Memoirs of Akbar Hashemi – April 25, 2003

I was at home;  By resting and studying.  It was announced that Tariq Aziz, [Deputy Prime Minister of Iraq] has surrendered to the American forces;  From the beginning there were doubts about his relationships.  They said, the list of 55 important people in Iraq has turned into a real list of 200 people.  [George] Bush, [President of the United States of America] has said in a speech that American forces should be in Iraq for at least two years and it is very likely that Saddam [Hussein] was killed or injured in the initial bombings, and he said that he does not have a plan for military confrontation with Iran, but he warned Iran against interfering in the affairs of Iraq. He said that North Korea is demanding ransom by relying on having nuclear weapons.  The negotiation meeting in China with Korea has not been completed and it seems that North Korea has officially announced that it has a nuclear bomb.  Their blackmails about Iran's involvement in Iraq through the Shiites and the Badr Corps are many, and they claim the presence of IRGC forces in Iraq, but Mr. [Qassem] Soleimani said that there are only seven IRGCs in Iraq; they are there because of the needs of the Badr Corps.  American forces have been found in some border areas with Iran. 
France has calmed down its tone on anti-American actions, while America has a sharp and derogatory tone on France.  Yesterday, in a meeting with [Dominique de Villepin], the French Minister of Foreign Affairs, I told him that the United States says that France must pay for its opposition to the United States, and he said that France is keeping its cool.
Russia has announced that it destroyed 1% of its 40,000 tons of chemical and biological weapons according to the international agreement.  The [UN] Security Council unanimously approved in its meeting yesterday that the oil-for-food program for Iraq will continue until June 3 under the supervision of [UN Secretary General] Kofi Annan.  The possibility that Saddam [Hussein] is alive and in Baghdad has been strengthened and maybe it is to scare the Iraqi people from opposing the invaders and the occupiers. 
Yesterday, one person was killed and 20 were injured in a martyrdom-seeking operation in Israel's Kafr Shubai [located in the south of Lebanon].  Abu Mazen, Mahmoud Abbas, the new Prime Minister of Palestine, has condemned it.!!