Political problems mount for Ahmadinejad
As world powers seek new ways to put pressure on Iran, Sadegh Zibakalam, professor of politics at Tehran University, looks at how much popular support President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has at home.
No-one had expected Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to face such a strong barrage of criticism at home so soon after his impressive election victory more than 18 months ago.
In the past few weeks, criticism has been coming from all political quarters, the left, the reformists, former president Hashemi Rafsanjani, influential conservative figures and even some of his hardline allies.
Ever since his election victory in July 2005, Mr Ahmadinejad has been on the offensive.
Iranian officials responsible for handling the country's nuclear negotiations with the International Atomic Agency and European countries were lambasted for "acting weakly and being too docile to the wishes of the decadent Western powers".
Praised
Imitating the late Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, he sent a message to the American people, advised US President George W Bush to reconsider his policies, and suggested that one solution to the century-old Arab Israeli conflict would be to carry out a referendum among Jews and Palestinians to decide the future of Israel.
He also questioned the historical truth of the Holocaust and his officials organised a controversial international conference on the subject.
Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khameni, repeatedly gave his backing to the president.
At a meeting during the holy month of Ramadan in October last year he warned critics to observe "fairness and honesty" when expressing their views on a president who was working so hard for the poor.
Criticism
As late as November, Mr Ahmadinejad's star was still on the rise.
However, things were not looking good on the economic front.
When he took office, Mr Ahmadinejad promised to raise the standard of living for the huge number of Iranians living in poverty. Many of the 17 million people who voted for him did so in the expectation that he would create jobs, curb inflation and alleviate poverty.
Instead, inflation has risen, there has been no decline in unemployment and there have been huge price rises in the housing sector. The gap between rich and the poor has shown no sign of narrowing.
The first doubts about his performance came from within the president's own camp.
The head of the Majlis' (Iranian parliament) Research Office, an influential body that advises deputies on important issues, criticised Mr Ahmadinejad for drawing "unreservedly and without much consideration" from the country's oil revenues special fund.
Ahmad Tavakoli, a leading hardliner and an economy expert, criticised the government for almost emptying the reserves. Another influential deputy and a leader of the government faction accused the government of "lacking any direction".
Election defeat
Mr Ahmadinejad did not respond to these remarks and continued very much as before. The turning point, however, came during the municipal elections in early December. They were the first national elections since his victory.
At the beginning of the campaign, everyone assumed that the election would be a battle between hardliners championed by the president on the one hand, and reformists on the other.
It was widely assumed that the conservatives would either win or, at least, take most of the seats. But, as the campaign unfolded, it became increasingly apparent that there was a serious division among the hardliners. The reason was clear. The overconfident president had refused to agree on a compromised list of candidates with the other conservatives.
As a result, and to the astonishment of most Iranians, the hardliners entered the elections with two different lists in many constituencies. The election results were catastrophic for Mr Ahmadinejad, particularly in critical seats such as Tehran and some other major cities.
The defeat, followed by the imposition of UN sanctions against Iran in December 2006, unleashed a barrage of criticism against the president. His handling of the economy and his foreign policy were the focus of the strongest censure.
The supreme leader did not meet the president for nearly three months, perhaps because of these criticisms.
For his part, Mr Ahmadinejad did not respond to his critics until the two-month period that the UN Security Council had given Iran expired last week.
In a huge gathering in Rasht, the northern province of Gilan the president repeated his hard-line stand over the country's nuclear programme. Many had expected that the president would soften his tone over the nuclear issue. But he repeated his resolute stand that Iran would not give in to the US pressure.
As long as the people stood behind the country's nuclear programme, he said, his government would do everything at its disposal to advance it.
Whether or not the nuclear issue will strengthen the weakened president's position remains to be seen. What is certain however, he is determined to stand firm on the issue.
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/middle_east/6396873.stm
Published: 2007/02/26 14:45:24 GMT
© BBC MMVII
Guam-bound flight loses cabin pressure; forced to make emergency
landing
3:40 pm, February 27 — A Continental Micronesia passenger flight
headed
for Guam safely made an emergency landing at Tokyo’s international
airport
after developing a cabin pressure malfunction, officials said.
Flight 920, which left western Okayama carrying 67 passengers and six
crew, was headed for Guam but turned around and made an emergency
landing at
Narita International Airport at 1:34 p.m., Tokyo time, Transport
Ministry
official Tsuyoshi Shirai said.
No injuries or damage were reported.
Officials are investigating the cause of the pressure problem, which
forced the pilot to quickly lower the aircraft, a Boeing 737, from the
altitude of 37,000 feet to as low as 10,000 feet, the Associated Press
reported.
The trouble occurred about an hour after it departed Okayama, about 340
miles west of Tokyo.
http://www.guampdn.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070226/NEWS01/70226010/1
002
Charges over mid-flight threats
(Australia) A MAN has been charged after he allegedly threatened and
became
aggressive towards flight crew on board a Jetstar flight from Brisbane
to
Launceston.
The pilot on flight JF137 radioed police about 8.10pm yesterday and the
plane landed at Launceston at 9.20pm, where the police public order
safety
response team arrested the 47-year-old from Ravenswood in Tasmania.
The man has been charged with common assault and interference with crew
of
an aircraft. He has been bailed to appear in the Launceston
Magistrate's
Court on April 4.
"At no stage during or after the incident did any passenger or member
of the
flight crew receive any injury nor was the safety of any person on
board
compromised," police said.
http://www.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/story/0,22049,21288121-5001028,00.html
Alaska Airlines Jet Makes Unscheduled Landing
SEATTLE -- Pilots on an Alaska Airlines flight from Mexico to Los
Angeles
were forced to make an unscheduled landing after a worker left open a
small
maintenance door, KIRO 7 Eyewitness News reported.
Twenty minutes after taking off from Ixtapa on a flight to Los Angeles,
the
Boeing 737 changed course.
"You could tell we weren't heading to L.A. any more, and then the pilot
came
on and said, 'We feel a vibration in front of the plane. We think it
might
be a communication box. We're not sure,'" said Wendy Weiker, a
passenger.
The plane quickly descended and pilots landed the jet in Puerto
Vallarta. No
one was hurt.
The vibration was coming from the external power hatch, a door below
the
pilot's window where maintenance crews plug in electric and
communication
cables while the jet is on the ground.
Crews with Menzies Aviation, the company Alaska Airlines uses for its
ground
operations, forgot to close the door when the plane was on the ground
in
Ixtapa, KIRO 7 Eyewitness News reported.
A pilot told passengers that if the door to the hatch came loose, it
could
get sucked into an engine.
http://www.kirotv.com/news/11114379/detail.html
[unknown url]
Southwest Airlines flight makes emergency landing
AUSTIN (AP) — A Southwest Airlines flight made an emergency landing
as a
precaution Monday evening when the flight crew experienced a system
hydraulics failure.
Chris Mainz, a spokesman for Southwest, said Flight 98 from Dallas to
Austin
landed without incident in Austin and taxied to the gate under its own
power. Mainz said there was never a safety concern with the flight.
The pilot announced he would be making an emergency landing, Mainz
said.
Firefighters stood by in case of problems.
The plane carried 112 passengers.
Mainz said the plane was taken out of service to determine what caused
the
hydraulics failure.
Germany Companies Profit From Torture Device Exports
http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,2144,2365836,00.html
Germany Companies Profit From Torture Device Exports
This Iraqi man was tortured by electro-shock before being rescued by
Iraqi and US forces This Iraqi man was tortured by electro-shock before
being rescued by Iraqi and US forces
Torture is still practiced in many different countries and
electro-shockers -- some of which can be bought and exported from
Germany -- have become increasingly common in torturing political
dissidents.
Electro-shockers are black, about as long as your arm and resemble
police batons but are capable of causing much more pain.
"The pain is extreme," Nedim Baran told German public broadcaster ARD
of
when he was tortured with an electro-shocker. "You have the feeling
your
eyes are popping out of your head. You think your head will explode.
You
can only think about your death."
There are electro-contacts on one end that transfer up to 120,000 volts
of electricity into the victim's body -- about 500 times the voltage
delivered by a power outlet.
"The electrons are applied in different places -- to the ears, the
tongue, the temples, the genitals, such as women's nipples, and so on,"
said Mechthild Weng Anson a Berlin doctor who has treated people
tortured with such devices.
Only recently did the German customs office confirm that German
companies export electro-shockers to countries where they are used for
torture: 100 to Iran, 84 to Georgia, 115 to Bangladesh.
According to ARD television, torture is currently practiced in 87
countries.
Little evidence of torture
Manfred Nowak Bildunterschrift: Großansicht des Bildes mit der
Bildunterschrift: Manfred Nowak
Unlike other torture methods, however, the electro-shockers cause
intense pain without leaving any visible wounds, they also make it
difficult for doctors to prove that a patient had been subjected to
this
kind of torture.
"They are very, very common weapons of torture," said Manfred Nowak, a
human rights commissioner for the United Nations. "A torture method
that
causes a lot of pain but can't really be proven without eye witnesses
is
exactly what modern torturers prefer."
UN calls for ban
In Great Britain, the Benelux countries (Belgium, the Netherlands and
Luxembourg), Switzerland and Scandinavia, selling electro-shockers is
forbidden. This is, however, not the case in Germany, which ranks
second
behind the United States in exporting the devices. German xxporters
need
only apply for a license to sell the torture devices abroad.
"It is my wish that every country in the world would completely outlaw
the export of all electro-shock weapons and punish violators with high
monetary fines or prison sentences," Nowak said.
20 Turkish Hizbullah members sentenced to life
http://today.reuters.co.uk/news/CrisesArticle.aspx?storyId=L26248548
20 Turkish Hizbullah members sentenced to life
Mon 26 Feb 2007 15:58:50 GMT
DIYARBAKIR, Turkey, Feb 26 (Reuters) - A Turkish court sentenced 20
members of the outlawed Turkish militant Islamist group Hizbullah to
life imprisonment on Monday for killing civilians, ending a case that
lasted 13 years.
The group, which killed scores of people in the late 1980s and early
1990s, targeted mostly Kurds in Turkey's southeast region during
fighting between Turkish security forces and PKK Kurdish separatist
guerrillas.
The ruling is the first against the shadowy organisation, which has
said
it wants to overturn Turkey's secular state and introduce Islamic
sharia
law.
Turkey's Hizbullah is not linked to the Lebanese group Hezbollah.
The 20 defendants were charged with murders between 1990 and 1994.
Another two defendants were given a sentence of 16 years due to their
young age when the murders were committed.
GER: Statement by Convicted Terrorist Casts Doubt on Pardon
http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,2144,2366065,00.html
Statement by Convicted Terrorist Casts Doubt on Pardon
A German terrorist hoping for parole has released a written statement
that has raised eyebrows. Its language indicates that he hasn't
abandoned the radical leftist ideology behind his one-time terrorist
movement.
Christian Klar, formerly a leading member of the terrorist Red Army
Faction, has cast doubts on his own rehabilitation during 25 years in
prison with a statement he wrote which appears to mirror the views of
the group primarily active in the 1970s and 80s.
In a statement Klar wrote in January for a Marxist conference held in
Berlin, according to German public television, he expressed hopes that
the time was ripe to "complete the defeat of capital and open the door
to a new future."
He went on to denounce an "imperial alliance" in Europe, which "allows
itself to castigate from on high any country on earth which opposes
being reformed for today's redistribution of profits and turns its
entire societal being into a pile of rubble."
According to the television report, Klar's statement was read to the
conference attendees by a former far-left parliamentarian who has been
accused of ties with the former East German secret police, the Stasi.
The development has raised concerns that Klar, who has petitioned
German
President Horst Köhler for a pardon, may not have renounced the views
that led him to become a top figure in the Red Army Faction (RAF), and
have led some to call for a possible pardon to be reconsidered.
Leading RAF figure
Klar, 54, has been described as the "cold implementer" of the RAF, a
German terrorist group based on the so-called "urban guerrillas," that
was responsible for the deaths of 34 people in its decades-long
existence. The group, many of whose members were educated and from the
middle or upper classes, claimed to be fighting the "imperialism" of
the
United States and German society, which they said was still tainted by
the Nazi past.
Klar was arrested in 1982 and convicted of 20 counts of murder and
attempted murder; he was sentenced to life in prison in 1985.
Speculation that Klar will be released early has been spurred by
evidence that he has shown remorse.
"I understand the feelings of the victims and regret the suffering of
these people," Klar wrote to the then German president Johannes Rau in
2003, said Der Spiegel newsmagazine. The letter forms part of a
130-page
report drafted for Köhler.
Unwise move
Helmut Kury, a criminologist who has been heavily involved in the
pardon
request, said he was surprised by Klar's statement and that most
citizens would conclude that Klar had not learned anything during his
incarceration.
"He didn't do himself any favors," he told the television program,
adding that the statement's text ran parallel with the thinking once
prevalent in the RAF. "However, you can't conclude that he is liable to
commit the same acts he did back then."
Bavarian Premier Edmund Stoiber said the statement put the entire
matter
of a pardon in question.
"After this call to arms against our basic values, the question is
whether or not a life sentence for Christian Klar means that he belongs
under lock and key permanently," he said.
A spokesperson for Köhler, whose decision on a pardon is expected in
the
next few months, did not comment on Klar's statement.
Hezbollah fighters build new line of defence
http://www.gulfnews.com/region/Lebanon/10107373.html
Published: 27/02/2007 12:00 AM (UAE)
Hezbollah fighters build new line of defence
By Nicholas Blanford, The Christian Science Monitor
Rihan, Lebanon: The metal sign dangling from a shiny new chain reads:
"Warning. Access to this area is forbidden. Hezbollah."
The notice strung between two concrete blocks on a hillside overlooking
the Litani River, is just one indication that the Shiite fighters have
relocated here to build a new line of defence.
Hezbollah's strengthening presence just across the Litani‚ the
northern
border of the zone UN peacekeeping forces and Lebanese troops have been
policing since last summer's war between Hezbollah and Israeli‚
coincides with a series of land purchases here by a Shiite businessman
with ties to the militant group and, critics say, with funds from
Tehran.
While analysts say the military buildup does not necessarily signal any
intention by the Iranian-supported militants to launch a fresh round of
fighting, they say it is a troubling sign that Hezbollah is rearming
just out of sight of the United Nations.
Regionally, say critics, that means Iran could be rebuilding its ally's
military capability inside Lebanon and could strike again at Israel.
"If you have a major Iranian-American clash, one thing we fear is that
the Iranian reaction could be from Lebanon," says Marwan Hamade,
Leb-anon's telecommunications minister and political opponent of
Hezbollah.
Hezbollah has chosen to abandon its former stronghold in Lebanon's
UN-patrolled southern border district where its fighters withstood
Israel's month-long onslaught last summer.
In that area, the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (Unifil) has
swelled to six times its former size with reinforcements from Nato
countries such as France, Italy, and Spain. They have been joined by
some 20,000 Lebanese troops and together they man around 100
checkpoints
and conduct 500 patrols day and night, Unifil officials say.
Arms caches
To be sure, Hezbollah's fighters continue to live in the southern
border
villages and keep a close eye on movements along the Israeli border and
on the newly arrived European UN troops. But Unifil officials say that
they have seen no armed fighters since September and that Hezbollah's
former "security pockets" and bunkers have been abandoned.
"Some arms caches have been found, but they are from before the war.
There have been no instances of attempts to smuggle weapons into the
area," says Milos Strugar, Unifil's senior adviser.
But now, locals say, Hezbollah is seen more frequently in these remote
hills just north of the Litani.
On a brush-covered hillside overlooking the Litani River, two Hezbollah
fighters wearing camouflage uniforms and carrying rifles and
walkie-talkies emerged from the bushes beside a stone track. They take
the name of a visiting reporter and politely‚ but firmly‚ say that
no
entry is permitted into the area.
NATO, Pakistan blamed for growing Taliban presence in Afghanistan
http://paktribune.com/news/index.shtml?170314
NATO, Pakistan blamed for growing Taliban presence in Afghanistan
Tuesday February 27, 2007 (0402 PST)
WASHINGTON: Leading defense analyst Dr. Jim Carafano says he faults the
Pakistani government and NATO forces for the resurgence of al Qaeda and
the Taliban in Afghanistan.
He says the Pakistani regime made a "massive strategic blunder" last
year when it signed a peace treaty with al Qaeda and Taliban terrorists
who had retreated to a part of Pakistan called Waziristan.
According to NATO officials, Taliban forces are gearing up for a
"spring
offensive" in Afghanistan that will involve an increased amount of
homicide and roadside bomb attacks.
Carafano, a defense and homeland security expert with the Heritage
Foundation, believes the Taliban resurgence is partly due to the
Pakistani government`s decision to grant the terrorists sanctuary in
Waziristan. He says the Pakistanis knows they have a real problem.
"It`s not just a problem in the sense that people can go back into
Pakistan and then come back into Afghanistan and attack that," the
military defense analyst explains. These Taliban forces "are also [able
to] rebuild their infrastructure and reinstitute their global network,"
he says, "and so it`s a serious problem that has to be dealt with."
Carafano says both Pakistani and the U.S. government officials realize
that as long as the terrorists are able to come and move freely between
Pakistan and Afghanistan "and nobody can touch them, they`re going to
be
a real problem."
Meanwhile, he contends, some NATO countries have refused to send their
troops to confront Taliban and al Qaeda members where they have been
granted sanctuary.
"There are countries like Germany," the Heritage Foundation official
notes, "which refuse to send people where the bad guys are. That
doesn`t
help a whole lot." Part of the problem, he asserts, is that "as long as
people, in a sense, can throw gasoline on the fire from Pakistan, the
problem is never going to be solved.
"There are two ways you can deal with this," Carafano insists. "One is,
you`ve got to build the Afghan military up to the point where they can
stand up to these guys," he says, "and the other thing is you`ve got to
take down that infrastructure in Pakistan. The Pakistanis can do it ;
they can do it with our help."
Carafano says the United States needs to continue putting pressure on
the Pakistanis to clamp down on terrorists crossing their border into
Afghanistan.
NATO resolve could be tested in Afghanistan this year: security experts
http://www.cp.org/english/online/OnlineFullStory.aspx?filename=p022617a&newsitemid=24666021&languageid=1
NATO resolve could be tested in Afghanistan this year: security experts
NATHANIAL GRONEWOLD
NEW YORK (CP) - A Taliban offensive that's stronger than anticipated
could test NATO's resolve in Afghanistan this year, says a new research
report released Monday.
One of the major challenges for NATO is that while countries like
Canada, Britain and the United States are engaged in a war with Taliban
insurgents, other allies think of themselves only as peacekeepers, says
researchers for the New York-based Center on International
Co-operation.
The report regards Afghanistan as being among the most frustrating
global security operations in 2006, with setbacks outpacing the
expansion of NATO forces in the country.
NATO is expecting the Taliban to step up attacks once warmer weather
arrives in Afghanistan but has expressed confidence in beating the
insurgency. The researchers, however, warn of a possible resurgence of
Taliban activity that is greater than even what NATO is expecting.
"Certainly I think we see every sign that we will face a major
resurgence by the Taliban in the south in the spring that is being
widely warned of, and I think we see signs that that will be perhaps
even stronger than anticipated," Bruce Jones, a senior fellow at CIC
and
report co-author, told a news briefing.
"Statements of long-term commitments from leaders in Canada and the
U.K.
may be tested by significant casualties," the report warns.
The report's publication immediately follows Britain's announcement
that
it will deploy 1,400 additional troops to Afghanistan, bringing British
troop levels to around 7,700. Earlier this month, the U.S. government
made available additional troops to maintain a strong presence in the
country.
Canada has about 2,500 troops in southern Afghanistan as part of NATO's
International Security Assistance Force - ISAF. Forty-four Canadian
soldiers and a diplomat have been killed in Afghanistan since 2002.
Based at New York University, the CIC collects data and conducts
research on global security threats and humanitarian crises and acts as
a consultant to the United Nations. Its "Annual Review of Global Peace
Operations 2007" is the second in a series and is funded by the
governments of Canada, United Kingdom, Norway, Germany, and Sweden, and
with a grant from the Ford Foundation.
Afghanistan stands out as a dark spot in the report, with researchers
saying the optimistic mood created by parliamentary elections in
December 2005 had turned sour.
The report says major ISAF campaigns to stamp out the Taliban have not
"diminished the vigour of the insurgency."
"NATO is learning that it is difficult to mount these operations,"
Jones
said. "And there are of course the issue of national caveats about what
troop contributors will and won't do, meaning that the burden is
falling
rather heavily on countries like Canada and the United States."
"I think the real difficulty here for NATO ... is that they are engaged
in serious military action, and not all of the NATO contributors
contemplated that from the start," Ian Johnstone, senior fellow at the
centre, told the briefing.
Richard Gowan, program co-ordinator for the study, concurs.
"In Afghanistan, Germany and Italy are holding to a fairly traditional
concept of peace operations, whereas Canada and Britain are essentially
moving to something which is counterinsurgency-war fighting," he said
in
an interview.
Restrictions placed by countries on where their troops can deploy and
what they can do are proving a serious obstacle to NATO's mission, the
report says.
Italy and Germany restrict their forces to the relatively safe regions
in the north and to Kabul, while Canada, the United States and Britain
are leading efforts in the much more volatile south and on
Afghanistan's
border with Pakistan.
The U.S. and Canadian governments have been urging NATO allies to
remove
the restrictions and contribute more to the ISAF campaign. But thus
far,
their call has fallen largely on deaf ears, aside from new commitments
by Britain and Poland.
Elsewhere, the report gives a positive assessment of the ability of UN
peacekeeping operations to adapt and sustain themselves despite earlier
concerns of overstretch and ongoing security challenges.
Global peacekeeping operations are at their highest levels ever, it
says.
At the end of 2006, the UN commanded 80,368 troops, police and military
observers, an increase of more than 10,000 over 2005 and breaking the
previous record of 77,000 deployed during the height of the Balkans
crisis. This increase was largely led by the expansion in the number of
blue helmets deployed to Lebanon in 2006.
But UN successes, such as the recent elections in the Democratic
Republic of the Congo and noticeable progress in places such as Haiti
and Liberia, stood in contrast to the continued failure to move into
the
Darfur region due to resistance by the government in Khartoum.
Both of these articles are worth reading, but the OKC is a must read article.
granny
Cashill Newsletter: Terry Nichols Talks
* In an effort to explain his actions Terry Nichols (Oklahoma City bombing) filed an enlightening affidavit on 2/16/07. No surprise, the major media did not pick it up. But Jack Cashill's analysis can be found in two articles, starting with Terry Nichols Talks:
http://www.cashill.com/terrorism/terry_nichols1of2.htm
* Also, exclusive to Cashill Newsletter readers:
Alas, this one of those Cashill articles with a politically incorrect title -- and Cashill wouldn't change it. It illustrates the value of an educated electorate: Mommy, the ACORN Guy is Peeing in the Street. If you like it, pass it on.
http://www.cashill.com/intellig_design/mommy_acorn.htm
Sincerely
D. Blackstone
Moderator, Cashill Newsletter
See: http://www.cashill.com
Protest as Western powers hold talks on Iran
http://www.euronews.net/index.php?article=408628&lng=1
Protest as Western powers hold talks on Iran
Video: http://www.euronews.net/index.php?article=408628&lng=1#
Protesters have gathered outside the British Foreign Office, where
Western powers are meeting to discuss tightening UN sanctions on Iran.
The demonstrators, described as members of the Iranian resistance, are
calling for full sanctions in the row over Iran's nuclear programme.
The five permanent UN Security Council members - the US, France,
Russia,
China and Britain - plus Germany are meeting. The Iranian president has
upped the anti in the controversy by saying his country's atomic work
is
"like a train with no brakes and no reverse gear".
Washington has said that "all options are on the table" after Iran's
refusal to heed a UN deadline to stop enriching uranium. The Islamic
Republic maintains it has the right to use nuclear power for civilian
purposes, denying there is any plan to make weapons.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1153AP_Capitol_Smoke.htmlTuesday, February 27, 2007 · Last updated 10:41 a.m. PT
Smoke causes House office evacuation
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
WASHINGTON -- A House office building was evacuated for a short time Tuesday after witnesses saw signs of smoke.
The Longworth House Office Building was evacuated shortly after 12:30 p.m. EST, but reopened about 30 minutes later, said Capitol Police spokeswoman Sgt. Kimberly Schneider.
She said there were initial reports of smoke in the credit union. Fire authorities saw some signs of smoke in a nearby computer room, but the cause was not immediately known, she said.
A tunnel that runs underground between the Capitol and the Longworth building was also closed, she said. Longworth is one of three buildings on the House side that houses offices for lawmakers and committee staffs.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/printer2/index.asp?ploc=b&refer=http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1110AP_Los_Alamos_Violations.html
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1110AP_Los_Alamos_Violations.html
Tuesday, February 27, 2007 · Last updated 4:30 a.m. PT
Nuclear lab operator cited for safety
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
LOS ALAMOS, N.M. -- The National Nuclear Security Administration proposed a $1.1 million civil penalty against the former manager of a nuclear weapons lab for safety violations that included a researcher spreading radiological contamination to two other states and workers inhaling radioactive substances.
The agency announced the notice of violation Monday against the University of California for infractions that occurred in 2005, when UC was the sole manager of Los Alamos National Laboratory.
The notice spells out 15 separate incidents that violated the Department of Energy's nuclear safety rules.
The incidents include a Los Alamos researcher opening a package of slightly enriched uranium nitride pellets. The package was contaminated with americium 241, a radioactive decay product of plutonium.
The researcher unloaded the pellets without the help of a radiological control technician, and he spread the contamination to his home and places he visited in Colorado and Kansas.
Another incident involved workers who inhaled radioactive substances.
In both cases, the contamination was limited by "good fortune" but had the potential to be significantly greater, acting NNSA director Thomas P. D'Agostino wrote in a Feb. 16 letter to lab director Michael Anastasio.
The notice also referred to a November 2005 inspection that exposed "long-standing" deficiencies in the lab's safety, health and environmental programs.
Since federal law exempted the non-profit university from financial liability at the time of the violations, the UC will not have to pay the fine. But the agency warned the lab's new management team - installed less than a year ago, in part to reverse years of security and safety problems - that those days are over.
"Due both to the recent contract change and changes in the civil penalty provisions of the Atomic Energy Act, future monetary civil penalties imposed ... as part of a notice of violation will no longer be waived," D'Agostino wrote.
The lab is now managed by Los Alamos National Security LLC, which includes the university, Bechtel Corp., BWX Technologies Inc. and Washington Group International.
D'Agostino said he expects corrective actions to be one Anastasio's highest priorities as lab director.
UC spokesman Chris Harrington said in a statement Monday that the university has taken a number of steps to fix the problems outlined by the NNSA.
"The University of California takes safety and security issues very seriously as part of our commitment to managing the national laboratories," Harrington said.
The notice of violation is the latest in a rash of criticism against the lab. Just last month, members of a House oversight committee threatened to strip the lab of its security responsibilities - or even shut it down - to correct security lapses.
---
On the Net:
Los Alamos National Laboratory: http://www.lanl.gov
University of California: http://www.universityofcalifornia.edu
National Nuclear Security Administration: http://www.nnsa.doe.gov/
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1110AP_Immigration_Raids.html
Tuesday, February 27, 2007 · Last updated 10:44 a.m. PT
5 plead guilty in illegal workers case
By MICHAEL VIRTANEN
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
ALBANY, N.Y. -- Five former managers from a major crate and pallet manufacturer that employed illegal immigrants pleaded guilty Tuesday, 10 months after federal agents staged sweeping raids at company sites in 26 states.
James Rice, 37, of Houston, an executive regional general manager of IFCO Systems, pleaded guilty to conspiring to employ illegal workers. Robert Belvin, 43, of Stuart, Fla., a former general manager of the Albany IFCO plant, pleaded guilty to two felony conspiracy charges.
The two executives could face up to two years in prison and a $250,000 fine, Assistant U.S. Attorney Tina Sciocchetti said.
Netherlands-based IFCO Systems NV describes itself as the leading pallet services company in America. It reported $108 million in profits in 2006 on revenues of $647 million.
In April, more than 1,100 people were arrested on administrative immigration charges at more than 40 IFCO sites. More than half of IFCO Systems' roughly 5,800 employees during 2005 had invalid or mismatched Social Security numbers, the government said at the time.
U.S. Department of Homeland Security officials said the raids were part of a stepped-up effort to target employers of illegal immigrants.
Defense lawyers said they reviewed prosecution material that included taped conversations involving their clients.
"Under the circumstances, we thought the only rational thing to do was to plead guilty," said Belvin's lawyer, Terence Kindlon.
Rice's lawyer declined to comment.
Three local plant officials, Dario Salvano, 36, of Amsterdam, N.Y., Scott Dodge, 44, of Elmira, N.Y., and Michael Ames, 44, of Shrewsbury, Mass., each pleaded guilty Tuesday to one misdemeanor.
They could face up to six months in jail and $3,000 fines for each illegal alien employed, though they likely will get reduced terms because they cooperated, Sciocchetti said.
Charges were pending against two other IFCO managers in Houston and Cincinnati.
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On the Net:
Immigration and Customs Enforcement: http://www.ice.gov
IFCO Systems: http://www.ifcosystems.com
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1110AP_Nuclear_Plant_Fire.html
Tuesday, February 27, 2007 · Last updated 8:34 a.m. PT
Crews douse fire at Pa. nuclear plant
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
DELTA, Pa. -- A transformer at a nuclear plant caught fire Tuesday morning, but the smoky blaze was confined to the non-nuclear side of the plant, company officials said.
The fire, reported at 9:40 a.m., did not pose a threat to the public, said Craig Nesbit, a spokesman for Exelon Nuclear in Warrenville, Ill., which shares ownership of the Peach Bottom nuclear power plant with New Jersey-based PSE&G.
"The fire itself was very small," Nesbit said. "It was mostly smoke."
Power from one of the plant's generating units was reduced following the fire, but it remained online, Nesbit said. Delta is in south-central Pennsylvania.
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1110AP_Terrorism_Imam.html
Tuesday, February 27, 2007 · Last updated 10:53 a.m. PT
Ga. Imam sentenced for aiding Hamas
By DANIEL YEE
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
ROME, Ga. -- The imam of a Georgia mosque who pleaded guilty to providing support to the militant group Hamas was sentenced Tuesday to more than seven years in prison.
Mohamed Shorbagi, 42, could have faced up to 15 years in prison.
Shorbagi pleaded guilty in August to providing material support to the militant group Hamas in a case in which the agreement, charges and even the plea hearing were handled in secret. U.S. District Judge Harold Murphy sentenced him Tuesday to seven years and eight months in prison.
At the sentencing, Shorbagi said he realized that some of his actions were wrong.
He pleaded guilty in August to a charge of providing material support to Hamas and also testified in a Chicago case against a man identified by authorities as a Hamas operative.
Prosecutors have said that between 1997 and 2001, Shorbagi provided financial support to Hamas, a group designated by the United States as a foreign terrorist organization. He also was accused of conspiring to provide material support to Hamas. The donations were through a charity called the Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development, prosecutors said.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Kim Dammers suggested that his sentence be less than 15 years because of Shorbagi's help in testifying for the government in other terrorism-related trials.
After the sentencing, Shorbagi shook hands with about a dozen friends and family members who were gathered at the court before he was taken away.
He has said under oath that in return for his testimony, prosecutors agreed to seek a reduction in his sentence, give him a special residency visa, place him in the federal witness protection program and not indict him in an unrelated fraud case.
Shorbagi said Tuesday that he continues to cooperate with the government because of his belief in America.
"I came to this country when I was 18 and I believe in this country," said Shorbagi, a citizen of the Palestinian territory but in the United States legally. He said he has been in America for more than two decades.
"I realize that some of the things that I did was wrong and were never supposed to be done," he said. "That's why I took the responsibility of cooperating with the government."
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1110AP_JetBlue_Diversion.html
Tuesday, February 27, 2007 · Last updated 11:03 a.m. PT
JetBlue flight diverted on way to NYC
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
NEW YORK -- A JetBlue flight heading to New York was diverted Tuesday to Philadelphia, prompting the airline to bus passengers to their final destination.
The airline, which went on the defensive after stranding passengers in planes at Kennedy International for up to 10 1/2 hours earlier this month, does not operate at Philadelphia International Airport.
Flight 1050 from Pittsburgh to JFK landed at 8:35 a.m. in Philadelphia after crew members discovered a problem with an indicator light, said JetBlue Airways Corp. spokesman Todd Burke.
With the plane awaiting a mechanical inspection, the 54 passengers were given the option to disembark, Burke said. About 15 passengers chose to wait for an airline bus that left for New York about four hours after landing, he said.
"Mechanical diversions are a part of the airline industry, and in this case it appears that our crew members worked very closely with the airport to make sure that our customers were looked after in a very proper and timely manner," Burke said.
He would not say whether the use of a bus is common but did say it was a commonsense decision consistent with the airline's ongoing policies. All passengers were to receive a free roundtrip voucher, he said.
The airline adopted a customer bill of rights after the disruptions that followed a storm on Valentine's Day. The company had hoped to ride out the bad weather without canceling flights. It later admitted it took too long to call JFK authorities for help in getting passengers off the grounded planes. It couldn't resume normal operations for days because flight crews weren't where they were supposed to be.
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1102AP_Venezuela_Oil_Nationalization.html
Monday, February 26, 2007 · Last updated 5:36 p.m. PT
Venezuela to seize foreign oil projects
By NATALIE OBIKO PEARSON
AP BUSINESS WRITER
photo
Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez speaks during a news conference at Miraflores presidential palace in Caracas, Saturday, Feb. 24, 2007. (AP Photo/Leslie Mazoch)
CARACAS, Venezuela -- President Hugo Chavez ordered by decree on Monday the takeover of oil projects run by foreign oil companies in Venezuela's Orinoco River region.
Chavez had previously announced the government's intention to take a majority stake by May 1 in four heavy oil-upgrading projects run by British Petroleum PLC, Exxon Mobil Corp., Chevron Corp., ConocoPhillips Co., Total SA and Statoil ASA.
He said Monday that has decreed a law to proceed with the nationalizations that will see state oil company Petroleos de Venezuela SA, or PDVSA, taking at least a 60 percent stake in the projects.
"The privatization of oil in Venezuela has come to an end," he said on his weekday radio show, "Hello, President." "This marks the true nationalization of oil in Venezuela."
By May 1, "we will occupy these fields" and have the national flag flying on them, he said.
The law is expected to be published shortly in the government's official gazette, and the companies will have four months from then to negotiate terms and conditions with PDVSA to decide whether they will take part in new joint ventures as minority partners, Chavez said.
Chavez did not detail how the government will pay for its increased share in the projects in which the companies are estimated to have invested some $17 billion.
The government has compensated companies reasonably in recent weeks for nationalizations it has carried out in other sectors, but those agreements were for assets valued far less than the oil projects.
The Orinoco projects are the only oil-producing operations in the country remaining under private control, which Chavez called "disgraceful."
But he added that Venezuela doesn't "want the companies to go ... We just want them to be (minority) partners."
Private companies pumping oil elsewhere in Venezuela submitted to state-controlled joint ventures last year, and few resisted because they were reluctant to abandon Venezuela, which has the largest oil deposits outside of the Middle East.
Chavez has been given special powers by congress for 18 months to issue laws by decree in energy and other areas, which he has used to nationalize the country's biggest telecommunications company and electricity company in recent days.
Chavez has justified the nationalizations as necessary to give the government control of sectors "strategic" to Venezuela's interests.