Parliamentary
elections held in Cuba
Cubans went to
the polls on Sunday to vote in an election
that will choose 609 deputies to the National
Assembly of People's Power and 1,199 to 14
provincial assemblies.
Fidel Castro,
president of the Council of State, joined
local voters in casting ballots on Sunday
morning in the eastern city of Santiago, state
television showed.
Castro said his
country was in the process of perfecting its
socialism and democracy, which was well
illustrated by the current election. He also
said the election was democratic and
transparent and was the best ever in Cuba's
history.
There were 8.23
million registered voters in the Caribbean
state and voters cast their ballots in 38,000
voting stations in the election, which is held
every five years. Representatives to municipal
assemblies were elected in October last year.
The National
Assembly is the Cuba's highest organ of state
power.
US
encourages Iraqi leader to go exile to avoid
war
Senior
US officials said on Sunday that exile for
Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein and his top aides
would avoid a US-led military action against
Iraq.
 Speaking
on CBS's "Face the Nation," US
Secretary of State Colin Powell said the exile
of Saddam and the current Iraqi leadership
could constitute the regime change that the
Bush administration favors.
"We would
have an entirely new situation presented to
the international community and we might be
able to avoid war," Powell said. "So
I would encourage Saddam Hussein, if he is
getting any messages of this type, to listen
to them carefully."
US Defense
Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, speaking on ABC's
"This Week" news program, said:
"I would personally recommend that some
provision be made so that the senior
leadership and their families could be
provided haven in some other country."
"I think
that would be a fair trade to avoid a
war," Rumsfeld said. "I think that
the people in his country know what a vicious
regime Saddam runs. And they may decide to
throw him out."
"He and
his family may decide that they've run their
string and that they'll leave...Certainly,
either of those courses would be preferable to
the use of force," he added.
Thousands
of New Zealanders protest war against Iraq
Thousands
of people turned out Sunday for anti-war
marches in Christchurch and Dunedin on South
Island of New Zealand, the New Zealand Press
Association reported Monday.
With the United
States' push for war against Iraq gaining
momentum, an estimated 1,000 people in
Christchurch and another 1,500 in Dunedin
marched into their respective city centers to
listen to civic leaders speak for peace.
Christchurch
mayor Garry Moore told the Christchurch rally
he had spent the last three weeks in London
and had noticed a rapidly expanding peace
movement in Britain and Europe.
Business
leaders were acknowledging there was a problem
with Iraqi President Saddam Hussein, and were
pleased with the United Nations actions, but
were saying there was no need for immediate
intervention by the United States and its
allies, he said.
The Dean of
Christchurch, the Very Reverend Peter Beck,
told the crowd: "...what we hear and are
told about the Iraqi situation in the context
of other policies of American President George
Bush's administration, I am left with deep
concerns as to the primary motives of the
United States leadership."
In Dunedin,
marchers chanted "One, two, three, four,
we don't want your bloody war" as they
walked down George St.
Carrying
pickets with slogans such as "Disarm
Bush, no more blood for oil" and chanting
"Hey, hey not another Vietnam,"
around1,500 people marched toward the peace
rally.
Dunedin Mayor
Sukhi Turner told the crowd she hoped the
rally was not a one-off event. "We need
to keep the momentum going. New Zealanders are
essentially people of peace," she said.
She called for New Zealand's armed forces to
work for peace only and for bullies not to be
tolerated.
Organizers also
called for people to sign a petition saying no
to New Zealand support for a war, to write to
the United States Embassy in protest and to
join in further protests still to be planned.
Saddam's
"vacation" might be "best
solution": US diplomat
 Iraqi
President Saddam Hussein's long
"vacation" might be "the best
solution" to a standoff between his
country and the United States, the US
ambassador in Cairo said on Sunday.
"The best
solution of all would be for Mr. Saddam
Hussein to take a very, very long vacation
from political power," David Welch told
reporters after meeting with Egyptian Foreign
Minister Ahmed Maher.
"I don't
know whether this is possible or likely, but
yes, as far as the United States is concerned,
a change of regime in Baghdad would be very
welcome," he said, when commenting on the
possibility of putting Saddam into exile.
Senior Iraqi
officials have claimed that Saddam will never
leave his homeland, amid reports that some
regional countries are trying to persuade the
Iraqi leader to go into exile to avert the US
attack.
As for a
Turkish proposal on holding a region gathering
on the Iraqi crisis, the ambassador said,
"The United States welcomes any effort
that makes it very clear to the regime in
Baghdad its responsibilities, which are to
disarm completely, totally and
immediately."
Turkey has
invited presidents or prime ministers of
Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Syria and Iran to
the summit in an effort to push for a peaceful
solution for the Iraq crisis.
A Turkish
diplomat told Xinhua on Saturday that Turkey
is pursuing close contact with regional
countries on the conference.
"We have
tried our best to avoid the war and spare the
Iraqi people a danger which would lead to
regional instability," the source said.
The United
States, which accuses Iraq of developing
weapons of mass destruction, is stepping up
preparations for a possible war on Iraq, with
more troops to be deployed in the Gulf region
in the coming weeks.
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