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Sadr offers to disband Mehdi Army

BAGHDAD, Aug. 9 (UPI) -- Militant Shiite cleric Moqtada Sadr says he'll disband his Mehdi Army militia if the United States agrees to a timetable for withdrawal from Iraq.

Sadr made the offer Friday in Baghdad through his spokesman, Salah Obaidi, The Washington Post reported. Obaidi said Sadr has already ordered the Mehdi Army to stop fighting while U.S. and Iraqi negotiators hammer out an agreement on withdrawal timetable, and further said the paramilitary force would be disbanded if a final agreement is reached, the newspaper said.

"If there will be a serious decision to end the occupation of Iraq, those cells will vanish," he told reporters. "There will be no reason to let those cells stay and work."

"We welcome this announcement that appears to be an effort to help the Iraqi people," U.S. military spokesman Col. Jerry O'Hara told the Post, adding, "The proof is always in the actions and not just the words."

Medvedev: Georgia pullout is only answer

MOSCOW, Aug. 9 (UPI) -- Russian President Dmitry Medvedev says only a pullout of Georgian troops from the conflict zone in South Ossetia can bring an end to armed clashes there.

The Times of London reported Medvedev delivered that message to U.S. President George Bush Saturday as the Georgian parliament officially put the nation on a war footing and called on Russia to accept an immediate cease-fire.

Bush, attending the 2008 Summer Olympic Games in Beijing, said, "I'm deeply concerned about the situation in Georgia. The attacks are occurring in regions of Georgia far from the zone of conflict in South Ossetia. They mark a dangerous escalation in the crisis."

The crisis rapidly escalated Saturday, with both Russia and Georgia accusing each other of conducting "ethnic cleansing" in South Ossetia. Russian tanks rolled into the region Friday in response to a Georgian attack against Moscow-allied separatists there. The separatists claim 1,500 people have been killed, an assertion Tblisi vehemently disputes.

Kuwait urges U.S. caution on Iran

KUWAIT CITY, Aug. 9 (UPI) -- Kuwait leaders have urged the White House to scale down its verbal war with Iran over that country's nuclear program.

Kuwait's concern over the potential closing of the Strait of Hormuz through which as much as 40 percent of the world's sea-transited crude oil passes prompted words of warning from Kuwaiti Foreign Affairs Minister Sheikh Mohammad al-Salem al-Sabah in a televised interview Saturday.

"Merely talking about such a closure creates a state of tension and will raise the insurance costs on vessels passing through," he said, referring to Iran's threatened response to any military attack by the United States or Israel on its nuclear facilities.

"It is true that we are allies of America ... (however,) we are against escalation against Iran (over its nuclear program)," KUNA news service quoted him as saying. "We have the courage to correspond with our main allies for what we see as in the interest of Kuwait and the region," al-Sabah said.

Musharraf plans impeachment defense

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan, Aug. 9 (UPI) -- Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf will not resign and is planning to put up a strong defense against impeachment charges, his supporters say.

Musharraf will face impeachment after eight years in office on grounds including his imposition of emergency rule and the firing of nearly 60 judges last November as well as alleged mismanagement of the economy. He is expected to argue that he is not corrupt, unlike his leading critics, reported The International Herald Tribune Saturday.

"He will say: 'Look here, I've been in office for eight years. I've made some mistakes but at least I am not a crook. I have no foreign bank accounts, no properties abroad, unlike the opposition leaders who are gunning for me,"' said Musharraf backer Mushahid Hussain, secretary general of the Pakistan Muslim League-Q party.

Hussain predicted Musharraf would point to the difference between himself and his critics Asif Ali Zardari, leader of the majority party in the coalition, the Pakistan People's Party, and Nawaz Sharif, the leader of the Pakistan Muslim League-N. In the 1990s, both Zardari and Sharif faced corruption charges in Pakistan.

Musharraf's opponents have called a Monday session of the National Assembly to start the impeachment process.

Obama and family taking Hawaiian vacation

HONOLULU, Aug. 9 (UPI) -- U.S. Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., says he and his family are taking a relaxing break in Hawaii during his ongoing quest for the White House.

The presumptive Democratic presidential candidate, who was born in Hawaii, said he intended to spend most of his time in Honolulu with his family rather than focus on the upcoming general election, The Honolulu Star Bulletin said Saturday.

"I'm going to see my tutu, my grandma, and I'm going to watch my girls play on the beach and maybe once in a while, I'll go into the water. But mostly I'm just going to sit there and watch them," he said upon his arrival Friday.

Obama did take time Friday to speak to thousands of his supporters who gathered at Keehi Lagoon Beach Park to cheer on the presidential hopeful.

The Illinois official told the assembled crowd that he often explains to others what living in Hawaii means to him.

"I try to explain to them the aloha spirit," Obama said. "I try to explain this basic idea that we all have obligations to each other, that we are not alone, that if we see someone in need, we should help."