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NEWS SUNDAY, APRIL 13, 2014 Iran not considering alternative UN pick Continued from Page 1 Obama’s desk on Thursday. Carney did the nomination, but Araqchi’s comments not say whether Obama would eventual- yesterday appeared to indicate that such Mohammad Javad Zarif to write to UN ly sign it, but he added: “We certainly a step is not a palatable option for Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to fight share the intent of the bill passed by President Hassan Rouhani’s government. the US decision. Congress.” Aboutalebi, who currently heads The visa row poses a challenge to US The bill amends a section of the exist- Rouhani’s political affairs bureau, has President Barack Obama’s drive for a ing Foreign Relations Authorisations Act insisted he was not part of the hostage- diplomatic breakthrough and a global to allow Washington to withhold visas for taking in Nov 1979, when an Islamist stu- deal over Iran’s disputed nuclear pro- individuals who have “engaged in a ter- dent group seized the US embassy nine gram. Aboutalebi is a former ambassador rorist activity against the United States”. months after the overthrow of the pro- to Australia, Italy and Belgium. As the Carney said there was no reason to Western shah. host government, the United States is expect that the row between Tehran and Some of the former hostage takers are obliged to issue visas to diplomats who Washington over the envoy would now moderates or reformers, including serve at the United Nations. It is believed impact progress in talks between Iran Vice President for Environmental Affairs that Washington has never previously and world powers, including the United Massoumeh Ebtekar, one of three denied a visa for a UN ambassador, States, over Tehran’s nuclear activities. women in the cabinet. Aboutalebi has although Tehran withdrew its nominee The episode reflects the impact that acknowledged that he served a limited once in the early 1990s. the hostage crisis - in which 52 Americans role as a translator for the students who KUWAIT: Members of the Opposition Coalition hold a press conference yesterday. — Photo by Yasser Al-Zayyat Fierce political pressure from were held for 444 days in Tehran - still has took the Americans hostage. But US law- Congress, which has overwhelmingly on US perceptions of the Islamic republic. makers who passed the bill branded Opposition calls for elected govt... passed a bill barring Aboutalebi from US Neither Carney nor the State Department Aboutalebi a “terrorist”, and say he should soil and where scepticism about Obama’s directly attributed the decision not to not be allowed to walk the streets of New Continued from Page 1 ing family, Mutairi said the achievement of the reforms “is nuclear diplomacy runs high, has put the give Aboutalebi a visa to suspicions over York with diplomatic immunity. inevitable and the ruling family can chose between the easy The reforms prevent unelected ministers from becoming and voluntary method or the more difficult way through White House in a corner. “We have his role in 1979, but noted widespread Democratic Senator Chuck Schumer members of the Cabinet - as is the case now - and increase protests and struggle”. informed the United Nations and Iran media reports on his background. Iran praised the White House for its stance on accountability of the ministers. To achieve that, the program Former MP and representative of the Islamic Constitutional that we will not issue a visa for Mr had slammed as unacceptable a previous the ambassador. “Hamid Aboutalebi’s calls for amending 36 articles of the constitution which con- Movement Jamaan Al-Harbash said the reforms represent a Aboutalebi,” White House spokesman Jay US statement that the nomination of nomination would have been a slap at all sists of 183 articles and has never been amended since it was leap to a full parliamentary system in which the executive Carney said on Friday. White House Aboutalebi was “not viable”. American victims of terrorism, not just promulgated in 1962. The program also suggested the intro- power will be in the hands of the Kuwaiti people. Saad Al- lawyers are studying constitutional issues A senior State Department official had those taken hostage in 1979,” Schumer duction and the amendment of 20 key laws focusing on com- Ajmi, representative of the nationalist Popular Action raised by the bill which landed on said that Iran still had time to withdraw said. —- Agencies bating rife corruption, ensuring more independence of the Movement, described the reforms as a “salvation program of judiciary and the appointment of senior bureaucrats. what remains of Kuwait that has been ruined through the Head of the youth civil democratic union Tareq Al-Mutairi mismanagement of the members of the ruling family”. Antarctica a dream destination told the press conference the proposed reforms have no Barrak said the Opposition Coalition plans to call for rallies precedence since 1938 when Kuwaiti people demanded a and gatherings to press for implementing the reforms, but Continued from Page 1 $5,000. The most expensive, which last 15 days and go democratically elected legislative council. Addressing the rul- gave no dates. to the South Pole, cost $12,000,” Brazilian Gunnar “It was a fantastic experience. The first thing that Hagelberg, owner of Antarctica Expeditions, told AFP. makes this trip special is being able to visit such a well- More than 35,350 people will have visited NSA denies taking advantage of bug preserved, untouched continent,” said Canadian Antarctica by the end of this year - 1,000 more than Maureen Malone, 69. “The second is being able to see last season and 8,000 more than in 2011-2012, accord- Continued from Page 1 creating the potential for them to steal passwords, encryp- tion keys, or other valuable information. the penguins. Everybody loves the penguins. Also, I ing to the International Association of Antarctic Tour been disclosed to the community responsible for Warnings about the dangers have expanded in recent was able to see around the bases, see how the differ- Operators. “We carry from 120 to 130 people per sea- OpenSSL.” Bloomberg, citing two people said to be familiar days, with everyone from website operators and bank offi- ent countries are sharing the region.” Tourism is one of son. We have seen a 15 to 20 percent increase in the with the matter, said the NSA was able to make Heartbleed cials to Internet surfers and workers who telecommute being the few economic activities allowed by the Treaty of number of tourists who want to see the continent,” part of its “arsenal” to obtain passwords and other data, with- told their data could be in danger. NSA was already in the the Antarctic and the Madrid Protocol, which bans said Nicolas Paulsen, deputy commercial director of out making public a vulnerability which could affect millions spotlight after months of revelations about its vast data- mineral extraction on the white continent. the Chilean airline Dap, which offers logistical and of Internet users. The report said the secretive intelligence gathering capabilities, along with partner intelligence agen- The Antarctic draws more than 30,000 tourists per tourist flights. agency has more than 1,000 experts devoted to ferreting out cies. year, from November to March, when there is no prob- Paulsen said tourism in Antarctica is rising three these kinds of flaws and found the Heartbleed glitch shortly Documents leaked by former NSA contractor Edward lem landing on the frozen sea. Most arrive on ships percent more per year than tourism to Chile, which is after its introduction. The agency then made it part of its Snowden indicated that the NSA has been able to collect that cross Drake Passage in the Southern Ocean, which up seven percent. Most visitors come from the United “toolkit for stealing account passwords and other common data from millions of phone records and Internet conver- has some of the world’s worst weather, setting off from States, Australia, China, Russia and, more and more, tasks,” the report said. sations as part of its intelligence gathering. NSA officials Ushuaia in southern Argentina and from Punta Arenas. from Brazil. “Antarctica is vital for us. It affects the cli- The claim was met with concerns in the security commu- argue they use such data only to help root out suspected “Ninety percent of the tourists from around the world mate, the sea currents. Tourism is important because nity. “If the NSA really knew about Heartbleed, they have terrorists. US President Barack Obama has ordered reforms who come to Antarctica leave from Ushuaia. The cruis- the more people get to know it, the more they will some serious explaining to do,” cryptographer Matthew that would halt government bulk collection of telephone es last an average of 11 days. The cheapest ones cost want to protect it,” said Paulsen. — AFP Green said on Twitter. The Heartbleed flaw lets hackers records, but critics argue this does not go far enough to snatch packets of data from working memory in computers, protect civil liberties. — AFP.

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