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Obama to reveal revised Afghan strategy

WEST POINT, N.Y., Dec. 1 (UPI) -- The American people learn of the U.S. strategy in Afghanistan Tuesday when President Barack Obama lays out his military and civilian plans for the country.

Obama was to address the nation at 8 p.m., Eastern time, Tuesday from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, N.Y.

Media reports conflict about the number of additional troops Obama will send to Afghanistan, but they generally range from 30,000 to 34,000. He gave the green light to military leaders Sunday to implement the plan.

The revised strategy for Afghanistan is expected to focus new resources on training Afghan security forces and bolstering the central government.

White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs told reporters Monday Obama also would discuss how he intends to pay for the plan -- of concern to his Democratic base -- and would make plain he has a time frame for winding down U.S. involvement in the eight-year war, The New York Times reported.

"This is not an open-ended commitment," Gibbs said.

Before leaving the White House for the military academy, Obama and Vice President Joe Biden were to meet with congressional leaders of both parties to discuss the administration's strategy in Afghanistan, the White House said. He spent Monday telephoning his foreign counterparts, including leaders of Britain, France and Russia, reviewing the policy and seeking commitments.

Richard Holbrooke, special representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan, was dispatched to Brussels to begin briefing NATO and European allies about the policy. Joining him later this week will be Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and U.S. Army Gen. Stanley McChrystal, the top U.S. and NATO commander in Afghanistan who made the request for additional troops.

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Report: Health premium costs won't jump

WASHINGTON, Dec. 1 (UPI) -- The Congressional Budget Office reported the U.S. Senate healthcare reform bill would not cause a big jump in health insurance premium costs.

The report, which was released Monday as debate on the measure began, indicated the Senate bill could reduce significantly costs for many people who buy health insurance on their own and wouldn't significantly alter premiums for workers who receive health insurance from their employers, The New York Times reported.

Before considering federal subsidies to help people buy insurance, the budget office said the bill tended to increase premiums. But because of subsidies, most people in the individual insurance market would see their costs decline.

People who receive health insurance coverage through their employers would see little change in their premium costs, the report concluded.

While the White House said the CBO report validated their view, Senate Republicans said it confirmed their concerns, focusing on the report's prediction that unsubsidized premiums in the individual insurance market -- less than 20 percent of those with health insurance -- would rise an average of 10 percent to 13 percent, the Times said.

"The analysis by the Congressional Budget Office confirms our worst fears," Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, said. "Millions of people who are expecting lower costs as a result of health reform will end up paying more in the form of higher premiums."

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada is trying to cobble together a 60-vote coalition necessary to win passage. Debate and amendment-offering are expected to last for much of December.

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Report: Suspected cop killer shot, killed

LAKEWOOD, Wash., Dec. 1 (UPI) -- The man suspected of shooting and killing four Lakewood, Wash., police officers was shot fatally by police Tuesday, officials said.

Pierce County police confirmed to The Seattle Times that shooting suspect Maurice Clemmons was dead, the newspaper reported in a Twitter posting.

Law enforcement officials said Clemmons was shot during a confrontation with police on a street then taken to Harborview Medical Center, the Times said.

Clemmons was the focus of a police search since Sunday, when he allegedly walked into a coffee shop in Parkland, Wash., and fired on the four police officers.

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EU wants Jerusalem a two-state capital

JERUSALEM, Dec. 1 (UPI) -- European Union ministers suggested Jerusalem be the capital of Israel and any future Palestinian state, a report by Sweden, the rotating EU president says.

Israel's Foreign Ministry Tuesday warned the EU against making such a position official, Israel Radio said. The ministry said the EU's intention to declare East Jerusalem the capital of a future Palestinian state will affect its ability to act as a mediator in future negotiations, the radio report said.

The document obtained by Haaretz suggests EU foreign ministers also intend to back a unilateral Palestinian declaration of statehood, the newspaper said Tuesday. The document states the EU will not accept any changes made by Israel to the 1967 borders unless Palestinian Authority approval is received, the paper said.

The document calls for the immediate resumption of peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians, saying the goal is to create "an independent, democratic, contiguous and viable state of Palestine, comprised of the West Bank and Gaza, with East Jerusalem as its capital," the paper said.

It calls for "all parties to refrain from provocative actions "in East Jerusalem and notes the EU Council never recognized the annexation of east Jerusalem.

"If there is to be a genuine peace, a way must be found to resolve the status of Jerusalem as capital of two states," the paper said. The document called on Israel to cease "all discriminatory treatment of Palestinians in East Jerusalem," the paper said

The European foreign ministers are expected to announce their support for the future Palestinian state at a two-day meeting in Brussels next week where they will discuss the EU's Middle East policy, the paper said.

Last week, Ran Kuriel, Israel's ambassador to the EU relayed a number of messages to Jerusalem, accusing Sweden of leading the EU on a collision course with Israel, the paper said.

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Gilani: No information on al-Qaida leaders

BERLIN, Dec. 1 (UPI) -- Neither America nor Britain has provided any intelligence about the presence of al-Qaida leaders in Pakistan, Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani said.

Speaking to reporters on board his plane as he traveled to Germany, the Pakistani leader said his government has no information about the presence of Osama bin Laden in the country, Dawn reported.

"On the one hand, the world community, including Britain, praises Pakistan for its efforts in the war on terror and appreciates the military operation, but on the other they ask for more," he said, adding that asking Pakistan to do more appeared to be an "out of context" statement.

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown has been quoted as telling the BBC Pakistan must make "more progress in taking out" bin Laden and his second-in-command, Ayman Zawahiri, who are believed to be holed up in Pakistan's tribal areas.

The Pakistani foreign office already has said that nobody should doubt its efforts to fight terrorism and that world leaders should make available to Pakistan intelligence on the whereabouts of the al-Qaida leaders instead of publicly saying the country is not doing enough to fight terrorism.

Separately, a U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee report said U.S. forces had come close to taking out the al-Qaida leader in Afghanistan in December 2001 but did not commit enough forces to accomplish the task, allowing him to escape to Pakistan.