Iraq lacks air defense once U.S. pulls out
BAGHDAD, July 29 (UPI) -- The commander of U.S. forces in Iraq says the Middle Eastern country won't be able to defend its airspace when U.S. combat forces pull out by the end of 2011.
Army Gen. Ray Odierno stopped short of saying U.S. pilots and planes would have to essentially serve as Iraq's air force until Iraqis could defend their country's skies, but said a U.S. Air Force team would be in Iraq soon to assess the United States role, The New York Times reported Wednesday.
Iraqis have already asked Washington for new F-16 fighter jets, but Odierno said was impossible to build and deliver the aircraft by the pullout date.
Asked if the Iraqis could fly defensive air patrols at the end of 2011, when a United States agreement with Iraq calls for all U.S. combat troops to be out, Odierno said, "Right now, no."
Odierno spoke with reporters while traveling with U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates, who arrived in Iraq unannounced Tuesday to meet with Iraqi military and government leaders and assess progress made since the United States handed over security duties to the Iraqis June 30.
"There is a sense of equal parts in this now, and nobody is the boss, or the occupier, or however you want to put it," Mr. Gates said at Tallil Air Base in southern Iraq.
Gates offers Kurds aid to resolve disputes
ERBIL, Iraq, July 29 (UPI) -- U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates offered help to Kurdish leaders in Iraq Wednesday to try to resolve disputes with Iraq's central government, an aide said.
During a meeting in Erbil with Massoud Barzani, president of the semi-autonomous region of Kurdistan in northern Iraq, Gates said Kurdish leaders should use the remaining time the United States has in Iraq to enlist U.S. assistance to broker a settlement, The New York Times reported.
Gates told Barzani, "(We) both have sacrificed too much in blood and treasure to see the gains of the last few years lost," Pentagon spokesman Geoff Morrell relayed in providing a readout of the meeting.
Iraqi and U.S. leaders have expressed alarm in recent weeks as Kurdish leaders pressed ahead with a new constitution claiming territory and oil and gas rights that are disputed by Iraq's central government in Baghdad. The differences were supposed to have been resolved in U.N-sponsored talks in June, but the Kurdish parliament passed the constitution.
Gates expressed similar sentiments when he met with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki Tuesday, Morrell said.
U.S. combat troops are on a timetable to exit Iraq in 2011.
Number of U.S.-held Iraqis falls to 9,969
BAGHDAD, July 29 (UPI) -- U.S. military authorities in Iraq say coalition forces are now holding fewer than half the number of detainees in custody than a year ago.
The Multi-National Force-Iraq, in a statement Wednesday, said a milestone was reached when the total population of detainees in coalition custody dropped to 9,969, down from the November 2007 high of more than 26,000 detainees. About 21,000 detainees were held in July 2008.
"We plan to continue reducing that number through releases and transfers in accordance with the security agreement," said Army Brig. Gen. David Quantock, Joint Task Force 134 commanding general.
Quantock said that of the detainees now in U.S. custody in Iraq, 3,407 are being held at Camp Cropper, 4,511 at Camp Taji and 2,051 held at Camp Bucca, which is scheduled to close in mid-September.
U.S. forces have been releasing an average of 134 detainees per day in accordance with the bilateral security agreement signed last year between the United States and Iraq, which requires all detainees to be released or transferred to Iraqi custody.
Arroyo travels to U.S., meeting with Obama
MANILA, Philippines, July 29 (UPI) -- Philippine President Gloria Arroyo traveled to the United States Wednesday for a week-long trip, including a meeting with U.S. President Barack Obama.
Before departing, Arroyo said she and Obama would discuss a number of issues, including climate change and the global economic recession, GMANews reported.
Arroyo said she also would express her appreciation to the U.S. government for approving benefits for Filipino World War II veterans. The tax-free, one-time payment for Filipino veterans was included in the $787 billion stimulus package.
Philippine Sen. Rodolfo Biazon said he suspected Arroyo would be subjected to a "grilling" by U.S. officials on reports of political killings, enforced disappearances and corruption in the Philippines.
Human rights advocates in the United States have been lobbying the White House to raise these issues with Arroyo, GMANews said.
Arroyo is scheduled to visit New York, Chicago and Guam before returning to the Philippines Aug. 5.
Lawyer: Suu Kyi 'prepared for the worst'
YANGON, Myanmar, July 29 (UPI) -- Attorneys for Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi said their client almost certainly will be convicted and sentenced to prison.
The Myanmar court is expected to deliver its verdict Friday in the trial of Suu Kyi, accused of violating terms of her house arrest by allowing an American to stay at her home where she has spent 14 of the last 20 years in detention.
After her defense team presented closing arguments Tuesday, the Nobel Peace Prize laureate turned to diplomats attending the hearing and said, "I'm afraid the verdict will be painfully obvious," the Times of London reported Wednesday.
"She thanked us for trying to promote a just outcome," an Asian diplomat said.
Diplomatic representatives from the United States, Japan, Singapore and Thailand were allowed to attend the last day of the trial.
If convicted, Suu Kyi could be sentenced up to five years in prison. She said she did not know the American nor his plans and was innocent.
"We have a good chance according to the law but we cannot know what the court will decide because this is a political case," said Nyan Win, a lawyer for Ms. Suu Kyi and spokesman for her party, the National League for Democracy. "I have never seen any defendant in a political case being set free. We have done our best and she is prepared for the worst."
Critics of the dictatorship ruling the country formerly known as Burma accuse the military junta of using the incident as a pretext to prevent Suu Kyi from participating in elections next year.
Official: Two British hostages likely dead
LONDON, July 29 (UPI) -- Two more of five British hostages held in Iraq since 2007 are thought to be dead, a British official said.
Security guards Alan McMenemy and Alec Maclachlan were kidnapped along with three other Britons. The bodies of captives Jason Swindlehurst and Jason Creswell were found last month with gunshot wounds. The condition of the fifth man, Peter Moore, was unknown.
A Foreign Office official told the families of McMenemy and Maclachlan last week the men most likely died while being held, the BBC reported Wednesday. The official also said the kidnappers told the British government they had two more bodies a month ago.
"At the time the hostage-takers handed over the bodies of the two other security guards -- Jason Creswell and Jason Swindlehurst -- they let it be known that they had two more bodies," he said.
While the claims could not be confirmed initially, a source told the British broadcaster that the Foreign Office now believes the reports to be true and was focusing on securing Moore's release.
The five families said in a statement they were undergoing a "terrible ordeal," the BBC reported Wednesday.
"We are all deeply upset and troubled to hear the reports that Alec and Alan have died in the hands of their captors, as well as Jason Swindlehurst and Jason Creswell," the statement said. "We ask those holding our men for compassion when so many are working hard for reconciliation in Iraq and we continue to pray for the safe return of our men."
