Alberto Chaigneau, president of the courtroom where the extradition case was heard, said magistrates had accepted seven of the 13 points made by Peruvian state prosecutors seeking to bring Fujimori to trial.

The Supreme Court ruling cannot be appealed.

Fujimori, 69, has been in Chile since November 2005, when he was arrested on an international warrant after flying into the country from Japan.

He was apparently planning to launch a political comeback in Peru, where he served two terms as president from 1990 until 2000. His government collapsed in a massive corruption scandal and he fled to exile in Japan.

Peruvian prosecutors want to try Fujimori on charges of embezzling $15 million and using excessive anti-terrorism measures -- including allegations of two massacres -- to crush Maoist rebel group Shining Path.

But many Peruvians still admire him for capturing Shining Path's top leaders and defeating its insurgency.

"The Plan explicitly does not aim at complying with the Kyoto Protocol, and therefore does not conform to the requirements of the Act," lawyers Chris Paliare and Andrew Lokan wrote in the application, filed on behalf of Ecojustice Canada and Friends of the Earth Canada.

"On its terms, the Plan provides that emissions of greenhouse gases will far exceed the levels required by the Kyoto Protocol," they said.

A Federal Court judge could theoretically respond to the application by ordering the government to file a new plan that is in keeping with the Kyoto Protocol.

"In this particular case, even though the Act is highly complicated, there are key aspects of the fudged implementation plan that does indicate a 'thumbing of the nose' against the law," University of Ottawa law professor Errol Mendes said in an interview. "If the Ecojustice lawyers can keep it simple, there is a sound basis for seeking a declaration that the government is not complying with its own Act," Prof. Mendes said.

He said the case is particularly interesting because the country may be on the verge of a succession of minority governments. "If we have legislation on more than one area passed by the combined numbers of the opposition, can the minority government just ignore the law passed by Parliament or fudge any mandate to implement it by regulation?" Prof. Mendes said.

Several legal precedents exist in which courts forced provinces or the federal government to respect its own environmental legislation, according to Albert Koehl, a lawyer for Ecojustice.

"The court is not going to be stepping into the shoes of the Minister of the Environment or the Prime Minister," Mr. Koehl said in an interview. "It would simply look at whether the plan complies with the Act."

Mr. Paliare said the case boils down to whether a government can blithely ignore its own legislation: "This case is about being accountable to the will of Parliament," he said.

Garry Keller, director of communications for federal Environment Minister John Baird, said in a statement the department would have no comment on cases before the courts.

The Conservatives have consistently maintained that years of inaction on the part of their Liberal predecessors makes it impossible to meet the targets without serious consequences for the economy.

Raingzieb Ahmed, 32, charged with three counts, spoke only to confirm his name and age during a five-minute hearing at London's City of Westminster Magistrates Court.

A 17-year-old from Dewsbury, England, who faces two counts, also spoke only to confirm his identity during a separate appearance.

Ahmed was arrested at Heathrow Airport in London on Sept. 7 after returning from Pakistan, where he had been held on suspicion of militancy, Greater Manchester police said.

He was charged with directing activities of a terrorist organization, possession documents useful to terrorists and possession of a rucksack containing traces of explosives allegedly for terrorist purposes.

District Judge Timothy Workman ordered Ahmed held pending an appearance in Central Criminal Court on Oct. 5.

The 17-year-old, who cannot be identified, was arrested Sept. 11. Workman adjourned the case for one week when the suspect is to return to court.

He is accused of possessing quantities of potassium nitrate and calcium chloride, which he allegedly intended to use for terrorism.

The second charge involves the possession of a document, the "anarchist's Cookbook," which would be useful in preparing for a terrorist attack.

However, the French foreign minister also said that "everything should be done to avoid war."

"War is the worst that could happen," he said. "Everything should be done to avoid war. We have to negotiate, negotiate, negotiate -- without cease, without rebuff."

His comments appeared aimed at quieting an uproar over his statement Sunday that the world should prepare for a possible war with Iran -- a warning Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad dismissed Tuesday as fanciful.

Kouchner blamed the media for distorting his statement that "we have to prepare for the worst, and the worst is war."

"As usual with journalists, they take one phrase and you don't know what came after," he told Russia's Echo of Moscow radio late Tuesday.

"They're saying: Bernard Kouchner wants war. But it's not true. It's a manipulation. I don't want war, I want peace."

The Russian and French ministers met ahead of a UN Security Council meeting on Friday that may impose new sanctions against Tehran for its controversial uranium enrichment activity.

Ahmadinejad dismissed talk of war in comments to journalists in Tehran on Tuesday.

"We do not take these declarations seriously. Comments to the media are different to the real positions," he said.

Tehran vehemently denies US accusations it is seeking an atomic weapon, saying its nuclear drive is aimed at generating electricity.

Russia, which is building Iran's first nuclear reactor in the southern Russian city of Bushehr, has consistently warned against attacking the Islamic republic.

In an interview published just ahead of the Kouchner-Lavrov meeting, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Losyukov warned that a "bombing of Iran would be a bad move that would end with catastrophic consequences."

The United States has never ruled out using military strikes to punish Iran for defying UN Security Council demands that it halt its enrichment activity. US Defense Secretary Robert Gates said on Sunday that "all options are on the table."

Iran has said it would never initiate an attack but would respond with crushing force if the United States launched a strike on its territory.

Kouchner is set to fly to Washington on Wednesday to take up the issue with US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.

Fearing possible military action, Moscow has drawn up plans to evacuate its nuclear experts from Bushehr in the event of a conflict, deputy foreign minister Losyukov said.

He stressed in an interview with daily Vremya Novostei that the use of force would only "worsen the situation in the Middle East" and "bring a very negative reaction from the Muslim world."

On Monday, the UN atomic agency chief warned against the hasty use of force in the Iranian nuclear dispute but dismissed the French comments about possible war as "a lot of hype."

"We need always to remember that use of force could only be resorted to when ... every other option has been exhausted. I don't think we are at all there," ElBaradei told reporters at a conference of his International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

"There is a UN charter and there are rules for the international use of force," ElBaradei said.

Iranian Vice President Reza Aghazadeh told the general conference of the IAEA's 144 member states that Western countries "have always chosen the path of confrontation instead of the path of understanding and cordial relations toward the great nation of Iran."

A series of bombings, meanwhile, ripped through Baghdad, killing at least 18 people and wounding more than 60, police said. The deadliest attack was a car bombing in a parking lot near the Health Ministry and the city's main morgue that claimed seven lives.

The Interior Ministry said Monday that Blackwater — a Moyock, N.C.-based company that protects U.S. diplomats and other dignitaries and projects in Iraq — was banned from working in the country after Sunday's deadly shootings that apparently occurred after a car bombing in western Baghdad.

The shootings have touched a nerve and raised scrutiny over what many Iraqis consider a mercenary force that runs roughshod over people in their own country.

Blackwater is one of three private security firms employed by the State Department to protect its personnel in Iraq, and a decision to force it to pull out would create tremendous difficulties for the U.S. government.

The two other firms, both of which are headquartered in the Washington, D.C., suburbs, are Dyncorp, based in Falls Church, Va., and Triple Canopy, based in Herndon, Va.

Government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh said he understood the need for protection for Westerners and dignitaries but that preliminary findings showed Blackwater used excessive force.

Citing Interior and Defense ministry initial findings, al-Dabbagh told CNN that more than 20 people were killed. Interior Ministry spokesman Maj. Gen. Abdul-Karim Khalaf, however, said 11 were killed. The discrepancy could not be reconciled.

Blackwater has insisted its employees acted in self-defense and that those killed were armed combatants who threatened State Department personnel.

Both Iraqi officials appeared to soften the government's position after Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice assured Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki of a fair and transparent investigation.

"We have to protect the people. At the same time we have to show the sovereignty of the government in Iraq," al-Dabbagh told CNN.

But he stressed the ban on Blackwater was temporary pending the final investigation: "We are not intending to stop them and revoke their license indefinitely, but we do need them to respect the law and the regulation here in Iraq."

Khalaf said the important thing was "to know the truth and to protect the rights of the victims and to reach the best means in order to prevent such incidents in the future."

Blackwater and other foreign contractors accused of killing Iraqi citizens have gone without facing charges or prosecution in the past, and it was unclear why the shooting Sunday drew such a fierce reaction by the Iraqi government.

Al-Maliki, under political pressure, may have seen a straightforward way to gain political ground by lashing out at a practice unpopular with all Iraqis. Unlike many deaths blamed on foreign contractors, Sunday's shootings took place in a crowded area in downtown Baghdad with dozens of witnesses.

The Interior Ministry also has recently clamped down on weapons permits for the foreign security companies with a series of conflicting measures that have created some confusion among Iraqi security forces as well as the contractors.

The circumstances surrounding Sunday's attack were uncertain. Blackwater said its employees came under fire.

"Blackwater regrets any loss of life but this convoy was violently attacked by armed insurgents, not civilians, and our people did their job to defend human life," Blackwater's spokeswoman, Anne E. Tyrrell, said in a statement.

U.S. officials said the motorcade was traveling through Nisoor Square on the way back to the Green Zone when the car bomb exploded, followed by volleys of small-arms fire that disabled one of the vehicles.

Al-Dabbagh said the preliminary report by the Interior and Defense ministries showed helicopters fired on the crowd; Blackwater has denied any aircraft were used.

Al-Sadr called for all contracts of foreign securities firms to be annulled and blamed the government for failing to protect Iraqis, noting the shootings occurred on a busy square filled with Iraqi troops.

"This aggression wouldn't have happened had it not been for the presence of the occupiers who brought these companies," al-Sadr's political committee said in a statement issued by his office in the holy city of Najaf.

It also called for a speedy investigation, the referral of those involved to the Iraqi justice system and compensation for families of the victims.

Amid allegations that the foreign security contractors operate with impunity, al-Maliki's Cabinet held a meeting Tuesday and confirmed that "it is necessary to review the status of local and foreign private security companies working in Iraq according to what is suitable with Iraqi laws."

Order No. 17, a law issued by the Coalition Provisional Authority in Iraq before the Iraqis regained sovereignty in June 2004, gave the companies immunity from Iraqi prosecution.

Al-Dabbagh insisted the government was now sovereign and had the right to act against the contractors, "but we don't want to do so because we don't have the services which they are providing for the diplomats and for the American Embassy here in Iraq."

Hassan al-Rubaie, a member of the parliament's Security and Defense Committee, said an investigative committee has been formed and members would consider abolishing the immunity law.

"There are reports that they were subjected to fire but this does not give them the right to kill innocent civilians," he said.

The Supreme Court said murders triggered by family disputes should not always result in the death penalty. Crimes of passion should take into account the offender's payment of compensation, it said.

Similarly, those convicted of economic crimes should be treated more leniently if they help to recoup money that was defrauded. The court suggested greater use of two-year suspensions on death penalties - allowing them to be converted to imprisonment. However, it continued to back capital punishment as a deterrent.

"We must hand down and carry out immediate capital punishment in regard to heinous cases, with iron-clad evidence that result in serious social damage," its statement said.

The most high-profile execution this year was of the former head of the State Food and Drug Administration, Zheng Xiaoyu, for taking 6.5m yuan ($860,000; £430,000) in bribes and for dereliction of duty.

In 2005, an estimated 1,770 executions were carried out and nearly 4,000 people were sentenced to death, human rights group Amnesty International says.

But China says the number has fallen since an amendment came into force this January requiring the Supreme People's Court to approve all death sentences.