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Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad arrives at the UN (AP)
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| By Associated Press September 20, 2006 |
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President George W. Bush and Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad sparred over Tehran's disputed nuclear program but managed to avoid any personal contact.
The Mideast peace process was taking the spotlight at the United Nations on Wednesday, with ministers from the Quartet that drafted the stalled road map -- the U.S., the U.N., the European Union and Russia -- planning to meet. The Security Council also was scheduled to hold a ministerial meeting Thursday that Arab leaders hope will help revive the Mideast peace process.
Jordan's King Abdullah II said that until Israel ends its occupation of Palestinian lands and gives Palestinian their rights, the cycle of violence will continue in the region and its effects will be felt throughout the world.
"I come before you today with a deep sense of urgency," Abdullah told the assembly. "Never has it been more important for the world community to act decisively for peace in my region."
Bush tried to advance his campaign for democracy in the Middle East during his address to the General Assembly on Tuesday morning, saying extremists were trying to justify their violence by falsely claiming the U.S. is waging war on Islam. He singled out Iran and Syria as sponsors of terrorism.
Bush also pointed to Tehran's rejection of a Security Council demand to stop enriching uranium by Aug. 31 or face sanctions. But he addressed his remarks to the Iranian people in a clear insult to the government.
"The greatest obstacle to this future is that your rulers have chosen to deny you liberty and to use your nation's resources to fund terrorism and fuel extremism and pursue nuclear weapons," the U.S. leader said.
"Iran must abandon its nuclear weapons ambitions," he said. "Despite what the regime tells you, we have no objection to Iran's pursuit of a truly peaceful nuclear power program."
He said he hoped to see "the day when you can live in freedom, and America and Iran can be good friends and close partners in the cause of peace."
Ahmadinejad took the podium hours later, denouncing U.S. policies in Iraq and Lebanon and he accusing Washington of abusing its power in the U.N. Security Council to punish others while protecting its own interests and allies.
The hard-line leader insisted that his nation's nuclear activities are "transparent, peaceful and under the watchful eye" of inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency, the U.N. nuclear watchdog. He also reiterated his nation's commitment to the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty.
Earlier this month, Ahmadinejad proposed a debate with Bush at the General Assembly's ministerial meeting after the White House dismissed a previous TV debate proposal as a "diversion" from serious concerns over Iran's nuclear program.
But even though the two leaders spoke from the same podium, they skipped each other's addresses and managed to avoid direct contact during the ministerial meeting.
Providing an unusual backdrop, Thailand's military staged a bloodless coup while Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra was in New York for the ministerial meetings _ highlighting the threats to global security. Thaksin initially switched speaking slots so he could make his speech on Tuesday evening, a day earlier than planned, but later canceled the address.
Pakistan's President Gen. Pervez Musharraf, a staunch U.S. ally who spoke shortly after Bush, also urged the world to confront the plague of terrorism head-on and end conflicts in the Islamic world to eliminate the "desperation and injustice" that breed extremism.
"Unless we end foreign occupation and suppression of Muslim peoples," he said, "terrorism and extremism will continue to find recruits among alienated Muslims in various parts of the world," he said, and the top priority should be ending "the tragedy of Palestine."
But as speaker after speaker expressed concern about the rise of terrorism in the world, Costa Rican President Oscar Arias, a Nobel Peace Prize winner, warned that military spending was not the answer.
He said that more than US$200 billion had been added to global military spending since the Sept. 11 attacks five years ago.
"There is not a single indicator that suggests that this colossal increase is making the world more secure and human rights more widely enjoyed," he said. "On the contrary, we feel more and more vulnerable and fragile."
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