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.c The Associated Press

MANAGUA, Nicaragua (AP) - Nicaragua said Tuesday that it will let U.S. drilling companies explore its Caribbean and Pacific coasts and central lowlands for deposits of oil and natural gas.

President Enrique Bolanos signed legislation that will let four oil consortiums search the Miskitos and the Perlas, a pair of small island chains off the Caribbean coast.

The measure also opens up swaths of swamp and marsh land on the Pacific and Caribbean coasts, farmland outside the capital, Managua, and jungle regions in southern Rivas province up to oil exploration.

According to Nicaragua's Energy Institute, the three areas are capable of producing oil and natural gas at considerable levels for more than 100 years.

``If these explorations are successful, we hope to eventually produce 50,000 barrels of petroleum a day and 2 million cubic feet of natural gas a day,'' Bolanos said, adding that oil production would generate $300 million in annual tax revenues.

``It would be like winning the lottery without buying a ticket,'' said Bolanos, explaining that the state will not have to incur the expenses of exploration and drilling but would be able to tax any oil the companies discover in Nicaraguan territory.

Bolanos said that the U.S.-based corporations Oklahoma Nic. S.A., Great House, MKJ Exploration, and RSM Production Corp. have pledged to spend at least $50 million on exploration projects.

The government also plans to accept proposals from any other national and international oil companies interested in exploring the three areas until the end of the month, he said.


 
07/09/02 19:11 EDT
   
Copyright 2002 The Associated Press. The information contained in the AP news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press

Aga Khan Addresses Post 9/11 World


HOUSTON, June 23 /PRNewswire/ -- "Nine eleven has scarred America, but not just America. It has scarred the Islamic world, and hundreds of millions of devout and practicing Muslims for whom the word of the Quran is the word of God. We have clarity and direction enough when the Quran affirms that to save a life is, as if , to save humankind altogether."

His Highness the Aga Khan, Imam (spiritual leader) of some 12-15 Ismaili Muslims, was speaking at the inauguration of the Ismaili Jamatkhana and Center by Texas Governor Rick Perry.

Describing the multipurpose Center which will combine cultural and education facilities with spaces for quiet contemplation, the Aga Khan said "it will be a place of search and enlightenment, not of anger and of obscurantism."

"It will be a center," he continued, "which will seek to bond men and women of this pluralist country to replace their fragility in their narrow spheres by the strength of civilised society bound together by a common destiny."

Earlier, the Aga Khan described how the Center's architecture sought to reflect "who we are in terms of our beliefs, our cultural heritage and our relation to the needs and contexts in which we live in today's world."

The Aga Khan cautioned against stifling "the strength which comes from the diversity and pluralism of Muslim societies, past and present." "Unfortunately, there are forces at work in the Islamic world that seek to establish such a norm," he warned.  "This makes it all the more important that we strive to counter such efforts by employing all the means of intellectual discourse -- research, discussion ...  celebration of innovative projects."

Governor Perry echoed some of these sentiments when he spoke of the need "to heed the lessons of centuries past: that peace among men can never be achieved through division ... it can only be achieved when we realise our common hopes, our common bonds, our common humanity."

The Ismaili Jamatkhana and Center is designed by Indian-born Montreal resident Ramesh Khosla, whose previous credits include the World Trade Center concourse.  Architect Khosla, himself not a Muslim, has fused design concepts of Islamic inspiration, some going back a thousand years, with materials indigenous to the Southwestern United States. The 11.5 acre site, set by a lake, with a fountain, landscaped gardens and a collection of Islamic decorative art includes exhibition spaces, meeting rooms, space for private prayer and offices for Ismaili community institutions.

The Aga Khan, who is accompanied by his wife, Begum Inaara Aga Khan and his eldest son, Prince Rahim Aga Khan, is on an official visit to Texas at the invitation of Governor Perry whose guest he will be in Austin tomorrow.

On Tuesday, the Aga Khan departs for Washington DC where he will be an honoured guest at the inauguration of the Smithsonian Folklife Festival on the Mall, exceptionally dedicated this year to the theme of the Silk Road and for which the Aga Khan Trust for Culture is a lead funder and key creative partner.

The Aga Khan is the 49th Imam (hereditary spiritual leader) of the Ismaili Muslims and a direct descendant of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him). A Harvard graduate in Islamic history, the Aga Khan, 65, succeeded his grandfather as Imam of the Ismailis in 1957. He has established and leads a number of private, international, non-denominational development agencies, collectively known as the Aga Khan Development Network.  The Network, active in over 20 countries, seeks to empower communities and individuals, often in disadvantaged circumstances, to improve living conditions and opportunities, especially in Asia and Africa.

Ismailis reside in some 25 countries across the world from sub-Saharan Africa, across the Middle East, Iran, Afghanistan, and South and Central Asia, as well as in Western China, Russia, Europe and North America.

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