Briefly

IRAN

Opposition warned before anti-U.S. rally

TEHRAN | The head of Tehran’s anti-riot police threatened opposition protesters Tuesday with a full-scale assault if they return to the streets during government-backed events marking the takeover of the U.S. Embassy.

Reformist leaders, however, have shown no sign of backing off their calls for marches to compete with Wednesday’s state-sanctioned gatherings - which include an annual anti-American rally outside the brick walls of the former embassy compound.

The head of Tehran’s anti-riot units, Gen. Ali Reza Alipour, said police would use all their “power and capacity” against protesters. Tehran’s prosecutor, Abbas Jafari Dolatabadi, said even chants that “deviate” from the official ceremonies could bring arrest. On Monday, the powerful Revolutionary Guard - which led the postelection crackdown - warned opposition groups against disrupting the ceremonies.

But the opposition appeared determined not to lose the moment. Dozens of pro-reform Web sites issued appeals to join protests. The calls were given a boost last week by defiant statements from opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi and former President Mohammad Khatami - vowing that their challenges to the system are not flagging.

ISRAEL

Spy chief claims Gaza rocket upgrade

JERUSALEM | Hamas militants in Gaza have successfully test-fired an Iranian rocket able to reach Israel’s largest urban center, the country’s military intelligence chief said Tuesday.

Maj. Gen. Amos Yadlin told parliament’s foreign affairs and defense committee that the rocket could fly 37 miles, and strike metropolitan Tel Aviv, Israeli media reported.

Until now, rockets fired from Gaza have reached up to 25 miles, putting one-eighth of Israel’s population within rocket range.

Gen. Yadlin said the rocket was fired in recent days, but no further details were immediately available from his testimony before the closed session. Defense officials say Palestinian militants in Gaza generally test-fire rockets into the Mediterranean Sea.

Most of the Hamas rockets targeted at Israel are crude projectiles cobbled together in small metal shops. But militants also have fired more sophisticated, longer-range weapons, believed made from parts originating in Syria or Iran.

SYRIA

Lawyer charged with publishing lies

DAMASCUS | Syrian human rights lawyer Haytham Maleh was charged Tuesday with publishing false information and “insulting” a government entity, the London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

Mr. Maleh, 78, was arrested Oct. 14. The United States on Oct. 24 called on Syria to release Mr. Maleh and end its practice of “arbitrary arrests” of activists.

“Syria should demonstrate its commitment to international legal norms by releasing Maleh and other Syrian citizens who have been imprisoned solely for seeking to exercise their internationally recognized political freedoms,” the White House said.

Mr. Maleh was held behind bars between 1980 and 1986 along with a large number of trade union and opposition figures for issuing a call for constitutional reforms, the observatory said.

In 2001, he was one of the founders of the Association for Human Rights in Syria, whose activities were frozen three years ago.

JORDAN

Tariq Aziz kin granted citizenship

AMMAN | Jordan has granted citizenship to the wife and sons of Iraq’s jailed former Deputy Prime Minister Tariq Aziz who have lived in the kingdom since the 2003 U.S.-led invasion, an official said Tuesday.

The council of ministers granted Jordanian citizenship Monday to Saddam Tariq Aziz and his mother Violet Yusef Nobud, the official told Agence France-Presse.

Aziz’s elder son, Ziad Tariq Aziz, and his wife, Seba Mzaffar Antwan, were granted citizenship recently upon their request.

Aziz, 73, turned himself in to U.S. forces in April 2003 after Saddam Hussein was overthrown, and has since been convicted for crimes against humanity. One of a handful of long-term senior survivors of Saddam’s regime, Aziz is reported to have suffered two heart attacks in custody.

KUWAIT

Policemen jailed for raping Asian women

KUWAIT CITY | Kuwait’s criminal court sentenced two policemen to 10-year prison terms Tuesday after convicting them of raping two Asian women while on duty.

The two women had been arrested for overstaying their visas and the men were on duty at the police station where they were taken.

From wire dispatches and staff reports