In a report written by IAEA Director General Mohamed ElBaradei, the agency also said that the Islamic republic continues construction of a reactor that will use heavy water and a heavy water production plant - also in defiance of the Security Council.

Both enriched uranium and plutonium produced by heavy water reactors can produce the fissile material used in nuclear warheads. Iran denies such intentions, saying it needs the heavy water reactor to produce radioactive isotopes for medical and other peaceful purposes and enrichment to generate energy.

The six-page report obtained by The Associated Press also said that agency experts remain "unable ... to make further progress in its efforts to verify fully the past development of Iran's nuclear program" due to lack of Iranian cooperation. That, too, put it in violation of the Security Council, which on Dec. 23 told Teheran to "provide such access and cooperation as the agency requests to be able to verify ... all outstanding issues" within 60 days.

Seven Saudis formerly detained at Guantanamo Bay arrived in Saudi Arabia after US authorities granted their release earlier this week.

The Saudi Press Agency reported their return, and noted that Interior Minister Prince Nayef bin Abdul-Aziz "expressed his appreciation at the level of co-operation with the US authorities, hoping that this step will pave the way to free all remaining Saudis soon". The former detainees will remain in custody in Saudi Arabia until the government has finished its investigation into any possible link the men may have with militant organizations.

In December, Saudi Arabia freed eighteen former Guantanamo Bay detainees "after meeting necessary legal conditions." Earlier in December, sixteen Saudis were released from Guantanamo to Saudi Arabia. The Saudi Arabian government was holding that group of transferees to investigate whether they have ties to terrorist groups. A total of 60 Saudi detainees have now been released from Guantanamo Bay, according to AP statistics, with another 67 remaining in custody.

North and South Korea have wasted no time in building on the nuclear deal agreed to by six nations here in the Chinese capital. Following consultations in the North Korean border city of Kaesong, South Korean Assistant Unification Minister Lee Kwan-se said Thursday that suspended inter-Korean talks would resume.

He says there is willingness to improve the inter-Korean relationship, so the two Koreas will hold minister-level meetings in Pyongyang from February 27 to March 2.

South Korean Unification Minister Lee Jae-joung, who will represent Seoul at the talks, has made no secret of South Korea's interest in resuming emergency food and fertilizer assistance to the severely impoverished North.

Seoul halted regular shipments last July, after North Korea test-fired a series of missiles despite warnings from South Korea and the international community. The North responded by suspending inter-Korean talks and scheduled reunions between family members separated by the Korean divide.

South Korea kept its food embargo in place after North Korea tested its first nuclear weapon in October. Seoul also backed United Nations punitive sanctions against Pyongyang.

South Korea, the United States, China, Russia, Japan, and North Korea agreed Tuesday on a list of preliminary steps aimed at ending the North's nuclear weapons programs. Now the two Koreas are expected to devote special attention to resuming food aid and restarting a host of inter-Korean projects such as family reunions and cross-border railways.

The deal agreed to here in Beijing exchanges a shutdown of North Korea's main nuclear facility at Yongbyon for delivery of 50,000 tons of heavy fuel oil within 60 days. Far more ambitious targets toward scrapping the North's weapons are to be set out in future phases of the agreement.

Ryoo Kihl-jae, Dean of Seoul's Kyungnam Graduate School of North Korean studies, says South Korea views it as a matter of strategic importance to ensure that severe economic deprivation does not destabilize North Korea. However, he says South Korean patience for subsidizing the North does have its limits.

He says if there is trouble in implementing the current North Korean nuclear deal, South Korean political support for engagement with the North may suffer.

South Korea's main opposition party, whose candidates enjoy a wide lead in early polling for this December's presidential election, says the upcoming North-South ministerial should focus primarily on ensuring North Korea adheres to the terms of the Beijing nuclear deal.

Opposition politicians are concerned that South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun may gain political support by hosting an early summit with the North.

Russian President Vladimir Putin Saturday criticized what he called the "dangerous" use of force by the United States in the face of international law in a hard-hitting speech at the 43rd Munich Conference on Security Policy.

Speaking to a forum of over 250 participants from more than 40 countries, Putin said the almost "uncontained" use of US force had overstepped the scope of its sovereignty in the pursuit of its national interests, and observed that the Bush administration's doctrine of preventive war was destabilizing as other states were more likely to engage in nuclear proliferation when they thought they were in danger.

"We are witnessing an almost uncontained hyper use of force in international relations ... the United States has overstepped its national borders in every way," said Putin at a high-profile security conference in southern German city of Munich.

"The legitimate use of force can only be done by the United Nations, which cannot be replaced by EU or NATO," he said.

Putin criticized the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (CSCE) for becoming a "vulgar instrument for ensuring foreign policy of one country."

He also sharply criticized the planned development of 10 anti-ballistic missiles systems by the U.S. in Poland and the Czech Republic, vowing that Russia would develop cheaper, asymmetrical systems to overcome the threat.

On the expansion of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), Putin said "NATO expansion is a serious factor which reduces the level of mutual trust."

Human Rights Watch (HRW) urged the Iraqi High Tribunal (IHT) Sunday to spare the life of former Iraqi Vice President Taha Yassin Ramadan citing a lack of evidence tying him to the 1982 Dujail killings for which he is charged. The court reconvenes on Monday to determine whether Ramadan's life sentence should be abandoned in favor of the death penalty.

Ramadan was convicted in November in connection with crimes against humanity committed in the town of Dujail in 1982. The IHT Appeals Chamber ruled December 26 in its decision upholding Saddam Hussein's death sentence that the life sentence for Ramadan was too lenient and ordered the trial court to re-sentence him. On Thursday, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Louise Arbour filed an amicus brief with the court arguing that imposing the death penalty would be a violation of Iraq's obligations under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.