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Leaders discuss climate change curbs pact

COPENHAGEN, Denmark, Dec. 7 (UPI) -- Diplomats from around the world converged on Copenhagen, Denmark, Monday for a U.N.-sponsored summit with the goal of producing a pact to curb climate change.

"The time for formal statements is over," Yvo deBoer, the leading U.N. climate official, said during opening remarks. "Copenhagen will only be a success if it delivers significant and immediate action."

Delegates from island nations, which could become submerged if seas rise because of warming temperatures, threatened to reject anything less than a legally binding treaty, the Los Angeles Times reported.

Other nations indicated they wanted the two-week summit would lead to an agreement that would lay the foundation for a legal treaty on greenhouse gas emissions.

"We are committed to achieving the strongest possible outcome in the next two weeks," Jonathan Pershing, U.S. deputy special envoy for climate change, said. "There is a deal to be done."

In Washington, the Environmental Protection Agency declared greenhouse gases a human health danger and subject to regulation.

Republicans asked the Obama administration to back off the action until it investigates thousands of documents hacked from computers of a climate research university in Britain and posted online. Skeptics say the documents undermine the argument that humans are responsible for global warming.

At the conference, the head of the U.N.'s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, Rajendra Pachauri, called the evidence of global warming "overwhelming," saying the scandal "shows that some would go to the extent of carrying out illegal acts, perhaps in an attempt to discredit the IPCC."

Court rebuffs Gitmo prisoner review

WASHINGTON, Dec. 7 (UPI) -- The U.S. Supreme Court Monday refused to take charge of the case of a Guantanamo prisoner still held after apparently being cleared for release.

Without comment, the justices refused a request by Abdul Hamid al-Ghizzawi that they issue an original habeas writ -- take original jurisdiction -- in his case and force a federal judge to rule on his ongoing confinement, despite his apparent status, SCOTUSBLOG.com reported.

Al-Ghizzawi is a prisoner at the detention facility at the U.S. naval base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

The Public Record reported al-Ghizzawi, a Libyan, was married to an Afghan woman, had a new baby daughter and was running a small bakery in Jalalabad, Afghanistan, in late 2001.

When the Taliban government collapsed in the face of the U.S.-led invasion following the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks in the United States, al-Ghizzawi and his family fled to the home of his wife's parents, fearing an anti-Arab backlash, The Public Record reported.

There he was seized by bounty hunters and sold to U.S. forces, the report said.

A military tribunal at Guantanamo ruled in 2004 there was not enough evidence to declare him an "enemy combatant," and he should be released, The Public Record reported. Some Guantanamo prisoners are awaiting release while the U.S. government looks for countries to accept them, but the report did not say if al-Ghizzawi is among those detainees.

Chicagoan charged in deadly Mumbai attack

CHICAGO, Dec. 7 (UPI) -- Conspiracy charges in the 2008 Mumbai attacks were filed against a Chicago man, U.S. officials said Monday.

David Coleman Headley allegedly attended Lashkar-e-Toiba-operated terrorism training camps in Pakistan and conspired with its members and others in planning and executing attacks in both Denmark and India, federal law enforcement officials announced in Chicago.

Headley, arrested in Chicago Oct. 3, is cooperating in the investigation of both the Danish and Indian terror plots, officials said. He also was charged with helping to plan a terrorist attack against a Danish newspaper and two of its employees after the newspaper published cartoons depicting the Prophet Mohammed, which many Muslims found offensive.

Headley, 49, was charged in a 12-count indictment with six counts of conspiracy to bomb public places in India, to murder and maim persons in India and Denmark, to provide material support to foreign terrorist plots and to provide material support to Lashkar, and six counts of aiding and abetting the murder of U.S. citizens in India. About 170 people, including six Americans, died in the attacks on India's financial and entertainment hub.

In the indictment, Headley was charged with gathering surveillance in Mumbai by, among other things, opening an immigration services office as cover. He traveled between Mumbai and Pakistan on several occasions, the indictment said.

Headley allegedly conducted surveillance elsewhere in India of facilities and locations that were not attacked in November 2008, the indictment said.

"This case serves as a reminder that the terrorist threat is global in nature and requires constant vigilance at home and abroad," said David Kris, assistant attorney general for National Security. "We continue to share leads developed in this investigation with our foreign and domestic law enforcement partners as we work together on this important matter."

Polls: Morales retains Bolivian presidency

LA PAZ, Bolivia, Dec. 7 (UPI) -- Bolivian President Evo Morales retained his post and his political party gained legislative power in the country's elections, exit polls indicate.

The Latin American Herald Tribune said Monday exit polls released by the TV networks ATB, Red Uno and Unitel have Morales easily defeating his competitors with at least 61 percent of the vote.

Exit polls showed former Cochabamba governor and current presidential candidate Manfred Reyes Villa earned 23 to 24 percent of the vote.

Morales' Movement Toward Socialism party appears also to be a major winner in the Bolivian elections.

Exit polls indicate the political party enjoyed victories in the legislative elections in nine Bolivian provinces, including Cochabamba, Chuquisaca and La Paz.

The Herald Tribune said polling surveys indicate the political party earned at least 24 of the available senate seats, along with a majority in Bolivia's lower house.

Netanyahu: Israel wants direct Syria talks

JERUSALEM, Dec. 7 (UPI) -- Israel is ready and willing to conduct direct negotiations with Syria without preconditions, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said.

Speaking Monday during a meeting of the Israeli Knesset's Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, Netanyahu told lawmakers he has informed French President Nicolas Sarkozy of his willingness to engage Syria in a direct dialogue, The Jerusalem Post reported.

"I spoke to Sarkozy, and he told me that the Syrian stance is a return to 1967 lines (borders)," the Post quoted Netanyahu as saying. "Sarkozy spoke with the Turkish mediator that the Syrians are suggesting. I (said) that we're interested in direct negotiations, and that if we're talking about mediators, I'd prefer (France)."

He also told Knesset members that Israel's "central problem" was keeping Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons, the newspaper reported.

"In the last year, two things have happened," the prime minister said. "Iran has advanced its military nuclear program, and the international community has lost its legitimacy."

Report: Shalit negotiator arrives in Gaza

GAZA, Dec. 7 (UPI) -- A German negotiator working on a deal to free kidnapped Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit has arrived in Gaza, al-Jazeera reported Monday.

The broadcaster, quoting unnamed "reliable" sources, said the negotiator was carrying Israel's "final" response to Hamas' recent offer of swapping Shalit for hundreds of Israeli-held Palestinian prisoners, Ynetnews.com reported.

Al-Jazeera quoted sources as saying if the Israeli response is deemed unconvincing, the entire effort to free Shalit would have to be reexamined while a positive response would serve to advance the deal.

The Arab broadcaster reported the mediator was in Tel Aviv Sunday to convey Hamas' latest offer, the Israeli Web site said.

Shalit has been held in Gaza since his June 25, 2006, capture by the Palestinian militants.