WORLD IN BRIEF : AUSTRALIA : Top Official Rejects French Plea on Tests

Australia has rejected France’s plea in a letter to an Australian newspaper that its planned nuclear tests will be safe and instead vowed to push for a statement of condemnation at a regional security forum next week. French Foreign Minister Herve de Charette took the unusual step of writing an open letter to the Sydney Morning Herald daily to reject as unfair claims that the tests are unsafe, but Foreign Minister Gareth Evans rejected De Charette’s assertion. French President Jacques Chirac’s announcement of the tests last month after a four-year halt sparked a wave of official and public criticism around the world.