UFO Info Week-End

It has also complicated another unresolved issue discussed by the two presidents

It has also complicated another unresolved issue discussed by the two presidents. Mr Yeltsin made no mention of signing up any time soon and made clear Russia objected to East European states making any attempt to move beyond PFP and become full Nato members and thus be guaranteed protection by the West.The Chechnya conflict has increased the desire of former Soviet satellites, particularly Hungary, Poland and the Czech Republic, to become full members. Russia was scheduled to sign up last December but backed out. Mr Clinton said Russia intended to take part in the Partnership for Peace (PFP), a system of security co-operation envisaged by Washington as a half-way house towards the binding mutual security commitments of Nato. “There has been real progress on the Iran front,” said the US Secretary of State, Warren Christopher.But the deal is clouded by confusion. Parts of the Russian government had insisted there was never any plan to sell centrifuges, while other officials said such a deal was in hand.More nettlesome is Nato’s expansion into former Warsaw Pact countries. “Today we better understand the interests and concerns of each other and yet we still don’t have answers to a number of questions – our positions even remain unchanged,” said Mr Yeltsin.

Mr Yeltsin said three hours of talks had proved pre-summit talk of crisis wrong: “Of course, even after the summit a number of issues have not disappeared. But the important thing is that we seek to address these problems.”Washington does seem to have extracted some concessions on Moscow’s contract to supply Iran with nuclear technology. Russia is scrapping plans to sell it a gas centrifuge plant that could be used to enrich uranium into weapons- grade material. It also agreed to submit the sale of two reactors to review by a joint commission.”As far as the military part is concerned – nuclear fuel, centrifuge – we decided to exclude these questions; that means the military part falls away and only the peaceful part remains,” said Mr Yeltsin. Complicating their contacts is the fact that Mr Yeltsin and Mr Clinton, both up for re-election next year, face pressure at home from conservatives demanding a more robust posture.White House officials cast what they described as a largely unscripted, and therefore risky, summit as a “modest success” exceeding fearful initial expectations.

Mr Clinton expressed concern but did not challenge Mr Yeltsin’s version of events, urging extension of a “ceasefire” scheduled to expire on 15 May but which has never really existed.The gap between Mr Yeltsin’s statement and reality underscores what is probably the White House’s dominant concern in its dealings with Moscow: is Mr Yeltsin trying to mislead or is he himself being misled? Neither option offers much comfort as Russia and the US steer their relationship through what is probably the most serious turbulence since the Cold War ended. Today, the Interior Ministry simply seizes weapons still in the hands of some small armed criminal groups.” Saying Russia was engaged in “creative work” in Chechnya, he added: “I believe that soon we will have a normal situation there.”The abnormality of what is now a 22-week-long war in the region has long caused unease abroad but had been pushed into the background by the hoop- la of VE Day celebrations on Tuesday and yesterday’s summit. The Chechnya war muscled aside modest gains in a US-Russian summit yesterday when Russian helicopters rocketed a village in the region minutes after President Boris Yeltsin had declared all hostilities over and said his armed forces were no longer involved in fighting. English Nature has powers to prosecute landowners who knowingly damage SSSIs or to obtain Government Nature Conservation Orders which outlaw damaging activities at a named site. ”Over the last seven years there have been 1,005 cases of loss and damage but only nine prosecutions (and) 18 Orders are in place,” the report says.”Given the extent of damage to sites, we believe that English Nature should not be reluctant to prosecute or apply for Nature Conservation Orders where appropriate,” the MPs state..

Most are in the hands of private landowners, many of whom are paid in return for managing them in a way which conserves the wildlife interest. The influential Public Accounts Committee said yesterday that it had concerns about the way in which English Nature was protecting and managing the 3,800 Government-designated Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSIs) in England.
These areas, which range in size from less than one acre to thousands of acres, have been chosen because they have unusual, rare or rich collections of plants and animals or interesting rocks. Councillor John Young, one of the so-called “Glasgow Three”, said: “People have not rallied to the unionist cause. Instead, ministers in London are seen to be arrogant, refusing to listen to the needs of Scottish voters.”Others, however, insisted that Mr Major’s unionist appeals are the key to a Tory revival in Scotland.. He told the Chancellor that economic inicators were the rosiest since Sir Alec Douglas-Home was Prime Minister. His Conservatives went on to defeat by Labour.The sense of gloom has prompted a fresh round of soul-searching by delegates.