Cheney makes surprise Afghanistan visit
KABUL, Afghanistan, Feb. 26 (UPI) -- U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney made an unannounced visit to Kabul Monday after meeting with Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf.
Cheney began the day in Oman and then traveled to Islamabad for four hours of closed talks with Musharraf about stepping up security along the Afghanistan border.
A Kabul correspondent for China's Xinhua news agency said Cheney planned to talk to Afghan President Hamid Karzai about similar concerns involving Taliban and al-Qaida insurgents moving freely between the two countries.
Cheney arrived at the U.S. Bagram Air Force base, about 35 miles north of Kabul, and after consultations with military leaders, was taken to the capital.
U.S. media traveling with Cheney said he has not granted any interviews one week into his international junket.
Troops in Baghdad say can't identify enemy
BAGHDAD, Feb. 26 (UPI) -- U.S. and Iraqi soldiers say the Baghdad security plan that began earlier in February has been hindered by the inability of troops to identify violent offenders.
The plan, an increase in U.S. and Iraqi forces in the city designed to suffocate militia and insurgent groups looking to commit bombings and sectarian killings, has proved problematic as soldiers say they have difficulty finding the perpetrators, The Washington Post reported Monday.
"I don't know who I'm fighting most of the time," said U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Joseph Lopez, who is based in the northern outskirts of Baghdad. "I don't know who is setting what IED."
U.S. commanders say that since a brigade of 2,700 U.S. troops arrived in Baghdad to boost the U.S. presence there to 40,000, insurgent activity has increased in the area surrounding Baghdad, leading to worries that the militants are focusing outside the city.
The Post said many Shiite militia members in Baghdad say they are waiting until the troop boost in the city expires to continue violence.
Renewed claims of Iranian arms in Iraq
BAGHDAD, Feb. 26 (UPI) -- The U.S. military renewed its claims of finding Iranian-made bombs and explosives in Iraq in a report published Monday by The New York Times.
U.S. ordnance experts showed Times staff members material seized in a raid in the southern Iraqi city of Hilla on Feb. 17 that they claimed was manufactured in Iran and had been seen before only in Lebanon, where it was used by Hezbollah militants.
The cache included infrared sensors, electronic triggering devices and information about plastic explosives used in making armor-piercing roadside bombs.
The raid also uncovered a fake boulder made of polyurethane and smeared with dust to look genuine, the report said.
However, critics such as Joseph Cirincione, senior vice president for National Security at the Center for American Progress, a liberal research and advocacy organization, said there was no conclusive proof Iran was supplying Iraqi insurgents, as the technology "has been around for decades."
Military experts conceded some of the electronics package is built around common items such as the motion sensors used in garage-door openers sold at many electronic retailers.
Iraqi president stable in Amman hospital
BAGHDAD, Feb. 26 (UPI) -- Iraqi President Jalal Talabani was in stable condition recovering from exhaustion in a Jordanian hospital Monday, his son told CNN.
The 73-year-old Kurd became dizzy Sunday morning, and was flown to Amman, which his son said was not an indication of a serious condition.
"It's quite regular and quite normal for senior Iraqi politicians to receive checkups or medical treatment outside of Iraq; I don't think that this is too big of an issue," Qubad Talabani told the network.
He said his father walked onto and off the aircraft, and said doctors were treating him for "fatigue and exhaustion coupled with dehydration."
The younger Talabani denied his father had suffered a heart attack or stroke.
The office of president in Iraq is largely ceremonial, but Talabani is considered to wield significant political influence in the country, the BBC said.
Report says slavery still exists in U.K.
LONDON, Feb. 26 (UPI) -- A direct descendent of the man who led the effort to abolish slavery in Britain says his ancestor would be appalled by a new report showing it still exists.
William Wilberforce has joined forces with those demanding the British government do more to protect modern victims of slavery in the United Kingdom, the Daily Telegraph reports.
A study released Monday by Hull University and Anti-Slavery International said slavery is thriving in Britain despite its legal abolition 200 years ago.
According to the report, migrant workers from Europe, Africa, Asia and South America are virtually held captive by a mixture of enforced debt, intimidation and lack of understanding of their rights.
"A lot of people perceive it as a developing nation problem," said Wilberforce. "I see it as a developed nation problem."
Wilberforce's great-great-great-great grandfather spearheaded the drive to abolish slavery in Britain while a member of Parliament. His story is the subject of the movie "Amazing Grace."
