Extracts. Roundup: Lukashenko Set to Win Belarussian Election. Belarussian election commission officials announced early Monday that the official results of Sunday's presidential election were most likely to be announced on Friday which indicate an apparent landslide victory of incumbent President Alexander Lukashenko. Preliminary results, with 75 percent ballot counted, showed 47- year-old Lukashenko had won 78.4 percent of the votes, much higher than the 12.5 percent for his main opponent -- the opposition candidate Vladimir Goncharik. The third and the last candidate, Liberal Democratic Party leader Sergei Gaidukevich, collected only less than 3 percent. Lydia Yermoshina, chairwoman of the Central Election Commission, declined to declare Lukashenko the outright winner until all votes are counted, but emphasized "the tendency is clear." "There are no doubts about the honesty, fairness and openness of the polling," she said. It is widely predicted Lukashenko would win a sweeping victory in the first round of the election. Under the Belarussian constitution, a candidate will be considered elected if he gets more than 50 percent of the votes in a valid election with more than half of registered voters casting their votes. The turnover of Sunday's election was 75.2 percent, far exceeding the necessary rate for a valid election. Claiming victory before final results are due, Lukashenko told a press conference that his re-election is "brilliant, elegant and significant", noting that none of the international observer has stated serious drawbacks in the election. Commenting on the record high turnout of 75.2 percent, the president said this showed that the Belarussian people "do not pay attention to the external pressure." Lukashenko, who is likely to hold office for another five years, said he did not intend to radically reshuffle his government. "There will be no overhaul, since there is no need for that," he said, but he did not rule out possible changes of individual ministers. Over 7.2 million Belarussian cast their votes in Sunday's presidential election in 6,753 polling stations. Some 715 international observers from 45 countries and international organizations monitored the voting process. Over 1,000 journalists, a record number since Belarus became independent, have come here to cover the event. **** US, British Jets Attack Southern Iraq US and British warplanes attacked three surface-to-air missile sites in Iraq's southern "no- fly" zone on Sunday as part of a campaign to disable Baghdad's air defenses, reports here said. A Pentagon official was quoted as saying that there were three separate strikes that occurred between 11 a.m. EDT (1500 GMT) and 1:30 p.m. EDT (1730 GMT). All US aircraft returned safely to their bases, the Pentagon said. **** US Arms Export Licenses Double in Two Years. Licenses issued by the US State Department for weapons, spare parts and arms manufacturing assistance totaled 55 billion U.S. dollars in fiscal year 2000, a 100 percent increase over licenses granted in 1998, according to the latest government report obtained by the Arms Trade Oversight Project. The arms export licenses to over 140 countries, combined with the Pentagon's 12.1 billion dollars in foreign military sales, boosted the U.S. arms sales to 67 billion dollars last year, solidifying the country as the world's dominant arms merchant. The report also shows that the U.S. government approved licenses worth tens of millions of dollars for small arms and related materials to nearly every country in Latin America. In 2000, 31 of 38 countries in Latin America received some small arms related export licenses from the United States, including licenses for 53,099 pistols and revolvers valued at over 53 million dollars, nearly 20,000 nonmilitary rifles valued at over eight million dollars, and over 195 million small caliber ammunition cartridges valued at over 18 million dollars. These numbers, according to the Project's analysis, explained well why the United States doggedly fought against efforts to restrain the trade in small arms and light weapons at the recent U. N. conference on small arms. The U.S. State Department also granted licenses to countries in Latin America that it cited in its previous human rights reports for "human rights violations." The expansion of export of materials and expertise necessary for foreign nations to build their own weapons will "lead to a proliferation of weapons and manufacturing capabilities, leaving the United States with less control over its weapons and manufacturing expertise," the Arms Trade Oversight Project commented. **** Iranian FM Highlights Relations with China. Iranian Foreign Minister Kamal Kharazi on Saturday highlighted the relations with China, saying that a new chapter has opened in the historical relations between the two countries. During a meeting with Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Yang Wenchang, Kharazi noted that Iran and China share views on international issues. He called for more exchange of visits between officials of the two countries and consultations on regional and international issues. China is a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council and its diplomatic efforts in helping end regional and international crisis are very significant for developing countries, he stressed. The world community is taking shape through globalization so that the different poles of the world should cooperate in the process with strong support for the developing nations, Kharazi said. Yang, who arrived here on Friday to attend a meeting of the China-Iran diplomatic committee, exchanged views with Kharazi on ways of developing bilateral relations. China and Iran have common stance on international issues and there exist enormous grounds for bilateral cooperation in various fields, Yang said, adding that China is keen on developing relations with Iran. Earlier in the day, Yang also discussed with Iran's Deputy Foreign Minister for Asia and Oceania Mohsen Aminzadeh bilateral, regional and international issues, including the developments in the Middle East and Afghanistan. **** Palestinian Cable Factory Destroyed by Israeli Forces. Israeli forces exploded a Palestinian cable factory Saturday morning in the eastern part of Gaza City, Palestinian security sources have confirmed. Witnesses said the explosion, carried out by Israeli forces at dawn, caused huge noise that could be heard from far away. Israeli tanks had shelled the cable factory Friday afternoon, setting it ablaze and causing severe damage. The dawn strike has completely destroyed the Palestinian factory. The Palestinian economy has been deteriorating because of the continued Israeli attacks on its industrial enterprises, alongside the ongoing Israeli blockade on the Palestinian territories. The situation can be more devastating as more than 90 percent of raw materials for Palestinian factories are imported through Israeli ports, enabling Israeli authorities to put restrictions on clearing the imported goods. The Palestinian industrial sector is estimated to have suffered a daily loss of 770 million U.S. dollars between late last September and July 13 this year. **** Two Israelis Killed in Palestinian Drive-by Shooting Attack. Two Israelis were killed and three wounded Sunday morning when a minibus carrying school and kindergarten teachers through the Jordan Valley came under a Palestinian shooting attack. The shooting took place near the Adam junction, not far from the border crossing into Jordan, Israel Radio reported. The bus driver and a woman passenger were killed when shots were reportedly fired from a passing vehicle with a Palestinian license plate. Three other passengers were wounded in the crash which occurred in the wake of the shooting. The Israeli army has dispatched a helicopter to the scene of the attack to evacuate the wounded to nearby hospitals. The shooting attack followed a missile strike by Israeli air force on Palestinian Fatah offices near the West Bank city of Ramallah Saturday evening to avenge the death of an army officer on Thursday. A woman officer was seriously injured in that shooting attack by Palestinian gunmen. _________________________________________________ KOMINFORM P.O. Box 66 00841 Helsinki Phone +358-40-7177941 Fax +358-9-7591081 http://www.kominf.pp.fi General class struggle news: [EMAIL PROTECTED] subscribe mails to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Geopolitical news: [EMAIL PROTECTED] subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] __________________________________________________
