Kofi Annan, the UN Secretary-General, in his opening speech condemned America's unilateralism on the global stage and the use of force without UN authorization, and described Iran as a victim of terrorism and weapons of mass destruction. Bush defended the occupation of Iraq and said that it would not be possible to hand over the administration of Iraq to the Iraqi people so soon, and accused Iran of trying to build nuclear weapons....
The United Nations General Assembly began its session. Kofi Annan, [the UN Secretary-General], in his opening speech, condemned America's unilateralism on the global stage and the use of force without UN authorization, and described Iran as a victim of terrorism and weapons of mass destruction. [George] Bush, [the President of the United States], defended the occupation of Iraq and said that it would not be possible to hand over the administration of Iraq to the Iraqi people anytime soon, and accused Iran of trying to build nuclear weapons.
It was announced that the number of American soldiers who had returned in protest because of being wounded was 12,000. In Iraq, the people of Fallujah demonstrated in favor of Saddam [Hussein]. Agence France-Presse reported an abundance of slogans on the walls of Baghdad's streets—in favor of Saddam and against America—and that no matter how much the Americans erased the slogans, they were written again, and that leaflets had been distributed saying Saddam would return soon and even claiming that Uday and Qusay, [Saddam's sons], were still alive.
The [Iraqi] Governing Council has barred the [news] networks Al Jazeera and Al Arabiya from covering the council's news for two weeks, calling them a source of sedition, because of the propaganda they have against America and their incitement of the people. Several major operations have been carried out against the occupiers. The protection of Najaf and Karbala has also been handed over to Polish soldiers and others. America is trying to transfer responsibility for protecting the cities to other countries so that it has less direct confrontation with the people.
Mr. [Abdolmajid] Moadi Khah, [head of the Foundation for the History of the Revolution], came. He gave a report on the foundation's work and asked for clarification about the proposal for a "Fatwa Council" that I had raised in Mashhad. It is being discussed in political and media circles.
Mr. [Ali] Abdollahian, [deputy of the Iran Chamber of Commerce], came. He reported on the Chamber of Commerce elections and said that Mr. Samsari, the head of the Transportation Union, had been kidnapped and ransom had been demanded from him.
In the afternoon, I had an interview with Mr. [Hossein] Mehrpour, [deputy of the Center for Strategic Research], about the Guardian Council and the standards, foundations, and jurisprudential rulings that form the basis of the Guardian Council's work in the Constitution.
Mehdi, [CEO of the Fuel Consumption Optimization Organization], came to say goodbye before traveling to Mecca and said that he had given an interview to a Norwegian newspaper [called Dagens Næringsliv] and had neutralized the opposition's smear campaign [regarding the Statoil oil company issue].
In Saudi Arabia, several people who were being pursued by the police took a group hostage in a hospital, and the police clashed with them; four of them were killed, five were arrested, and four police officers were also killed.
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