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Predictions confirmed, new EU states named yet no date for Turkey
A leaked European Commission report recommends that 10 candidate countries should join the Union in 2004. But Ankara is not told when it can expect to start entry negotiations. The 10 are Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Slovenia and Malta. Also Cyprus. The report placed it with the others for 2004 despite the absence of a peace accord on the island. 2007 has been proposed for poorer Romania and Bulgaria to join the bloc Although measurable progress is being made by Turkey, it still falls short on economic and human rights criteria; deep in a financial crisis, its annual inflation has been running near 40% It has abolished the death penalty and passed laws increasing minority and political freedoms but it still has some way to go. An inside source said the Commission's report due for publication next Wednesday, however, does not prejudge EU leaders' final decisions when they meet for their big "enlargement summit" in Copenhagen in December. Security Council split on Iraq deepens
UN Security Council resolve for as rapid a return to Iraq as possible by the UN weapons inspection team appears to be hardening. Despite Anglo-American pressure to get a new, tougher UN resolution defining their mission, it now seems likely the other three Security Council members, France, Russia, and China are putting the priority on a speedy return under the conditions of the UN's 1998 resolution. This lack of unity in the decision-making process led the inspectors' team leader, Hans Blix to declare this morning he no longer thought he'd be back in Iraq by the middle of this month. Russia's Foreign minister Igor Ivanov and President Putin both say it's more important to get the team back now, rather than tightening the conditions for the inspections. Ivanov has repeated Russia's position is to insist on these terms, and no others. This all means a gain of time for all concerned ; for Iraq to hide away it's secrets, if there are any, and for President Bush to get the Senate endorsement for military action without which his hands are tied. 30 hours of debate on Iraq will end in a Senate vote next week. US Taliban fighter facing possible 20-year sentence
In November 2001, a dirty and dishevelled John Walker Lindh was captured by US forces in Afghanistan. Today the 21-year old American citizen is expected to be sentenced to 20 years in prison for fighting with the Taliban. Under a plea bargain, Lindh has admitted two charges of aiding the Taliban and carrying explosives. He had faced 10 counts of conspiring to kill Americans and helping not only the Taliban but the al-Qaeda network. The deal means he has avoided a possible life sentence. His mother Marylin Walker hopes he will be sent to a prison near the family home in California. She said: "We love John very much and want what's best for him. The decision today will give him an opportunity to give back what he has to offer to the people." John Walker Lindh was captured with a group of Taliban and al-Qaeda troops who survived a bloody revolt in a prison in Mazar-i-Sharif. He reportedly told investigators that before joining the Taliban, he has attended a paramilitary training camp in Pakistan. |
