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Your World Today

Iran Nuclear Dispute; Settler Clashes in Israel; The Trial of Saddam Hussein

Aired February 01, 2006 - 11:59   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

ANNOUNCER: Live from CNN Center, this is YOUR WORLD TODAY.
ZAIN VERJEE, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Baton-wielding security forces clash with Jewish settlers in the West Bank. Then Israel demolishes the illegal Amona outpost.

JIM CLANCY, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Defiant, despite international pressure. Iran's hard-line leader promising a full speed ahead follow-through on his nuclear plans.

VERJEE: And expressing outrage. Muslims seek revenge and punishment for what they consider an insult to Islam.

CLANCY: Right now it is 7:00 p.m. in Gaza, it is 8:30 p.m. in Tehran.

I'm Jim Clancy.

VERJEE: And I'm Zain Verjee. This is YOUR WORLD TODAY.

Welcome to our viewers in the United States and around the world.

We want to begin the report this hour with the anger and defiance seen across the Middle East just hours after U.S. president George W. Bush laid out his vision for their region.

VERJEE: In an address that was televised across the world, the president called on the militant group Hamas to disarm and he said Iran was being held hostage by a small clerical elite.

CLANCY: Iran's president firing right back directly at the United States, calling it a hollow superpower that is, in his words, "tainted with the blood of nations."

VERJEE: Hamas also rejected Mr. Bush's call to disarm, saying the president should accept the reality that Hamas was elected democratically.

CLANCY: Meantime, there is chaos of a different kind in the region so important to the United States. Fierce clashes erupting between Israeli settlers and security forces. They were trying to evacuate an outpost in the West Bank when things turned ugly.

VERJEE: We're going to get to those dramatic West Bank clashes in just a moment. But first, the nuclear dispute with Iran. U.S. President George W. Bush taking on Tehran during his State of the Union Address in Washington. Mr. Bush said the world must stand united to stop Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons. He also criticized the government in Tehran.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The same is true of Iran, a nation now held hostage by a small clerical elite that is isolating and repressing its people. The regime in that country sponsors terrorists in the Palestinian territories and in Lebanon, and that must come to an end.

The Iranian government is defying the world with its nuclear ambitions, and the nations of the world must not permit the Iranian regime to gain nuclear weapons.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VERJEE: There was lots of applause on Capitol Hill, but that message fell flat with Iran's president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. He derided the U.S. and vowed to continue to pursue a nuclear program.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAHMOUD AHMADINEJAD, IRANIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): Our nation will continue its path until full realization of its rights. Nuclear energy is our right, and we will resist until this right is fully realized. Our nation cannot give in to the coercion of some bully countries who imagine they are the whole world.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VERJEE: Britain is warning Iran not to pass up this final opportunity to comply with international demands. The U.K. is taking a leading role in the impasse.

Our senior European editor, Robin Oakley, is monitoring all the developments.

Robin, what is the European position?

ROBIN OAKLEY, CNN SR. EUROPEAN EDITOR: Well, Zain, the pressure is mounting all the time on Iran to re-suspend its nuclear program. On late at night on Monday, while into the early hours of Tuesday morning, we had the agreement here in London between the EU, the U.S., Russia and China that Iran should be reported to the U.N. Security Council. Ahead that was, of course, of the meeting tomorrow and Friday of the International Atomic Energy Agency board which would have to vote on any such proceeding.

Then, of course, as well as President George Bush weighing in, we've had Tony Blair in the British House of Commons today insisting that Iran must step back into line.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TONY BLAIR, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: Given what Iran is doing, not just in respect to the breach of its obligations in respect of nuclear weapons, but also in exporting terrorism around the region, in what it's doing in human rights, it is important, surely, at this moment above all else that we say they have to come back into compliance with their international obligations. And we -- all of us support the action necessary to do so.

Now, we are pursuing that, as I say, in front of the U.N. Security Council. But it's important that they understand from this house, I hope, that we are united in determining that they should not be able to carry on flouting their international obligations.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

OAKLEY: So it's now looking very much, Zain, as though the IAEA board will be willing to vote for that reporting to the U.N. Security Council, particularly because of a leaked report from the IAEA today which has said that Iran has got hold on the black market of some documents and drawings which could only possibly be used for the purpose of an atomic warhead -- Zain.

VERJEE: Robin Oakley, reporting from London.

Iran's threatening resume large-scale enrichment of uranium if they are referred to the U.N. Security Council. We're going to do our best to explain exactly what that means. We'll do that in just a few minutes -- Jim.

CLANCY: In the West Bank, rioters on rooftops raining down bricks, eggs, even buckets of cooking oil at Israeli police at the Amona outpost. Now, Israeli riot police on horseback used batons to try to beat back crowds. Police say more than 80 people were injured. The Israeli Medical Services putting the number at more than 200.

Guy Raz brings us up to date.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GUY RAZ, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): "In my time as a police officer, I have never seen violence like this against us." That was the description of one Israeli policeman sent to Amona.

Under a hail of stones, police confronted hard-line ultranationalists, all of them Jewish settlers and their supporters battling fellow Israelis for a cause increasingly rejected by their countrymen.

Green-tinted water cannons will temporarily mark these protesters. It makes it easier to identify them for arrest.

Medics treated more than 150 people, both police and demonstrators, stretcher after stretcher carrying the bloodied and bruised. Many of the demonstrators teens, some children. All regard the government of interim prime minister Ehud Olmert as the enemy. They even have allies in the Israeli parliament.

EFFIE EITAM, ISRAELI KNESSET MEMBER: We are trying the best we can to stop the provocation of the government.

RAZ: But Amona outpost is just the beginning. The government says 24 other unauthorized settlements are soon to be targeted for demolition. For these hard-liners, this is a battle over the future, a window into what Israel's government plans to do.

(on camera): Under the U.S.-backed roadmap for peace, Israel is required to demolish these illegal outposts. There are 100 more scattered across the West Bank and perhaps 100 more confrontations yet to come.

Guy Raz, CNN, Amona, in the West Bank.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CLANCY: U.S. President George W. Bush once again calling for Hamas to change its ways. Tuesday, in his fifth State of the Union Address, the president focused largely on foreign policy and on some familiar themes, including democracy in the Middle East. He outlined his conditions for dealing with Hamas, now at the center of power in Palestinian politics.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BUSH: The Palestinian people have voted in elections, and now the leaders of Hamas must recognize Israel, disarm, reject terrorism and work for lasting peace.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CLANCY: A spokesman for Hamas responded, rejecting that U.S. demand.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SAMI ABU ZUHRI, HAMAS SPOKESMAN (through translator): Bush's statement only confirms the traditional American bias for the Israeli occupation. We in Hamas movement affirm our adherence to our principles and to the rights of the Palestinian people. Resistance is self-defense against Israeli aggression.

What is needed from the international community is pressure put on Israel to recognize our rights and to withdraw from our land. What is not needed is to ask the victim to recognize Israel.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CLANCY: Meantime, Palestinian Authority president Mahmoud Abbas trying to deal with his new reality after his Fatah party badly beaten by Hamas at the recent polls. Mr. Abbas in Cairo right now. He's discussing the future with Egypt's president, a long-time adviser to the Palestinians.

Arab leaders are adding their voices to the chorus. They've been calling on Hamas to moderate its militant ideology.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SULIMAN AWAD, EGYPTIAN PRES. SPOKESMAN: Now is the time for dialogue and to speak in one voice. And I will say it again, one voice will prove without a doubt that there is a Palestinian partner that is capable of negotiating a peaceful solution to end the Palestinian-Israeli conflict in a way that will allow security and peace for both sides and bring stability to the region.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CLANCY: In what could be a critical meeting, Mahmoud Abbas will be talking with Hamas leaders later this week.

VERJEE: In Baghdad, the trial of Saddam Hussein reconvened several hours ago without the key defendant.

Michael Holmes was in the courtroom earlier and brings us up to date now on the on-again, off-again proceeding.

Michael, why didn't he show up?

MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, indeed, he decided he didn't want to. Court was a lot emptier, as you'll see from the pictures, the atmosphere a lot less charged than when Saddam is present.

The five main defendants all refusing to turn up for their trial today. The same with their defense team, which alleges that this trial will never be fair and has demanded that the new chief judge be fired. No sign of that, however, as witnesses continue to give evidence of torture in the wake of an attempt on Saddam Hussein's life in the village of Dujail back in 1982.

Several witnesses directly implicating one defendant in particular, Saddam's half-brother and former head of intelligence, Barzan al-Tikriti. They gave chilling accounts of torture after that massacre.

Now, the court-appointed defense lawyers were on hand, even if their clients are were not. And there was some minor cross- examination of witnesses -- Zain.

VERJEE: What are some of the demands that the defense is making, Michael, to say, look, OK, you know, deliver on this and we'll end our boycott and pitch (ph) up in court?

HOLMES: Well, basically, they're being very direct, Zain. They're saying that the judge must go and that they're not going to come back until he does.

The trial adjourned until tomorrow. Thursday, that is. The question, of course, is whether all of defendants are going to show up tomorrow. It's going to be very interesting. And it was interesting that at the start of today's proceedings, the chief judge and the prosecutor debated back and forth the merits of forcibly having Saddam and the others attend.

Now, Iraqi law does allow a choice. They can make the defendant show up by force, if necessary, or let them -- let the trial go on without them -- Zain.

VERJEE: Michael Holmes reporting to us from Baghdad.

Thanks, Michael.

CLANCY: We're going to take a short break. But coming up next here on YOUR WORLD TODAY, we're going to return to our top story, the nuclear dispute with Iran.

VERJEE: All this talk about nuclear enrichment activities and processing uranium can be pretty confusing. So, coming up, we're going to give you a crash course on nuclear technology. I guess we can call it Nuke Tech 101 -- Jim.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GREG SCHULTE, U.S. AMBASSADOR TO IAEA: What's clear is we want a diplomatic settlement. And to achieve a diplomatic settlement, the leadership in Iran needs to make the political decision to step off this dangerous path that they're on.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CLANCY: Welcome back to our viewers in the United states and around the world. This CNN International and YOUR WORLD TODAY.

The U.S. ambassador to the International Atomic Energy Agency there warning Tehran it must think twice before continuing on its current nuclear track. The IAEA scheduled to deliver a report on Iran to the U.N. Security Council on Thursday.

Joining us with his perspective on all aspects of this dispute is Joseph Cirincione, director of the -- of Nonproliferation at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

Thank you so much for being with us.

JOSEPH CIRINCIONE, CARNEGIE ENDOWMENT: My pleasure.

CLANCY: Why should people care about this, about Iran having a nuclear program that it says is purely peaceful?

CIRINCIONE: Well, the problem is the very technologies that Iran says are for peaceful purposes could have decidedly non-peaceful purposes. The same technology that can be used to enrich uranium for fuel rods can be used to enrich uranium for nuclear bombs. There are lots of countries in the world that have reactors, over 40. There are only six that have the ability to enrich uranium. Iran says it wants to have both. The problem is that no one really believes that Iran's sole purpose is peaceful.

CLANCY: Why?

CIRINCIONE: Because Iran has now for 18 years hidden a great deal of its activity. That is, a lot of what we know about the Iranian program does conform to the Iranian public position, that this resolve for the peaceful use of enriching this uranium for fuel rods. But the fact that they kept it secret for so long makes people very suspicious about their true motives. And we do have some evidence, most recently disclosed yesterday, that Iran has some material, some documents that are only useful for nuclear weapons.

That's the question. And as the U.S. ambassador was just saying, Iran needs to come clean, tell us its entire history, give us access to all its facilities to answer all of these unanswered questions.

CLANCY: Critics of the United States and of the IAEA that says that is a tool of the United States argue that, look, Israel has nuclear weapons, your ally in the war on terror, Pakistan, has nuclear weapons, and, in fact, proliferated them. That's where Iran -- where Libya got their nuclear plans in the first place.

CIRINCIONE: That's absolutely right. If it wasn't for Pakistan there wouldn't be an Iranian nuclear program currently. They got most of this technology that's now in dispute, the centrifuges for enriching uranium, they got that material from the A.Q. Khan network based in Pakistan.

And Iran does live in a nuclear neighborhood. India has it, Pakistan has it, Israel, in the Middle East, is the only nation with nuclear weapons. Russia, China, the United States, the very countries that are telling Iran not to acquire this technology themselves have nuclear weapons.

So this is the missing element, really, in the U.S. policy. It has to be able to convince Iran that, while it should not pursue this nuclear path, the other nations in the region and in the world will also be decreasing their arsenals and will all be walking down this non-nuclear road together.

CLANCY: You know, I don't want to alarm people and say that, you know, well, this is the worst thing that's out there. There's a missing program from A.Q. Khan. It was believed that he had three of them.

One of them was traced to Libya. The other was traced to Iran. And these are programs to enrich uranium for nuclear weapons. And there's a third one. Where is it?

CIRINCIONE: That's right. The IAEA reports always talk about this other country that is unnamed. Many of us suspect that other country is Saudi Arabia, that A.Q. Khan, who has connections to Saudi Arabia, actually also had some contact with that government and did something. And we don't know what that is.

Remember, Saudi Arabia was a major finance source for the Pakistan nuclear program. So there are longstanding ties between the two countries.

CLANCY: At this point, in trying to convince Iran to suddenly change course, if you will, in its nuclear program, the Russians are saying, well, we'll offer them to enrich uranium on our territory. That doesn't seem to be very much of a guarantee.

What are your bets on this? Is Iran eventually going to be enriching uranium and we may not know whether or not it's working on a weapons program?

CIRINCIONE: Well, this is what makes the story so interesting. There are all these unknowns here. We don't know how this is going to end up. This is right at the tipping point, and whichever way it goes could profoundly affect proliferation in the globe, can entirely affect the competence that people have in all of these instruments, the nonproliferation treaty, the IAEA.

So you've got to get Iran right. At this point, the resolution that the IAEA is going to vote on tomorrow will refer the matter, report the matter to the Security Council, but it gives a window of 30 days where Russia can try to negotiate with Iran, bringing Russia directly into the mix now on this compromised plan.

The compromise, I think, is a good deal for Iran. It allows Iran to go ahead with the nuclear reactors, we don't have a problem with that anymore, but it takes that dangerous and controversial step of enrichment and it keeps all of that in Moscow. So the Iranians would get the fuel from Moscow.

This could buy time for Iran to come clean on its program, to build up confidence over the next few years that its intentions really are peaceful. And it's a deal that we all hope will work. We'll know within about 30 days.

CLANCY: Joe Cirincione, director of Nonproliferation at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

As always I want to thank you.

CIRINCIONE: My pleasure, Jim.

VERJEE: In the United States, federal officials are still investigating the response to Hurricane Katrina six months ago.

CLANCY: Coming up, the mayor of New Orleans testifying before Congress on what went right and what went wrong.

This is CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Daryn Kagan at CNN Center in Atlanta. More of YOUR WORLD TODAY in just a few minutes. First, though, let's check on stories making headlines here in the U.S.

The Texas mother accused of killing her five children had a bond hearing in Houston today. The Associated Press is reporting that Andrea Yates will be released on a $200,000 bond. If she makes bond, her attorney plans to take her to a state mental hospital.

Yates' capital murder conviction for the drowning deaths of three of her children was overturned in January of 2005, and she is awaiting a new trial.

In southern California, the sixth victim of Monday night's postal facility shooting in Goleta has died. The police think there is at least one other victim as well.

Sheriffs officials in Santa Barbara say a body found last night at a condominium has strong similarities to the postal killings. They say 44-year-old Jennifer Sanmarco, who is accused of the killings, once lived at that complex where the body was found. The postal shooting ended with Sanmarco killing herself.

Hurricane Katrina questions are being raised on Capitol Hill today. Live pictures there for you. The Senate panel hearing comes on the same day that a critical report on the federal response was released.

Congressional investigators say the government did not learn lessons from Hurricane Andrew and the 9/11 attacks. The GAO report says the Bush administration should have had a senior official in place before the storm hit.

New Orleans mayor Ray Nagin is among those testifying on Capitol Hill today. He told the committee of a post-Katrina meeting that he had with President Bush and Louisiana Governor Kathleen Blanco.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAYOR RAY NAGIN (D), NEW ORLEANS: In the midst of all the rhetoric that was going on around the table, I stopped everyone and base basically said, "Mr. President, Madam Governor, if the two of you don't get together on this issue, more people are going to die in this city. And you need to resolve this immediately."

And they said, "Yes." And I said, "Well, everybody else in this room, let's leave and let them work this out right now."

SEN. JOSEPH LIEBERMAN (D), CONNECTICUT: And the two of them then did stay alone in the room?

NAGIN: No. The president said, "Nobody has to leave. We'll go in another room and see if we can work this out."

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAGAN: Well, today's hearing is focusing on how New Orleans was evacuated and how long it took for the federal government to respond. Against the backdrop of Mr. Bush's comments on a U.S. addiction to oil, the Senate Judiciary Committee met this morning on surging gas prices. The hearing comes as oil prices have flirted with record levels and the nation's largest oil company, ExxonMobil, reported its biggest-ever quarterly profits. Analysts say the company's $36 billion profits last year were the largest by any U.S. company ever.

Critics of those profits may have something new to scream about. Oil refiners cut fuel production in some states this week. The reason, the profit margins are slipping. Gas prices nationwide are about 50 cents higher than they were this time last year.

Well, even before President Bush took the podium last night, U.S. Capitol Police took into custody one of its fiercest critics. They arrested antiwar activist Cindy Sheehan inside the House chamber after she refused to cover up her T-shirt.

That shirt had this message that said "2,245 dead, how many more?" That's a reference to the number of U.S. troops killed in Iraq. Sheehan's son Casey is among the war dead.

Meanwhile, a Florida lawmaker says his wife was also ejected from the chamber. She was wearing a shirt calling for support of the troops.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. BILL YOUNG (R), FLORIDA: Because she had on a shirt that someone didn't like that said "Support our troops" she was kicked out of this gallery while the president was speaking, encouraging Americans to support our troops.

Shame. Shame.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAGAN: Beverly Young says that Capitol Police officers told her that the shirt was a protest and, therefore, it was not allowed.

Coretta Scott King has come home to rest. The Hearse carrying the body of the civil rights matriarch moved through Atlanta streets early this morning. King died Monday night at a clinic in Mexico where she was receiving treatment.

Martin Luther King's widow was 78. Funeral arrangements are still pending.

President Bush is on the road today trying to sell his agenda to the American people. He speaks shortly in Nashville, Tennessee. It's the first of several appearances that will hit on themes form last night's State of the Union Address.

CNN will have live coverage of the president's speech at the Grand Ole Opry House. That is at 12:50 Eastern.

Until then, YOUR WORLD TODAY continues after a quick break. I'm Daryn Kagan. I'll see you tomorrow morning.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VERJEE: Hello, and welcome back to YOUR WORLD TODAY on CNN International. I'm Zain Verjee.

CLANCY: I'm Jim Clancy. And these are the stories making headlines around the world.

Dozens of people wounded in clashes between Israeli security forces and extremist Jewish settlers. It happened on the West Bank. While all of the settlements are considered illegal under international law, Israel has pledged to remove what it calls some of the illegal settlements, homes built near Ramallah. The government says Amona outpost, just the beginning. There about 100 of these outposts scattered across the West Bank. Israel considers them to be unauthorized.

VERJEE: The often chaotic trial of Saddam Hussein reconvened in Baghdad without the key defendant. The new chief judge Raouf Rasheed Abdel-Rahman presided with only three of Hussein's co-defendants present. Four other co-defendants, Hussein and the entire defense team refused to return to the war crimes trial unless Abdel-Rahman is removed. They say that the judge, a Kurd from Halabja, is biased.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad saying now that Iran will not give up its right to a nuclear energy program, despite all of the international pressure. Those comments coming just a day after U.S. president George W. Bush said the world will unite to stop Iran from having nuclear weapons.

On Thursday, the international atomic energy agency is scheduled to deliver a report on Iran. It's a hot button issue that could eventually reach the United Nations Security Council.

Our senior U.N. correspondent Richard Roth joins us now to describe how and when it might happen -- Richard.

RICHARD ROTH, CNN SR. U.N. CORRESPONDENT: Yes. Zain, here at United Nations, diplomats are not happy to hear more rhetoric, more fierce rhetoric, from the Iranian president on the nuclear situation. But any diplomatic action here at the Security Council involving Iran may take time.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ROTH (voice-over): The flag of Iran barely budges in the winter air along Nations Row outside the United Nations on a New York afternoon. But is this just the calm before the Iran nuclear storm inside the building in the Security Council?

Like a slow-moving train on the horizon, Security Council ambassadors have seen the Iran hot potato coming for several years.

AUGUSTINE MAHIGA, TANZANIAN AMB. TO U.N.: The timing is not known, the content is not known. But certainly it's going to be one of the interesting multifaceted debate in the council.

ROTH (on camera): And entirely unpredictable. One European diplomat said once the Iranian issue arrives at security council, the machine has started to work. And once it starts, no one knows where it will stop.

(voice-over): Don't expect go to war resolutions, though that option is always there and may depend on what Iran does or does not do down the road. Instead, based on past crises, the 15 countries would, at the outset, likely unify behind some kind of statement of concern about Iran's behavior towards the U.N.-affiliated organization the International Atomic Energy Agency.

The U.S., France and Britain would propose some sanctions if there were continued failure by Iran to stop its nuclear program. But here is where big power unity would face its first test.

JEFF LAURENTI, CENTURY FOUNDATION: It isn't clear that the Russians and Chinese have bought into even sanctions. They are even reluctant on sanctions.

ROTH: Colin Keating is familiar with the ways of the security council. As New Zealand's ambassador, he happened to be in the council president's chair in April 1994 when the Rwandan genocide occurred.

The U.N. analyst says the Security Council can play a valuable role on Iran by, if nothing else, looming as a threat if Tehran doesn't change its ways.

COLIN KEATING, SECURITY COUNCIL REPORT: The council offers a vehicle to accommodate both the desire for more pressure, but also the desire on the part of Russia and China for an ongoing window of opportunity for negotiations.

ROTH: During gaps in negotiations on action, look for the U.S. arms expert, now ambassador, John Bolton to ratchet up the pressure.

JOHN BOLTON, U.S. AMBASSADOR TO U.N.: As I said earlier, a lot of efforts, I'm sure by the Iranians to throw sand in our eyes and divert us from the effort.

ROTH: And sifting the sands of time, many say the Iran affair feels like neighboring Iraq three years ago with the U.N. But others point out closer positions now between U.S. and Europe, which may avoid bitter political splits.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROTH: And it's interesting that yesterday, Zain, hours after the permanent five members of the Security Council said that they were united in referring it eventually here to New York, Ambassador Bolton I saw pump his fist and say, it's a good morning. The type of open display you don't often see here at the U.N. among diplomats.

VERJEE: Richard Roth at the United Nations. Thanks, Richard.

Jim.

ROTH: In Nepal, King Gyanendra has announced his country's going to be holding parliamentary elections next year. The king speaking on the first anniversary of when he seized absolute power in the country. He decided to take matters into his own hands last year. He said it was as a result of the growing Maoist rebellion. The Maoists control quite a bit of the country side. Things, though, have not gone as the monarch certainly had hoped.

Satinder Bindra gives us a closer look at Nepal's political crisis and a long road ahead to elections.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SATINDER BINDRA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): One year King Gyanendra dismissed an elected government, suspended civil rights and took over absolute control in Nepal, its citizens are clamoring for change. The past few weeks in this tiny Himalayan kingdom have been marked by dozens of pro-democracy rallies. Mass arrests and a government crackdown have not slowed the crowds of protesters who want to send a message to the world's only Hindu king.

TEJSHREE THAPA, HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH: Democracy. They want to return to constitutional rule, they want the king to fulfill the promises that he made a year ago, which was a return to constitutional rule, that he would make things better.

BINDRA: King Gyanendra says he was forced to dismiss an elected government last year because of its failure to curb a growing Maoist insurgency. These Maoist guerrillas now control large parts of Nepal and want to set up a communist republic. Their 10-year-old rebellion has already claimed more than 12,000 lives.

Even with the king in control, there has been no let-up in the insurgency. Just a few days ago, one policeman and 11 Maoists were killed in renewed clashes. The Maoists are also promising to disrupt municipal elections the king has called for February 8th. The polls are part what Nepal's monarch calls his roadmap to restore democracy by 2007.

But Nepal's political parties have now joined hands with the Maoists in boycotting the elections, which they believe will only strengthen the king's autocratic rule. The political parties and Maoists are getting closer, says the politician Rajan Bhattarai, now living in exile in India. Unless the king relinquishes power, there can be no dialogue with him.

Instead of dialogue, it's turmoil and chaos that now categorizes the state of Nepalese politics. Some candidates contesting the February polls have recently been injured and admitted to local hospitals. Others have been killed. Such is the mood of fear on the eve of these elections. There are no candidates contesting almost a quarter of the seats.

In the coming months, political parties and Maoists are expected to step up their campaign against the king, but with the army on his side, analysts say the king won't be granting any concessions, and Nepal's bloody political stalemate will continue.

Satinder Bindra, CNN, New Delhi.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CLANCY: President George W. Bush's State of the Union address draws strong reaction from all across the globe.

VERJEE: And Arab states have some particularly pointed criticism of Mr. Bush's remarks. We're going to tell you why they're angry, when YOUR WORLD TODAY continues.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BUSH: Democracies in the Middle East will not look like our own, because they will reflect the traditions of their own citizens, yet liberty is the future of every nation in the Middle East, because liberty is the right and hope of all humanity.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CLANCY: During his State of the Union Address, President George W. Bush making it clear he wants democracy to spread throughout the Middle East. But some Arab leaders have a very different opinion of what should happen in the region. For more reaction, or Arab reaction, I should say, to the president's speech, Nadia Bilbassey joins us now. She's the Washington correspondent for the Dubai-based satellite channel Al Arabiya.

Thank you so much for being with us.

Let's begin here, you listen to the president and he's saying, we need democracy. But in the next breath, he is saying, the Palestinians are not going to be able to get a state because they have elected Hamas.

Thank you, Jim, for having me.

NADIA BILBASSEY, AL-ARABIYA: Of course. I mean, if we remember anything from the president is his agenda for freedom and spreading democracy in the Middle East. We heard it over and over and over all of the time, that basically securing the mainland of America, (INAUDIBLE), spreading freedom in the Muslim and the Arab world, toppling dictatorship because democracies don't go to war with each other.

The problem with democracy is you always cannot guarantee that the party that's going to win is the party that's agreeable to your policies. And this is what we are seeing in Hamas. I think this statement is not going to go very well in the Muslim and Arab world, that already discredit the U.S. policy, and always seen it as hypocritical.

When it comes to certain countries, they are willing to overlook abuse of human rights, because they're an ally on the so-called war on terror. But when it comes to the Palestinian elections, for example, which has been seen as the fairest and the more transparent in the Arab world, the people -- with 77 percent electing a government -- and let's not forget, Jim, I mean, people elect governments because of domestic agenda as well. And we know that in the United States.

So when the Palestinian people in general support the concept of two-state solution, that's different from supporting people who they want to elect, and people that they want to deliver services to them. So I think this statement by the president is not going to go very well.

CLANCY: OK, but, Nadia, isn't it fair to say that it would be ridiculous for Israel to be negotiating with somebody that has sworn to destroy them? And let's be honest, Hamas' model, its platform, it's -- you know, the very foundation of that organization is really tied to, you know, the past. It isn't a realistic, pragmatic approach at all.

BILBASSEY: Absolutely. But also they are pragmatic, Jim. If you think why are they there in the first place? If you know, Islamic Jihad has refused to take part in the election. We knew that the election took place because of the Olso Accord, and Hamas was against that.

But they decided that they have to reform themselves, and they have to be somehow political party. And many people will argue better to have them in rather than having them out as an outsider willing to sabotage any peace process.

So, of course, I'm sure no doubt that in the long process, that Hamas have to redirect their views, and most likely they will recognize the state of Israel.

CLANCY: Well, especially if it's going to cost the Palestinians a state, but I want to move on, I want to move on to -- last night we saw something I hadn't seen before, and that was President Bush speaking directly to the Iranian people.

Let's listen for a minute.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BUSH: Tonight, let me speak directly to the citizens of Iran. America respects you and we respect your country. We respect your right to choose your own future and win your own freedom about, and our nation hopes one day to be the closest of friends with the free and democratic Iran.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CLANCY: A lot of applause up there on Capitol Hill for that. How do you think it went over in Tehran? How did it go over in the Arab world, when they listened to that direct approach?

BILBASSEY: It will be interesting. I don't think it's the first time. We heard it before when he talks about the political prisoner in Iranian jail I think in the last year's State of the Union Address, but I think, in general, because of the U.S. policies discredited so much, that anything coming from the president is not going to be taken seriously.

And here, what he is trying to do is trying to appeal to the Iranian people to revolt against the government. I mean, Ahmadinejad is seen as (INAUDIBLE) a troublemaker. He comes with a statement that he wants to wipe Israel from the map of the world. He does some stuff that most people in the Arab world don't agree with.

But when it comes to certain things like we with you and we are willing to do anything -- because we are our friends, I don't think that will go -- I mean, we have to see and wait, because it happened yesterday, but...

CLANCY: Do you think a lot of Arabs state support Iran getting nuclear weapons?

BILBASSEY: Arab states, they don't support that, because also they see them as a threat, of course. But the most important question to be asked for the Iranian people themselves, and I think, Jim, if you take a survey, I will say -- I'm speculating here -- but I will say that many will go for the fact they do want to have nuclear weapons. If you look at neighboring countries, we have Pakistan on one side, we have India, we have Israel -- all of these countries have nuclear weapons, and people learn from history, what happened to Saddam Hussein. We know about North Korea as well, that the Iranians see the U.S. cannot really do much about them because they have a nuclear weapon.

CLANCY: All right.

BILBASSEY: So therefore, I think the ma majority of people will go for it in Iran, regardless of who's governing moderate or extremist. But in Arab world, they're very skeptical and they don't want to a nuclear weapon in the region.

CLANCY: Laying it on the line, what would be the reaction in the Arab world the president's speech.

Nadia Bilbassey of Al Arabiya. Thank you so much for being with us, Nadia.

BILBASSEY: Thank you, Jim.

(WEATHER REPORT)

VERJEE: Just nine days to go, Jim, until the torch is lit for the Winter Games.

CLANCY: That's right. Coming up, what is going on now behind the scenes to make sure that the Torino Olympics are safe and sound. We'll have that next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) CLANCY: The Winter Games are about to begin. I feel a little silly, because it's going to be a week and a half. It's a little early.

VERJEE: Well, you know, Italian officials are already working overtime. They're trying to guarantee that the athletes, the spectators and all the journalists will be safe during their days in Torino.

CLANCY: Alessio Vinci is there. He's checking in on security in Torino.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ALESSIO VINCI, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): There will be one security agent for every six athletes, a total of 15,000 men to secure the sprawling Olympic area, including several stadiums in the city of Torino, and three different mountain resorts hosting alpine competitions.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The main difficulty is to check everyone, every place, everywhere.

VINCI: The Interior Ministry has more than doubled the number of police officers normally in Torino. And, for the first time in Italy, police will use the U.S.-made scooters known as Segways.

The army is already patrolling each site, even as work is still underway to prepare the venues. About 1,200 of the soldiers are alpine troops, equipped and trained to intervene on skis, and move fast on snow.

COL. GIOVANNI MANIONE, ITALIAN ARMY: The paratroopers are in charge with the security, properly named. We are in charge with the safety of the slope, so should anything happen, the first aid is in charge of my regimen so ...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (SPEAKING IN ITALIAN).

VINCI: Officials will rely on a wide network of 21 command centers like this one, each able to communicate instantly with the central security headquarters set up especially for the games.

(on camera): Security officials stress there is no cause for alarm, and that so far there have been no specific or serious threats. That said, they admit Italy remains a possible target because an attack against the Olympics would give terrorists worldwide attention.

(voice-over): Officials say American and Israeli athletes are always the biggest concern.

GUISEPPE PETRONZI, ITALIAN STATE POLICE: We are paying specific and particular attention to this kind of athletes. It doesn't mean that we don't pay attention to the other.

VINCI: But the Olympics are not the only target in mind of security officials. National elections are scheduled just two months after the opening ceremony, and Italy could be a target of terror groups because of its deployment of troops in Iraq after the war.

To date, the government has spent more than $100 million on Olympic security, and the games haven't even started. Officials say money is always better spent on prevention, but they do expect the final bill to be even higher.

Alessio Vinci, CNN, Torino.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CLANCY: One note in President Bush's speech last night perhaps perked up the ears of environmentalists around the world. The president was saying the United States should end its dependence on foreign oil and saying that more should be invested to study alternative fuels.

How feasible is it? Is it just a pipe dream, or was the president really able to deliver on those kinds of promises of a whole new world of energy in the future? Jim Boulden has the story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JIM BOULDEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): President George W. Bush says America must cut its dependence on Middle East oil by 75 percent in the next 20 years. Again, he used his State of the Union speech to say more research into new technology is the way to achieve that.

BUSH: America is addicted to oil, which is often imported from unstable parts of the world. The best way to break this addiction is through technology. Since 2001, we have spent nearly $10 billion to develop cleaner, cheaper and more reliable alternative energy sources. And we are on the threshold of incredible advances.

BOULDEN: Mr. Bush wants Congress to increase research funding by 22 percent in the 2007 budget, under a new plan called the Advanced Energy Initiative. It includes $148 million for solar energy research, and $44 million for wind.

To help develop more efficient automobiles, he wants $289 million for advanced hydro fuel cells and for affordable hybrid fueled vehicles by 2020. That's above the $1.2 billion for fuel cell research announced in his 2003 State of the Union speech. He even asked for $150 million to make fuels from agriculture waste.

BUSH: Our goal is to make this new kind of ethanol practical and competitive within six years.

BOULDEN: What he didn't include in this speech, any new conservation measures, and renewable energy campaigners say Europe is already deploying these technologies and wonder why Washington is still researching and not developing more.

CATHERINE PEARCE, FRIENDS OF THE EARTH: This kind of language that the president has been talking about really represents nothing new. He's being talking about the potential for technologies, talking about investment into research and development into these technologies for some considerable time now.

BOULDEN: Mr. Bush wants to make these technologies cheap enough to compete with the current ways of consumption. But many who want to see America less dependent on oil say, until the government sets specific targets for the use of renewable energy, America's addiction to oil will be hard to break.

Jim Boulden, CNN, London.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VERJEE: And that's our report. I'm Zain Verjee.

CLANCY: I'm Jim Clancy. Thank you for being with us. This is CNN. There's much more news straight ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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