It may not be an axis of evil, but under the old truism that my enemy's enemy is my friend, Tehran is making overtures to Pyongyang in an attempt to share a bit of nuclear knowledge, as well as the burden of the West's animosity. According to information SPIEGEL has obtained from western intelligence sources, the Iranian government is said to have offered North Korea an economic aid package in exchange for continuing to cooperate on the development of nuclear-tipped missiles.

A high-ranking Iranian emissary is reported to have traveled to Pyongyang in October to offer the North Korean regime massive oil and gas supplies. The extreme energy shortages in North Korea had forced the regime to consider giving in to US pressure to abandon its nuclear weapons program. Earlier this month, negotiations between North and South Korea, the US, Russia, China and Japan had addressed the possibility that North Korea may give up its nuclear ambitions in exchange for energy assistance and other benefits. However, the offer from Tehran would give Kim Jong II the breathing room to negotiate better conditions to the deal. Tehran has a double interest in sabotaging any detente between the North Koreans and Washington. While North Korean Nodong missiles are based on the design of Iran's Shabab-3 ballistic missiles, making Pyongyang an important partner for Tehran, Iran also fears that if North Korea were to give up its position as the great nuclear foe, the pressure from Washington, the EU and the UN would be even more focused on Iran's nuclear program. It is uncertain how North Korea will react to the offer from Tehran.

What is also unclear is how Iran will react to the compromise solution, proposed by Russia, that it continue to convert uranium ore itself into "yellow cake" and then into a gas ready for the enrichment process. The actual enrichment would then be carried out in Russia, monitored by international observers. Although talks are due to take place on Dec. 6 in Vienna, Great Britain, France and Germany are only prepared to negotiate with Iran once it has agreed in principle to this solution.

Beards, the Koran and Orange Jumpsuits

They had beards, they read the Koran, they wore US military-issue orange jumpsuits. Must be Guantanamo, right? Actually, it was Kosovo’s Camp Bondsteel, circa September 2002. The latest news in the CIA flight scandal  in Europe emerged this weekend in the French daily Le Monde. In an interview, Alvaro Gil-Robles, human rights commissioner for the Council of Europe, said that what he encountered during a visit to Bondsteel three years ago was positively Guantanamesque.

Barb wire fences surrounded the facility and prisoners were kept in small wooden barracks in groups of 15-20. Gil-Robles said some of the prisoners wore beards and could be seen reading the Koran. Four of the prisoners, he said, looked like they were of northern African descent -- with the remainder appearing to be the Kosovar Albanians or Serbs one would expect in the Kfor prison. Adding to the circumstantial evidence, an American soldier told the commissioner she had previously served at Guantanamo.

Gil-Robles visited Bondsteel in September 2002 together with Marcel Valentin, who at the time was the Kfor commander. The French general was “not happy” about the conditions he found at the camp. Gil-Robles said the facility looked like a “smaller version of Guantanamo” and demanded that it be closed within a year. It remains uncertain today whether that actually happened.

The commissioner said he could not have any direct evidence that terrorists had been held at Bondsteel, "but I do believe that an explanation should be given for this base in Kosovo, as for other potentially suspect sites."

Washington has denied any CIA activity or malfeasance at Bondsteel. "There are no secret detention facilities located on Camp Bondsteel," US military spokesman Michael Wunn said. "The facility is subject to inspection by the International Committee of the Red Cross and is regularly inspected by the United States Army."

Nevertheless, Gil-Robles' statements about Bondsteel add to mounting indications that the US may have been keeping secret prisons in eastern Europe used for the internment and interrogation of suspected terrorists. The fact that CIA jets ferrying suspected terrorists may have landed in Europe and that some suspects have been kidnapped here has fuelled outrage among politicians, who are now demanding answers. The fear is that the US may be using interrogation techniques that violate international anti-torture conventions.

The Council of Europe is now investigating the allegations. And Germany’s Frank-Walter Steinmeier said he hoped Washington would provide information about the flights during his first visit to the US capital this week as foreign minister.

Kosovo peace talks on shaky ground

Former Finnish president Martti Ahtisaari faces a difficult task. As the new United Nations special envoy to Kosovo he is charged with negotiating an agreement between the Serbs and the Albanians on the future of province. The Finn is now embarking on shuttle diplomacy between Belgrade and Pristina, the Kosovar capital, in order to try to broker some kind of deal. But with both sides unwilling to compromise, the prospect of any kind of lasting settlement looks bleak. It has only been six years since the province, which is still officially a part of Serbia and Montenegro, was embroiled in a civil war that ultimately led to the NATO bombing of Belgrade. The United Nations has been administrating the region since the Serb forces withdrew in 1999 and an uneasy "peace" has reigned. However, there are signs that the current attempt to push through a lasting settlement could actually spark off renewed conflict as both sides harden their positions, determined not to give way whatever the cost.

According to Samidin Xhezairi, a former Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) commander, the great majority of Albanian Kosovans will only accept independence. In fact, he warns that any politician who accepts anything less is a dead man. The KLA never really disbanded and it possesses both the weapons and the fighters to present more than a few problems, while other paramilitary organizations are also threatening kidnappings and murder if things don’t go their way. The situation is already heating up in Kosovo. At night, self-appointed ethnic-Albanian "sheriffs" mount road blocks looking for supposed enemies. And there are widespread poster campaigns calling for independence instead of negotiations. Meanwhile, the Serbs living in the northern part of Kosovo are no less intransigent. There are reports of guerrillas and off-duty policemen taking up defensive positions to fight against independence from the Serbian motherland. Not only the Serbian radical parties, but also the Orthodox Church are calling for determined opposition to any "occupation" of Kosovo.

According to the Serbian government minister for Kosovo, Sanda Raskovic-Ivic, it is politically impossible for Belgrade to agree to independence. "We've compromised enough by offering the Albanians everything they already have: executive, legislative and judicial powers," she said. "Having Kosovo taken away from Serbia would be very painful and very dangerous," she said. "It's the best way of encouraging nationalists and it's the best way of turning the clock back to the 1990s."

And there is no sign of compromise from the Kosovo Albanian politicians either. After initial talks with the UN envoy, Kosovo President Ibrahim Rugova said, "The time has come to wrap up this business." And Veton Surroi, a member of the Kosovo Albanian negotiating team, indicated that the demand for independence is non-negotiable. "We are at the final stage of deciding on our independence," he said. "The Kosovo Serbs will be involved in this process, no doubt about it, but the question of Belgrade is another issue. Belgrade lost its right to make decisions about this area by committing genocide six years ago."