considered Syrian, and then, subject to the resolution 242. What we say is that this is Lebanese, and that in fact it will be subject to the 425, which was really implemented in the year 2000 and remains this part. So, in effect, once it is declared Lebanese, it will be subject to the 425, and then we will ask -- and the United Nations will ask Israel to withdraw from that area.</s>CLANCY: All right. And as pointed out, that is key to asking Hezbollah to hand in its arms. It says it holds those arms in order to defend Lebanon against the aggression, the occupation of its territory. But, sir, on another level, are you concerned that Iran's backing of Hezbollah, Syria's backing of Hezbollah, is making it impossible to complete your democracy? You can't have an armed group as part of the political processes in your country?</s>SINIORA: Well, first of all, let's put things very straight in here. We want, on one hand, to have the withdrawal. And, secondly, there should be a continuation of the dialogue that we are having among the Lebanese in orderer to agree on a strategy how to protect Lebanon, and this will be the real way that will lead us toward having the Lebanese government in full control, and having a monopoly over the security, because it is the government, and the Lebanese government is the one that really protects Lebanon, and has the duty to do so.</s>CLANCY: The United Nations reporting this week that it now has a fairly good idea of what happened, the scenario of events in the assassination of Rafik Hariri. They're going to be talking to Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad, the number-two man, long-time foreign minister of Syria, this week. Do you see this case coming to an end here, sir? And as many Lebanese want to know, when?</s>SINIORA: Well, it is very difficult to say when. What we really want in Lebanon, and the Arab world, everywhere, is that everybody wants to know the truth. Who really was behind and who really committed this crime? Because we are interested in knowing that, and we want to really stop this cycle of violence that's taking place and taking the lives of so many innocent people. And particularly, all these incidents are political assassinations. So we are really giving all the necessary support, and we are standing behind this international investigation, commissioned so that we can really achieve the end result, which is the knowledge of who has been behind and who really committed this crime.</s>CLANCY: Fouad Siniora, prime minister of Lebanon. I want to thank you very much for sharing some of your valuable time with us and our viewers.</s>SINIORA: Thank you.</s>GORANI: Interesting talk. All right, we're going to take a short break. The World Cup, as many football fans know, of course, and have been counting down, the World Cup is coming to Berlin soon.</s>CLANCY: And coming up right here on YOUR WORLD TODAY, the event drawing in fans who are capable of violence, their presence feared. We're going to tell you about these hooligans, straight ahead.