Moscow

Russia: System beats U.S. missile defense

Russia has designed a “revolutionary” weapon that would make the prospective U.S. missile defense useless, Russian news agencies reported Monday, quoting a senior Defense Ministry official.

The official, who was not identified by name, said tests conducted during last month’s military maneuvers would dramatically change the philosophy behind development of Russia’s nuclear forces, the Interfax and ITAR-Tass news agencies reported.

If deployed, the new weapon would take the value of any U.S. missile shield to “zero,” the news agencies quoted the official as saying.

While President Vladimir Putin said the development of such new weapons wasn’t aimed against the United States, most observers viewed the move as Moscow’s retaliation to the U.S. missile defense plans, which it has protested.

Spain

Nation to double Afghanistan contingent

Spain’s incoming government, under pressure for plans to withdraw its troops from Iraq, has agreed to double its military presence in Afghanistan to 250 soldiers this summer, an aide to the future defense minister said Monday.

The Socialist party insisted that its plans on Iraq remained firm. A poll released Monday said 72 percent of Spaniards agreed with its position.

Outgoing Defense Minister Federico Trillo made the decision on the Afghanistan troops last week in consultation with his Socialist replacement, Jose Bono, said Bono spokesman Jose Luis Fernandez.

Reports that the Socialists, who won March 14 general elections, planned to increase Spain’s presence in Afghanistan first surfaced last week. The idea was widely interpreted as a bid to deflect criticism from the United States and other countries of the Socialists’ plans to withdraw Spain’s 1,300 troops from Iraq unless the United Nations took charge there.

Iran

Nation said it stopped building centrifuges

Iran has stopped building centrifuges, which can be used for uranium enrichment, in an effort to win the world’s trust over its nuclear program, the head of its Atomic Energy Organization said Monday.

The comments by Gholamreza Aghazadeh came with inspectors from the U.N. nuclear agency in Iran to check on its nuclear facilities.

It is unclear how many centrifuges Iran has produced. International Atomic Energy Agency inspectors have previously reported finding “hundreds” of centrifuges, but well below the number needed to build nuclear bombs.

Iran suspended uranium enrichment last year under strong international pressure over the aims and dimensions of its nuclear program.

Congo

Leader addresses nation after coup attempt

Leaders of a 10,800-member U.N. force Monday condemned an apparent coup attempt against President Joseph Kabila’s fragile power-sharing government, and fighters loyal to Congo’s former dictator denied responsibility for the attacks.

Congo’s capital was calm Monday, a day after gun and mortar battles between loyalist troops and the attackers, who hit military installations and broadcast centers.

Diplomats called it a failed attack against Kabila’s year-old administration, and they, Congolese army officers and others blamed fighters loyal to late Congo dictator Mobutu Sese Seko.

Kabila appeared on state TV Sunday night to say order had been restored.

“They were terrorists and uncivil individuals who wanted to take over military installations,” Kabila said.

Geneva

Brazil withdraws call to uphold gay rights

Brazil withdrew a resolution championing gay rights at a meeting of the U.N. Human Rights Commission on Monday, saying there wasn’t enough support for the document for a second year in a row.

Brazil said it feared a repetition of the 2003 Human Rights Commission meeting, when several Islamic countries that opposed the document got the vote postponed until this year. The resolution would condemn discrimination on grounds of sexual orientation.

“Since November last year, we have been consulting with delegations of several countries on the text,” Brazil’s U.N. mission in Geneva said in a statement. “We have not yet been able, however, to arrive at a necessary consensus.”

Muslim members of the commission said last year they were against any resolution containing the words “sexual orientation.” At the time, ambassadors from Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Egypt, Libya and Malaysia said non-Muslim nations were wrong to try to impose their values on others.

Taiwan

Leader condemns China on anti-reform moves

President Chen Shui-bian of Taiwan condemned China on Monday for blocking popular demands for democratic reform in Hong Kong, saying its actions have made the Taiwanese people more determined to reject unification with the mainland and to continue building their own “independent, sovereign country” despite the risk of war.

In his first interview since a failed attempt on his life and a narrow election victory that his opponents have challenged, Chen also declared he had won a mandate from voters and vowed to push ahead with plans to write a new constitution for Taiwan within two years, a move China has said could amount to a declaration of independence and compel it to seize the island by force. Bush administration officials have also expressed concern the plan might drag the United States into a military confrontation with China, which claims sovereignty over Taiwan.

Pakistan

Al-Qaida leader believed dead

Intercepted radio conversations indicate al-Qaida’s top intelligence chief may have been killed in fighting in Pakistan, intelligence officials said Monday, but they admitted that no body has been found.

The radio transmissions disclosed that a man named Abdullah had been killed and that the death caused a great deal of distress among the al-Qaida forces, a Pakistani intelligence official said on condition of anonymity.

“He was a very important person for al-Qaida,” the official said. He added that interrogations of suspected al-Qaida members led the Pakistanis to believe that Abdullah was the group’s top intelligence official.

Pakistan’s sweep through western tribal areas to root out suspected terrorists resulted in the deaths of 63 suspected militants and the arrest of 167 more, army spokesman Maj. Gen. Shaukat Sultan said Monday.

Without a body — and after earlier speculation that al-Qaida’s No. 2, Ayman al-Zawahri was cornered — the officials were cautious about any conclusions.

Sri Lanka

Elections chief takes control of state media

In an unprecedented move, Sri Lanka’s independent election commissioner took over state-run television and radio Monday after allegations the media was favoring the president’s political party before Friday’s parliamentary vote.

The move by commissioner Dayananda Dissanayake came amid an ongoing power struggle between President Chandrika Kumaratunga and her rival, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe. The parliamentary elections could help resolve that struggle.

In November, the president wrested control of the media ministry from the prime minister and announced polls. More than 6,000 candidates are running for 225 seats.

Since then, Wickremesinghe’s party has accused state media of giving favorable coverage to Kumaratunga. Sri Lankan law bars the manipulation of state media for election propaganda.