A special Iraqi army unit backed by US troops killed one militant and arrested six people during operations against a death squad leader in a Baghdad Shia stronghold yesterday. The target, who appears to have evaded capture, was believed to lead a group of 100 militants who conducted kidnappings and killingsfrom Sadr City.The US military said that three more US troops died in fighting this week, raising to 54 the number of Americans killed in Iraq in December. The month is shaping up to be one of the deadliest for Americans since the war started.At least 25 of the US troops killed this month died in the vast stretch of desert that extends from the capital to the borders with Syria, Jordan and Saudi Arabia. The large number of casualties reflects the strength of Sunni insurgents, ...
http://news.independent.co.uk
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Editor - 22:44:00 12-16-06
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 Iraq premier asks for help from Saddam's army |
Iraq’s army has “opened its doors” to all former members of Saddam Hussein’s army, the prime minister said Saturday at a national reconciliation conference boycotted by one of his main Shiite allies, a major Sunni group and Iraq’s exiled opposition. Despite Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki’s effort to reach out to Iraq’s Sunni Arabs and some former members of Saddam’s outlawed Baath Party, the gathering was overshadowed by rising sectarian tensions and political divisions. The radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, one of al-Maliki’s key political backers — refused to attend the meeting, as did a major Sunni group and former Prime Minister Ayad Allawi, a secular Shiite. The U.S. military raided the Shiite slum of Sadr City — a stronghold for the Mahdi Army militia that is blamed for some of the worst violence against Iraq’s Sunnis — and detained six suspects. The raid and airstrike left one fighter dead and another wounded....
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16237985/
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Editor - 20:02:00 12-16-06
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| Showdown looms over domestic spying New Congress may demand Bush seek warrants, but will he yield? |
Federal agents continue to eavesdrop on Americans’ electronic communications without warrants a year after President Bush confirmed the practice, and experts say a new Congress’ efforts to limit the program could trigger a constitutional showdown. High-ranking Democrats set to take control of both chambers are mulling ways to curb the program Bush secretly authorized a month after the Sept. 11 attacks. The White House argues the Constitution gives the president wartime powers to eavesdrop that he wouldn’t have during times of peace. “As a practical matter, the president can do whatever he wants as long as he has the capacity and executive branch officials to do it,” said Carl Tobias, a legal scholar at the University of Richmond in Virginia. Lawmakers could impeach or withhold funding, or quash judicial nominations, among other measures. The president, however, can veto legislation, including a law demanding the National Security Agency obtain warrants before monitoring communications...
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16241277/
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Editor - 19:15:00 12-16-06
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| Mexican Federal Police Leave Oaxaca's City Center After Weeks of Occupation |
Hundreds of federal police officers packed up their tents Saturday and marched out of this troubled Mexican city's central square, ending their seven-week occupation to put down a lengthy protest by leftists that had left nine people dead. More than 4,000 federal police seized the plaza from protesters in October, five months after they had taken it over to demand the resignation of Oaxaca state Gov. Ulises Ruiz. The upheaval scared off foreign tourists and shattered the historic southern city's economy. Lino Celaya, Oaxaca's secretary of citizen protection, said about 2,000 officers would remain in a military base outside the city in case trouble flares again. Many residents had complained the presence of armored police cast a shadow over the colonial square and was akin to a military occupation. But some business owners feared more violence without the officers...
http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory?id=2732064
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Editor - 19:10:00 12-16-06
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| Mount Hood searchers give up, return to bases |
Weary searchers scouring Mount Hood for three missing climbers had no luck Saturday and returned to their bases, said Capt. Mike Braibish of the Oregon National Guard."As of now, they have not found any sign of the missing climbers," Braibish told reporters.Air searches with two UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters and a C-130 cargo plane from Nevada were to continue around the clock, with crews working 12-hour shifts, he said. The C-130 has infrared imaging equipment that can sense body heat. The ground search was to resume early Sunday, weather permitting. Saturday's search began at 4 a.m. (7 a.m. ET) from lodges located at 6,000 feet. Braibish said the overall search would continue as long as possible, although during the week, the volunteer searchers would return to their jobs....
http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/12/16/missing.climbers/index.html?eref=rss_us
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Editor - 18:59:00 12-16-06
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| ID theft plagues family Couple traces troubles to Cactus plant; Swift denies wrongdoing |
Maria and Miguel Soto don't know for sure when or how their identities were stolen. But the couple and two of their children have all been victims of identity theft – numerous times. They've gotten bills over the years that they didn't know about. They've even paid some, just to make the creditors go away. Whatever the cause for the Soto family's run-in with identity theft, Mr. Soto believes it intensified when both he and his wife worked at the Swift & Co. meatpacking plant in Cactus, Texas. In a nationwide sweep of six Swift beef and pork processing plants in six states earlier this week, federal officials detained hundreds of workers believed to be illegal immigrants – many of them now charged with ID theft. Swift officials have denied involvement and wrongdoing. And neither the company nor company officials have been implicated by the government. ...
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/latestnews/stories/121606dntexidtheft.328a014.html
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Editor - 13:49:00 12-16-06
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