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Judge orders release of 5 Gitmo detainees

WASHINGTON, Nov. 20 (UPI) -- A federal judge in Washington Thursday ordered five Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, prisoners released, saying "seven years is enough" in captivity.

U.S. District Judge Richard J. Leon, in the first ruling that carries out the U.S. Supreme Court's decision on detainee rights, said a single classified document the government used to hold the five wasn't convincing, Scotusblog.com reported. The government claimed, based on the document, the five -- plus one other detainee -- planned to travel to Afghanistan to participate in terrorist activities against U.S. and allied forces.

Leon said the government persuaded him that the sixth detainee, Belkacem ben Sayah, was "an al-Qaida facilitator" who sought to arrange travel to Afghanistan to engage in armed hostilities with U.S. and coalition partners.

The six prisoners were living in Bosnia when they were captured, although all are natives of Algeria.

Leon also suggested that government officials decline to appeal his ruling, suggesting "seven years is enough" in captivity, the Web site said.

It took nearly an hour for the judge to announce his ruling because it was translated to the detainees via a telephone link with the prison at Guantanamo Bay.

U.N. votes to reinforce Congo peacekeepers

UNITED NATIONS, Nov. 20 (UPI) -- The United Nations voted Thursday to reinforce its peacekeeping force in the Democratic Republic of Congo by another 3,000 soldiers.

The Security Council passed the proposal unanimously after calls from human rights activists and its own commanders to bolster the 17,000 troops already in the strife-torn African nation.

Fighting between Congolese forces and rebels has routed an estimated 250,000 civilians from their homes in recent months.

CNN said some rights groups are urging the European Union to contribute to the additional forces because they are able to move quickly and could be in country within two weeks rather than the three months it could take otherwise.

Prosecutor in Cheney trial a no-show

RAYMONDVILLE, Texas, Nov. 20 (UPI) -- A prosecutor in Willacy County, Texas, failed to show up for a hearing regarding the indictments against U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney, a judge says.

Judge Manuel Banales said Willacy County prosecutor Juan Angel Guerra failed to show up for a court appearance for his indictments against Cheney and former U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, the San Antonio Express-News said Thursday.

"At the very least, I expected the district attorney to be here," Banales said of Guerra's absence Wednesday.

Guerra's office manager, Hilda Ramirez, told Banales she had been unsuccessfully attempting to contact the prosecutor all day.

The prosecutor has been heading up the legal efforts against the vice president and Gonzales, along with state Sen. Eddie Lucio, a prison company and a number of other officials.

The Express-News said Cheney and Gonzales are accused of influencing a privately contracted prison facility and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. An inmate died at the facility in 2001.

The vice president also faces a charge of investing in private prison companies despite his position.

Congress to automakers: Give us a plan

WASHINGTON, Nov. 20 (UPI) -- U.S. automakers must spell out Congress how it would spend any bailout funds they are awarded, Democratic leaders said Thursday.

Accountability and viability are key for any congressional consideration to help automakers, their workers and ancillary business partnerships, Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid of Nevada said during a news conference Thursday.

He told automakers, "We need you to be part of what we're doing here" by detailing how they will use the funds and submitting their plans by Dec. 2.

The U.S. Senate would take up the plans the week of Dec. 8, Reid said, indicating that lawmakers won't consider an auto bailout plan before adjourning for the Thanksgiving holiday.

"We don't even know how much money they need," he said.

Automakers, union officials and industry analysts said bankruptcy was a real possibility if the automakers didn't receive some government help soon.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California said the leadership's position "is our response to those who say, 'Let them go' then we'll deal with it," referring to some who argue that the companies should be allowed to fail.

However, Pelosi said, there must be a "path to viability" and accountability before there's any movement on a bailout question.

"(Until) they show us the plan, we cannot show them the money," she said.

"We want them to get their act together. we want them to come up with something," Reid said. "We are here to help. We are not against the auto industry. We want to help those people keep those jobs. ... But that will only happen if they get their act together."

Coast Guard makes big pot seizure in SoCal

NEWPORT BEACH, Calif., Nov. 20 (UPI) -- The U.S. Coast Guard says it recently spent half the night fishing bales of marijuana from the Pacific off the Southern California coast.

It took six hours for the 12-member crew of the Coast Guard Cutter Narwhal to salvage nearly 10,000 pounds of pot in 132 bales that were dumped by smugglers off the coast of San Diego, the Orange County (Calif.) Register said Thursday.

"Every time we turned around, we found five more bales," said Lt. Kristopher Ensley.

The haul was the largest by the Coast Guard in Southern California in about 15 years, Ensley told the Register.

The seizure originated about 100 miles southwest of San Diego when the Narwhal spotted a suspicious boat chugging north from Mexico around sunset on Sunday. When the vessel increased its speed as darkness fell, the crew of the Narwhal concluded they had found a smuggler.

The fleeing smugglers were able to reach Mexican waters after they dumped their cargo along a 3-mile trail.