22 deaths reported in Basra war zone
BASRA, Iraq, March 25 (UPI) -- Intense fighting erupted Tuesday in Basra as the Iraqi government launched a security offensive against the feuding militias in the southern Iraq city.
At least 22 people died and 58 wounded in Basra, the hub of Iraq's oil industry, Time magazine reported.
Police reported at least five military vehicles were set on fire, The Washington Post reported.
Witnesses reported smoke plumes, the sounds of explosions and gunfire and deserted streets, Time said.
Although more than 4,000 British troops are stationed outside Basra, they have done little to curb the violence, the Post reported.
"We have a capacity to provide air and other specialist support if needed but at this time British involvement is minimal," a British Defense Ministry spokesman said.
As British troops withdrew from Basra, it has fallen under control of three Shiite militias -- Moqtada Sadr's Mehdi Army, the Iran-backed Badr Brigades and a group affiliated with the Fadila Party.
Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and ministers for defense and the interior arrived in Basra Monday to oversee the operation.
Three Iraqi army brigades were deployed from Baghdad to Basra as backup for the operation and up to 15,000 troops could be involved, the BBC said.
Steady level of troops in Iraq plan aired
WASHINGTON, March 25 (UPI) -- President George Bush was told U.S. troop levels in Iraq would stay the same in 2008 as any other time during the five-year-old war, military officials said.
Bush didn't announce a final decision on future troop levels after his video conference with Gen. David Petraeus, commander of U.S. troops in Iraq, and Ryan Crocker, U.S. Ambassador to Iraq. However, the recommendation is any major U.S. troop reductions would be left to the next president, The New York Times reported Tuesday.
Petraeus recommended delaying reductions for several months after the the last of the extra brigades sent as part of the surge leave in July, unnamed military officials told the Times.
Petraeus recommended more frequent reviews, perhaps monthly, to determine when withdrawals might resume, the Times said. The more frequent reviews also are advocated by the Joint Chiefs of Staff and by the Central Command.
Democratic presidential hopefuls Sens. Hillary Clinton of New York and Barack Obama of Illinois have proposed rapid withdrawals of troops. Sen. John McCain of Arizona, the presumptive Republican nominee, advocates a policy similar to Bush's.
The Joint Chiefs brief Bush this week. Petraeus and Crocker will testify before Congress next month.
Attorney general appears before high court
WASHINGTON, March 25 (UPI) -- U.S. Attorney General Michael Mukasey made his first appearance before the U.S. Supreme Court Tuesday, arguing for the government in a terrorism case.
Mukasey was confirmed as attorney general last year. The nation's top law enforcement official traditionally makes at least one appearance before the high court during his or her term, usually in what's considered a "slam dunk" case for the government.
But none of Mukasey's predecessors in the Bush administration followed that tradition.
In the case before the justices, a trial court had found Ahmed Ressam guilty of conspiracy to use explosives at Los Angeles International Airport shortly before New Year's 2000. Ressam had been trained in Afghanistan by al-Qaida. The explosives were discovered in his car when he and another man crossed into Washington state from Canada on a ferry. He was sentenced to 22 years in 2005.
When an appeals court threw out one of the 10 charges against him on technical grounds, the government asked the Supreme Court for review.
Tuesday, Mukasey was loose and relaxed, but used only 19 of the 30 minutes alloted for his argument and answered some questions from the bench with a "yes" or "no," CNN reported. The justices did not press him very hard, the report said.
A decision in the case should come before the end of June.
High court hears U.S. detainee case
WASHINGTON, March 25 (UPI) -- A top Bush administration lawyer told the U.S. Supreme Court Tuesday that U.S. citizens being held by the military in Iraq have no right to access U.S. courts.
Two naturalized U.S. citizens, Mohammad Munaf and Shawqi Ahmad Omar, are being held by the U.S.-led Multinational Force Iraq for alleged ties to terror. Both are accused in kidnappings and killings.
The military wants to turn them over to the Iraqi courts but the two men claim they will be tortured and want their cases heard before a U.S. judge. One could face the death penalty.
Deputy U.S. Solicitor General Gregory Garre asked the Supreme Court to rule against the men, saying when Americans go abroad, "they have to take what they can get," USA Today reported. Garre noted the men are being held by a multinational force and the right of U.S. citizens to appear before a judge to challenge their detentions is limited overseas, the newspaper said.
Representing the two men, attorney Joseph Margulies asked the high court to broadly interpret the rights of U.S. citizens essentially being held by the U.S. military.
A decision in the case could affect the rights of any U.S. citizen being held abroad by multinational or U.S. military.
(No. 06-1666 Munaf vs. Geren; and No. 07-394 Geren vs. Omar.)
Detroit mayor pleads not guilty
DETROIT, March 25 (UPI) -- Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick pleaded not guilty Tuesday to perjury and other charges related to his testimony and actions in a police whistle-blower's case.
Defense attorneys also notified the court of two possible conflicts of interest -- one involving a lawyer representing both Kilpatrick and his former chief of staff Christine Beatty in a related civil matter.
The second potential conflict is "there's one, possibly two sitting judges of the court that may be witnesses," the defense team told the judge. The possibility of judges testifying raises the the possibility of the criminal case not being heard in Wayne County.
Kilpatrick was released on a $5,000 personal bond. Because of Kilpatrick's position, the judge said, "the defendant will have the right to travel anywhere in the United States without (getting) permission but with advance notice."
Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy charged Kilpatrick and Beatty Tuesday with 12 counts of perjury, obstruction of justice, misconduct in office and conspiracy, among other charges, arising from text messages indicating the pair lied during last year's police whistle-blower trial when they denied having an extramarital affair.
Just before Kilpatrick's arraignment hearing Tuesday, Beatty pleaded not guilty.
Arizona man charged with TB exposure
PHOENIX, March 25 (UPI) -- An Arizona man said his indictment for having tuberculosis is retaliation for a lawsuit he filed over his involuntary quarantine.
Robert Daniels told the Arizona Republic that Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio charged him with unlawfully exposing the public to a disease because Daniels had sued the county over his year-long quarantine in a Phoenix hospital.
"They don't really have evidence," said Daniels. "They can't accuse me of anything unless there's a person who got the disease from me."
The newspaper said after Daniels was confined for a year in 2006, he was sent to a Colorado hospital where further tests revealed he had not contracted a dangerous drug-resistant strain of TB as originally feared.
He later quit his court-ordered treatments and fled the United States to Moscow where he said doctors cured him. Nevertheless, Sheriff Arpaio told reporters Monday that Daniels had put county residents at risk.
"This guy is a time bomb," the sheriff declared.
BASRA, Iraq, March 25 (UPI) -- Intense fighting erupted Tuesday in Basra as the Iraqi government launched a security offensive against the feuding militias in the southern Iraq city.
At least 22 people died and 58 wounded in Basra, the hub of Iraq's oil industry, Time magazine reported.
Police reported at least five military vehicles were set on fire, The Washington Post reported.
Witnesses reported smoke plumes, the sounds of explosions and gunfire and deserted streets, Time said.
Although more than 4,000 British troops are stationed outside Basra, they have done little to curb the violence, the Post reported.
"We have a capacity to provide air and other specialist support if needed but at this time British involvement is minimal," a British Defense Ministry spokesman said.
As British troops withdrew from Basra, it has fallen under control of three Shiite militias -- Moqtada Sadr's Mehdi Army, the Iran-backed Badr Brigades and a group affiliated with the Fadila Party.
Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and ministers for defense and the interior arrived in Basra Monday to oversee the operation.
Three Iraqi army brigades were deployed from Baghdad to Basra as backup for the operation and up to 15,000 troops could be involved, the BBC said.
Steady level of troops in Iraq plan aired
WASHINGTON, March 25 (UPI) -- President George Bush was told U.S. troop levels in Iraq would stay the same in 2008 as any other time during the five-year-old war, military officials said.
Bush didn't announce a final decision on future troop levels after his video conference with Gen. David Petraeus, commander of U.S. troops in Iraq, and Ryan Crocker, U.S. Ambassador to Iraq. However, the recommendation is any major U.S. troop reductions would be left to the next president, The New York Times reported Tuesday.
Petraeus recommended delaying reductions for several months after the the last of the extra brigades sent as part of the surge leave in July, unnamed military officials told the Times.
Petraeus recommended more frequent reviews, perhaps monthly, to determine when withdrawals might resume, the Times said. The more frequent reviews also are advocated by the Joint Chiefs of Staff and by the Central Command.
Democratic presidential hopefuls Sens. Hillary Clinton of New York and Barack Obama of Illinois have proposed rapid withdrawals of troops. Sen. John McCain of Arizona, the presumptive Republican nominee, advocates a policy similar to Bush's.
The Joint Chiefs brief Bush this week. Petraeus and Crocker will testify before Congress next month.
Attorney general appears before high court
WASHINGTON, March 25 (UPI) -- U.S. Attorney General Michael Mukasey made his first appearance before the U.S. Supreme Court Tuesday, arguing for the government in a terrorism case.
Mukasey was confirmed as attorney general last year. The nation's top law enforcement official traditionally makes at least one appearance before the high court during his or her term, usually in what's considered a "slam dunk" case for the government.
But none of Mukasey's predecessors in the Bush administration followed that tradition.
In the case before the justices, a trial court had found Ahmed Ressam guilty of conspiracy to use explosives at Los Angeles International Airport shortly before New Year's 2000. Ressam had been trained in Afghanistan by al-Qaida. The explosives were discovered in his car when he and another man crossed into Washington state from Canada on a ferry. He was sentenced to 22 years in 2005.
When an appeals court threw out one of the 10 charges against him on technical grounds, the government asked the Supreme Court for review.
Tuesday, Mukasey was loose and relaxed, but used only 19 of the 30 minutes alloted for his argument and answered some questions from the bench with a "yes" or "no," CNN reported. The justices did not press him very hard, the report said.
A decision in the case should come before the end of June.
High court hears U.S. detainee case
WASHINGTON, March 25 (UPI) -- A top Bush administration lawyer told the U.S. Supreme Court Tuesday that U.S. citizens being held by the military in Iraq have no right to access U.S. courts.
Two naturalized U.S. citizens, Mohammad Munaf and Shawqi Ahmad Omar, are being held by the U.S.-led Multinational Force Iraq for alleged ties to terror. Both are accused in kidnappings and killings.
The military wants to turn them over to the Iraqi courts but the two men claim they will be tortured and want their cases heard before a U.S. judge. One could face the death penalty.
Deputy U.S. Solicitor General Gregory Garre asked the Supreme Court to rule against the men, saying when Americans go abroad, "they have to take what they can get," USA Today reported. Garre noted the men are being held by a multinational force and the right of U.S. citizens to appear before a judge to challenge their detentions is limited overseas, the newspaper said.
Representing the two men, attorney Joseph Margulies asked the high court to broadly interpret the rights of U.S. citizens essentially being held by the U.S. military.
A decision in the case could affect the rights of any U.S. citizen being held abroad by multinational or U.S. military.
(No. 06-1666 Munaf vs. Geren; and No. 07-394 Geren vs. Omar.)
Detroit mayor pleads not guilty
DETROIT, March 25 (UPI) -- Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick pleaded not guilty Tuesday to perjury and other charges related to his testimony and actions in a police whistle-blower's case.
Defense attorneys also notified the court of two possible conflicts of interest -- one involving a lawyer representing both Kilpatrick and his former chief of staff Christine Beatty in a related civil matter.
The second potential conflict is "there's one, possibly two sitting judges of the court that may be witnesses," the defense team told the judge. The possibility of judges testifying raises the the possibility of the criminal case not being heard in Wayne County.
Kilpatrick was released on a $5,000 personal bond. Because of Kilpatrick's position, the judge said, "the defendant will have the right to travel anywhere in the United States without (getting) permission but with advance notice."
Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy charged Kilpatrick and Beatty Tuesday with 12 counts of perjury, obstruction of justice, misconduct in office and conspiracy, among other charges, arising from text messages indicating the pair lied during last year's police whistle-blower trial when they denied having an extramarital affair.
Just before Kilpatrick's arraignment hearing Tuesday, Beatty pleaded not guilty.
Arizona man charged with TB exposure
PHOENIX, March 25 (UPI) -- An Arizona man said his indictment for having tuberculosis is retaliation for a lawsuit he filed over his involuntary quarantine.
Robert Daniels told the Arizona Republic that Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio charged him with unlawfully exposing the public to a disease because Daniels had sued the county over his year-long quarantine in a Phoenix hospital.
"They don't really have evidence," said Daniels. "They can't accuse me of anything unless there's a person who got the disease from me."
The newspaper said after Daniels was confined for a year in 2006, he was sent to a Colorado hospital where further tests revealed he had not contracted a dangerous drug-resistant strain of TB as originally feared.
He later quit his court-ordered treatments and fled the United States to Moscow where he said doctors cured him. Nevertheless, Sheriff Arpaio told reporters Monday that Daniels had put county residents at risk.
"This guy is a time bomb," the sheriff declared.
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This material may not be reproduced, redistributed, or manipulated in any form.
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Relatives mourn the death of Ziad Ghalayini during his funeral in Beirut on 11 May 2008. Ghalayini, a Sunni Moslem and government supporter was killed during bloody clashes with Moslem Shiite Hezbollah fighters. Clashes continued throughout the country on Sunday and the country’s only international airport remained closed. (UPI Photo)
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