Official: Iran Developing Missile
WASHINGTON (AP) - May 7-Iran, with an assist from Russia and other countries, is developing a long-range missile that would give it the ability to strike NATO countries in Europe, a senior administration official says.
The Shahab-4 missile would have a 1,250-mile range, putting it within reach of Italy, Germany, Poland, the Czech Republic, Hungary and Greece, according to the official.
The development is worrisome to U.S. officials because Iran has been viewed by the State Department as the world's most active terrorist country. President Bush has identified Iran among three ``axis of evil'' members, with Iraq and North Korea.
Despite the emerging capability, an Iranian attack against American allies in Europe is considered highly unlikely because most of these countries maintain normal ties with Tehran, which they believe can help moderate Iran's behavior.
Older generation Iranian missiles, including the Shahab-3, have shorter ranges and are capable of reaching Israel, Turkey and U.S. troops in Saudi Arabia.
Iran seems increasingly confident about its military prowess. This was apparent when strains developed with Israel after Israel's interception in January of a shipment of Iranian weapons to Palestinian areas.
At one point, Iranian Defense Minister Ali Shamkhani warned that if Israel ``carries out any military action against Iran, the response will be beyond the imagination of any Israeli politician.''
Iran's missile development is proceeding hand-in-hand with efforts to develop nuclear, biological and chemical weapons, U.S. officials say.
The senior official, commenting on condition of anonymity, said Iran's military buildup cannot be justified as a defense against neighbor and longtime rival Iraq, pointing out that the missiles Iran is developing could fly well beyond Iraq.
In a speech Monday, Undersecretary of State John Bolton highlighted Iran's progress in developing biological and chemical weapons. He also alluded to its "ongoing interest in nuclear weapons, and its aggressive ballistic missile research, development and flight-testing regimen."
A CIA report issued this year said Iran has been receiving missile equipment, technology and related expertise from Russia, North Korea and China.
Russia's role in assisting Iran seems at odds with the strong expressions of friendship and confidence Washington and Moscow have been demonstrating toward each other lately.
The mutual regard was evident last week during the visit to Washington of Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov and is expected to be on display when President Bush travels to Moscow on May 23 for a summit meeting with President Vladimir Putin.
Each side ascribes good will to the other even as disagreements remain, including U.S. doubts about Russian compliance with biological and chemical weapons treaties.
The administration has been highlighting the positive aspects of the relationship with Moscow while making only infrequent references to its concerns about Russia's ties with Iran.
The senior official who spoke about Iran, however, said these links are a series problem, "a piece of baggage that weighs down the relationship" with Russia.
"We're concerned that Russian technology and expertise is helping Iran to increase the accuracy and distance of their missiles, and that Russian technology and expertise is helping Iran develop fissile material," the official said.

Ventura: 'I won't seek another office'
MINNEAPOLIS - May 8- In his most sweeping denial yet of presidential aspirations, Minnesota Gov. Jesse Ventura has vowed never to seek another political office after leaving the one he now occupies. "When I complete my run as governor, I will not seek another office in my lifetime," he said in a radio interview Tuesday. Later Tuesday, Ventura made a statement that wasn't necessarily at odds with that assertion but wasn't identical, either. Asked whether he would run for the U.S. Senate this year, he said: "If I were to run for a Washington office, it would be for the big white house." In the radio interview, Ventura provided little new insight into his immediate plans, saying he will not announce whether he will run for re-election until after he returns from a trade mission to China in late June. "I don't want that mission bogged down with election politics," he said. Ventura spokesman John Wodele said the governor's forswearing of further political ambitions during the radio interview was his most categorical ever. In the past, he has answered questions about a possible run for president by saying he doesn't want the job, but he had never ruled it out completely. Ventura wasn't asked specifically about the presidency Tuesday, but Wodele said he wasn't surprised by the governor's statement. "I really do believe he doesn't want to be president," Wodele said. Even if Ventura doesn't run for another office, Wodele added, he will continue to promote what he calls "a third force in politics."

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US abandons International Criminal Court treaty
The United States renounced its legal obligation to support the treaty that creates the International Criminal Court because of flaws in its mandate that leave it unaccountable, the US special envoy for war crimes said.

The move releases the United States from a commitment not to take any action that would defeat the "object or purpose" of the treaty, Pierre-Richard Prosper said. That commitment stemmed from Washington's signing of the treaty two years ago during former president Bill Clinton's administration.

Prosper's comments came as Washington's number three diplomat, Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Marc Grossman, made a similar announcement in a speech, and the UN mission at the United Nations made the decision official in a letter to UN Secretary General Kofi Annan.

The letter, signed by US Under Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security John Bolton, said that the United States did not intend to become a party to the treaty.

"Accordingly the United States has no legal obligations rising from its signature on December 31 2000," Bolton wrote.

The Clinton administration signed the treaty but made clear that it believed the accord was flawed and said it did not intend to submit it to the US Senate for ratification.

The ICC is being created under a 1998 Rome agreement signed by countries eager to set up an international body to prosecute genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity.

Treaty opponents, particularly US lawmakers and decision makers in the Bush administration, say the court could be used by critics of the United States against US service members participating in military operations overseas.

But supporters argue that the ICC is the missing link in the international legal system because the existing International Court of Justice at The Hague handles only litigation between states, not individuals.

In making the announcements, both Prosper and Grossman insisted that the United States remained committed to punishing war crimes and crimes against humanity, but that the ICC was not the proper place to do it.

"It undermines the (UN) Security Council," Prosper said. "It is a flawed document that has insufficient safeguards to prevent exploitation of the process and politicization of the process.

"Despite the fact that we are committed to combating these abuses, combating war crimes and saw the goal of accountability as a noble one, given the current state of the court and treaty document, the only option we have left is to take the action we are taking today," he said.

Although Washington is abandoning the treaty and its legal obligation not to undermine it, Prosper said the United States would not fight to destroy the court.

"We are not going to attack, assail, or wage war on the ICC," he said.

Instead, Prosper and Grossman said the United States would seek to assist war-ravaged countries rebuild their justice systems and create processes of accountability so that an international court was unnecessary.

They also said the United States would support on merit the UN Security Council if it acted to create an ad hoc tribunal for a specific country, such as has been done with the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda.

Prosper outlined several ways in which the United States would work with countries to rebuild their legal systems and establish accountability, including working with the private sector to fund legal programs, and possibly tribunals themselves, human rights groups and US universities and law schools.

Asked whether it was feasible for the infrastructure of a country's court system to be funded by a private corporation, Prosper replied: "Yes," and speculated that a company like software giant Microsoft might want to help pay for a law library or donate computers.

It was not immediately clear how rights groups and other justice organizations -- which have supported the ICC and severely criticized the US move -- would respond to the unusual US proposal.

Ahead of the formal announcement, 23 prominent US human rights advocates blasted the decision as rash, and Amnesty International-USA Director Bill Schulz said it meant that the United States was "turning its back on decades of US leadership in prosecuting war criminals since the Nuremberg trials."

"Unsigning is an unprecedented act that has little practical effect, but is symbolically powerful because it undermines American leadership and credibility at the worst possible time," the advocates said in a statement.

But Prosper insisted that there was "common ground" from which Washington could work with non-governmental organizations, the United Nations and others interested in the pursuit of justice.

"No NGO, no government, no international organization can dispute our view that it is best to create the capacity and rebuild the capacity of states to deal with this issue," he said.

"We can all agree that states should have the ability to exercise the rule of law, to regulate and control the events within their borders."

To date, 66 nations have ratified the treaty, six more than required to trigger its entry into force. The court will come into being July 1, and is expected to be ready to start work in The Hague early next year.

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