Cabinet ministers loyal to radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr quit the government Monday, severing the powerful Shiite religious leader from the U.S.-backed prime minister and raising fears al-Sadr's Mahdi Army militia might again confront American troops.
The U.S. military reported the deaths of seven more American service members: three soldiers and two Marines on Monday and two soldiers on Saturday.
In the northern city of Mosul, a university dean, a professor, a policeman's son and 13 soldiers died in attacks bearing the signs of al-Qaida in Iraq. Nationwide, at least 51 people were killed or found dead.
The political drama in Baghdad was not likely to bring down Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's government, but it highlighted growing demands among Iraqi politicians and voters that a timetable be set for a U.S. troop withdrawal - the reason al-Sadr gave for the resignations.
The departure of the six ministers also was likely to feed the public perception that al-Maliki is dependent on U.S. support, a position he spent months trying to avoid. Late last year he went so far as to openly defy directives from Washington about legislative and political deadlines.
Elsewhere in the city, gunmen killed Jaafar Hasan Sadiq, a professor at the University of Mosul's college of arts, as he was driving to work around 8:30 a.m. Five hours later, Talal Younis al-Jalili, dean of the university's college of political science, was slain as he drove home. Shortly after nightfall, gunmen killed the 17-year-old son of a Mosul policeman.
The brazen nature and the targets of the attacks are similar to previous assaults that blamed on al-Qaida in Iraq fighters, who are trying to break Iraqi military resolve and discourage secular activities such as university education.
In Basra, in the deep south of Iraq, about 3,000 protesters angry over inadequate city services marched peacefully through the streets of Iraq's second largest city to demand that the provincial governor resign.
The demonstrators gathered near the Basra mosque, then marched a few hundred yards to Gov. Mohammed al-Waili's office, which was surrounded by Iraqi soldiers and police officers. The protest ended a few hours later.
Monday, April 16, 2007
Gunman kills 32, commits suicide in Va.
A gunman massacred 32 people at Virginia Tech in the deadliest shooting rampage in modern U.S. history Monday, cutting down his victims in two attacks two hours apart before the university could grasp what was happening and warn students.
The bloodbath ended with the gunman committing suicide, bringing the death toll to 33 and stamping the campus in the picturesque Blue Ridge Mountains with unspeakable tragedy, perhaps forever.
Investigators gave no motive for the attack. The gunman's name was not immediately released, and it was not known if he was a student. But he was also faced with difficult questions about the university's handling of the emergency and whether it did enough to warn students and protect them after the first burst of gunfire. Some students bitterly complained they got no warning from the university until an e-mail that arrived more than two hours after the first shots rang out.
Wielding two handguns and carrying multiple clips of ammunition, the killer opened fire about 7:15 a.m. on the fourth floor of West Ambler Johnston, a high-rise coed dormitory, then stormed Norris Hall, a classroom building a half-mile away on the other side of the 2,600-acre campus. Some of the doors at Norris Hall were found chained from the inside, apparently by the gunman.
Two people died in a dorm room, and 31 others were killed in Norris Hall, including the gunman, who put a bullet in his head. At least 15 people were hurt, some seriously.
At an evening news conference, Police Chief Wendell Flinchum refused to dismiss the possibility that a co-conspirator or second shooter was involved. He said police had interviewed a "person of interest" in the dorm shooting who knew one of the victims, but he declined to give details.
The bloodbath ended with the gunman committing suicide, bringing the death toll to 33 and stamping the campus in the picturesque Blue Ridge Mountains with unspeakable tragedy, perhaps forever.
Investigators gave no motive for the attack. The gunman's name was not immediately released, and it was not known if he was a student. But he was also faced with difficult questions about the university's handling of the emergency and whether it did enough to warn students and protect them after the first burst of gunfire. Some students bitterly complained they got no warning from the university until an e-mail that arrived more than two hours after the first shots rang out.
Wielding two handguns and carrying multiple clips of ammunition, the killer opened fire about 7:15 a.m. on the fourth floor of West Ambler Johnston, a high-rise coed dormitory, then stormed Norris Hall, a classroom building a half-mile away on the other side of the 2,600-acre campus. Some of the doors at Norris Hall were found chained from the inside, apparently by the gunman.
Two people died in a dorm room, and 31 others were killed in Norris Hall, including the gunman, who put a bullet in his head. At least 15 people were hurt, some seriously.
At an evening news conference, Police Chief Wendell Flinchum refused to dismiss the possibility that a co-conspirator or second shooter was involved. He said police had interviewed a "person of interest" in the dorm shooting who knew one of the victims, but he declined to give details.
Democrats outraise Republicans in Florida
Democratic presidential candidates raised nearly 40 percent more than their Republican counterparts in Florida in the first three months of the year, tracking national figures that suggest GOP donors are less enthusiastic about their prospects.
Democrats raised about $4 million, with nearly half of that coming from fundraising leader Hillary Clinton, while Republicans collected about $2.9 million.
The top GOP fundraiser was Mitt Romney, the little-known former governor of Massachusetts whose aggressive approach has yet to pay off in poll numbers.
The fundraising reports, which were due to the Federal Elections Commission Sunday, are considered major barometers of a campaign's viability.
Nationwide, Florida came in sixth in donations, following New York, California, Massachusetts, Connecticut and Texas.
Clinton raised about $1.9 million in Florida during the first three months of the year, more money than any other presidential candidate. Democrat Barack Obama came in second with a little over $1 million, followed closely by Republicans Romney and John McCain. Romney and McCain have been the most aggressive in publicizing endorsements from Florida elected officials, hiring staff and making public appearances.
Republican Rudy Giuliani, whose campaign trails from an organizational standpoint but leads in the polls, raised about $822,950. Democrat John Edwards was next with $503,120.
Despite his status as the only major Hispanic candidate in the race, New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson trailed other lesser-known Democrats like Sens. Joe Biden of Delaware and Chris Dodd of Connecticut in Florida. Republican U.S. Rep. Tom Tancredo, a strident immigrations critic, raised less than $9,000 in the state.
Democrats raised about $4 million, with nearly half of that coming from fundraising leader Hillary Clinton, while Republicans collected about $2.9 million.
The top GOP fundraiser was Mitt Romney, the little-known former governor of Massachusetts whose aggressive approach has yet to pay off in poll numbers.
The fundraising reports, which were due to the Federal Elections Commission Sunday, are considered major barometers of a campaign's viability.
Nationwide, Florida came in sixth in donations, following New York, California, Massachusetts, Connecticut and Texas.
Clinton raised about $1.9 million in Florida during the first three months of the year, more money than any other presidential candidate. Democrat Barack Obama came in second with a little over $1 million, followed closely by Republicans Romney and John McCain. Romney and McCain have been the most aggressive in publicizing endorsements from Florida elected officials, hiring staff and making public appearances.
Republican Rudy Giuliani, whose campaign trails from an organizational standpoint but leads in the polls, raised about $822,950. Democrat John Edwards was next with $503,120.
Despite his status as the only major Hispanic candidate in the race, New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson trailed other lesser-known Democrats like Sens. Joe Biden of Delaware and Chris Dodd of Connecticut in Florida. Republican U.S. Rep. Tom Tancredo, a strident immigrations critic, raised less than $9,000 in the state.
Lawmakers push for guardrails near canals
It's a familiar sight along South Florida roads: Every few months, a car is pulled from the water after careening off the road into a nearby canal.
And with hundreds of miles of canals and waterways winding their way along roads in Miami-Dade and Broward counties, two South Florida lawmakers want to do what they can to mandate more roadside guardrails in a tight budget year, with a proposal to require the barriers along major roadways in Miami-Dade.
The proposal, which passed unanimously through the Senate Transportation Committee on Monday, would mandate roadside barriers separating canals from Miami-Dade state-run roads such as Interstate 95 and the Palmetto Expressway.
If approved, the barriers would need to be installed by 2010. There already is $20 million available in the current five-year work program for guardrails in the Florida Department of Transportation budget.
The bill hasn't yet had a hearing in the House, where Rep. Yolly Roberson, a Miami Republican, is the sponsor.
A similar bill was approved last year by the Legislature but was vetoed by then-Gov. Jeb Bush.
In 2005, 89 Florida traffic fatalities occurred after vehicles hurtled into a nearby body of water, according to state figures.
The state already requires protective barriers anyplace where the edge of a canal is 60 feet or closer to the edge of a roadway.
Earlier this year, Florida's Turnpike officials announced plans to install 280 miles of barriers along the state toll road.
But the Senate proposal won't address local roads, where canals often run just a few yards from traffic. Two people drowned in Davie canals in the past six months alone. But local officials around South Florida have resisted guardrails for financial and aesthetic reasons.
Requiring the barriers statewide would have cost more than $100 million more in state money alone, which isn't available this year, Bullard said.
And with hundreds of miles of canals and waterways winding their way along roads in Miami-Dade and Broward counties, two South Florida lawmakers want to do what they can to mandate more roadside guardrails in a tight budget year, with a proposal to require the barriers along major roadways in Miami-Dade.
The proposal, which passed unanimously through the Senate Transportation Committee on Monday, would mandate roadside barriers separating canals from Miami-Dade state-run roads such as Interstate 95 and the Palmetto Expressway.
If approved, the barriers would need to be installed by 2010. There already is $20 million available in the current five-year work program for guardrails in the Florida Department of Transportation budget.
The bill hasn't yet had a hearing in the House, where Rep. Yolly Roberson, a Miami Republican, is the sponsor.
A similar bill was approved last year by the Legislature but was vetoed by then-Gov. Jeb Bush.
In 2005, 89 Florida traffic fatalities occurred after vehicles hurtled into a nearby body of water, according to state figures.
The state already requires protective barriers anyplace where the edge of a canal is 60 feet or closer to the edge of a roadway.
Earlier this year, Florida's Turnpike officials announced plans to install 280 miles of barriers along the state toll road.
But the Senate proposal won't address local roads, where canals often run just a few yards from traffic. Two people drowned in Davie canals in the past six months alone. But local officials around South Florida have resisted guardrails for financial and aesthetic reasons.
Requiring the barriers statewide would have cost more than $100 million more in state money alone, which isn't available this year, Bullard said.
Father says son was tortured in Pakistan
The father of a Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, detainee has written to a military panel that his son, as well as young children, were abused in a Pakistani prison by U.S. or proxy interrogators on the hunt for al Qaeda leaders.
Ali Khan, who lives in Baltimore, made the claim in an affidavit released by the Center for Constitutional Rights on Monday -- and sent to the remote U.S. naval base as part of his son Majid's status hearing on whether he is an ``enemy combatant.''
Majid Khan, 26, arrived at Guantánamo in September 2006 among 14 ''high value'' captives who had been held at CIA black sites -- more than three years after he and a brother were seized in Karachi, Pakistan.Majid's brother, Mohammed, who was released and is now in Karachi, told his father about the treatment, the affidavit said.
Held incommunicado by the United States, Majid is a Baltimore-area high school graduate whom the White House alleges was part of an unrealized plot to attack U.S. gas stations.
While the brothers were in jail, according to the affidavit, Majid described to Mohammed the detention of boys ages 6 and 8, saying they were tortured to squeeze the location of terrorism suspects from them.
The sons of alleged 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheik Mohammed and others were separated from other prisoners, ''denied food and water'' and, at one point, ''mentally tortured by having ants or other creatures put on their legs to scare them and get them to say where their father was hiding,'' the affidavit said.
The Pentagon has yet to release a transcript of Majid Khan's hearing.
Ali Khan, who lives in Baltimore, made the claim in an affidavit released by the Center for Constitutional Rights on Monday -- and sent to the remote U.S. naval base as part of his son Majid's status hearing on whether he is an ``enemy combatant.''
Majid Khan, 26, arrived at Guantánamo in September 2006 among 14 ''high value'' captives who had been held at CIA black sites -- more than three years after he and a brother were seized in Karachi, Pakistan.Majid's brother, Mohammed, who was released and is now in Karachi, told his father about the treatment, the affidavit said.
Held incommunicado by the United States, Majid is a Baltimore-area high school graduate whom the White House alleges was part of an unrealized plot to attack U.S. gas stations.
While the brothers were in jail, according to the affidavit, Majid described to Mohammed the detention of boys ages 6 and 8, saying they were tortured to squeeze the location of terrorism suspects from them.
The sons of alleged 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheik Mohammed and others were separated from other prisoners, ''denied food and water'' and, at one point, ''mentally tortured by having ants or other creatures put on their legs to scare them and get them to say where their father was hiding,'' the affidavit said.
The Pentagon has yet to release a transcript of Majid Khan's hearing.
Jurors quizzed in terrorism trial
Miami federal judge presiding over the nation's biggest terror trial warned prosecutors to be cautious about making any references to the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks during jury selection, which began Monday.
Then U.S. District Judge Marcia Cooke peppered prospective jurors with questions about whether they had ever heard of the lead defendant, Jose Padilla, or any of his other names.
If Monday was any indication, selecting a dozen jurors and six alternates from a pool of roughly 300 could take several weeks because the judge and legal teams will be slowly grilling the candidates about their ability to be fair.
The trial itself is likely to take at least three months. Padilla, a 36-year-old former Fort Lauderdale area resident; Sunrise computer programmer Adham Amin Hassoun, 45; and Detroit school administrator Kifah Wael Jayyousi, 44, are charged with conspiring to assist Islamic extremists overseas. If convicted, they each face life in prison.Padilla was first accused in 2002 of plotting on behalf of al Qaeda to carry out a radiological ''dirty bomb'' attack on U.S. soil and to blow up apartment buildings in major U.S. cities. But Padilla, a U.S. citizen, was never charged with those crimes as a designated ''enemy combatant'' in military custody from 2002 to 2005.
That designation was dropped in November 2005, when he was charged in the broadly framed terrorism indictment in Miami. Missing from the charges: the dirty-bomb allegations. The banker was eventually struck from the jury pool because of a potential hardship: His bank is going through a major merger this summer.
Another Miami executive, who was familiar with the case and whose sister was married to a Muslim man, also was excused because his family's business is being sold.
Of the 17 jury candidates questioned on Monday, eight were struck and nine were kept in the pool for now. Cooke asked those retained to return on May 1 for final selection.
Cooke ruled that prosecutors can refer to the Sept. 11 terror attacks in a limited way but cannot suggest that Padilla and the others were involved in that conspiracy.
Assistant U.S. Attorney John Shipley said that while the three defendants are accused of supporting al Qaeda, ``we're not going to try them for their specific involvement in 9/11.''
Then U.S. District Judge Marcia Cooke peppered prospective jurors with questions about whether they had ever heard of the lead defendant, Jose Padilla, or any of his other names.
If Monday was any indication, selecting a dozen jurors and six alternates from a pool of roughly 300 could take several weeks because the judge and legal teams will be slowly grilling the candidates about their ability to be fair.
The trial itself is likely to take at least three months. Padilla, a 36-year-old former Fort Lauderdale area resident; Sunrise computer programmer Adham Amin Hassoun, 45; and Detroit school administrator Kifah Wael Jayyousi, 44, are charged with conspiring to assist Islamic extremists overseas. If convicted, they each face life in prison.Padilla was first accused in 2002 of plotting on behalf of al Qaeda to carry out a radiological ''dirty bomb'' attack on U.S. soil and to blow up apartment buildings in major U.S. cities. But Padilla, a U.S. citizen, was never charged with those crimes as a designated ''enemy combatant'' in military custody from 2002 to 2005.
That designation was dropped in November 2005, when he was charged in the broadly framed terrorism indictment in Miami. Missing from the charges: the dirty-bomb allegations. The banker was eventually struck from the jury pool because of a potential hardship: His bank is going through a major merger this summer.
Another Miami executive, who was familiar with the case and whose sister was married to a Muslim man, also was excused because his family's business is being sold.
Of the 17 jury candidates questioned on Monday, eight were struck and nine were kept in the pool for now. Cooke asked those retained to return on May 1 for final selection.
Cooke ruled that prosecutors can refer to the Sept. 11 terror attacks in a limited way but cannot suggest that Padilla and the others were involved in that conspiracy.
Assistant U.S. Attorney John Shipley said that while the three defendants are accused of supporting al Qaeda, ``we're not going to try them for their specific involvement in 9/11.''
Saturday, April 14, 2007
FBI targets child care agency
Broward foster children often rode in potentially unsafe cars and vans because an auto repair shop paid kickbacks to an employee of the county's child welfare agency to avoid making repairs.
And dozens of the foster care agency's employees stole donated toys intended for foster kids last Christmas.
These are among the allegations in a March 30 report by two private investigators hired to look into irregularities at ChildNet, one of 20 privately run child welfare agencies across Florida. The state Department of Children and Families will pay ChildNet $65 million this budget year to supervise 1,043 children in state care in Broward.
Troubles at ChildNet mounted Friday as federal agents swarmed the agency's Fort Lauderdale offices, state administrators threatened to cancel the agency's current contract, and board members voted to fire the group's founding president.
Ousted Friday afternoon was Peter Balitsaris, a longtime South Florida child advocate who helped create ChildNet about five years ago. The lone board member who fought Balitsaris' firing, Virginia Miller, resigned.
But a five-page summary of ChildNet's own investigation -- performed partly by a former Drug Enforcement Administration agent turned private eye -- included a host of startling allegations and findings. Among them:
• Two men in charge of facilities management and security at ChildNet, Steven Williams, 47, of Fort Lauderdale and Brady Grant, 35, of Coral Springs, were convicted felons with lengthy criminal histories. Williams' convictions included burglary in 1988 and battery in 1992, both in Tampa, according to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.
Grant was sentenced to prison in 1995 for manslaughter and again in 2001 on a cocaine conviction, according to the Florida Department of Corrections.
• ''Vehicles used to transport children are possibly unsafe,'' the report said, because the auto repair shop hired to fix them instead paid kickbacks to Williams to ignore the needed repairs.
• Cars and vans used to cart children ''may not be repaired properly, or at all.'' Moss, DCF's top administrator in South Florida, said the vehicles since have been inspected to ensure they're safe.
• ChildNet had no inventory system for ''high-value items'' like computers and furniture.
And dozens of the foster care agency's employees stole donated toys intended for foster kids last Christmas.
These are among the allegations in a March 30 report by two private investigators hired to look into irregularities at ChildNet, one of 20 privately run child welfare agencies across Florida. The state Department of Children and Families will pay ChildNet $65 million this budget year to supervise 1,043 children in state care in Broward.
Troubles at ChildNet mounted Friday as federal agents swarmed the agency's Fort Lauderdale offices, state administrators threatened to cancel the agency's current contract, and board members voted to fire the group's founding president.
Ousted Friday afternoon was Peter Balitsaris, a longtime South Florida child advocate who helped create ChildNet about five years ago. The lone board member who fought Balitsaris' firing, Virginia Miller, resigned.
But a five-page summary of ChildNet's own investigation -- performed partly by a former Drug Enforcement Administration agent turned private eye -- included a host of startling allegations and findings. Among them:
• Two men in charge of facilities management and security at ChildNet, Steven Williams, 47, of Fort Lauderdale and Brady Grant, 35, of Coral Springs, were convicted felons with lengthy criminal histories. Williams' convictions included burglary in 1988 and battery in 1992, both in Tampa, according to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.
Grant was sentenced to prison in 1995 for manslaughter and again in 2001 on a cocaine conviction, according to the Florida Department of Corrections.
• ''Vehicles used to transport children are possibly unsafe,'' the report said, because the auto repair shop hired to fix them instead paid kickbacks to Williams to ignore the needed repairs.
• Cars and vans used to cart children ''may not be repaired properly, or at all.'' Moss, DCF's top administrator in South Florida, said the vehicles since have been inspected to ensure they're safe.
• ChildNet had no inventory system for ''high-value items'' like computers and furniture.
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