Briefly

London: Opposition leaders seek to bring democracy to Iraq

Exiled Iraqi opposition leaders opened their two-day conference here Saturday by vociferously denouncing Iraqi President Saddam Hussein and proclaiming their shared interest in bringing democracy to their homeland once he is toppled.

More than 300 delegates heard brief speeches in Arabic delivered by 10 exiled opposition leaders and guest speakers. The speakers represented a range of groups that have not always agreed on policy questions.

“Many people have doubted the ability of the Iraqi opposition to organize this conference,” said Hoshyar Zebari of the Kurdish Democratic Party, chairman of the long-delayed conference. “Now we have proven them wrong.”

Yemen: Port workers begin unloading seized Scuds

Yemen began unloading Saturday the shipment of North Korean missiles that was seized by Spanish and U.S. warships in the Arabian Sea, a port authority official said.

Five Scud missiles have been unloaded, the official said

The ship, the Singapore-registered Pan Hope, was intercepted Monday by a Spanish warship. Spanish marines boarded the ship and found 15 Scud missiles and other military equipment under a cargo of cement.

The U.S. Navy took charge of the ship, but allowed it to sail on after receiving assurances the Scuds would not be transferred elsewhere in the Gulf region.

New York: Three presumed victims of 9-11 confirmed as alive

The tally of people lost in the Sept. 11 attacks has dropped, with three people reported missing in the World Trade Center being confirmed as alive, city officials said.

Police Inspector Jeremiah Quinlan, who heads the massive missing persons effort, said Friday that investigators had spoken with the three.

The discovery reduces the city’s official count of people killed or reported missing in the terrorist attack to 2,792.

Ellen Borakove, a spokeswoman for the city medical examiner, identified the three as Jeffrey Montgomery of St. Joseph, Mo.; William Yemele of Gaithersburg, Md.; and Oliva Khemrat of Jersey City, N.J.

Iran: Atomic inspectors invited to visit nuclear plants

Tehran on Saturday said U.N. atomic inspectors would be invited to visit two Iranian nuclear plants, a day after the inspectors’ chief said Iran had canceled a planned trip to facilities that Washington says belong to a secret weapons program.

Foreign Minister Kamal Kharrazi said Iran would invite experts from the International Atomic Energy Agency “to visit the nuclear plants at Natanz and Arak,” state-run radio reported. He did not specify a date for the visit.

On Friday, the chief of the Vienna-based IAEA, Mohamed ElBaradei, said Iranian officials had told him he could not visit the sites as planned this week because President Mohammad Khatami would be out of the country.

The inspection has been rescheduled for February, ElBaradei said.