Ukraine's 'orange' bloc says to obstruct changes in law on pres election.

KIEV, February 3 (Itar-Tass) - Parliamentary faction of the political
bloc led by Ukraine's Prime Minister Yulia Timoshenko promises to obstruct
adoption of changes in the law on presidential elections, MP Andrei
Portnov who represents the Timoshenko bloc told the Ukraina TV channel
Tuesday.

"We'll take all the necessary measures so that the Verkhovna Rada /the
national parliament/ doesn't adopt the changes initiated by the Regions
Party," Portnov said.
The Rada is expected to hold an extraordinary session at the Regions
Party's initiative Wednesday where it plans introducing changes in the law
on the presidential election, which will allow electoral commissions to
hold meetings in the absence of a quorum of two-thirds of members.
"I don't think we'll get a law of this kind, all the more so that the
Regions Party promised to refrain from passing the law between the first
and second rounds of the presidential election," Portnov said.
He indicated that the changes cannot be adopted before an appropriate
parliamentary committee overseeing this aspect of the national legislation
considers more than 200 amendments to the Regions Party's bill that have
been made by MPs from other factions.

.US establishes post of special envoy for conventional arms in Europe.

WASHINGTON, February 2 (Itar-Tass) - U.S. Secretary of State Hillary
Clinton has established a special post of the special envoy for
conventional Armed Forces in Europe, Gordon Duguid said in a report
published by the Department of State's official website.
"Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton is pleased to announce the
appointment of Ambassador Victoria Nuland as Special Envoy for
Conventional Armed Forces in Europe (CFE)," Duguid said.
"Ambassador Nuland and her staff will work under the daily direction
of Under Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security
Ellen Tauscher in close coordination with the Bureau of European Affairs,
the Bureau of Verification, Compliance and Implementation, and an
interagency team, to develop new approaches to addressing security
challenges in the Euro-Atlantic area and to develop ideas to modernize our
current conventional arms control structures," the report said.
"She also will work with our NATO Allies and our European partners in
conventional arms control, including Russia, on diplomatic solutions,"
Duguid said.
"Ambassador Nuland is a 26-year veteran of the Foreign Service with
past postings as U.S. Ambassador to NATO and at the U.S. Embassy in
Moscow," he indicated.

.Jewish ghetto museum to open in Latvia's capital.

RIGA, February 3 (Itar-Tass) - Deputy mayor of the Latvian capital
Riga, Ainars Slesers, who represents the LPP/LC party, and Rabbi Menahem
Barkahan of the Shamir Jewish community signed a protocol Tuesday on
setting up a museum of the Jewish ghetto in Riga.
The museum is destined to become the place of remembrance of Holocaust
victims.
Ainars Slesers said at the signing ceremony that the museum will
become an inalienable part of the Latvian capital.
"We can't build a future if we don't know history," he said. "We must
venerate the memory of those who suffered and died and we mustn't forget
the plight of the Jewish people during World War II."
The new museum will demonstrate that Latvia is a multiethnic country
where people representing all the nationalities can feel at home, Slesers
said.
Riga Town Hall's press service said the opening of the museum amid the
ongoing harsh economic crisis testifies to Latvia's and Riga's readiness
to maintain the memory of significant historic events.

.N Korea demands revision of S Korea's law on national security.

PYONGYANG, February 3 (Itar-Tass) - North Korea's main daily Rodong
Sinmum has published an article demanding that the South Korean
authorities revise their outdated policies towards the North of the Korean
Peninsula.
The newspaper that is broadly viewed as the main source of official
viewpoints in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea demanded the
government in Seoul revoke the law on national security, which "puts brake
on cooperation between the North and the South and provokes an
inter-Korean confrontation at the level of legislative acts."
As a result, the South Korean government creates artificial barriers
to the expansion of tourist exchanges and impedes the contacts on and
discussions of country's reunification.
Inter-Korean relations can revert to the track of normal development
only if the national security law is revoked. That is why all the current
speculations on the part of South Korean officials on improvement of
relations between the two Koreas are devoid of any sense, Rodong Sinmum
said.
South Korea's law on national security prohibits, among other things,
unauthorized contacts between South Korean citizens and people from the
North.
Those who violate it face heavy penalties or even charges with a
criminal offense.
Pyongyang has more than once called on the South Koreans to revoke the
law.
-0-kle


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