World Briefs

VIENNA — Diplomats say Iran has reinstated a previously withdrawn offer to U.N. nuclear agency officials to visit Tehran.

But they tell the Associated Press that Tehran is not saying if the officials will be able to focus on suspicions that it is secretly working on nuclear arms.

The four diplomats said Monday that International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) - the U.N. nuclear watchdog - is seeking such a pledge from Iran as a condition for such a visit.

A senior diplomat said a top-level IAEA mission could fly to Tehran in late January - but only if Iran agrees to cooperate on the issue.

The diplomats asked for anonymity because their information was confidential.

Iran says all of its nuclear activities are peaceful.

CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC

U.S. special forces hunt for rebel leader

BANGUI — U.S. special forces have set up a base in the Central African Republic as part of their regional hunt for fighters from the Ugandan-born Lord’s Resistance Army group, military sources said Monday.

“The deployment of this contingent, the size of which is unknown, was carried out very discreetly with Ugandan military aircraft,” a Central African military official said on the condition of anonymity.

The U.S. elite troops set up a base in Obo and are expected to coordinate their efforts with local government forces and Ugandan soldiers.

President Obama in October announced he was sending 100 special forces soldiers to Kampala to help Uganda track down Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) chief Joseph Kony, an international fugitive who has wreaked havoc over four nations for more than two decades.

Besides Obo, the U.S. forces also have a forward base in South Sudan. They began deploying in Uganda earlier this month.

The rebels currently number several hundred, a fraction of their strength at their peak, but still include a core of hardened fighters infamous for mutilating civilians and abducting children for soldiers and sex slaves.

UKRAINE

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