Ousted Kyrgyz leader seeks UN action

The deposed Kyrgyz president, Kurmanbek Bakiyev, has called on the United Nations to dispatch peacekeepers to the Central Asian republic.

The former leader said on Sunday that the country's interior and defense ministries had been paralyzed and were unable to deal with any new protests in the country, RIA Novosti reported.

His remarks came shortly after the interim government declared its intention to arrest and prosecute the ousted president for the deaths of those killed during the recent unrest.

However, Bakiyev said, "If an international independent commission, which will carry out a full investigation, says in its conclusion that the president is to blame, I am prepared to bear full responsibility before my people."

The toppled leader also said that he felt responsible for the deadly anti-government protests in which 81 people were killed and more than 1,500 others injured.

"Of course, I feel responsibility for what happened. I am the president and such things happen. I can't say there is no fault of mine. My fault is that I let it happen," RIA Novosti quoted him as saying.

Bakiyev — who fled to the country's south following last week's unrest — has so far refused to resign, arguing that he retains strong support among the people of Kyrgyzstan.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=123066§ionid=351020406.

Iran builds one-megawatt generator

Iranian experts have succeeded in developing the capacity to produce one-megawatt generators, the head of an Iranian industrial company says.

“The Iranian-made generator has been completely constructed by Iranian engineers and will be unveiled in the near future,” head of Jovain Electrical Machines Industrial Company (JEMCO) Mir Ali-Akbar Asle Khademi told Mehr News Agency on Sunday.

Asle Khademi stressed that the design and production technology of the molders as well as the production of all parts of the “national generator” were completely domestic.

He added that each one-megawatt generator would save the country $60,000. Asle Khademi said that Iranian engineers are working on designing and constructing a two-megawatt generator.

JEMCO is one of subsidiaries of the Industrial Development and Renovation Organization of Iran (IDRO).

IDRO has focused its activities on the promotion of local and foreign investments with particular emphasis on new, hi-tech and export-oriented industries as well as the restructuring of existing industries in order to transfer new technologies and to enhance Iran's non-oil exports.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=123039§ionid=351020103.

Hungary's center-right wins first round

Hungary's center-right opposition party Fidesz has garnered 52.8% of the vote in the first round of the country's parliamentary elections.

The country's national election office OVI said that after processing 99% of the votes, all other parties have gained considerably less support.

The ruling minority Socialist Party gained 19.3% of the vote.

The final results from the first round have not been announced yet. The second round of the elections is scheduled for April 25.

Fidesz has secured 206 of 386 parliamentary seats and if it manages to increase the number to 258 seats in the second round, it will have a mandate to modify basic laws such as the constitution and change electoral law.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=123065§ionid=351020606.

Israel must denuclearize, Erdogan says

The Turkish premier says the international community should take action to disarm Israel as part of the efforts to make the Middle East a nuclear weapons-free zone.

Speaking to reporters on Sunday before leaving for the nuclear security summit in Washington, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the international community has turned a blind eye to Israel's nuclear program.

Pointing out that Israel is believed to be the sole possessor of nuclear weapons in the Middle East and is not a signatory to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), Erdogan said, "Until now, we haven't seen any request or intent from the international community with regards to Israel's (armament). We are going to ask the international community: why haven't you addressed this issue?"

The Turkish premier announced that he would raise the issue at the Washington summit and call on all 47 countries attending the forum to pressure Tel Aviv to relinquish its nuclear arsenal.

Erdogan said Iran's nuclear program has come under scrutiny as a result of its membership in the International Atomic Energy Agency whereas Israel, which has not signed the NPT, is "free to do what it wants."

Israel reportedly possesses 250 to 300 nuclear warheads.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu decided to cancel plans to attend the Washington summit after learning that Cairo and Ankara would demand that Tel Aviv sign the NPT at the meeting.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=123061§ionid=351020204.

Greece gets 30bn euro safety net

Eurozone nations have unveiled a 30-billion-euro aid package for heavily indebted Greece to restore confidence in the single currency.

Finance ministers from the 16 countries that share the euro currency agreed to offer Greece a three-year financing program at interest rates of around five percent.

After the ministers reached an agreement on the deal on Sunday, Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou said that "nobody can play with" the euro.

"With today's decision, Europe sends a clear message: that nobody can play with our common currency, nobody can play with our common fate," he said from Cyprus.

"Today, with the Eurogroup decision, the safety net has taken shape. European solidarity has been fleshed out," AFP quoted Papandreou as saying.

"The total amount put up by the eurozone member states for the first year will reach 30 billion euros (40 billion dollars)," eurozone finance chief and Luxembourg Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker told reporters at a press conference after a conference call between the ministers.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=123057§ionid=351020605.

'Saudis support unity govt. in Iraq'

The Iraqi president says Saudi Arabia supports a unity government in Baghdad and the Kingdom does not interfere in Iraq's internal affairs.

Iraqi President Jalal Talabani, who is on an official visit to Riyadh, said on Sunday that Saudi King Abdullah had informed him that he would like to see all Iraqi politicians included in the new government.

"The aspiration of all Arabs is that all Iraqis will participate in the running of their country," said the king, according to a statement issued by Talabani's office.

"The king said that Saudi Arabia stands at the same distance from all Iraqi parties and that the kingdom supports Iraq without interfering in its internal affairs," the statement added.

The remarks sought to dismiss widespread speculation that the Kingdom supported former Iraqi Prime Minister Iyad Allawi in last month's election in Iraq.

Saudi Foreign Minister Saud al-Faisal reiterated King Abdullah's stance, saying "We support all Iraqis, and Iraq's unity, independence, and sovereignty over its territory, and we maintain the same distance from all politicians."

President Talabani is on a two-day visit to Saudi Arabia for talks with the Saudi king to discuss new developments in the efforts to establish a new government in Iraq.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=123056§ionid=351020201.

Iran to attend NPT conference in NY

Iran's ambassador to the International Atomic Energy Agency says the Islamic Republic will participate in a conference to review the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.

In May, the parties to the NPT will gather in New York for a pentennial review on the treaty.

"They know that the Islamic Republic of Iran will play a key and active role in the summit," ISNA quoted Iranian Ambassador Ali Asghar Soltanieh as saying on Sunday.

The West has accused Iran of seeking nuclear weaponry, and the US administration is pressuring its allies to impose a new round of sanctions on the Islamic Republic through a new UN Security Council resolution.

Soltanieh advised Washington to abandon its anti-Iran agenda during the NPT review conference.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=123050§ionid=351020104.