By DEB RIECHMANN, Associated Press Writer
OAK RIDGE, Tenn. - President Bush (news - web sites) defended his decision to invade Iraq (news - web sites) even as he conceded on Monday that investigators had not found the weapons of mass destruction that he had warned the country possessed.
BAGHDAD, Iraq - Militants loyal to Abu Musab al-Zarqawi said Saturday they have kidnapped three Turkish workers and threatened to behead them in 72 hours, heightening tensions just ahead of a visit by President Bush (news - web sites) to Turkey.
The latest in a series of abductions claimed by al-Zarqawi's movement — which has beheaded two previous hostages, an American and a South Korean — threatened to cast a shadow over a NATO (news - web sites) summit opening in Istanbul Monday, where Bush is seeking the alliance's help in stabilizing Iraq (news - web sites).
The Arab television station Al-Jazeera aired a video issued by the kidnappers, showing the three Turks (news - web sites) identifying themselves in Turkish and telling their jobs in Iraq.
In a statement with the video, al-Zarqawi's group, Tawhid and Jihad, threatened to behead the men in 72 hours unless Turkish companies withdraw from Iraq, an Al-Jazeera anchor said.
The station received the tape Saturday, an employee at the station told The Associated Press. The message did not say when or where the three were abducted. It appeared the deadline was Tuesday, but the message did not specify what time it runs out.
The abductions are likely to stoke anti-war sentiment in Turkey, where Bush is already extremely unpopular. Hours ahead of Bush's arrival in Ankara, police battled scores of protesters Saturday, eventually firing tear gas to disperse them.
News of the new abduction came just as the body of Kim Sun-Il, a South Korean worker decapitated by al-Zarqawi's followers last week, were brought back to his hometown, Busan.
His slaying has prompted nightly vigils in the Korean capital, Seoul, urging the government to call off its plans to send 3,000 troops to Iraq beginning in August.
Last month, al-Zarqawi's group claimed responsibility for the beheading of American businessman Nicholas Berg. And on Thursday, fighters loyal to al-Zarqawi launched a wave of coordinated attacks in five cities in Iraq, battling with U.S. troops who eventually regained control but only after some 100 people, including three Americans were killed.
The fighting came only days ahead of Wednesday's handover of sovereignty from Iraq's American occupiers to Allawi's government.
Insurgents hit the offices of the Supreme Council of the Islamic Revolution in Iraq — one of the country's biggest Shiite parties — with shoulder-fired grenade-launchers, said party member Maitham Ibrahim. Three party members died and two were injured, hospital officials said.
The U.S. recently lifted restrictions on the use of U.S. passports
for
travel to Libya. While Libya has taken steps to cooperate in the
global
war on terrorism, the Libyan Government remains on the U.S.
Government's
State Sponsors of Terrorism List. Although Libya appears to have
curtailed
its support for international terrorism, it may maintain residual
contacts
with some of its former terrorist clients.
Recent worldwide terrorist alerts have stated that extremist
groups.
continue to plan terrorist attacks against U.S. interests in the
region.
Therefore, any American citizen that decides to travel to Libya
should
maintain a strong security posture by being aware of surroundings,
avoiding crowds and demonstrations, keeping a low profile, and
varying
times and routes for all required travel. In light of these
security
concerns, U.S. citizens are urged to maintain a high level of
vigilance
and to take appropriate steps to increase their security
awareness.
There is no U.S. Embassy in Libya. Therefore, the U.S. Government
is
unable to provide any assurances of the safety of travel to Libya
by U.S.
citizens. U.S. Government interests are represented by the
Government of
Belgium, which, as a protecting power, can provide only limited
emergency
services to U.S. citizens.
CBS says they were taken late last year at Abu Ghraib prison near Baghdad, where American soldiers were holding hundreds of prisoners captured during the invasion and occupation of Iraq (news - web sites). At least one of the six is also a prison guard in civilian life.
In March, the U.S. Army announced that six members of the 800th Military Police Brigade faced court martial for allegedly abusing about 20 prisoners at Abu Ghraib. The charges included dereliction of duty, cruelty and maltreatment, assault and indecent acts with another person.
In addition to those criminal charges, the military has recommended disciplinary action against seven U.S. officers who helped run the prison, including Brig. Gen. Janice Karpinski, the commander of the 800th Brigade, a senior military official said Wednesday in Baghdad.
The investigation recommended administrative action against several of the commanders, which could include punishments up to relieving them of their commands, said the official, speaking on condition on anonymity.
"That soldier said, 'There are some things going on here that I can't live with,'" said Kimmitt, who also confirmed that CBS had obtained the photographs.
One picture shows an Iraqi prisoner who was told to stand on a box with his head covered and wires attached to his hands. CBS said the prisoner was told that if he fell off the box, he would be electrocuted. Other photos showed naked prisoners being forced to simulate sex acts.
"60 Minutes II" reported Frederick will plead not guilty to charges including maltreatment and assault, claiming the way the Army operated the prison led to the abuse of prisoners. He also said he did not see a copy of the Geneva Convention rules for handling prisoners of war until after he was charged, the show reported.
Former Iraqi prisoners told The Associated Press last November of mistreatment in detention, including beatings and punishments that included hours of lying bound in the sun.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States will ask the Japanese government for custody of Charles Robert Jenkins if the former U.S. soldier charged with deserting to North Korea (news - web sites) goes to Japan for medical care, U.S. officials said on Thursday.
By ROBERT H. REID, Associated Press Writer
BAGHDAD, Iraq - An anti-American operative in Iraq (news - web sites) appealed for help from al-Qaida leaders to help spark a sectarian war between Shiite and Sunni Muslims in an effort to "tear the country apart," U.S. officials said Monday.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. soldiers accused of abusing Iraqi prisoners were following orders and are being used as scapegoats to protect their superiors, the wife of one of the soldiers and the lawyer for another said on Tuesday.
Martha Frederick defended her husband, a soldier who faces prosecution for the abuse of Iraqis at the Abu Ghraib prison near Baghdad.
"He was told to do these things and when he did them he thought that he was doing them in the sense of national security," Frederick said.
The U.S. military has brought charges of assault, cruelty and maltreatment against six soldiers, members of a military police battalion.
It has also reprimanded six officers in connection with abuses at the Abu Ghraib prison after photographs were broadcast around the world showing naked Iraqi prisoners stacked in a pyramid or positioned to simulate sex acts.
In e-mails to his wife, Staff Sgt. Ivan Frederick questioned some of the abuses he witnessed, such as leaving inmates naked in their cells or making them wear female underwear and handcuffing them to the doors of their cells.
"He questioned it from my understanding and he even tried to come up with some rules knowing that pretty much this was something he did not normally do," said his wife in an interview on NBC's "Today" show.
She complained her husband was being thrust into the limelight while others were protected. "Those who are responsible are standing behind the curtain and watching him take the fall for it. It's almost like being a pawn in a chess game," she said.
Houston lawyer Guy Womack, who is representing reservist Charles Graner in the abuse case, said his client should not be court-martialed and that pictures taken of him abusing Iraqi prisoners were staged.
"You court-martial the right person. You don't court-martial the soldier who is following orders. He was under the command and the direction of intelligence officers, both military and civilian," Womack told NBC's "Today" show.
Graner, who was a corrections officer at a North Carolina prison, was on duty in Iraq (news - web sites) for a military police unit.
Womack said the pictures were staged and part of the psychological manipulation of prisoners, adding that his client was told to smile for the camera along with a female soldier who was pointing at a prisoner's genitals.
"These pictures themselves are abhorrent, but you have to put them in context," Womack said.
Reserve Brig. Gen. Janis Karpinski, who oversaw prison facilities in Iraq, said she took responsibility for some of what had happened but pointed out military intelligence was in charge of interrogations -- not the military police under her command.
Her lawyer, Neal Puckett, told CNN, "What's clear in all of this and what's apparently yet to be investigated is that the military intelligence personnel were the folks that had complete, exclusive control over what went on in the interrogation rooms."
Democratic Sen. Jeff Bingaman called for a congressional investigation into the abuse and asked when U.S. military leaders had become aware of what was going on at the prison.
U.S. Launches Airstrike in Fallujah
By ROBERT H. REID, Associated Press Writer
BAGHDAD, Iraq - The U.S. military launched its third airstrike in a week Friday in Fallujah, using precision weapons to destroy a suspected safehouse for Abu Musab al-Zarqawi's terror network.
The Jordanian-born terrorist claimed responsibility for coordinated attacks in other Iraqi cities that killed more than 100 people Thursday — less than a week before Iraq (news - web sites)'s new government takes power. Insurgents set off car bombs and seized police stations in an offensive aimed at creating chaos before the handover.
"Wherever and whenever we find elements of the Zarqawi network, we will attack them," a military statement said of the strike.
As the situation worsened, Iraq's interim vice president warned that a drastic deterioration in the country's security could result in the implementation of emergency measures or martial law — however undesirable that may be in a democratic society.
"Announcing emergency laws or martial law depends on the nature of the situation. In normal situations, there is clearly no need for that (step)," Ibrahim al-Jaafari, a Shiite and member of the Islamic Dawa Party, told The Associated Press in an interview.
U.S. and Iraqi forces regained control in heavy fighting and American forces set up checkpoints around Iraq to intercept weapons, guerrillas and bombs. They fear that al-Zarqawi, the militant who claimed responsibility for the offensive, plans a string of car bombings in Baghdad, said Col. Michael Formica, commander of the 1st Cavalry Division's 2nd Brigade.
BOSTON - Democrats, energized by their last first lady, get their first long look Tuesday at the multimillionaire heiress who would be their next one as they turn to John Kerry (news - web sites)'s outspoken wife and an aging liberal warrior to define the Massachusetts senator they would put in the White House.
Latest headlines:
• Heinz Kerry, Kennedy Addressing Democrats
AP - 7 minutes ago
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AFP - 24 minutes ago
"What I'd like to do is focus on making sure that I give voice to the stories that I'm hearing of people across Illinois who are struggling with health care bills that are rising, trying to save for college and retirement at the same time," Obama said in an interview Tuesday on CNN's "American Morning."
"The people in the Middle East must understand that this was
horrible," Bush said, trying to calm international outrage. He went on two
Arabic-language television networks to take charge of the administration's
damage-control efforts.
Bush said he retained confidence in Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld, but
White House aides said the president let the secretary know he was not satisfied
with the way he was informed about the unfolding controversy. In particular,
Bush was unhappy he was not told about incriminating pictures before they were
shown on television or about a 2-month-old Pentagon (news
- web
sites) report before it turned up in the news.
Rumsfeld did not know about the images until CBS aired them last Wednesday, a
senior White House official said.
Bush also said he learned of the photographs of the alleged abuse when the
rest of the world did. "First time I saw or heard about pictures was on
TV," Bush told the Al-Hurra television network.
The difficulty of Bush's task became clear in the first question of a
television interviewer who said the evidence of torture made many Arabs believe
that the United States was no better than Saddam Hussein (news
- web
sites)'s government, notorious for torture and murder. The president
murmured under his breath at the comparison.
Bush said the abuses were "terrible" for America's image abroad.
"I think people in the Middle East who want to dislike America will use
this as an excuse to remind people about their dislike," he told Al-Arabiya
television, a satellite channel based in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, that is
popular around the Arab world.
Six months before the U.S. election, the prisoner-abuse controversy poses a
major problem for Bush, already on the defensive about rising American
casualties and persistent violence. Portraying itself as the provider of freedom
in Iraq (news
- web
sites), the administration finds itself rocked by condemnation over pictures
of American soldiers gloating over naked prisoners and scenes of abuse at the
U.S.-run Abu Ghraib prison near Baghdad.
Angry lawmakers called Rumsfeld to Capitol Hill to testify on Friday while
Senate leaders — Republicans and Democrats alike — discussed a Senate
resolution to condemn the abuses. The number of prisoner deaths in Iraq and
Afghanistan (news
- web
sites) known to be under U.S. investigation or already blamed on Americans
rose to as many as 14.
Separately, the administration asked Congress for an additional $25 billion
for U.S. operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, a change from the White House's
earlier plans not to seek such money until after the November elections.
Sen. John Kerry (news
- web
sites), Bush's Democratic rival, said the president's remarks were not
enough. "The president of the United States needs to offer the world an
explanation and needs to take appropriate responsibility," he said.
"And if that includes apologizing for the behavior of those soldiers and
what happened, they ought to do that."
Bush said that what happened at Abu Ghraib was "more than an allegation,
in this case, actual abuse — we saw the pictures. There will be a full
investigation."
While Bush did not offer an apology, Condoleezza Rice (news
- web
sites), his national security adviser, had said Tuesday that "we are
deeply sorry for what has happened," and the commander of U.S.-run prisons
in Iraq, Maj. Gen. Geoffrey Miller, apologized Wednesday for the "illegal
or unauthorized acts" of U.S. soldiers.
"We've already said that we're sorry for what occurred and we're deeply
sorry to the families and what they must be feeling and going through as
well," White House press secretary Scott McClellan said. "The
president is sorry for what occurred and the pain it has caused."
Asked why Bush himself had not apologized, McClellan said: "I'm saying
it now for him."
There was mixed reaction in the region to Bush's remarks.
"Bush's statements today will not restore the dignity which the tortured
detainees lost," said Sari Mouwaffaq, a Baghdad mechanic. "Bush's
apology, or his attempt to find excuses, has no value to us."
Sami Ibrahim, a 24-year-old Egyptian real estate agent, said, "I won't
believe what he says. I don't trust their intentions anyway."
But Raad Youssef, a 49-year-old teacher in Baghdad, said that during Saddam's
rule, "there were many genocides that were committed and nobody dared to
reveal them at that time and now officials of the former regime did not try to
apologize. Bush's attempt to repair the damage is a good thing in my
opinion."
SOLIDARITY OF 19 COUNTRIES-NATO
Europe - AP
British Cops Nab 13 in Anti-Terror Raids
By BETH GARDINER, Associated Press Writer
LONDON - Police conducted anti-terrorism raids in London and several towns Tuesday, arresting 13 people believed involved in preparing terrorist acts.
London's Metropolitan Police said the afternoon and evening arrests were "part of a pre-planned, ongoing intelligence-led operation."
The men were detained "on suspicion of being concerned in the commission, preparation or instigation of acts of terrorism," the police statement said, without elaborating.
The arrests were in northwest London, the suburban area of Bedfordshire, the town of Luton in the Hertfordshire area just outside the capital, and the town of Blackburn, in the northernwestern region of Lancashire.
The suspects, who are all in their 20s and 30s, will be brought to a central London police station for questioning by anti-terrorism officers, police said. They declined to specify the men's nationalities.
Police said the investigation leading to the arrests had been underway for some time and did not say whether they were linked to the terror threats disclosed by American authorities Sunday to financial industry buildings in New York, Washington D.C., and Newark, N.J.
Pakistan's information minister said Monday his country found plans for new attacks against the United States and Britain on a computer seized during the arrest last month of a senior al-Qaida suspect wanted for the 1998 U.S. embassy bombings in East Africa.
While British authorities say the threat from terrorism remains high, they have not warned of any specific threat like that announced in the United States. The intelligence behind the latest U.S. terror warnings was as much as four years old, and law enforcement officials are trying to determine whether the plot was current, with terrorists still trying to organize such an attack.
Police will have up to two weeks to hold the men before deciding whether to charge them, but courts grant that permission only a few days at a time.
Suspects arrested in previous anti-terrorism raids have often been released without charge before the two weeks expire.
Next Story: British Cops Nab 13 in Anti-Terror Raids (AP)
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CIA Puts Harsh Tactics On Hold.
By Dana Priest, Washington Post Staff Writer
The CIA (news - web sites) has suspended the use of extraordinary interrogation techniques approved by the White House pending a review by Justice Department (news - web sites) and other administration lawyers, intelligence officials said.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The "enhanced interrogation techniques," as the CIA calls them, include feigned drowning and refusal of pain medication for injuries. The tactics have been used to elicit intelligence from al Qaeda leaders such as Abu Zubaida and Khalid Sheik Mohammed.
Current and former CIA officers aware of the recent decision said the suspension reflects the CIA's fears of being accused of unsanctioned and illegal activities, as it was in the 1970s. The decision applies to CIA detention facilities, such as those around the world where the agency is interrogating al Qaeda leaders and their supporters, but not military prisons at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and elsewhere.
"Everything's on hold," said a former senior CIA official aware of the agency's decision. "The whole thing has been stopped until we sort out whether we are sure we're on legal ground." A CIA spokesman declined to comment on the issue.
CIA interrogations will continue but without the suspended techniques, which include feigning suffocation, "stress positions," light and noise bombardment, sleep deprivation, and making captives think they are being interrogated by another government.
Asked yesterday about the memo's circulation to a wider group of officials than previously known, White House spokeswoman Erin Healy replied in an e-mail: "It would not be uncommon for the Department of Justice (news - web sites) to discuss issues with lawyers throughout the administration. Regardless, the President's policy is very clear. He expects detainees to be treated in a manner consistent with our laws, treaties and values. The President has spoken out against torture, he has never authorized it, nor will he. As we have said, portions of the memo are overbroad and the Department of Justice is reviewing it."
The legal debate over CIA interrogation techniques had its origins in the battlefields of Afghanistan (news - web sites), secret counterterrorism operations in Pakistan and in President Bush (news - web sites)'s decision to use unconventional tools in going after al Qaeda.
The interrogation methods were approved by Justice Department and National Security Council lawyers in 2002, briefed to key congressional leaders and required the authorization of CIA Director George J. Tenet for use, according to intelligence officials and other government officials with knowledge of the secret decision-making process.
When the CIA and the military "started capturing al Qaeda in Afghanistan, they had no interrogators, no special rules and no place to put them," said a senior Marine officer involved in detainee procedures. The FBI (news - web sites), which had the only full cadre of professional interrogators from its work with criminal networks in the United States, took the lead in questioning detainees.
But on Nov. 11, 2001, a senior al Qaeda operative who ran the Khaldan paramilitary camp in Afghanistan was captured by Pakistani forces and turned over to U.S. military forces in January 2002. The capture of Ibn al-Shaykh al-Libi, a Libyan, sparked the first real debate over interrogations. The CIA wanted to use a range of methods, including threatening his life and family.
But the FBI had never authorized such methods. The bureau wanted to preserve the purity of interrogations so they could be used as evidence in court cases.
Al-Libi provided the CIA with intelligence about an alleged plot to blow up the U.S. Embassy in Yemen with a truck bomb and pointed officials in the direction of Abu Zubaida, a top al Qaeda leader known to have been involved with the Sept. 11 plot.
A former senior Justice Department official said interrogation techniques for "high-value targets" were reviewed and approved on a case-by-case basis, based partly on what strategies would work best on specific detainees. Justice lawyers suggested some limitations that were adopted, the former official said.
The former official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue, said the administration concluded that techniques did not amount to torture if they did not produce significant physical harm or injury. However, interrogators were allowed to trick the detainees into thinking they might be harmed or instructed to endure unpleasant physical tasks, such as being forced to stand or squat in stress positions.
"Clearly, that is not considered torture," the former Justice official argued. "It might be unpleasant and it might offend our sensibilities in most situations, but in these situations they were necessary and productive."
At the same time, the former official said, "we never had a situation where we said, 'You can do anything you want to.' We never, ever did that. We were aggressive, but our people were very scholarly and lawyerlike."
INTERNATIONAL HOME-LESSON FOR STUDENTS OF "THE INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL...Criticize this enrichment assignment.
Rifles seized by police can be smelted to make decorative ornaments for museums at universities in Trinidad and Tobago.
Middle East - AP
Militant, Policeman Killed in Saudi Clash
By ABDULLAH AL-SHIHRI, Associated Press Writer
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia - A firebrand cleric who issued religious decrees for an al-Qaida-linked terrorist group was killed Wednesday during a car chase and shootout with police that also killed a policeman.
Militant, Policeman Killed in Saudi Clash
Al-Roshoud has called for a holy war against the Saudi royal family and Western interests in the Persian Gulf. He is the latest high-ranking member of an al-Qaida-linked group killed in Saudi Arabia's crackdown on homegrown militants following a spate of terrorist attacks on Saudi soil.
A former high school professor of Islamic studies, al-Roshoud was known for writing statements on Islamic Internet sites and issuing fatwas, or religious edicts, justifying terrorist attacks against the Saudi government and foreign influences in the kingdom.
With his death, at least 10 of the 26 militants on a state-issued most wanted list have been killed, including the June 18 slaying of Abdulaziz al-Moqrin, al-Qaida's leader in Saudi Arabia.
The Interior Ministry statement, carried by the official Saudi Press Agency, said police first noticed several suspicious people carrying weapons as they left a safe house also used for making explosives and got into a car in the northern Riyadh suburb of King Fahd.
Security forces called on the men to stop, the statement said, but they refused and shot at the police, who returned fire.
...
During the past year, Saudi Arabia has been rocked by suicide bombings, gunbattles and kidnappings targeting foreign workers. The attacks have been blamed on al-Qaida and sympathizers of the anti-Western terror network headed by Saudi dissident Osama bin Laden (news - web sites).
The most recent attack was the June 12 kidnapping of American engineer Paul M. Johnson, Jr., who was decapitated after the government rejected a demand to release all detained militants in the oil-rich country.
Middle East - AP
al-Qaida Statement Threatens Australia
By MAGGIE MICHAEL, Associated Press Writer
CAIRO, Egypt - An online statement by a group representing itself as al-Qaida's European branch threatened on Saturday to turn Australia into "pools of blood" if it doesn't withdraw its troops from Iraq (news - web sites).
It was the second statement in a week by the Tawhid Islamic Group, a previously unknown group which on Wednesday threatened attacks in Bulgaria and Poland if their troops remained in Iraq.
"We call upon you to leave Iraq before your country turns to pools of blood," the statement warned the Australian government.
Defiant Saddam Rejects War Crimes Charges
By HAMZA HENDAWI, Associated Press Writer.
BAGHDAD, Iraq - A defiant Saddam Hussein (news - web sites) rejected accusations of war crimes and genocide in court Thursday, telling a judge in his first public appearance since his capture that the real "criminal" was President Bush (news - web sites).
Finger-Jabbing Saddam Defies Iraqi Tribunal
Saddam was handcuffed when brought to the court but the shackles were removed for the 26-minute arraignment at Camp Victory, one of his former palaces on the outskirts of Baghdad.
When asked his name, he repeated it in full: "Saddam Hussein al-Majid, president of Iraq."
The appearance, broadcast on Arab satellite television stations, gave Iraqis their first look at the former dictator since his capture by the U.S. military seven months ago. They saw a Saddam whose mood ranged from nervousness and exasperation to contempt and defiance — even flashes of anger. At times, he seemed to lecture the young judge.
Saddam refused to sign a list of charges against him unless he had legal counsel, and he questioned the court's jurisdiction.
"Please allow me not to sign until the lawyers are present. ... Anyhow, when you take a procedure to bring me here again, present me with all these papers with the presence of lawyers. Why would you behave in a manner that we might call hasty later on?" he said.
Saddam also accused the White House of orchestrating the hearing.
"You know that this is all a theater by Bush, the criminal, to help him with his campaign," he said.
White House spokesman Scott McClellan said Bush watched a televised replay of the hearing.
The 67-year-old Saddam appeared most agitated when the subject came to the invasion of Kuwait — one of the broad charges against him.
"The armed forces went to Kuwait," Saddam said. "Is it possible to raise accusations against an official figure and this figure be treated apart from the official guarantees stipulated by the constitution and the law? Where is this law upon which you are conducting investigations?
"How could Saddam be tried over Kuwait that said it will reduce Iraqi women to 10-dinar prostitutes? " Saddam asked, referring to himself in the third person. "He defended Iraq's honor and revived its historical rights over those dogs."
At this point, the judge admonished him and said he would not tolerate such language in the courtroom.
A formal indictment with specific charges is expected later, said Salem Chalabi, director of the Iraqi Special Tribunal. Those were expected to include war crimes, genocide and crimes against humanity. The trial is not expected until 2005.
In Amman, Jordan, lawyers claiming to represent Saddam expressed outrage they were not at his side for the hearing.
"This is tyranny and absolute cruelty," said Ziad al-Khasawneh, who said he was hired by Saddam's wife, Sajidah. "How can this be called a fair trial if President Saddam Hussein, may God bless him, was denied his basic right to a lawyer?"
Saddam wore a charcoal-colored, pinstriped jacket with a white shirt open at the collar, and black trousers and shoes. He often stroked his trimmed, gray-and-black beard and had heavy bags under his eyes. He sat calmly, gesturing with his hands while addressing the court and sometimes taking notes on a piece of yellow paper.
His appearance was in sharp contrast to video taken of him after his December capture, when he looked heavier, his beard was longer and his hair was gray and unkempt.
Saddam was flown by helicopter from an undisclosed location and driven to a courtroom on a U.S. base. He was led from an armored bus escorted by two Iraqi guards and ushered through a door guarded by six more Iraqi police. The bus was escorted by four Humvees and an ambulance.
Saddam arrived in a blue jumpsuit, but was given a suit to wear that came off the rack from a Baghdad store — attire that would not be humiliating but also not flashy.
Saddam was heard before he was seen, his chains clanking as he walked down the corridor.
When he first sat down, he was visibly nervous — his eyes roving left to right. He was particularly interested in the Iraqis in the room, especially Chalabi and National Security Adviser Mouwafak al-Rubaie, who were to his right.
He used his hands constantly, poking the air, dragging a thumb across his eyebrow, brushing a fly from his cheek.
When asked if he could afford a lawyer, Saddam retorted: "The Americans say I have millions hidden in Switzerland. How can I not have the money to pay for one?"
At one point, according to a commentary by Arab broadcaster Al-Jazeera, Saddam asked the judge whether he would be tried under laws from his rule.
Saddam told the court that the U.S.-led forces in Iraq were not "coalition troops but invasion troops," according to Al-Jazeera.
Saddam insisted the judge refer to him as the "president of the Republic of Iraq" because "this would be respecting the will of the people."
"Unfortunately, they are already being unfair to Iraqi journalists," Rahman said afterward, noting that some U.S. television reporters were allowed inside in addition to the pool.
Saddam and 11 of his top lieutenants were transferred to Iraqi custody Wednesday. They no longer are prisoners of war but are still locked up, with U.S. forces as their jailers.
"The next legal step would be that the investigations start proper with investigative judges and investigators beginning the process of gathering evidence," Chalabi said. "Down the line, there will be an indictment, if there is enough evidence — obviously, and a timetable starts with respect to a trial date."
President Ghazi al-Yawer told an Arab newspaper that Iraq's new government has decided to reinstate the death penalty, which was suspended during the U.S. occupation.
U.S. and Iraqi officials hope the trial will lay bare the atrocities of Saddam's regime and help the country recover from years of tyranny, the U.S.-led invasion and the insurgency that blossomed in its aftermath.
But the trial could also widen the chasm among Iraq's disparate groups — Kurds, Shiites and Sunnis.
"It's going to be the trial of the century," al-Rubaie told Associated Press Television News. "Everybody is going to watch this trial, and we are going to demonstrate to the outside world that we in the new Iraq are going to be an example of what the new Iraq is all about."
Wednesday's transfer of legal custody took place in secret. Chalabi said the defendants were individually informed of the change in their status to criminal suspects.
"Some of them looked very worried," Chalabi said of the other defendants, who include former Deputy Prime Minister Tariq Aziz, the regime's best-known spokesman in the West; Ali Hasan al-Majid, known as "Chemical Ali"; and former Vice President Taha Yassin Ramadan.
The initial proceedings took place in secret because of fears that insurgents, many of them Saddam supporters, might exact revenge on participants.
Issam Ghazawi, a member of Saddam's defense team, said he received threats in a telephone call Wednesday from someone promising that anyone trying to defend Saddam would be "chopped to pieces."
U.S. officials had hoped to delay proceedings against Saddam until the Iraqis set up a special court and trained a legal team. But Prime Minister Iyad Allawi, whose government regained sovereignty Monday, insisted on taking legal custody of Saddam quickly. The Americans agreed on condition they keep custody of him.
Trying Saddam and top regime figures presents a major challenge to the Iraqis and their American backers.
However, the turmoil of the past 14 months has led to a longing for the stability and order of the ousted dictatorship, at least among Sunni Arab Muslims who now feel threatened by the possibility of a Shiite-dominated government.
"Saddam Hussein was a national hero and better than the traitors in the new government," a resident of Saddam's Sunni-dominated hometown of Tikrit told APTN, refusing to give his name.
In Fallujah, an insurgent stronghold west of Baghdad, resident Ammar Mohammed said the Americans should be put on trial first because they "killed thousands of Iraqis in one year of occupation."
World - Reuters
Powell Calls for Resolve Over Iraq Kidnappings
By Dean Yates
BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Secretary of State Colin Powell (news - web sites) urged allies in Iraq (news - web sites) not to bow to guerrillas waging a campaign of hostage-taking and bombing as an attack wounded 14 foreign soldiers in Baghdad on Tuesday.
Slideshow: Iraq
Insurgents bent on undermining Iraq's interim government fired several mortar rounds in the capital just after dawn, killing an Iraqi civilian and wounding 14 foreign soldiers.
Guerrillas have snatched a dozen foreigners in the past week and threatened to kill them, piling pressure on foreign forces and firms to leave Iraq as a 15-month insurgency shows no sign of abating.
Among them was an Egyptian diplomat -- released overnight having been seized as he left a Baghdad mosque last Friday -- who said his captors had apologized and given him gifts when they freed him.
Speaking on a visit to Hungary, which has sent 300 troops to Iraq, Powell called on allies to stay the course.
"Democracy is hard. Democracy is dangerous. And this is the time for us to be steadfast, not get weak in the knees," Powell said in a Hungarian television interview at the start of a week- long tour of Europe and the Middle East.
"We must not allow insurgents, those who will use bombs and kidnapping and beheadings, to triumph."
The United States has insisted its troop coalition in Iraq was strong despite the departure last week of the Philippines, which pulled out to save the life of a Filipino hostage. It joined Spain, the Dominican Republic, Nicaragua and Honduras as nations that have left what was once a 34-member coalition.
HOSTAGE CRISIS
Hostages from India, Kenya, Egypt, Pakistan and Jordan, mainly truck drivers, have been seized in the past week.
The United States, Australia and Iraqi officials have accused Manila of encouraging more abductions with its pull-out.
Egyptian diplomat Mohamed Mamdouh Qutb, the number three in Egypt's embassy, said he was taken because his captors had objected to Cairo hosting a visit last week by interim Iraqi Prime Minister Iyad Allawi.
"At the beginning they threatened to kill me. But later they apologized and at the end they gave me a string of prayer beads and a dagger as presents," Qutb told Reuters.
"I think it was a vivid experience," he said. "I just hope it doesn't happen again."
Insurgents fired several mortars in Baghdad near the Green Zone compound that houses the interim government and the U.S. embassy. The area is regularly targeted by guerrillas.
A U.S. military spokesman said he had no information on the nationalities of the wounded troops, or where they were when the attack happened. Many American soldiers are based in the zone.
"It's not right, young men are being killed every day. For what?" wailed an elderly woman at the scene where the Iraqi civilian was killed.
AUSTRALIA REFUSES TO APOLOGIZE
Dozens of foreigners have been taken hostage since April. Some have been freed, but at least six have been killed by their captors, four of them by beheading.
Three Indians, three Kenyans and an Egyptian were taken hostage in one group. Other hostages include two Pakistanis and two Jordanians.
Nearly two dozen countries have had to deal with kidnappings since April. Their dilemmas have sparked some testy exchanges with the United States and its allies, especially Australia.
The Australian government refused to apologize to Spain and the Philippines on Tuesday after blaming them for encouraging militants to issue threats by withdrawing troops from Iraq.
Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said both countries needed "to face up to the truth" that they were being exploited.
Spain summoned Australia's ambassador in Madrid on Monday to protest at Downer's comments over the past two days.
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expenses both parties might incure during the transfer process. Upon the receipt
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fund transfer can be finalized within 7 to 9 banking days, after you apply to
the bank as the beneficiary of the fund from the deceased. When you receive this
letter.Kindly send me an e-mail or you can call me or fax me.You should also
include your private fax and phone numbers for easy and safe communication.
Respectfully yours, Mr.Chuks Owo.
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