Excerpts: Iran/US dialogue?Israeli film wins Golden Lion in Venice,Attacks
on Israel from south Lebanon.Radioactive cobalt from Lebanon to
Russia.Peaceful Washington anti-goverment demonstration September 12, 2009

+++SOURCE: WASHINGTON POST 12 Sept.'09:" U.S. Accepts Offer From Tehran for
Broad Talks", Glenn Kessler

QUOTE: U.S. officials . . . decided to take at face value the offer of a
dialogue"

FULL TEXT:The United States has decided to ignore Iran's refusal to discuss
its nuclear program and instead accept a vague Iranian plan for talks on
security issues as the opening gambit to draw Tehran into real negotiation.
The effort to "test" Iran's intentions, announced on Friday(11 Sept.), came
after Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said his country is skeptical of
the need for new sanctions on Iran, giving the Americans little choice but
to treat seriously Iran's latest offer.
Iran this week ruled out talks on its program, instead offering a five-page
plan that it said would lay the groundwork for peace and stability in the
region. The document, first posted Thursday on the Web site of ProPublica
news service, made no reference to international demands that Iran suspend
its efforts to enrich uranium, but did mention ending proliferation in
nuclear weapons as well as a broad offer of dialogue.
Iran's plan was disappointing but not surprising to U.S. officials, who
nonetheless decided to take at face value the offer of a dialogue. Iran has
insisted that the intent of its program is peaceful, but enriching uranium
can be an element in building a nuclear weapon -- though Tehran has not yet
demonstrated it can enrich to a weapons-grade level.
"There's language in the letter that simply says the government of Iran is
willing to enter into dialogue," State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley
said. "We are going to test that proposition, okay? And if Iran is willing
to enter into serious negotiations, then they will find a willing
participant in the United States and the other [partner] countries. If Iran
dissembles in the future, as it has in the past, then we will draw
conclusions from that."

Crowley stressed that the United States wants "serious engagement" on Iran's
nuclear activities and that officials would raise it at any meeting, despite
its absence from the Iranian proposal.
The other countries negotiating with Iran make up an unwieldy and often
divided coalition. It includes Russia and China -- skeptics of new
sanctions -- and the United Kingdom, France and Germany, which tend to
support the U.S. position but continue to trade with Iran. Putin, according
to his spokesman, told a group of foreign policy experts that sanctions
"won't bring the desired effect" and that military action "would hurt the
entire region," but that Iran needs to answer international concerns about
its nuclear program.
European foreign policy chief Javier Solona, who has been designated the
chief negotiator with the Iranians for the six powers, said in a written
statement that he is seeking a meeting with Iranian nuclear negotiator Saeed
Jalili "at the earliest possible opportunity."

+++SOURCE: New York Times 12 Sept.'09:"Israeli Film "Lebanon" Wins Golden
Lion In Venice", Reuters
VENICE (Reuters) - Israeli war movie "Lebanon" won the Golden Lion for best
picture at the Venice film festival on Saturday(12 Sept.)

+++SOURCE: NAHARNET (Lebanon) 12 Sept'09:"Israel Files Complaint with U.N.
Over
Rocket Attack from Lebanon
SUBJECT: Attacks on Israel from south Lebanon
EXCERPTS:"Israel has complained to the United Nations about the rocket
attack from southern Lebanon on Friday{11 Sept.) as military sources in the
Jewish state said a global jihad group was most likely behind the rocket
firing.
Israel's envoy to the U.N. Gabriela Shalev sent a letter on Friday(11 Sept)
to U.S. ambassador Susan Rice, whose country is currently holding the
rotating Security Council presidency, and to Secretary General Ban Ki-moon.

Shalev said in the letter that the attack was "another example of the
presence of munitions and terror activity south of the Litani River in
direct violation of U.N. Security Council Resolution 1701."

Israel held the Lebanese government responsible and said Beirut wasn't doing
enough to prevent the presence of armed groups and weapons south of the
Litani River, as outlined in Resolution 1701.

The rocket firing prompted Israel to respond with artillery fire. The
exchange, in which no casualties were reported by either side, was the
latest in persisting tensions between the two countries. It was the third
time this year rockets were fired from Lebanon into Israel, each time
bringing Israeli retaliation.

The Israeli army said it fired artillery at the source of rocket attack in
Qlaileh. The military "views this incident very severely and we hold the
government of Lebanon responsible," a statement said.
"UNIFIL in coordination with the LAF (Lebanese army) deployed additional
troops in the general area to prevent any escalation of the situation, but
the situation is pretty calm today," the United Nations Interim Force in
Lebanon spokeswoman Yasmina Bouziane told Agence France Presse on Saturday.
The peacekeeping troops continued to urge both sides to exercise maximum
restraint and had launched an investigation into the incident, Bouziane
said, but would not comment on who could be behind the rocket attacks.
"We will wait for the report," she said.
Israel Army Radio quoted military sources as saying that a small jihad group
with links abroad was likely behind the firing of the rockets.

+++SOURCE: EGYPTIAN GAZETTE 12 Sept.'09:"IAEA airlifts deadly cobalt out of
Lebanon",Agence France Presse

SUBJECT: Radioactive cobalt from Lebanon to Russia

EXCERPTS:VIENNA (AFP) - The UN nuclear watchdog said yesterday it had
airlifted deadly radioactive cobalt materials out of Lebanon to safety in
Russia.

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said in a statement that a
plane carrying 36 Cobalt-60 sources - each one radioactive enough to kill a
person within minutes - arrived in Russia from Lebanon on August 30.The
cobalt materials, which came from an irradiator used for a long-defunct
agricultural project, are now securely stored in Russia, the statement
said."Given the political situation in the Middle East and particularly in
Lebanon we saw this source as vulnerable to malicious acts. If it was stolen
it could cause a lot of damage to people," said Robin Heard, an IAEA
radioactive source specialist who oversaw the mission."The challenges to
this project were all security related,". . .

+++SOURCE: NEW YORK TIMES 12 Sept.'09:"Thousands Eally in U.S. Capital to
Protest Big Governmenr",By JEFF ZELENY

QUOTES:: " 'This not some kind of radical right-wing group. . .people are
afraid of what's going on' " , " 'this is a peaceful way of showing our
frustration' "
FULL TEXT:WASHINGTON - Tens of thousands of people from across the country
arrived here Saturday(12 Sept.) to demonstrate against what they say is an
ever-expanding intrusion of government in their lives in a culmination of a
summer-long season of protests that began with an opposition to health care
and grew into a broader dissatisfaction with Washington.
A sea of people stretched along Pennsylvania Avenue from the Capitol to the
White House on a cloudy and cool day, with scores of hand-written signs
telling of their frustration. They sang verse after verse of patriotic songs
like "God Bless America," even as others shouted angry criticisms of
President Obama and Congress.
"I want Congress to be afraid," said Keldon Clapp, 45, an unemployed
marketing representative who recently moved to Tennessee from Connecticut
after losing his job. "Like everyone else here, I want them to know that we're
watching what they're doing. And they do work for us."
As Mr. Obama traveled to Minnesota on Saturday(12 Sept) to rally support for
his health care plan, he flew over the crowd in Marine One. The helicopter
could be seen flying overhead as the demonstrators made their way toward
Capitol Hill from downtown Washington.
The police declined to provide a precise crowd estimate, but the
demonstrators filled the west lawn of the Capitol and stretched for block
after block and onto a portion of the National Mall. The authorities urged
protest organizers to begin marching 20 minutes early, because the crowd was
too large to fit in Freedom Plaza near the White House.
"This is not some kind of radical right-wing group," Senator Jim DeMint,
Republican of South Carolina, said in an interview as dozens of people
streamed by him. "I just hope the Congress, the Senate and the president
recognize that people are afraid of what's going on."
Mr. DeMint and a handful of Republican members of Congress were the only
party leaders on hand for the demonstration. Republican officials were
pleased by the crowd turnout, but also wary of the anger directed at
incumbents of all stripes.
They came by bus, car and airplane, arriving here from Texas and Tennessee,
New Mexico and New Hampshire, Ohio and Pennsylvania. The messages on their
signs told of an intense distrust of the government, which began well before
Mr. Obama took office and extends far beyond the effort to overhaul health
care. One sign declared: "We are under attack by our own government." And
several signs said, "Our Constitution has termites!"
The protest, organized by anti-tax groups, opened peacefully, with few
visible signs of counter-protesters.
While there was no shortage of vitriol among protesters, there was also an
air of festivity. A band of Revolutionary War protesters in colonial gear
wound through the crowd, led by a bell-ringer in a tri-corner hat calling
for revolution. A folk singer belting out a protest ballad on a guitar
brought cheers from listeners.
Paula Davis, 55, and her husband, James Davis Jr., a retired United States
Air Force lieutenant, stood by the band and handed out small American flags
to passers by. The two had flown to Washington from Corrales, N.M., and a
huge yellow state flag snapped in the breeze overhead.
Ms. Davis said that no single issue prompted her to come to the capital,
saying: "It's everything." She listed health care and energy legislation
among them. Mr. Davis added, "It seems like everything that this
administration seems to be doing is promoting job loss and making the
situation worse."
Throughout the morning, more and more demonstrators arrived, identifying
themselves as Republicans, libertarians and independents. Several speakers
denounced the Obama administration's health care plan as "socialism." A few
Confederate flags waved in the air, but there were hundreds of American
flags and chants of, "USA! USA! USA!" A young girl held a sign, saying: "Don't
redistribute the wealth of my Barbies."
Ruth Lobbs, 57, a school teacher from Jacksonville, Fla., said she flew to
Washington on Saturday to protest how she believes the government has
violated the Constitution. She said she did not vote for the president,
adding that her anger has been building for years.
"It's more than Obama. This isn't a Republican or a Democratic issue," Ms.
Lobbs said, as she held a yellow flag that declared, "Don't Tread on Me."
"I don't know if anything will come of this or not," she said, "but this is
a peaceful way of showing our frustration."
Mike Bileca, a Republican from Miami, and his wife, brought their three
young children. Mr. Bileca said he was fed up with Republicans and Democrats
alike, for what he believed was excessive spending practices and
unresponsiveness to constituents.
"We want to make sure that this country is preserved for them," he said of
his sons. "If someone doesn't stand up, then they're going to have nothing."

=====
Sue Lerner - Associate, IMRA