'Baghdad Bob,' spin doctor captured
BAGHDAD, June 25 (UPI) -- The man who told fellow Iraqis they were winning the war as Baghdad fell has been captured, The London Daily Mirror said.
Information minister Mohammed Saeed al-Sahaf had been hiding out at a relative's house since April watching satellite TV, which was banned under deposed leader Saddam Hussein.
Known variously as "Baghdad Bob" or "Comical Ali," Sahaf became a comedic hero for his televised denials of coalition progress.
He was taken without a struggle by U.S. troops at a checkpoint in a Baghdad suburb.
After his arrest, Sahaf implored U.S. soldiers to save him the embarrassment of being taken away publicly in a conspicuous armored car.
He was the last member of Saddam's Ba'ath party to abandon his post, giving his final briefing on the morning the deposed Iraqi leader's statue was toppled in the capital.
He was not among those in the coalition's "deck of cards" of priority fugitives.
Sandia lab security chief quits
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M., June 25 (UPI) -- The head of national security for Sandia National Laboratories has stepped down after congressional criticism of the lab's nuclear weapons security.
Sandia head C. Paul Robinson asked Dave Nokes Tuesday to retire, according to a Sandia news release obtained by the Albuquerque (N.M.) Journal.
Spokesman Chris Miller said he would not elaborate because it involves a personnel matter.
Sandia's vice president for Science, Technology and Partnerships, Al Romig, will replace Nokes.
A new government report released Tuesday criticized the 3-year-old National Nuclear Security Administration, the agency charged with protecting America's nuclear secrets.
The report by the General Accounting Office, the investigative arm of Congress, said the agency is falling short of its mission, despite the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and repeated security breaches at the nation's nuclear labs.
More carseat recalls
WASHINGTON, June 25 (UPI) -- The Dorel Juvenile Group is again voluntarily recalling Cosco Arriva and Turnabout infant car seat/carriers to address a problem with the handle.
On July 8, 1999, the Consumer Product Safety Commission, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and Cosco, now known as the Dorel Juvenile Group, announced the recall of 670,000 of these infant car seat/carriers made from March 1995 through September 1997.
This recall adds 1.2 million of the same model infant car seat/carriers made through January 2000.
When the seat is used as a carrier, the plastic handle locks can unexpectedly break or release from the carrying position, causing the seat to unlatch or flip forward.
When this happens, an infant can fall to the ground and suffer injuries.
Dorel Juvenile Group, in Columbus, Ind., has received 416 reports of the handle locks on the additional recalled infant car seat/carriers breaking.
For more information, call 800-880-9435.
Tornados strike the Plains
BUFFALO LAKE, Minn., June 25 (UPI) -- Clean-up was under way Wednesday in the wake of a spate of tornadoes that tore through at least three states.
Officials in many areas credited early warnings for saving lives.
Most of the destruction occurred across parts of Minnesota, where slowly moving tornadoes crushed houses, vehicles, trees and power lines.
Buffalo Lake officials credited an advance warning system, using residents as tornado spotters, for saving lives. Police Chief Greg Gowan told the Minneapolis Star Tribune four people were injured.
Another tornado struck the Minnesota town of Kandiyohi, 70 miles west of Minneapolis. Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty said he was stunned by the damage he saw while touring the area. He told the newspaper: "Trees were snapped off like toothpicks, buildings flattened and silos toppled. It's overwhelming."
Pawlenty ordered National Guard troops into some areas to guard against looting.
Tornadoes spawned by the same slow-moving cold front also kept Red Cross and other emergency workers busy Tuesday night and early Wednesday across parts of South Dakota and Nebraska.
British Muslin cleric had al-Qaida ties
LONDON, June 25 (UPI) -- The London Telegraph says a militant London-based Muslim cleric, Abu Hamza, maintained close contact with leaders of the al-Qaida terrorist network.
The newspaper said it had obtained FBI documents indicating Hamza, the former imam of London's Finsbury Park mosque, dealt personally with Abu Zubeidah, Osama bin Laden's director of operations.
Zubeidah, a Palestinian now in U.S. custody, communicated bin Laden's instructions and messages from his hideout in Afghanistan to al-Qaida cells around the world.
The Telegraph said Hamza had the power to refer recruits to Zubeidah for "leadership training" in Afghan terror camps. Hamza also reportedly built a relationship with the Taliban foreign minister and sent him a laptop computer for his personal use.
The newspaper said although now removed from his post at the mosque, Hamza continues to address his followers outside the building every Friday.
An attempt to revoke his British citizenship has been delayed, pending appeals that may not be heard for several months.
