Wounded GIs get presidential visit
WASHINGTON, Sept. 9 (UPI) -- Wounded U.S. GIs at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington got a visit from their commander in chief Tuesday.
President George Bush said he not only wanted to meet some of the recovering soldiers but also their families and care-givers, American Forces Press Service reported.
"I've also come to pay my respects to family members that are praying that their loved one can get back on their feet and serve again, or get back on their feet and live a normal life," he said, adding that Walter Reed provides "first-class" care.
Bush said he was struck by the wounded soldiers' resolve despite the impact war has had on them.
"On the one hand, you see the horrors of war; on the other hand, you see the courage of the people that have volunteered to serve," he said. "I marvel when I come to Walter Reed. I marvel at the fact that people say to me, 'Mr. President, I'd do it again.'
"They had one kid in there who got hurt pretty bad, and he says, 'I'm looking forward to getting back in uniform, getting back on the front lines,'" Bush said.
Immigration name-check backlog trimmed
WASHINGTON, Sept. 9 (UPI) -- The FBI's backlog of immigrant name checks has been whittled down by 65 percent in recent months, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security said Tuesday.
Homeland Security's U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services ombudsman there were 95,449 pending name checks as of Aug. 12, down from 269,943 May 6. There were 61,817 cases that had been pending more than six months as of Aug. 12, compared with185,162 in May.
The FBI name checks are one of several security screening tools used by immigration services when deciding immigrant benefits.
"The significant reduction in long-pending FBI name checks will result in improved service for USCIS customers," Ombudsman Michael Dougherty said.
Crime elements 'encrusted' in Guatemala
UNITED NATIONS, Sept. 9 (UPI) -- Guatemalan state institutions are rife with clandestine criminal elements, an independent investigatory body reports.
The International Commission against Impunity in Guatemala, known by its Spanish initials CICIG, said that while the government had begun "an important effort" to expunge criminals from the security forces and public prosecution office, there have been too few successful prosecutions thus far, the United Nations-facilitated group said announcing its report.
"Dismantling the illegal bodies and clandestine structures encrusted in many public arenas in Guatemala is the state's responsibility," CICIG head Carlos Castresana Monday. "CICIG will continue to provide all the support within its means to the Guatemalan state in order to finally root out those structures."
The report said the commission is investigating 15 "high-impact" cases, mainly in coordination with public prosecutors, as well as the Central American country's high number of slayings of women and labor and human rights activists. At least eight public officials in the law enforcement or justice sector who were either working on high-impact cases or held vital information on other cases have been killed this year.
CICIG said Guatemala needs to do a better job protecting police, prosecutors, judges and witnesses. The commission also has proposed legislative reforms.
Sudanese disarmament efforts lauded
KHARTOUM, Sudan, Sept. 9 (UPI) -- The United Nations' top envoy to Sudan Tuesday lauded the disarmament and demobilization progress made as the war-torn country works toward peace.
"Policies are in place, planning is under way and the funding for some initial steps is available," Ashraf Jehangir Qazi, the U.N. secretary-general's special representative for Sudan, said in Khartoum.
Qazi, who also heads the U.N. mission in Sudan, said the country's national council and north and south commissions have taken a constructive approach to resolving the long-running conflict. Their agreement is an important component of the 2005 comprehensive peace agreement ending the civil war between the government and the former southern rebels.
The 21-year war left at least 2 million people dead and displaced another 4.5 million.
"Such progress is central to peace in all of Sudan, including Darfur," Qazi said in a news release.
Still, he said, more needs to be done to make peace a reality in the region.
"Adequate and timely funding for reintegration must be secured, especially from donor countries, regardless of whatever uncertainties may lie ahead," he said.
Qazi called for a round-table meeting of the parties, the United Nations and the donor community in October with the hope of achieving further agreements on demobilization.
