Syria Cabinet drafts end to emergency rule
HOMS, Syria, April 19 (UPI) -- The Syrian Cabinet Tuesday approved a draft decree that would end the country's decades-long state of emergency, the country's media reported.
The Cabinet also issued an order mandating citizens to obtain permits for demonstrations and a draft order to cancel the Supreme State Security Court, CNN said Syrian media reported.
The action came after security forces fired at thousands of protesters overnight in Homs and the Interior Ministry equated the protests with insurrection, witnesses said.
A human rights activist told CNN at least three protesters were killed and dozens were wounded in Homs.
Activists said a member of the security police used loudspeakers to demand the crowd to disperse, then forces opened fire, the BBC reported. Reports indicated government forces fired tear gas then live ammunition on protesters and the public square in Homs was cleared.
One protester told BBC gunfire was "hammering on us like rain."
The crowd had gathered to protest the crackdown by the security forces, whom activists say killed 14 demonstrators Sunday, The New York Times reported. The protest began at a funeral for the shooting victims.
Ahmad, 28, a university student at the Homs protest, told the Times demonstrators were calling for a three-day strike "to show our rejection of the cold-blooded killing of peaceful protesters. Homs is boiling and no one can tell you what will happen in the near future."
Human rights activists estimate about 200 Syrians have been killed in weeks of unrest. State-run media reported a three military officers, including a brigadier general, his two sons and a nephew, were killed Sunday by "armed criminal gangs," al-Jazeera reported.
Three rings of government-backed checkpoints surrounded Homs and a curfew was imposed, witnesses said
The town of Talbiseh also was sealed off by government forces Monday, al-Jazeera said.
Earlier, the Interior Ministry declared the protests, aimed at ousting President Bashar Assad, amounted to armed insurrection.
In a statement Monday, the ministry said, "The course of the previous events … have revealed they are an armed insurrection by armed groups belonging to Salafist organizations, especially in Homs and Baniyas. … [Their] terrorist activities will not be tolerated."
Salafism is a form of Sunni Islam that many Arab governments equate with militant groups such as al-Qaida, the BBC explained.
Radwan Ziadeh, a Syrian human rights activist and visiting scholar at George Washington University, told the Times he was worried by the ministry's statement.
"I'm very concerned about the statement," Ziadeh said. "This is a justification for what they intend to do in next few hours. This is the green light for armed confrontation."
Assad announced Saturday he would end nearly 50 years of emergency rule next week and the government has been releasing political prisoners, both key demands of protesters.
Other concessions Assad has made include appointing and swearing in a new Cabinet; establishing committees to investigate the recent killing of civilians in the protests and granting Syrian citizenship to thousands of the country's Kurdish minority.
Easter a time for reflection, Obama says
WASHINGTON, April 19 (UPI) -- The death and resurrection of Jesus Christ puts the works of man, whether in Washington or elsewhere, in perspective, President Obama said Tuesday.
"Because in the middle of critical national debates, in the middle of our busy lives, we must always make sure that we are keeping things in perspective," Obama said during the second annual Easter Prayer Breakfast with Christian leaders at the White House. "Children help do that. A strong spouse helps do that. But nothing beats scripture and the reminder of the eternal."
Noting that everyone lives "in the hustle and bustle" of work and responsibility, Obama said Holy Week and what it represents to Christians offers a chance for renewal.
Jesus' carrying of the cross reminds people that "in that moment, he took on the sins of the world -- past, present and future -- and he extended to us that unfathomable gift of grace and salvation through his death and resurrection," Obama said.
Obama said he wanted to host an Easter prayer breakfast for one reason.
"[Because] as busy as we are, as many tasks as pile up, during this season, we are reminded that there's something about the resurrection," he said, "something about the resurrection of our savior Jesus Christ that puts everything else in perspective."
Vermont seeks to shut down nuclear plant
VERNON HILLS, Vt., April 19 (UPI) -- Owners of a Vermont nuclear power plant have filed a federal lawsuit to prevent state legislators from closing down the plant when its 40-year license expires.
The outcome of the lawsuit by Entergy Corp., owners of the 39-year-old Vermont Yankee nuclear plant in Vernon, could set a legal precedent of whether state governments can claim a role in the oversight of nuclear power plants, which are regulated by the federal government, The Boston Globe reported Tuesday.
In 2006 the Vermont state Senate voted to approve a measure giving state lawmakers the authority to approve or deny a plant's license extension, the newspaper said.
Last year, the Senate voted to close the atomic power station near the Massachusetts border when its license expires next year.
The Entergy lawsuit argues federal, not state, law governs licensing and operation of nuclear power plants.
Legal scholars say the Vermont case could be significant in defining state and federal oversight of nuclear issues.
Boris N. Mamlyuk, who teaches administrative law at Ohio Northern University College of Law, says if federal courts uphold Vermont's right to intercede, then "Nevada, California, and other states will probably renew efforts to curtail the operation of nuclear power plants.''
Old guard, minus Castro, still in place
HAVANA, April 19 (UPI) -- The Cuban Communist Party Congress left the old leadership in place Tuesday, without Fidel Castro.
Castro appeared for the final day of the Congress, moving many of the delegates to tears, The Miami Herald reported. He announced Monday he was leaving the central committee.
Raul Castro, 79, who has governed Cuba since 2006, replaced his 84-year-old brother as first secretary. Jose Ramon Machado Ventura, 80, moved up to second secretary.
The Congress has approved major economic changes to expand the private sector and reduce government control.
Koran-burning pastor plans Mich. protest
DEARBORN, Mich., April 19 (UPI) -- Terry Jones, the Koran-burning Florida pastor, says Detroit-area police and prosecutors are trying to silence him by demanding a $100,000 bond.
Jones plans to visit Dearborn, Mich., which has one of the biggest Muslim populations in the country, on Good Friday, The Detroit News reported. Prosecutors filed a motion Friday requesting he put up a "peace bond" and saying he could cause a riot "complete with discharge of firearms."
The Dearborn police said he should put up $100,000 to cover the cost of overtime, Jones said. He called the move unconstitutional and said he does not plan to pay.
"Nothing has changed. Nothing will change," Jones said. "We will definitely be there."
Jones is the pastor of Dove World Outreach Center, a small church in Gainesville, Fla. Last year, he announced plans to hold a public burning of the Koran but backed down.
More recently, Jones burned a Koran. The action was ignored by U.S. news media but when the news reached Afghanistan it set off deadly riots.
Jones said he plans a protest against radical Islam outside the Dearborn mosque, the biggest in the country.
Dawud Walid of the Council on American-Islamic Relations suggested prosecutors are helping Jones by going to court.
"Their action innocently played into Jones' objectives, which is to paint Dearborn as a pro-sharia city that's oppressing Christians, which is, of course, not true," he told the Detroit Free Press.
