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Komorowski declared winner in Poland

WARSAW, Poland, July 5 (UPI) -- Election officials Monday declared Bronislaw Komorowski the winner in Poland's presidential runoff.

Official results gave Komorowski 53.01 percent of the vote in Sunday's election to 46.99 percent for Jaroslaw Kaczynski, the BBC reported.

Kaczynski, the twin brother of Poland's last president, Lech Kaczynski, who died along with scores of other Polish officials in an April plane crash in Russia, had conceded defeat Sunday night.

Komorowski's victory brought a congratulatory call from U.S. President Barack Obama. The White House issued a statement saying the president told Komorowski "the resilience and resolve demonstrated by the people of Poland in the face of their unprecedented tragedy remains an inspiration to the world."

Obama also noted the close partnership between the United States and Poland in promoting "freedom, security and prosperity" around the world, the statement said, and thanked Komorowski for Poland's contributions in Afghanistan.

Obama invited the newly elected president to visit Washington.

The runoff was made necessary when no candidate garnered more than 50 percent in the first round of voting in June.

Komorowski is from the ruling Civic Platform party, while Kaczynski represents the conservative main opposition Law and Justice party.

Former lawmaker Urszula Gacek, also a member of the Civic Platform party, told the BBC many voters who had supported the left-wing candidate in the first round switched allegiance to Komorowski in the runoff.

Iran says its planes denied fuel

TEHRAN, July 5 (UPI) -- Iran is accusing Britain, Germany and the United Arab Emirates of refusing to refuel its passenger jets making stops in those countries.

The BBC reported Monday Germany said there is no such ban and Britain said it wasn't aware of fuel being denied to any Iranian aircraft.

However, Gulf News, an English-language newspaper in Dubai, reported sources at oil companies Air BP and Shell confirmed they had initiated a no-sell stance toward Iranian air carriers at UAE airports in line with U.S. trade sanctions. Officials Dubai told Gulf News Iranian airlines operating in and out of Dubai International Airport continued to be refueled and Emirates National Oil Co. said it had not been told by the UAE government to withhold fuel to Iranian aircraft.

"We are fueling as normal, and we got our fuel today," Mahdiyah Johari, station manager at Dubai airport said.

Tehran's charges came just days after the United States imposed additional sanctions in an attempt to pressure Iran to given up its nuclear ambitions.

"Since last week, our planes have been refused fuel at airports in Britain, Germany and UAE because of the sanctions imposed by America," Mehdi Aliyari, secretary of the Iranian Airlines Union, told media outlets in Iran.

He said Iran Air and Mahan Air had both encountered refueling issues.

"Refusing to provide fuel to Iranian passenger planes by these countries is a violation of international conventions," he said.

Iranian lawmaker Heshmatollah Falahatpisheh told the Iranian news agency ISNA Iran would "do the same to ships and planes of those countries that cause problems for us."

Barak: Israel must present border plan

JERUSALEM, July 5 (UPI) -- Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak said the country needs to present the White House a strong peace plan with a border between Israel and a Palestinian state.

Haaretz reported Barak's comments came at a hearing for the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee on the eve of Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu's White House meeting Tuesday with U.S. President Barack Obama.

"Israel must pull that bull by the horns and present a clear initiative that discusses drawing a border in Israel in a way that settlement blocs along the border will remain in our hands and have a solid Jewish majority for generations, but in a way that will enable the establishment of an independent and demilitarized Palestinian state," Barak said.

The defense minister also said Israel needs an "assertive political initiative" to strengthen ties with the United States and moderate Arab countries.

"We tend to ignore the importance of our peace with Egypt and Jordan, and we cannot be allowed to forget it," Barak said.

Tuesday's meeting will be the first between the two leaders since Netanyahu got a chilly White House reception in March amid tensions over Israel's decision to build new Jewish housing in disputed parts of East Jerusalem over the objections of the Obama administration.

11 die in Romanian military plane crash

TUZLA, Romania, July 5 (UPI) -- A Romanian military plane on a training mission crashed near Tuzla Monday afternoon, killing 11 people, officials said.

Claudius Palaz, the prefect of Constanta, told the Romanian news agency Mediafax three other people were seriously injured and were flown by helicopter to a Bucharest hospital.

The plane was identified as an Antonov AN-2 that belonged to the air force's cadet school. Military officials had started investigating the cause of the crash, which occurred about 2 miles from the Tuzla airport during flight training for parachute missions.