Iranian resistance to protest EU ruling

BELGIUM
BRUSSELS -- European Union governments decided yesterday to keep an Iranian opposition group blacklisted as a terrorist organization, diplomats said. The Paris-based People's Mujahadeen Organization of Iran says that it has renounced military action and that its militants in Iraq have handed weapons over to US-led forces. Shahin Gobadi, a spokesman, said members would organize a demonstration in Paris tomorrow to protest the EU's decision. (AP)

RUSSIA

MOSCOW -- President Hugo Chávez of Venezuela used his fifth visit to Russia yesterday to criticize what he called US imperialism, but his hosts kept him at arm's length to avoid spoiling Vladimir Putin's weekend trip to the United States. In a barnstorming speech lasting more than an hour at a reception in Moscow, Chávez quoted the works of Bolshevik revolutionary Vladimir Lenin and thanked Putin for showing solidarity in Venezuela's feud with the United States. But the pro-Kremlin majority in parliament overturned an earlier decision to invite the Venezuelan leader to address the full chamber today, moving him to a smaller hall instead. (Reuters)

SWITZERLAND

GENEVA -- The International Red Cross denounced Burma's military government today, saying it commits abuses against civilians and detainees that cause "immense suffering." The regime makes thousands of detainees serve as porters for the military, exposing them to the danger of combat and other risks, the Red Cross said. It also alleged repeated abuses by the military against men, women, and children living along the Thai-Burma border, including the large-scale destruction of food supplies. The military government, which renamed the country Myanmar, rejects allegations of rights abuses and says it is making progress toward democracy. (AP)