Kyodo news summary -7-

0 Comments | Asian Political News, Nov 27, 2006

TOKYO, Nov. 21 Kyodo

---------- Iraq, Syria restore diplomatic ties after 24-year hiatus

CAIRO - Iraq and Syria on Tuesday restored diplomatic relations that were severed 24 years ago, according to reports from Baghdad.

Visiting Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Moallem and his Iraqi counterpart Hoshiyar Zebari signed a declaration on the resumption of the diplomatic ties, which took effect immediately, the Syrian Arab News Agency reported.

---------- N. Korea talks may resume in mid-Dec., Hill says

BEIJING - Christopher Hill, the chief U.S. negotiator in the six-party talks on North Korea's nuclear weapons program, said Tuesday that the talks stalled for a year will ''probably'' resume in mid-December.

Hill, assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific affairs, also said the United States wants a ''good outcome'' from the next round of talks.

---------- Nepal gov't, rebels to ink peace accord within hours

KATHMANDU - The Nepalese government and Maoist rebels are set to sign a comprehensive peace agreement within hours, a government negotiator confirmed Tuesday to Kyodo News.

Ram Chandra Poudel, chairman of the state peace committee, said the signing ceremony, participated in by Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala and rebel chief Prachanda, is scheduled to take place at 6:30 p.m. in Kathmandu.

---------- U.S. urges Taiwan to tighten controls on exports to N. Korea

TAIPEI - The United States urged Taiwan on Tuesday to take further measures to control the flow of goods and technologies to North Korea that could be used to develop weapons of mass destruction and their delivery systems.

Stephen Young, who as head of the American Institute in Taiwan is the de facto U.S. ambassador in the absence of official ties, told business leaders in a speech, ''We need to keep working together to further strengthen Taiwan's export control regime.''

---------- Indian premier to visit Japan Dec. 13-16

TOKYO - Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will make a four-day visit to Japan from Dec. 13 and hold talks with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, with a bilateral free trade agreement expected to be on the agenda of their talks, a Japanese Foreign Ministry spokesman said Tuesday.

Singh, accompanied by his wife Gursharan Kaur, is also scheduled to meet with Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko, Press Secretary Mitsuo Sakaba said in a news conference.

---------- Optics system developed to upgrade Subaru telescope 10 times

TOKYO - The National Astronomic Observatory of Japan said Tuesday it has developed a new optics system capable of upgrading the definition of Japan's large-scale Subaru telescope in Hawaii by about 10 times.

Designed to better remove the blurring effect of the atmosphere on images captured by a ground-based telescope, the device will help Subaru realize a resolution some 3.5 times clearer than that of the Hubble Space Telescope in orbit, the observatory said.

---------- Japan sub collides with ship, no reports of casualties

TOKYO - Part of a surfacing Japanese submarine hit a Panamanian-registered chemical tanker Tuesday morning in the Pacific some 50 kilometers off Nichinan, Miyazaki Prefecture, southwestern Japan, but nobody was injured in the incident, the Japan Coast Guard and Defense Agency said.

The 2,900-ton, diesel-powered training sub Asashio of the Maritime Self-Defense Force with 75 crew members aboard was on a training voyage when its vertical rudder on the tail hit the 4,000-ton Spring Auster with 17 crew members aboard at around 9:50 a.m., they said.