UPI NewsTrack TopNews

Sandstorm grounds Biden in Iraq

BAGHDAD, July 3 (UPI) -- A sandstorm in Iraq grounded U.S. Vice President Joe Biden who was supposed to fly to a breakfast meeting Friday with U.S. officials.

Biden arrived in Baghdad Thursday on an unannounced visit he said was to help him re-establish contact with Iraqi leaders and foster a climate of political reconciliation after the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraqi cities Tuesday.

Although the Black Hawk helicopter took off briefly, visibility was so poor that Gen. Ray Odierno, commander of U.S. forces in Iraq, ordered the copter to turn back. The meeting between Biden, Odierno and U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Christopher Hill took place at Odierno's home.

After a briefing on the U.S. troop withdrawal, Odierno and Biden discussed overall security in Iraq, the capabilities of Iraqi forces and the future mission of U.S. forces going forward, Biden's press secretary said.

Hill and Biden discussed the political situation in Iraq and the "status of efforts to make progress on the various outstanding political issues in the country," Biden's office said.

After the meeting, Biden traveled to meet with non-governmental officials and representatives of the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad.

"The reason I came is (President Barack Obama) wants focus within the White House on the implementation of our administration's plan to ... draw down troops in Iraq," Biden told reporters during the flight to Iraq.

He said he also wanted to promote a political settlement on several unresolved issues and "re-establish contact with each of the leaders among the Kurds and the Sunnis and the Shiites," to learn more about "what is their plan to resolve those real differences that exist."

Biden also is scheduled to meet and celebrate July Fourth with U.S. troops.

Saddam says Iran threat to Iraq, docs say

BAGHDAD, July 3 (UPI) -- Ex-Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein told the FBI in 2004 he believed Iran was a greater threat to Iraq than to the United States, FBI documents indicate.

The recently released documents are of FBI interviews of Saddam when he was held by the U.S. military at Baghdad International Airport between February and June 2004, CNN reported Friday. About 100 pages of declassified secret interview summaries were obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request.

Saddam said he considered the Iranian threat so serious, it was the main reason he decided not to let U.N. weapons inspectors re-enter Iraq. He said he was more concerned about Iran uncovering Iraq's weaknesses than repercussions from the United States and the international community, and believed inspectors would have identified where Iranians could inflict maximum damage to Iraq.

Although Saddam had been a prisoner for several months, at one point in the FBI interview he said, "I am not the ex-president of Iraq. I am still the president of Iraq."

Saddam called al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden a "zealot" and said he never met or saw him. He also said the United States used the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks as justification to attack Iraq, CNN reported.

Despite the FBI interrogator's evidence of Iraq's contacts with bin Laden, Saddam said, "The Iraqi government did not cooperate with bin Laden" and the two "did not have the same belief or vision."

Saddam was executed in Iraq in 2006 after being convicted of charges related to the executions of 148 Iraqi Shiites.

Hamas denies plot to target PA brass

JERUSALEM, July 3 (UPI) -- A Hamas spokesman denied recent media reports of plans to target Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and other key Palestinian leaders.

A report by the Ma'an News Agency said Sami Abu Zuhri, a Hamas spokesman in Gaza , denied recent reports in the Palestinian media suggesting Hamas was plotting to target key Palestinian Authority officials, possibly for ongoing arrests of Hamas operatives in the West Bank.

Zuhri accused the Palestinian Authority of resorting to "blackmail and threats" and "torturing our affiliates to get information."

Ma'an said Abbas had been quoted in the local media saying his security forces had uncovered evidence of a Hamas cell operating in the West Bank in preparation for the attacks. Abbas reportedly said the Palestinian Authority will expose those involved in the affair "when the time is right."

Quoting a recent interview with a Russian television station, the news agency quoted Abbas as saying his security forces had uncovered two tons of explosives belonging to Hamas and had evidence Hamas operatives were stockpiling weapons, including rocket propelled grenade launchers and Presidential Guards uniforms.

Missiles hit militants' facilities

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan, July 3 (UPI) -- Missiles fired Friday from a suspected unmanned drone targeting militants' facilities in Pakistan's tribal area killed several people, officials said.

Dawn newspaper, quoting a local resident, reported 11 people died in the attacks on two villages in South Waziristan, believed to be the stronghold of Pakistani Taliban leader Baitullah Mehsud.

Geo TV, quoting sources, reported 13 people died and several were injured in two missile attacks.

The Dawn report quoted two officials as saying the missiles hit a suspected training facility and a militants' hideout.

South Waziristan is the focus of the Pakistani military's current campaign in its hunt for Mehsud.

The lawless tribal belt near the border with Afghanistan is believed where top Taliban and al-Qaida leaders are holed up.

Public memorial set for Michael Jackson

LOS ANGELES, July 3 (UPI) -- A public memorial service for Michael Jackson is planned for Tuesday in Los Angeles, but it's unclear who will pay for it, city officials say.

The 10 a.m. ceremony, held in the downtown arena where Jackson had his final rehearsal, will need a massive law enforcement deployment with thousands of officers, city leaders told The Los Angeles Times.

There also was concern whether police would have time to plan for an event of that scale particularly since many officers also would be working overtime during the Fourth of July weekend.

A Friday news conference was called to explain how to get the 11,000 free tickets. Reports indicated 1 million more fans could gather outside.

Meanwhile, an attorney for Debbie Rowe, the mother of Jackson's two elder children, said she had not decided whether to seek custody, despite telling a television reporter that was her intention.