Ardor to boot U.S. forces fades
Iraqi politicians no longer pushing early withdrawal
BAGHDAD — Plans to hold a referendum that could have accelerated the withdrawal of American forces have quietly been shelved, as even those Iraqi politicians who were pushing for the vote conclude it would no longer be a useful exercise. Sunni Muslim politicians had wanted the referendum on the U.S.-Iraqi security pact to be held in January, at the same time as national elections. But with the clock ticking on preparations for the elections and Parliament still deadlocked over a new election law, there is now not enough time to draft and approve the legislation required to simultaneously hold a referendum, legislators say. Perhaps more significant, the political will to hold a referendum appears to have evaporated amid the realization that U.S. troops are leaving anyway and that it may not be in Iraq’s interests to have them pull out even sooner.
“The political blocs are no longer interested in this issue. They want to ignore it because they are busy with the elections. They don’t see it as something they could use to their advantage,” said Salim al-Jubouri, spokesman for the Iraqi Accordance Front, the largest Sunni bloc in Parliament, which had previously insisted that the referendum be held.
If the security pact were to be rejected by voters in January, U.S. troops would have to pull out of Iraq completely within a year, 11 months earlier than the deadline specified in the agreement. But American troops have already pulled out of Iraq’s cities, and all combat forces are set to leave by August.
Troop levels have been reduced since January by 23,000, to 120,000, and are scheduled to fall rapidly after the January elections, reaching 50,000 by August, U.S. officials say.
— Liz Sly, Tribune Newspapers
NATION
House approves transfer of Gitmo detainees to U.S.
WASHINGTON — House Democrats on Thursday repelled a Republican effort to block transfer of the Guantanamo Bay detainees to the U.S. Instead, by a 224-193 vote, the House stood by a Democratic plan to allow suspected enemy combatants held at the facility in Cuba to be shipped to U.S. soil — but only to be prosecuted for their suspected crimes.
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Permitting Guantanamo prisoners to be transferred to the U.S. to stand trial had been a bipartisan compromise. Republicans “are now objecting to provisions that they themselves enthusiastically endorsed in the Appropriations Committee and on the House floor,” said Rep. David Price, D-N.C.”They seem to be incapable of taking ‘yes’ for an answer.”
Lodge probe widens
PRESCOTT, Ariz. — The deaths of two people during a sweat lodge ceremony led by self-help expert James Arthur Ray are being investigated as homicides, authorities said Thursday.
Yavapai County Sheriff Steve Waughsaid the deaths of Kirby Brown, 38, of Westtown, N.Y., and James Shore, 40, of Milwaukee were not accidental.
Waugh said investigators are looking at the way the sweat lodge was built, the fact that people had fallen ill at previous sweat ceremonies led by Ray, and questionable medical care on site. The sheriff said others also are being investigated.
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WORLD
Premier says China will build on ties with Iran
BEIJING — Premier Wen Jiabao said Thursday that China intends to strengthen its cooperation with Iran, an indication Beijing would oppose growing calls in the West for additional sanctions against the Islamic regime for its nuclear program. U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton was rebuffed in Moscow this week when she sought support for a united warning to Iran.
Wen’s remarks Thursday appeared to suggest Beijing is also unlikely to accept any new U.N. sanctions resolution. China and Russia are both veto-wielding members of the U.N. Security Council and have long defended Tehran.
Wen made his remarks during a meeting with Iran’s visiting First Vice President Mohammad Reza Rahimi.
Dad freed in custody case
TOKYO — Japanese police on Thursday released an American man held for 18 days, pending an investigation into accusations he snatched his children from his ex-wife.
While prosecutors have not pressed charges against Christopher Savoie, they have not dropped the case either, and an investigation is continuing, said a police spokesman in the southern Japanese city of Yanagawa. They decided to release him on grounds that he was not a flight risk, the official said.
Savoie, 38, of Franklin, Tenn., was arrested Sept. 28 after his Japanese ex-wife, Noriko, called police to say he grabbed their two children, ages 8 and 6, as she was walking them to school, forced them into a car and drove off.
Italy: No Taliban bribes
ROME — Italy and NATO on Thursday denied a newspaper report that Italian intelligence secretly paid the Taliban thousands of dollars to keep the peace in an Afghan area under Italian control.
Premier Silvio Berlusconi’s office called the report in the Times of London “completely groundless.” The Italian defense minister denounced it as “rubbish” and said he wanted to sue the newspaper.
The Times reported that Italy had paid “tens of thousands of dollars” to Taliban commanders and warlords in the Surobi district, east of the capital, Kabul. The newspaper cited Western military officials, including high-ranking officers at NATO, speaking on condition of anonymity.