Healthspan Blog

By Phil Stewart

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The new head of NATO sought to ease American doubts about allies' commitment to the stalled Afghan war on Monday but cautioned that European states would prefer to send more trainers than combat troops.

Anders Fogh Rasmussen, in his first major U.S. address as secretary-general, said fading public opinion meant it was all the more urgent to show there was "light at the end of the tunnel" by training Afghan forces for a gradual handover.

"We should expand our training mission. I consider it easier for European countries to contribute to our training mission with personnel as well as with finances, than with combat troops," he said, answering questions from an audience at the Atlantic Council, a public policy group in Washington.

Rasmussen's comments came on the same day as European defense ministers, meeting informally in Sweden, expressed reluctance to send a significant number of reinforcements.

"If you look at Europe, I don't hear any voices saying we have an additional five or ten thousand soldiers to send to Afghanistan," said Danish Defense Minister Soren Gade.

The top U.S. and NATO commander in Afghanistan, General Stanley McChrystal, has warned the Afghan effort will likely result in failure without more troops. He is expected to seek 30,000 to 40,000 combat troops and trainers, according to defense and congressional officials.

European allies are not expected to offer any significant increase in trainers or troops unless the United States takes the lead.

But U.S. President Barack Obama, who is also working to reduce the U.S. military presence in Iraq, has said he will not decide on further reinforcements for Afghanistan until after a broad review of strategy.

Senator John Kerry, the influential chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and an Obama ally, urged against committing more troops without clear goals or a timeframe.

"Otherwise, we risk bringing our troops home from a mission unachieved or poorly conceived," Kerry said in an opinion piece in The Wall Street Journal published on Monday.

Rasmussen, who meets Obama on Tuesday, told reporters it was premature to discuss McChrystal's request for additional troops, saying that issue was best left "for another stage."

NOT RUNNING FROM THE FIGHT

The former prime minister of Denmark, who took over NATO's top job last month, criticized those in the United States who belittle the contributions of allies.

In his speech, Rasmussen pointed to 9,000 additional non-U.S. troops who have joined the Afghan effort in the past 18 months, saying "the allies are not running from the fight, despite the conventional wisdom."

Such U.S. criticism was counterproductive, unjustified and risked leaving allies "less inclined to make those efforts and those sacrifices" in the future, he said.

"I am a little concerned about the doubts I hear these days in the United States about NATO," Rasmussen said.

"Talking down the European and Canadian contributions -- as some in the United States do on occasion -- can become a self-fulfilling prophesy."

The Netherlands and Canada already have set 2010 and 2011 withdrawal timelines. Still, Rasmussen said NATO "will stay for as long as it takes to succeed."

"None of this will be quick and none of it will be easy," he said. "We will need to have patience. We will need more resources. And, unfortunately, we will lose more young soldiers to the terrorist attacks of the Taliban."

McChrystal's leaked assessment included withering criticism of NATO's International Security Assistance Force, saying that troops often lacked basic understanding of Afghan society.

Rasmussen said he was aware of frustrations in Washington, including restrictions some NATO nations put on their forces and delays in NATO decision-making.

"I am already working hard to address those very real problems," he said.

The Pentagon said on Monday any additional deployments would not happen until next year, even if Obama approved them immediately.

"There is a certain amount of train-up that is required to prepare for a particular battlespace and there is a certain amount of logistics in terms of moving equipment," Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman said.

(Additional reporting by Adam Entous in Washington; Mia Shanley and Niklas Pollard in Gothenburg, Sweden and David Brunnstrom in Brussels; Editing by John O'Callaghan)

By Emma Thomasson and Estelle Shirbon

ZURICH/PARIS (Reuters) - Roman Polanski's extradition to the United States on a decades-old sex charge could take years to accomplish after the Oscar-winning film director decided on Monday to fight his removal from Europe.

Polanski, 76, who has dual French and Polish citizenship, was arrested on Saturday on a U.S. warrant by authorities in Switzerland, where the "Chinatown" director was set to receive a lifetime achievement award at the Zurich Film Festival.

"He is in fighting mood and determined to defend himself," Herve Temime, Polanski's lawyer, told France Info radio, adding that the movie director was stunned by the arrest because he was a regular visitor to Switzerland.

Temime said he had requested Polanski's release from a Swiss prison but a Justice Ministry spokesman said it was very unlikely the director could be released on bail.

U.S. judicial sources, who requested anonymity because they were not directly involved in the case, said the complex extradition process could take years if Polanski challenges it. U.S. authorities have up to 60 days to make a firm extradition request, but Polanski can appeal to the Swiss courts.

The filmmaker, who won the best director Oscar for 2002 Holocaust film "The Pianist," is wanted for fleeing the United States on the eve of his formal sentencing over a 1977 criminal charge of having unlawful sex with a 13-year-old girl, to whom he also was accused of giving drugs and alcohol.

At the time, Polanski had reached a deal with Los Angeles prosecutors to plead guilty to the sex charge and receive 42 days in prison for psychiatric tests -- time that he had already served. But Polanski believed the judge might overrule the plea and sentence him to as much as 50 years in jail.

A Los Angeles County District Attorney spokeswoman did not return calls for comment on Monday.

EUROPE ANGRY, HOLLYWOOD RESTRAINED

In the past three decades, questions have arisen about judicial misconduct and the victim, Samantha Geimer, has said Polanski should not face more jail time.

Polanski's arrest has infuriated authorities in France and brought protests from European filmmakers. But in Hollywood, reaction was more restrained.

Movie mogul Harvey Weinstein, whose company helped distribute the 2008 documentary "Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired" that highlighted the supposed judicial irregularities, said in a statement: "We are calling every filmmaker we can to help fix this terrible situation."

But there was silence on Monday from the Directors Guild of America and from many big-name U.S. actors who had worked closely with Polanski in the past.

Jeff Berg, Polanski's Los Angeles-based film agent and chief executive of International Creative Management, one of Hollywood's biggest talent agencies, told Reuters that the first priority was to contest the extradition process.

But he said there was "global support from the film community" for Polanski.

"There has been a worldwide outcry from France, Switzerland and Poland and from a vast number of artists in the United States," Berg said.

In Europe, the Zurich Film Festival jury accused Switzerland of "philistine collusion" with U.S. authorities and wore red badges reading "Free Polanski."

"We hope today this latest order will be dropped. It is based on a three-decade-old case that is all but dead but for minor technicalities," said jury president Debra Winger.

Italian actress Monica Bellucci, France's Fanny Ardant, president of the Cannes film festival Gilles Jacob and Hong Kong director Wong Kar Wai issued a petition demanding Polanski's immediate release.

French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner told French radio he was working with Poland on the matter and had written to U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

Questions were raised about a U.S. government pardon, but judicial sources said a pardon cannot be issued for people who have never been formally convicted of a crime, which is the case with Polanski because he fled before being sentenced.

During a visit to Paris, Swiss Economy Minister Doris Leuthard said the country had no choice but to enforce the international arrest warrant against the director.

Leuthard rejected suggestions Berne had arrested Polanski to help patch up ties strained by a high-profile U.S. tax case against Swiss bank UBS, which agreed a settlement over charges it helped wealthy Americans stash assets in secret accounts.

"The two things have absolutely no connection," she said.

(Additional reporting by Jill Serjeant in Los Angeles and James Mackenzie in Paris; editing by Mohammad Zargham)

By Fredrik Dahl and Hossein Jaseb

TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iran test-fired missiles on Monday which a commander said could reach any regional target, flexing its military muscle before crucial talks this week with major powers worried about Tehran's nuclear ambitions.

The missile drills of the elite Revolutionary Guards coincide with escalating tension in Iran's nuclear dispute with the West, after last week's disclosure by Tehran that it is building a second uranium enrichment plant.

News of the nuclear fuel facility south of Tehran added urgency to the rare meeting in Geneva on Thursday between Iranian officials and representatives of six major powers, including the United States, China and Russia.

The White House called the missile tests "provocative" and reiterated demands by President Barack Obama at the Group of 20 summit in Pittsburgh last week that Iran come clean on its disputed nuclear program.

"They can agree to immediate unfettered access (to the newly disclosed nuclear facility)," White House spokesman Robert Gibbs told reporters when asked what Washington wants from the talks. "That would be the least that they could do."

"There has never been a stronger international consensus to address Iran and its nuclear program than there is right now," he added.

Iran's Foreign Ministry said there was no link between the missile maneuvers and the nuclear activities.

"This is a military drill which is deterrent in nature," spokesman Hassan Qashqavi told a news conference. "There is no connection whatsoever with the nuclear program."

Press TV said the Shahab 3 surface-to-surface missile, with a range of up to 2,000 km (1,250 miles), was "successfully" test-fired on the second day of an exercise that began on Sunday, when short and medium-range missiles were launched.

Such a range would put Israel and U.S. bases in the region within striking distance. Television footage of the launches showed missiles soaring into the sky in desert-like terrain, to shouts of Allahu Akbar (God is Greatest).

"All targets within the region, no matter where they are, will be within the range of these missiles," General Hossein Salami, commander of the Guards' air force, was quoting as saying on the Guards website.

Salami later told Iranian state television: "All of our enemies must know that we constantly envision ourselves to be in an atmosphere of threat. And we have prepared ourselves for the worst case scenario."

WIDE CONDEMNATION

British Foreign Secretary David Miliband said the missile test was "part of an annual provocation" by Iran and should not distract from the pending Geneva talks.

"On Thursday (Iran will) need to ... show that they are serious about ensuring that their civilian nuclear power program does not leak into a military program," Miliband told Britain's Sky News.

Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman called the tests "troublesome."

"You combine these show-of-force type missile tests along with the other revelations that have been brought to light over the last couple of days with their continued development of a nuclear program, and you put all those together, and it paints a picture of ... a pattern of deception," Whitman said.

He added that the United States and other nations were focused on the talks "to see if there is a way forward diplomatically and, if not, then what the next steps might be."

European foreign policy chief Javier Solana, who will head the Western delegation in Geneva, said the aim of Thursday's talks was to engage Iran in a "real discussion" and get a commitment to continue talks in a "dynamic manner."

"Failure is clear -- if there is no more meetings it's failure -- that would be very obvious to notice. Success is more difficult to judge," Solana said on the sidelines of an EU defense ministers' meeting in Sweden.

France called on Iran "to choose the path of cooperation and not that of confrontation by immediately ending these profoundly destabilizing activities and by immediately responding to the requests of the international community in order to reach a negotiated solution on the nuclear dossier."

Russia, meanwhile, urged restraint.

"Of course, it is worrisome when missile launches happen against the backdrop of unresolved situation concerning Iran's nuclear program," Russian news agencies quoted Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov as saying after a meeting with his Iranian counterpart Manouchehr Mottaki in New York.

"I am convinced restraint is needed," Lavrov said, adding that he told Mottaki that Iran should cooperate with the International Atomic Energy Agency in investigating the construction of the new nuclear plant.

The reports did not specify whether Lavrov meant restraint by Iran or the West.

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said on Friday that if Iran does not cooperate at the meeting, then "other mechanisms" should be used to deal with Tehran's nuclear program. Medvedev did not explicitly say whether Russia would support Western calls for sanctions against Iran.

The United States and its Western allies have made clear they will focus on Iran's nuclear program at the Geneva meeting. Iran has offered wide-ranging security talks but says it will not discuss its nuclear "rights."

Washington suspects Iran is trying to develop nuclear bomb capability and has previously expressed concern about Tehran's missile program. Iran, a major oil producer, says its nuclear work is solely for generating peaceful electricity.

ADDITIONAL SANCTIONS

U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates, who says any military action against Iran would only "buy time" and stresses the need for diplomacy, mentioned possible new sanctions on banking and equipment and technology for Iran's oil and gas industry.

Gates told CNN he hoped the disclosure of the second facility would force Tehran to make concessions. "The Iranians are in a very bad spot now because of this deception, in terms of all of the great powers," he said.

"There obviously is the opportunity for severe additional sanctions. I think we have the time to make that work."

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Iran must present "convincing evidence" at the Geneva meeting.

"We are going to put them to the test on October 1," Clinton told CBS' "Face the Nation."

Both interviews were taped before Iran started the two-day missile exercise, designed to show it is prepared to head off military attacks by foes like Israel or the United States.

Iran's state broadcaster IRIB said "upgraded" versions of Shahab 3 and another missile, Sejil, had been tested. Officials have earlier said Sejil has a range of close to 2,000 km (1,250 miles). They were powered by solid fuel, IRIB said.

Neither the United States nor its ally Israel have ruled out military action if diplomacy fails to resolve the issue.

Iran has said it would respond to any attack by targeting U.S. interests in the region and Israel, as well as closing the Strait of Hormuz, a vital route for world oil supplies.

Iran's defense minister warned Israel on Monday against launching any attack on the Islamic Republic, saying it would only speed up the Jewish state's own demise.

"If this happens, which of course we do not foresee, its ultimate result would be that it expedites the Zionist regime's last breath," Ahmad Vahidi said on state television.

Obama said on Saturday the discovery of a secret nuclear plant in Iran showed a "disturbing pattern" of evasion by Tehran. He warned Iran on Friday it could face "sanctions that bite" if it did not comply with demands for disclosure.

Iran has rejected Western accusations that the plant was meant to be secret because it did not inform the U.N. nuclear watchdog as soon as plans were drawn up, saying the facility near the holy city of Qom is legal and can be inspected.

(Reporting by Tehran and Washington bureaus, Avril Ormsby in London, Conor Humphries and Oleg Shchedrov in Moscow and David Brunnstrom in Gothenburg; writing by Samia Nakhoul; editing by Dominic Evans and Paul Simao)

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States blasted ousted Honduran President Manuel Zelaya for his "irresponsible and foolish" return from exile before a settlement was reached in the Central American country's political crisis.

At an emergency meeting of the Organization of American States to discuss the Honduran face-off, Lewis Anselem, the U.S. ambassador to the OAS, also criticized Honduras' de facto government for its "deplorable" action in barring entry of an OAS mission and declaring a state of siege on Sunday.

Anselem also criticized Zelaya for fueling violence by slipping back into Honduras last week and holing up in the Brazilian Embassy, from where he has called on his supporters to take to the streets.

"The return of Zelaya absent an agreement is irresponsible and foolish ... He should cease and desist from making wild allegations and from acting as though he were starring in an old movie," Anselm said.

Anselem urged the de facto government to handle security with "restraint and caution" and called on Zelaya to "exercise leadership" and urge his supporters to express their views peacefully.

He said the United States had urged Zelaya on several occasions not to return to Honduras before a political settlement was achieved because of the potential for unrest.

"Having chosen, with outside help, to return on his own terms, President Zelaya and those who have facilitated his return, bear particular responsibility for the actions of his supporters," the U.S. official said.

Anselem said the U.S. government will continue to urge both sides to quickly reach agreement under the San Jose accord proposed by Costa Rican President Oscar Arias, which calls for Zelaya to return to office to finish his term ending in January.

While U.S. President Barack Obama has condemned the coup that toppled Zelaya and has cut off some aid to Honduras, conservatives criticize him for helping an ally of Venezuela's leftist President Hugo Chavez.

Zelaya was overthrown in a military coup on June 28. The de facto civilian government has resisted international pressure to allow the leftist president's reinstatement and on Sunday gave Brazil a 10-day ultimatum to decided what too with Zelaya, threatening to close the embassy.

(Reporting by Deborah Charles; Writing by Anthony Boadle; Editing by Bill Trott)

By Rosemarie Francisco

MANILA (Reuters) - Philippine officials scampered to send relief aid Monday to hundreds of thousands hit by weekend floods in and around Manila, while anger mounted over what was seen as an inadequate response from the government.

As the death toll from flash floods soared to 140, analysts said the anger could damage the prospects of Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro, the administration's candidate in the May 2010 presidential election.

"His 0.2 percent popularity could be zero by now," said political analyst and columnist Nelson Navarro, of Teodoro.

President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, already deeply unpopular in opinion polls, ordered an emergency center be set up in the presidential palace Monday, two days after the floods, highlighting for some the haphazard response to the disaster.

At least 450,000 people were affected, including about 150,000 displaced.

Officials said the economic damage from the worst rains on record in the Manila area was about 1.4 billion pesos ($30 million), including 500 million pesos in lost crops. Damaged roads and bridges accounted for most of the remaining costs.

Officials expected the toll to rise with people looking for missing relatives and residents trapped in flooded houses two days after Typhoon Ketsana dumped about 410 mm of rain in 24 hours, about the average amount of rainfall for an entire month.

'ONCE-IN-A-LIFETIME TYPHOON'

Arroyo called the typhoon "an extreme event that has strained our response capabilities to the limit. But it is not breaking us." "It's a once-in-a-lifetime typhoon," she said in a statement. "We are continuing the rescue efforts until everyone in danger is accounted for."

While waters had receded from most flooded areas in Manila, some parts of the city of 15 million remained cut off and in others, mud and garbage was left caked on streets.

Schools were ordered closed, but financial markets were open Monday and public transport was operating. Offices and businesses were open, but attendance was poor.

"There was a massive failure in government and the direction of management response," said Mario Taguiwalo, president of the National Institute for Policy Studies think-tank.

"The root cause is you have a government whose predominant preoccupation is with graft and corruption -- how to steal more money from the people," Taguiwalo said.

"If your officials are not motivated to serve and just motivated to steal, then that's the kind of response you get."

Arroyo has been accused of vote fraud and corruption in her nine years in power. She has consistently denied the charges.

The government was using helicopters to drop food packets.

Television reports said private citizens and volunteer groups were collecting relief goods -- mostly clothes, drinking water and medicines -- and distributing them to victims.

(Additional reporting by Manolo Serapio Jr.)

(Reporting by Rosemarie Francisco, Editing by Raju Gopalakrishnan and Bill Tarrant)