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New Assistant Secretary of the Navy Sworn In

Mr. B.J. Penn, was sworn in yesterday as the assistant secretary of the Navy for installations and environment by Secretary of the Navy Gordon England. In this position, Penn is responsible for formulating policy and procedures for the effective management of Navy and Marine Corps real property, housing, and other facilities; environmental protection ashore and afloat; occupational health for both military and civilian personnel; and timely completion of closures and realignments installations under base closure laws.

Prior to his appointment, Penn served as the Defense Department’s director, industrial base assessments, where he was responsible for the overall health of the U.S. defense industrial base. A retired Navy officer, Penn’s assignments included deputy director of the Navy Office of Technology Transfer & Security Assistance, command of Naval Air Station North Island, Calif., and command of Electronic Attack Squadron Thirty Three (VAQ-33). Penn holds a bachelor’s of science degree from Purdue University and a master’s of science degree from George Washington University. He received certificates in aerospace safety from the University of Southern California and in national security for senior officials from the Kennedy School, Harvard University.

DoD Identifies Army Casualty

The Department of Defense announced today the death of a Soldier who was supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom.

Pfc. Danny L. Anderson, 29, of Corpus Christi, Texas, died Feb. 27 in Baghdad, Iraq, from injuries sustained from small arms fire. Anderson was assigned to the Army's 26th Forward Support Battalion, 2nd Brigade, 3rd Infantry Division, Fort Stewart, Ga.

DoD Identifies Army Casualties

The Department of Defense announced today the death of two Soldiers who were supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom. They died from injuries sustained in a military vehicle accident that occurred Feb. 28 in Bayji, Iraq. Both Soldiers were assigned to the Army's 360th Transportation Company, 68th Corps Support Battalion, 43rd Area Support Group, Fort Carson, Colo.

Sgt. Julio E. Negron, 28, of Pompano Beach, Fla., died in Bayji on Feb. 28.

Spc. Lizbeth Robles, 31, of Vega Baja, Puerto Rico, died at the 228th Command Support Hospital in Tikirt, Iraq, on March 1.

The incident is under investigation.

French PM calls on reporter's kidnappers in Iraq to deal with officials only

Thu, Mar 03, 2005:

PARIS (AFP) - French Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin called on the kidnappers of a French reporter taken hostage in Iraq to deal with government officials only -- and not a maverick MP mentioned by name in a video they released this week

Raffarin said the unidentified group holding Florence Aubenas, a senior correspondent with the Liberation newspaper, should communicate "only with official French services."

The prime minister, speaking after meeting political party leaders, also said that it would be "unacceptable" for the MP in question -- Didier Julia, a member of the ruling UMP party who has links to former members of Saddam Hussein (news - web sites)'s regime -- to act alone to free Aubenas.

The French reporter, who disappeared in Baghdad January 5 with her Iraqi interpreter, was seen in a video broadcast Tuesday saying she was in a "bad" way and pleading for Julia to help her.

"This is urgent now. Help me! I ask especially Mr Didier Julia, the French deputy. Please Mr Julia. Help me! It's urgent. Mr Julia help me!" the 43-year-old senior correspondent said.

Aubenas's newspaper and French officials said it appeared the reporter had been forced by her kidnappers to appeal to Julia.

The MP, who speaks Arabic and has made frequent trips to Iraq and Syria, created controversy last September when he headed a failed mission to free two other French reporters taken in Iraq.

Those two journalists, who were eventually freed in December, accused him of jeopardising their lives through his independent venture, which confused and angered their kidnappers.

Julia has said he "probably" knew the group holding Aubenas and stressed in a statement to AFP Thursday that their only demand to date has been for him to become a mediator for her release.

He said he stood ready to help, but only if the government lifted a criminal investigation of his two assistants involved in the previous failed rescue mission.