Akbar Hashemi's Memoirs - December 19, 2002

Full text of the daily:

Hans Blix, the chief UN inspector in Iraq, said in his report to the Security Council that Iraq had provided little new information about weapons of mass destruction in its 12,000-page report. British Foreign Secretary [Jack Straw] and US Secretary of State [Colin Powell] have also been more explicit than before, saying that Iraq has refused to provide real information and that the only solution is a military attack.

Ms. Sayeh, the daughter of [Ali Akbar] Saeedi Sirjani, [a researcher, writer, and political activist], has written a letter to Mr. Khatami, the President, accusing him and Hossein Shariatmadari, [the editor-in-chief of Kayhan newspaper] of being responsible for her father’s murder. She has said that she will file a complaint with the International Court of Justice and explained that during Mr. Khatami’s time as the Minister of Religious Affairs, her father was banned from writing, and Shariatmadari pressured him during interrogations. She said that during their last meeting, her father told her that he had hidden important information on the wall of the ruined building in front of the Soroush School and asked Sayeh to go and get it, but because there are so many schools named Soroush in Tehran, she was unable to find them.

I was studying at home all day. I examined the photos that Mehdi had taken [for use in the book Peace and Challenge] of his memories of 1983.

After the Iraqi report was flawed, [Deputy Prime Minister] Tariq Aziz announced that Iraq was ready to provide additional information, but [Colin Powell], the US Secretary of State, said that Saddam [Hussein] had run out of time. [Tony Blair], the British Prime Minister, said that the army must be ready to fight. Several major countries warned the US against taking unilateral action.

The Turkish parliament, by a two-thirds vote, amended several articles of the constitution to pave the way for Recep [Tayyip] Erdogan to become prime minister, but [Ahmet Necdet Sezer], the president, vetoed the parliament's resolutions. It is said that the parliament does not intend to be complacent. The British media, considering the vote against US policies in South Korea, wrote that America is rapidly losing popularity even among friendly countries.

On the anniversary of the official launch of the euro [the single European currency], it was announced that the euro had surpassed the dollar in strength, but the people of Germany and France believe that it had a negative impact on their lives.

Russia launched six satellites into space with a rocket for France, Saudi Arabia, and... Israel continues to kill and kidnap Palestinians.