Faik Bakir, the director of the Baghdad morgue, has fled Iraq in fear of his life after reporting that more than 7,000 people have been killed by death squads in recent months, the outgoing head of the UN human rights office in Iraq has disclosed."The vast majority of bodies showed signs of summary execution - many with their hands tied behind their back. Some showed evidence of torture, with arms and leg joints broken by electric drills," said John Pace, the Maltese UN official. The killings had been happening long before the bloodshed after last week's bombing of the Shia shrine in Samarra.Mr Pace, whose contract in Iraq ended last month, said many killings were carried out by Shia militias linked to the industry ministry run by Bayan Jabr, a leading figure in the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq (Sciri)....
http://www.guardian.co.uk
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Editor - 20:51:00 03-01-06
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 Saddam admits link to killings of Shia villagers |
Saddam Hussein admitted yesterday that he ordered the trial of Shia villagers who were executed, and decreed the destruction of their farmlands, following an assassination attempt against him in Dujail in 1982. The former Iraqi dictator insisted his actions as the then Iraqi president did not constitute a crime, but it was the first time he had acknowledged a direct personal link to the events in Dujail. "It is the first time that the defendant has appeared to recognise that he needs to engage and defend himself, instead of shouting slogans," said one legal source close to the special court, describing the development as "significant". The intervention came as the chief judge, Raouf Abdel-Rahman, was about to wrap up the day's session. A largely subdued Saddam, in court for a second consecutive day, asked permission to speak. "Where is the crime?" Saddam said during a 15-minute address. "Is referring a defendant who opened fire at a head of state, no matter what his name is, a crime?"...
http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,,1721399,00.html
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Editor - 20:45:00 03-01-06
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| Ex-Iran head enters Holocaust row |
Ex-Iranian President Mohammad Khatami has called the Holocaust a historical reality, clashing with controversial comments by the current president. President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad brought international criticism when he called the Holocaust a "myth" last year. Mr Khatami said the Holocaust was a "massacre of innocent people, among them many Jews", Iran media reported. Mr Khatami did not mention the current leader by name, but correspondents say his target was clear. The former reformist president said the Holocaust was a reality "even if this has been misused and there is enormous pressure on the Palestinian people". He added: "We should speak out if even a single Jew is killed. Don't forget that one of the crimes of Hitler, Nazism and German National Socialism was the massacre of innocent people, among them many Jews." ...
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/4763494.stm
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Editor - 20:40:00 03-01-06
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| Colombians caught trying to sell uranium in Bogota |
Colombian authorities have seized 29.7 pounds (13.5 kg) of uranium from two people trying to secretly sell the radioactive metal to the highest bidder, the army said on Wednesday.Soldiers and police confiscated the uranium in the gritty Siete de Agosto neighborhood of the capital, Bogota, on February 24, Brig. Gen. Gustavo Matamoros said, speaking on radio and in a news release. He gave no more details about the uranium and did not say whether it would be suitable for making weapons or indicate whether the attempted sale may have been linked to Colombia's Marxist rebels or far-right paramilitaries. ...
http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory?id=1677272
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Editor - 20:36:00 03-01-06
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| India, US work on atomic deal, protests await Bush |
U.S. and Indian officials edged close to sewing up a landmark nuclear deal on Thursday as communist and Islamist groups vowed more mass protests ahead of formal talks involving Bush. Bush arrived in the Indian capital on Wednesday after a surprise visit to Afghanistan, where thousands of U.S. troops are still engaged in hunting down the architects of the September 11 attacks on the United States. The three-day visit to India is seen as a growing recognition of the strategic and economic significance of the world's largest democracy by Washington after decades of mistrust between the two countries.Although the two sides are working on a wide range of agreements ranging from space to agriculture, a controversial civilian nuclear cooperation deal has become the centerpiece of the summit.Negotiators, including the two national security advisers, worked late into Wednesday night trying to bridge "the last few gaps" between the two sides over the deal, officials said....
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060302/ts_nm/india_bush_dc
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Editor - 20:30:00 03-01-06
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| Judge rules for Cubans who were sent back |
A judge has ordered federal officials to "use their best efforts" to help 15 Cubans return to the United States, weeks after they reached an abandoned bridge in the Florida Keys but were sent back to their homeland. While U.S. District Judge Federico Moreno sympathized with the difficulty the U.S. Coast Guard faces in making split-second decisions at sea, he wrote, "those Cuban refugees who reached American soil in early January 2006 were removed to Cuba illegally."Under the government's policy, Cubans who reach U.S. soil are generally allowed to stay, while those stopped at sea are sent back. The federal government said the old bridge that the 15 Cubans reached didn't count as dry land because chunks of the bridge are missing, and it no longer connects to U.S. soil.The group thought it had reached U.S. soil, and had it landed a 100 yards away on the new bridge, the U.S. Coast Guard would likely have allowed it to stay....
http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2006-03-01-cubans_x.htm?csp=34
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Editor - 19:49:00 03-01-06
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