World scene

MIDEAST

Israeli politician urges Hamas talks

JERUSALEM | A senior opposition leader in Israel unveiled a peace plan Sunday that held out the possibility of negotiations with Hamas, the Palestinian Islamist group in control of the Gaza Strip.

Shaul Mofaz, a former defense chief who is now No. 2 in the centrist Kadima party, raised the prospect of talks with Hamas - an idea rejected by both Israel and Hamas for years - to restart the long-stalled peace process with the Palestinians.

Israel and Western powers have said they would engage Hamas if it agreed to recognize Israel, renounce violence and accept interim peace deals, terms Hamas refuses to accept.

While still saying that Hamas must accept the West’s demands, Mr. Mofaz said that if it won Palestinian elections in January, “I think that Israel must sit with a group that changes its agenda and the way it conducts business.”

IRAN

Nuclear agency seeks clarification

UNITED NATIONS | The head of the U.N. nuclear agency urged Iran on Monday to clarify its response amid mixed signals over a U.S.-backed proposal that would have Tehran ship most of its nuclear material abroad for processing.

Iran’s foreign minister said that option still exists, while a senior diplomat suggested the opposite. The proposal would have Tehran export 70 percent of its enriched uranium - enough to make a bomb - and then have it returned as fuel for its research reactor.

Tehran’s contrasting messages appear designed to keep the international community off balance on how far Iran is ready to go in accepting the original proposal.

Addressing the U.N. General Assembly, Mohamed ElBaradei said “a number of questions and allegations relevant to the nature” of Iran’s program remained, and he called for confidence-building measures on all sides.

EGYPT

China announces discount Africa loans

SHARM EL SHEIK | China’s prime minister on Sunday pledged $10 billion in concessional loans to African nations over the next three years and said Beijing would cancel the government debts of some of the poorest of those countries.

At a China-Africa summit that began Sunday, Prime Minister Wen Jiabao also said China would build 100 clean energy projects for Africa as part of an effort to help the continent deal with climate change issues.

“We will help Africa build up financing capacity,” Mr. Wen said at the start of the two-day Forum on China-Africa Cooperation summit.

The pledges are part of China’s increasing push into Africa, a drive that has drawn criticism from some who argue that in Beijing’s quest for natural resources to fuel its growing economy it is ignoring the troubling human rights record of many of Africa’s governments.

JAPAN

Foreign minister: No deal on Okinawa

TOKYO | Japan’s foreign minister said Sunday that no deal on relocating U.S. troops on the southern Japanese island of Okinawa can be expected during President Obama’s visit this week, saying the issue needs more time to resolve.

Mr. Obama is scheduled to arrive Friday, and a meeting with Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama is on the agenda. Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada said Sunday on TV Asahi that “an agreement between the heads of state holds heavy meaning,” but cannot be expected to be completed during Mr. Obama’s visit.

Washington and Tokyo agreed in 2006 that the Marine airfield in Futenma, a crowded city on Okinawa, would be relocated to another part of the island. But Japan’s government changed after August elections, and Okinawans have pushed to move the base off the island entirely.

The new administration is pushing for a slightly more assertive Japan, and Mr. Hatoyama has said he wants to resolve the base issue more democratically than previous governments and wants to win the support of Okinawa.

From wire dispatches and staff reports