TEHRAN,(MNA) -- As organizers remove all the Fajr film festival’s posters and banners from the megalopolis of Tehran, movie theaters began screening two new Iranian films, “Requiem of Snow” and “The Left-Handed” on Thursday.
Directed by Jamil Rostami, “Requiem of Snow” is about Kurdish villagers who are praying for rain, a land parched in drought, the illusion of snow, and a girl called Rozhin who dreams of escaping her fate and seeks support from a stranger.

The film, which won the Best Director Award at the 8th Olympia International Film Festival for Children and Young People last December in Greece, is only being screened at the Farhang Cinema and once a day at the Sahra Cinema.

The film is a joint production of Iran and the Iraqi Kurdistan Ministry of Culture and stars Shadi Variani, Mahieddin Variani, Masud Yusefi, Abdollah Ahmadi, Jalil Mohammad Veisi, Delnia Farajpur, and Anvar Farajpur.

“The Left-Handed” is the third film of Arash Moayyerian after “Coma” and “Charlatan”. It tells the story of a young woman suffering from amnesia caused by an accident and the many problems that ensue due to her condition.

Hamid Gudarzi, Leila Otadi, Majid Salehi, Mehdi Aminikhah, and Asghar Semsarzadeh are the main cast members of the film, which replaced Saman Moqaddam’s comedy “Maxx” at cinemas.

“Maxx” has been the most successful film of the Iranian calendar year (ends March 19) so far, with box-office receipts of 4.75 billion rials (about $521,000).

By David Morgan

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States does not believe Iran has a nuclear weapon but the danger Tehran will acquire one is an "immediate concern," U.S. intelligence chief John Negroponte said on Thursday.

Negroponte also told a Senate committee looking into the range of threats to the United States that al Qaeda was still plotting and preparing for attacks on the United States.

"We judge that Tehran probably does not yet have a nuclear weapon and probably has not yet produced or acquired the necessary fissile material," Negroponte, director of national intelligence, told the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence.

But he added, "The danger that it will acquire a nuclear weapon, and the ability to integrate it with the ballistic missiles Iran already possesses is a reason for immediate concern."

The committee was looking at the proliferation threat posed by Iran on the same day the International Atomic Energy Agency considered whether to report the Islamic Republic to the UN Security Council over its nuclear program.

Iran insists its nuclear ambitions are purely to develop nuclear power.

Negroponte also said that while much of al Qaeda's leadership from the time of the September 11 attacks on the United States had been eliminated, its "core elements still plot and make preparations for terrorist strikes against the (U.S.) homeland and other targets from bases in the Pakistan-Afghanistan border area."

"The group will attempt high-impact attacks for as long as its central command structure is functioning and affiliated groups are capable of furthering its interests, because even modest operational capabilities can yield a deadly and damaging attack," he said.

An attack using conventional explosives remains the "most probable scenario," but al Qaeda remains interested in acquiring chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear materials or weapons, he said.

Attacking U.S. territory, U.S. interests abroad and allies overseas remained al Qaeda's top priorities -- in that order, he said.

Nearly 40 terrorist organisations, insurgencies, cults and other groups have used, possessed or expressed an interest in chemical, biological, radiological or nuclear agents or weapons, Negroponte added.

Negroponte also said the slow pace of economic and political change in most Muslim nations continued to fuel global Islamist militant movements. He said the United States was not immune to homegrown militants, adding that prisons were fertile ground for recruitment.

QUESTIONS ON EAVESDROPPING PROGRAM

The Senate committee's annual hearing on worldwide threats gave lawmakers their first chance to grill intelligence leaders publicly about President George W. Bush's domestic eavesdropping program at the National Security Agency.

The program has raised an outcry from Democrats and some Republicans who question whether Bush overstepped his authority. The administration has said it was needed because existing provisions for eavesdropping were not flexible enough.

Sen. Jay Rockefeller of West Virginia, the senior Democrat on the committee, accused the White House of being too secretive about the program, involving eavesdropping without a warrant on e-mails and phone calls between people in the United States and suspected militants abroad.

He and committee Chairman Pat Roberts of Kansas were briefed by the administration, but Rockefeller complained the White House was not providing the full committee with enough intelligence.

"A decision has been made by the White House to overly restrict congressional access to key information about the NSA program while, at the same time, it opens the floodgates of its public relations campaign in support of the program," he said.

(Additional reporting by Caroline Drees)

URGENT ACTION
PUBLIC AI Index: MDE 13/002/2006
09 January 2006
UA 08/06 Arbitrary arrest/possible prisoner of conscience/medical
concern

IRAN Mansour Ossanlu (m), Head of the Union of Workers of the Tehran and Suburbs Bus Company (Sherkat-e Vahed)
Mansour Ossanlu, the Head of the Union of Workers of the Tehran and Suburbs Bus Company (Sherkat-e Vahed) has been detained since 22 December 2005 in Section 209 of Evin Prison in the capital, Tehran. He may be a prisoner of conscience, detained solely on account of his peaceful trade union activities. He is said to be suffering from a serious eye complaint, and could lose his sight if he does not receive immediate medical treatment.
Mansour Ossanlu was among 12 officials from the Union who were reportedly arrested by police at their homes on 22 December 2005, apparently in connection with their peaceful trade union activities. Four of the 12 were released shortly afterwards. On 25 December, members of the Union were arrested while staging a bus strike in Tehran, demanding the release of their colleagues. On 26 December, all those who had been detained were released, with the exception of Mansour Ossanlu and six other members of the Union's Executive Board. These six were released two days later, leaving only Mansour Ossanlu in detention. Mansour Ossanlu has not been granted access to a lawyer, and reports suggest that he may be facing charges including contact with Iranian opposition groups abroad and instigating armed revolt against the authorities.
On 31 December, reports indicated that seven Union members including Mansour Hayat Ghaybi (or Ghaybati); Ebrahim Madadi; Reza Tarazi, Gholamreza Mirza’i; Abbas Najand Kouhi and Ali Zad Hossein had been summoned to appear before a Revolutionary Court in Tehran the following day on charges including public order offences. However, following protests by Union members outside the court on 1 January, the seven were reportedly told that their trial had been postponed.
On 7 January 2006, Bus Company workers staged another strike, during which five drivers were reportedly detained. All were later reportedly released.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

The Union of Workers of the Tehran and Suburbs Bus Company is said to have been founded in 1979 and resumed activities in 2004 after a 25-year ban. It is still not legally recognised.
Iran is a State Party to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, Article 22 (1) of which states: Everyone shall have the right to freedom of association with others, including the right to form and join trade unions for the protection of his interests. Article 26 of Iran’s Constitution states: The formation of parties, societies, political or professional associations … is permitted provided they do not violate the principles of independence, freedom, national unity, the criteria of Islam, or the basis of the Islamic republic. No one may be prevented from participating in the aforementioned groups, or be compelled to participate in them.

kurdishinfo.com

Offices of two Kurdish member organisations of YEK-KOM and the flats of their leading members were raided by police on 21 January 2006 in the German cities of Bielefeld and Osnabrueck. Based on an official search warrant issued by the county court of Oldenburg, police officers recorded the identity of all people present in the premises regardless of their age and gender.

Following official ID-treatment, the police confiscated all equipment, documents and objects of the Kurdish organisations. Similar police raids have taken place in recent months in the context of which the headquarters of Kurdish YEK-KOM organisations were searched in Kassel, Erfurt, Darmstadt and Aschaffenburg involving raids of offices and degrading treatment of our members.

The last couple of months have seen a significant increase of such police actions against Kurds and their organisations in Germany. In our eyes, these methods are aimed at terrorising our organisations and intimidating their members. It seems that this strategy against Kurds in Germany has been developed based on agreements and common political interests with the Turkish state. We can not find any other explanation for the current discrimination against the Kurdish community; discrimination of Kurds who undertake to integrate into German society and try to claim their civil rights in the context of German law. This official strategy of repression will result in the criminalisation of Kurds excluding them from basic democratic civil rights such as the freedom to assemble, freedom of organisation and the freedom of expression.

While being faced with various forms of provocation, intimidation and official obstacles, the Kurds in Germany have always striven towards a peaceful dialogue in Germany in order to solve the Kurdish question. Because of torture in Turkey, expulsion and displacement from their villages and towns and the suppression of their identity, Kurds are forced to go into exile. As immigrants in Germany, Kurds are subjected to similar treatment and attacks as in Turkey. This situation creates serious social, psychological, and political as well as financial problems for the Kurdish community. Kurds are hindered in their efforts to express and organise themselves freely. Universal human and civil rights as formulated, also for the Kurds, in international law as well as the German Basic Law are constantly violated by the practices of the German police and authorities. We want to stress that the Kurds and their organisations will continue their democratic struggle in order to solve the Kurdish question whatever the forms of repression, violence or attacks of the state.

We call on German authorities to overcome their ignorant and repressive attitudes towards Kurds, to approach the Kurdish community in a democratic manner and to acknowledge our efforts for a peaceful dialogue. Aggressive policing and application of criminal law can not solve political problems such as the Kurdish question neither in Germany nor in Turkey.
YEK-KOM
Federation of Kurdish Organisations in Germany
YEK-KOM
Office for Foreign Policy and Public Relations
Chausseestrasse 15
10115 Berlin
Germany
Email: yekkom-berlin@gmx.net

IRBIL, North Iraq,(KUNA) -- A member of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), led by Iraqi President Jalal Talabani, was assassinated Wednesday in the northern city of Mosul.

A PUK source told Kuwait News Agency (KUNA) that unknown gunmen opened fire on two PUK staff late Tuesday, killing Ali Hassan Younis and wounding Majid Nouri.

He added that the attack occurred while the victims were entering their residence in Al-Jazaer neighborhood, noting that the attackers fled the scene.

Meanwhile, a source in Nineveh Police Command said that policemen found two, unidentified, beheaded human bodies in Adan neighborhood.

In a separate incident, an Iraqi citizen named Ismael Yousif was killed by gunmen in an industrial neighborhood.

Meanwhile, a security source in Tel Afer District told reporters that 12 Iraqi soldiers were killed and nine others were seriously wounded when four mortar rounds hit a military camp inside a hospital. The camp was established to provide security for the medical facility.

In another incident, four Iraqi policemen were wounded in southern Kirkuk today when an explosive device targeted a police patrol securing oil facilities.

Chief of Police in Kirkuk Brigadier Sarhad Qader told Kuwait News Agency (KUNA) that the explosion damaged two patrol vehicles.

Meanwhile, the Iraqi Police on Wednesday found the body of a Kurdish merchant on the road between Baghdad and Tikrit.

An Iraqi police source said that the merchant was abducted by unknown gunmen and was executed and dumped on the road nearby the town of Maryam Pak, noting that his car, money, and personal belongings were stolen.

The source added that the abductors left a letter in the victims' pocket claiming that they are part of Ansar Al-Sunnah group and that they would carry out other attack on the same road.

The Guardian
Leader

It is another sign of the escalating crisis over Iran's alleged nuclear ambitions that the Islamic republic's foreign minister has warned of swift retaliation if, as expected, it is reported to the United Nations security council. Manouchehr Mottaki uses an interview with the Guardian today to threaten "severe consequences," including an end to snap inspections and other co-operation with the International Atomic Energy Agency. Mr Mottaki said something similar to Jack Straw yesterday. Like the threat by the commander of the revolutionary guard that Iran would fire missiles if attacked, this was, to put it mildly, extremely unhelpful.

The decision to report Iran to the UN has been made by all five permanent members of the security council, which is as good as things get in terms of international legitimacy. The IAEA is the UN's nuclear watchdog. President Mahmoud Ahmedinejad is being dishonest when he accuses the west of acting like the "lord of the world" in denying his country the peaceful use of the atom. Russia and China, hardly American vassals, are on the same side. This is not a replay of the Iraq crisis. Not yet anyway.

The IAEA, meeting in Vienna today, is being asked to "convey" to the security council credible reports raising concern about the nature of Tehran's nuclear work. (One of these, ominously, is a document with instructions on how to mould highly enriched uranium into the core of warheads.) This nuanced language matters because there is still more than a month left before a March 6 IAEA meeting which could call for a formal "referral" of Iran to the council, opening the way for discussion of imposing economic sanctions. Put simply, although there is time to find a way out of this impasse, Iran is aggressively raising the stakes.

Tehran may be hoping that Europe, which tried but failed to negotiate a deal with Iran, will lose its nerve and not stand by the US. Or it may, more likely, calculate that when push comes to shove, Moscow and Beijing will break ranks with the three western members of the P5. Iran insists it wants nuclear power solely for civil electricity generation, as is its right under the non-proliferation treaty. But it is hard pressed to convince others that it has overcome 18 years of lying about its plans, even though the lesson of Iraq is that it pays to be suspicious of dodgy dossiers about WMD.

It is worth remembering too that this crisis was triggered when Iran reneged on a pledge to suspend uranium enrichment in its talks with the EU3 - Britain, France and Germany - whose package of incentives was rejected as inadequate. It has been made worse by President Ahmedinejad's irresponsible comments about Israel and the Holocaust and baseless accusations that Britain is supporting Arab separatists in Iran's oil-rich Khuzestan province. Iran has been angered too by American rhetoric about democracy - President Bush's state of the union address was translated into Farsi in a live audio feed - while explicit talk of regime change amongst Washington neocons has only helped the even more conservative mullahs jockeying for power in Tehran.

None of this is to deny that Iran has a legitimate complaint about the double standards of the official nuclear powers, which have not met their obligations to disarm, and acquiesced in Israeli, Indian and Pakistani bombs. Its concerns about US forces in Iraq and Afghanistan could be met by negotiating security guarantees. Far more effort could be put into fleshing out a proposal to enrich uranium in Russia for use, under IAEA supervision, in Iran. There is, in short, plenty to talk about. Some say the world has picked a quarrel that it cannot win, since military action has been ruled out - though not by the US or Israel - while sanctions on such a big Opec oil producer would be economically impossible and politically counterproductive. Still, inaction will not make this problem go away. And nor will Iranian bluster.

BERLIN, Feb 2 (Reuters) - German Chancellor Angela Merkel said military force can be used as a "last option" in the fight against terrorism and warned Iran not to curtail cooperation with the U.N.'s nuclear watchdog.

In a speech to Germany's diplomatic corps late on Wednesday, Merkel appeared to increase pressure on Iran just hours before a decision is to be taken on whether to report the country to the U.N. Security Council over its disputed nuclear programme.

"The fight against terrorism requires the mobilisation of all political, economic and, when necessary as a last option, military means -- whenever possible under the umbrella of the United Nations," Merkel said.

Later in the speech she urged Iran not to cut back on cooperation with the U.N.'s International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) if Tehran is reported to the Security Council over Western fears that it is developing atomic weapons.

"I can only warn Iran not to pull away from the international community and the IAEA," she said. "We have been following with great concern Iran's recent escalation of the dispute over its nuclear programme into a crisis."

Members of the 35-nation IAEA were meeting in Vienna on Thursday to discuss what action to take on Iran, which insists it only has a civilian nuclear programme.

They are likely to send Iran's case to the Security Council but delay any action there, such as sanctions, by a month to allow more time for diplomacy.

On Saturday an Iranian military leader said Iran could launch medium-range missiles in the event of an attack on its nuclear facilities.

Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has called for Israel to be "wiped off the map" and has cast doubt on the Holocaust, when six million Jews were killed by the Nazis. Merkel has repeatedly condemned Ahmadinejad for his remarks.

Unlike French President Jacques Chirac, who said recently that nuclear weapons could be used against terrorist states, Merkel appeared to refer only to conventional force when she talked generally of military action against terrorists.

The use of German troops abroad has been an extremely sensitive topic in Germany since the end of World War Two. Many Germans are opposed to participation in foreign military operations. Germany began sending combat troops to participate in peacekeeping missions in the late 1990s