July 10, 2008

Update: PUC OKs increase in gas, electricity rates

As expected, the state Public Utilities Commission has approved a 21.7-percent increase in the price National Grid charges its customers for electricity and an 8-percent increase in the price it charges customers for natural gas.

The combined increases, which go into effect July 15, would raise the average utility bill for a typical home heated by gas by almost $30 a month. The increase would be higher in winter months and lower in summer months.

National Grid requested the increase because the company says it's paying more to purchase electricity and natural gas.

The PUC put a time limit on the natural gas increase, however, approving it only through Nov. 1.

The PUC's approval comes as little surprise. In an interview this week, PUC Chairman Elia Germani says the PUC has little leeway in cases where a utility is simply passing on increases it pays for energy.

Under such circumstances, state statute limits the commission to decising three questions:

Did the utility make “prudent” decisions in buying the energy that led to the higher costs? Are the numbers the utility cited in requesting the increase correct? When will the increase take effect?

The increase in the gas rate was slightly less -- about two cents -- than National Grid had requested, which brought the projected 10-percent increase down to 8 percent.

National Grid, Rhode Island's dominant utility company, provides electricity to 477,000 customers in 38 communities and natural gas to about 245,000 customers in 33 communities.

-- Journal staff writer Paul Edward Parker.

Thu Jul 10, 2008 12:42pm EDT

PRAGUE (Reuters) - The Czech Republic protested to Russia on Thursday over what it called threats following the signing of a pact this week to host part of a U.S. missile defense shield.

The Americans want to place a tracking radar system southwest of Prague as part of a plan to protect themselves and Europe against the perceived threat of missile attack from countries such as Iran.

Russia warned after the signing on Tuesday it would react with unspecified military-technical means if the shield is deployed.

"The Czech side... voiced concerns over continued excessive rhetoric of the Russian Federation towards the Czech Republic and threats by some Russian official representatives in this sense," the Czech defense ministry said in a statement after a visit by Russia's defense ministry official Yevgenyi Buzhinsky.

"Some of the statements and the form of their presentation are perceived in the Czech Republic as an interference with internal political affairs," the statement said.

Washington also wants to put 10 interceptor rockets in Poland as part of the system, but talks there have hit a stumbling block over Poland's demands for billions of dollars from the U.S. to upgrade its army and air defense systems.

The U.S. and Czech officials have repeatedly said the system would not threaten Russia, and have offered Russia inspections of the radar base once it is built. Russia has demanded a permanent presence at the base, which the Czechs reject.

The defense ministry said it was prepared to continue dialogue with the Russians.

Analysts have said hosting the shield would further improve Czech and Polish relations with the United States and also raise U.S. security interest in the former Soviet bloc countries.

(Reporting by Jana Mlcochova; Editing by Keith Weir)

Thu Jul 10, 2008 12:39pm EDT

By Alistair Lyon

TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iran tested more missiles in the Gulf on Thursday, state media said, and the United States reminded Tehran that it was ready to defend its allies.

Washington, which accuses Tehran of seeking nuclear arms, said after Iran test-fired nine missiles on Wednesday there should be no more such tests if Iran wanted the world's trust.

U.S. leaders have not ruled out military options if diplomacy fails to assuage fears about Iran's nuclear program, which Tehran says is only to produce electricity.

Israel, long assumed to have its own atomic arsenal, has sworn to prevent Iran from emerging as a nuclear-armed power. Last month it staged an air force exercise that stoked speculation about a possible assault on Iranian nuclear sites.

Defense Minister Ehud Barak said on Thursday he favored the use of diplomatic pressure and sanctions, but added: "Israel is the strongest country in the region and has proved in the past it is not afraid to take action when its vital security interests are at stake."

Iran has vowed to strike back at Tel Aviv, as well as U.S. interests and shipping, if it is attacked, asserting that missiles fired during war games under way in the Gulf included ones that could hit Israel and U.S. bases in the region.

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said on a visit to the former Soviet republic of Georgia that no one should be confused about Washington's commitment to protect its allies.

Rice said a planned U.S. missile defense shield, to be partly based in the Czech Republic and Poland, would dampen any threat of an attack from Iran. Russia opposes the project.

"We also are able to look to the future of a missile defense system that will make it more difficult for Iran to threaten (and) and be bellicose and say terrible things because their missiles won't work," Rice said.

Iranian state TV and radio said the Revolutionary Guards -- the ideologically driven wing of Iran's armed forces -- had fired ground-to-sea, surface-to-surface and sea-to-air missiles overnight. Long-range missiles were also launched.

CHINA URGES RESTRAINT

"The ... maneuver brings power to the Islamic Republic of Iran and is a lesson for enemies," Guards Commander-in-Chief Mohammad Ali Jafari was quoted as saying.

Iran has threatened to shut the Strait of Hormuz, a vital route for Gulf oil exports, if it is attacked. Thursday's exercises involved divers and speedboats, as well as the launch of a high-speed torpedo called Hout, state media said.

Commenting on Iran's Gulf maneuvers, Kuwait said it hoped wisdom would prevail on all sides. "The region has had enough of continuous wars," Kuwaiti Foreign Ministry Undersecretary Khaled Jarallah was quoted by state news agency KUNA as saying.

On Iranian threats to close the Strait of Hormuz, he said: "We hope it does not come to this."

China urged restraint in the row over Iran's nuclear plans, but did not echo Western rebukes over the missile firings.

"We express our concern about these developments," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao said of the tests.

He welcomed the prospect of fresh talks on the nuclear program being pursued by Iran, the world's fourth largest oil producer and China's third biggest crude supplier.

The United States, Britain, France, Germany, Russia and China have offered Iran incentives to curb its nuclear work. Tehran rejects their demand that it suspend uranium enrichment.

European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana, acting for the six powers, is expected to meet Iranian officials for talks on the package, but no time or place has been announced.

China and Russia, which is building Iran's first, and so far only, nuclear power plant, have been resisting U.S.-led calls for expanding U.N. sanctions on the Islamic Republic.

Sanctions have made Western firms increasingly wary about investing. France's Total said on Thursday it would not invest for now in a big gas deal due to the political risk.

Iran has brushed off the impact of Western caution saying it has a big enough cash pile from windfall oil earnings to carry out the project itself or find other interested parties.

"This is our message. We will proceed with development with or without them," Iranian Oil Minister Gholamhossein Nozari told journalists when asked about the latest comments from Total.

(Additional reporting by Edmund Blair, Zahra Hosseini and Hashem Kalantari, and Arshad Mohammed in Tbilisi; Editing by Jon Boyle))

Ailing Kennedy helps win passage of Medicare bill

(AP Photo)

U.S. Has Consistently Opposed Establishing Timeline for Troop Drawdown

By Sudarsan Raghavan

Washington Post Foreign Service
Monday, July 7, 2008; 1:22 PM

BAGHDAD, July 7 -- Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has for the first time suggested establishing a timetable for the withdrawal of U.S. troops, a step that the Bush administration has long opposed.

Maliki floated the idea on Monday during a visit to the United Arab Emirates, where he spoke with Arab ambassadors about a security pact being negotiated to determine the future role of U.S. troops in Iraq. The agreement would replace a U.N. mandate authorizing the presence of the troops, which is set to expire Dec. 31.

Maliki said that Iraq has proposed a short-term memorandum of understanding with the United States instead of trying to forge a longer term pact on an issue that has spawned opposition across Iraq's political divides.

"The current trend is to reach an agreement on a memorandum of understanding either for the departure of the forces or a memorandum of understanding to put a timetable on their withdrawal," Maliki said, according to a statement released Monday by his office that did not specify how long a period a memorandum would cover. "In all cases, the basis for any agreement will be respect for the full sovereignty of Iraq."

The talks on the security pact have been slowed by worries over Iraq's sovereignty as well as a growing concerns in Iraq about a possible long-term American presence in the war-ravaged country.

Still, Maliki's comments suggested that both sides were far from reaching a long-term agreement, which U.S. officials had hoped would be signed by the end of this month.

The negotiations began in March over two U.S.-drafted pacts. The first is a status-of-forces agreement that would define the legal protections and responsibilities of U.S. troops; the second is a "strategic framework" that would govern the overall U.S.-Iraq political and military relationship.

Last week, Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari said that progress was being made in the negotiations, but that many hurdles remained. He said any agreement most likely would last only a year to two years and be subject to legislative scrutiny.

If an agreement could not be reached, Zebari indicated an interim arrangement would be necessary because U.S. troops "cannot stay in Iraq without a legal authorization." It was unclear whether any memorandum of understanding would need approval from Iraq's parliament.

Meanwhile, a bombing near a market in the city of Baqubah killed as many as nine people Monday, continuing a recent wave of attacks in Baghdad and surrounding areas. Police in Diyala province, north of Baghdad, said the blast took place outside a cosmetics store in a market west of the city.

There was confusion over the source of the blast. Some police in the area described it as a bomb, though witnesses and others said it was caused by a female suicide bomber. The use of women to carry suicide bombs has become more common in recent months, as insurgent groups exploit the ability of women to bypass checkpoints and other security measures more easily than men.

As many as a dozen others were injured in the Baqubah explosion. Elsewhere, two women were killed in an explosion to the east of Baqubah, and four others died in a separate bombing on the eastern edge of Diyala province.

The deaths add to 16 fatalities that occurred on Sunday when a wave of attacks in Baghdad and areas north of the capital Sunday shattered a relative lull in violence. Fifteen others were injured. Just one day earlier, Maliki had declared that Iraq's government had defeated terrorism.

Also on Sunday, the United Arab Emirates announced that it was canceling $4 billion in debt owed by Iraq and restoring full diplomatic relations with the Iraqi government, according to the UAE's official news agency. It was the latest sign that Iraq's Sunni Arab neighbors are easing their diplomatic isolation of Iraq's Shiite-led government, after considerable pressure from the United States.

The action coincided with Maliki's visit to the Emirates, which had withdrawn its ambassador to Iraq after the U.S.-led invasion in 2003, following the kidnapping of one of its diplomats, who was later released. Maliki again stressed that Iraq was becoming more stable.

"Our hopes were restricted on improving the security situation, and thank God we succeed in spreading security and direct strong blows to the al-Qaeda and lawbreakers," Maliki told senior officials in the Emirates.

In the deadliest attack on Sunday, six people were killed in a car bombing in a predominantly Shiite neighborhood of Baghdad. Police said the bomb was detonated by remote control in a popular market. "There still are some sleeping cells operating from time to time, but that doesn't change the fact of the improvement in the security situation," said Maj. Gen. Abdul Karim al-Izzi, a police commander. "Now you can see shops in Baghdad open until late hours at night, unlike before, when they were closing at noon."

In Diyala, a roadside bomb killed a high-ranking member of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, the party headed by Iraqi President Jalal Talabani, along with seven other people, said Maj. Gen. Abdul Karim al-Rubaie, Diyala military operations commander. The incident occurred in the town of Mandily, 60 miles east of Baqubah, the provincial capital.

Rubaie said two civilians were killed in Baqubah when police clashed with members of the U.S.-backed Awakening Councils, former insurgents who have turned their weapons against the extremist group al-Qaeda in Iraq.

The province is still considered one of the most dangerous areas in Iraq, despite several major offensives by U.S. and Iraqi forces over the past two years. The Kurdish official was the second senior Iraqi political official killed in as many days. On Friday, in the southern oil-rich province of Basra, gunmen fatally shot Sheik Salim al-Darraji, a member of the Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq, one of the most influential Shiite parties, police and officials said.

Special correspondents Aahad Ali in Basra, Saad al-Izzi and Zaid Sabbah in Baghdad, Hassan Shimeri in Baqubah, Saad Sarhan in Najaf and Muhanned Saif Al-Din in Tikrit and other Washington Post staff members contributed to this report.