The dollar sold off across the board to end the week at fresh record lows against the euro at 1.4277 and multi-week lows versus the sterling near 2.0450. Fundamentally, little has changed in the US economic and interest rate outlook but with sentiment biased toward further Fed easing, traders have been given the green light to dump dollars. The economy remains in a precarious state with the housing market yet to reach bottom and burgeoning fears of slipping into recession.
While the barrage of economic data released this morning was mixed, it had little impact in the foreign exchange market. Inflation reports showed the PCE price index softer than expected, with the headline reading at 1.8% y/y and down 0.1% m/m. The core reading edged up by 0.1% m/m, albeit weaker than anticipated while the annualized figure fell to 1.8% from 2.1%. August personal consumption rose by 0.6%, up from 0.3% while personal income drifted to 0.3% from 0.5%. The September NAPM index tumbled to its lowest level since November 2001, falling to 437.6 versus 445.0 from August. However, the Chicago PMI reading exceeded consensus estimates for a decline to 53.3, instead rising to 54.2 from 53.4 a month earlier. The University of Michigan sentiment survey unexpectedly fell to 97.9, coming short of forecasts for 99.0 and down from 98.4 from August. The sentiment survey echoes the Conference Board??™s dismal consumer confidence survey from earlier this week and is indicative of deteriorating economic fundamentals and recent market volatility.
We continue to look for more dollar weakness in the near-term. Next week??™s US economic reports will provide additional clues on the state of the economy. The data consist of September manufacturing ISM, pending home sales, services ISM, durable goods orders, factory orders, and the September jobs report. Recall last month, the greenback sold off sharply following an unexpectedly dismal non-farm payrolls number, which declined by 4k. The September NF payrolls reading are seen posting a dramatic improvement to 94k.
Traders will also focus closely on central bank policy decisions from the Bank of England and the European Central Bank. The sterling came under pressure in the New York morning amid rumors circulating trading desks that the BoE would come in with a surprise rate cut. The currency quickly recouped its losses against the yen and the dollar, but the prospect of a BoE rate cut will remain fresh on traders??™ minds.
Also worth noting, St Louis Fed President Poole said that the 50-basis point Fed rate cut was justified in order to help markets to recover. However, he said it is a mistake for markets to bet on further easing and policy would be determined from meeting to meeting. Poole also added that inflation expectations are firm, but the core PCE figures released today were moving in the right direction.
29.09.2007
Consumer Spending Advanced in August, Core Inflation Is Within "Comfort Zone"
Inflation adjusted consumer spending rose 0.6% in August following a 0.3% gain in July. The strength was in durable goods purchases (+2.8% vs. -0.3% in July) and services (+0.6% vs. +0.3% in July). Spending on non-durables was virtually steady in August. The July-August average for consumer expenditures points to a third quarter increase that is noticeably higher than the 1.4% reading of the second quarter. However, soft numbers for September could alter this projection.
Personal income increased 0.3% in August after a 0.5% gain in July, reflecting only a 0.2% increase in wages and salaries. Personal saving as a percent of disposable income was 0.7%. In the first eight months of the year, personal saving is running at an average of 0.8%, compared with a 0.5% and 0.4% readings in 2005 and 2006, respectively.
The personal consumption expenditure price index fell 0.1% in August due to lower energy prices. The core personal consumption expenditure price index excluding food and energy rose only 0.1% in August, putting the year-to-year increase at 1.76% compared with gains of 1.92% and 1.91% in June and July, respectively. The cycle peak appears to be a 2.46% increase in February 2007. This places core inflation well within the Fed??™s comfort zone of below 2.0% year-to-year increase. This is significant because it gives the FOMC flexibility to place a greater emphasis on weakening economic conditions and reduce the concern about inflation.
Residential Construction Remains Weak in August
Total construction spending rose 0.2% in August, following two consecutive monthly declines. The 2.3% jump in private sector non-residential construction spending and 1.2% increase in public construction outlays more than offset the 1.5% decline in private residential construction spending. The July-August average of residential construction spending points to a sharper drop in residential construction spending (proxy for residential investment expenditures in GDP accounts) during the third quarter compared with the second quarter decline, which implies that residential investment expenditures are most likely to make a larger negative contribution to real GDP in the third quarter vs. the second quarter. At the same time, the strength in private non-residential construction expenditures suggests a positive contribution to GDP in the third quarter.
Personal income increased 0.3% in August after a 0.5% gain in July, reflecting only a 0.2% increase in wages and salaries. Personal saving as a percent of disposable income was 0.7%. In the first eight months of the year, personal saving is running at an average of 0.8%, compared with a 0.5% and 0.4% readings in 2005 and 2006, respectively.
The personal consumption expenditure price index fell 0.1% in August due to lower energy prices. The core personal consumption expenditure price index excluding food and energy rose only 0.1% in August, putting the year-to-year increase at 1.76% compared with gains of 1.92% and 1.91% in June and July, respectively. The cycle peak appears to be a 2.46% increase in February 2007. This places core inflation well within the Fed??™s comfort zone of below 2.0% year-to-year increase. This is significant because it gives the FOMC flexibility to place a greater emphasis on weakening economic conditions and reduce the concern about inflation.
Residential Construction Remains Weak in August
Total construction spending rose 0.2% in August, following two consecutive monthly declines. The 2.3% jump in private sector non-residential construction spending and 1.2% increase in public construction outlays more than offset the 1.5% decline in private residential construction spending. The July-August average of residential construction spending points to a sharper drop in residential construction spending (proxy for residential investment expenditures in GDP accounts) during the third quarter compared with the second quarter decline, which implies that residential investment expenditures are most likely to make a larger negative contribution to real GDP in the third quarter vs. the second quarter. At the same time, the strength in private non-residential construction expenditures suggests a positive contribution to GDP in the third quarter.
20.09.2007
Iran Leader Denied Bid to Visit Ground Zero
A remark by Police Commissioner Raymond W. Kelly that the Police Department was considering a request by Iran that its president visit ground zero set off complaints yesterday before the department corrected itself.
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The latest news and reader discussions from around the five boroughs and the region.
Go to City Room » Late in the day, it said, the request had already been turned down.
Iran asked this month that its president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, be permitted to visit ground zero when he attends the opening of the United Nations General Assembly next week.
Paul Browne, the chief spokesman for Commissioner Kelly, said the request — that Mr. Ahmadinejad be allowed to lay a wreath at the former site of the World Trade Center — had been made by Iranian officials earlier this month in a meeting that was also attended by officials of the United States Secret Service and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.
Mr. Browne said the request was rejected because the Iranians wanted Mr. Ahmadinejad to visit the area of ground zero where construction is under way, but he said that any additional request that he appear near the site of the 9/11 terrorist attack would also be denied out of concerns about security. Although relatives of the victims were allowed to visit the site briefly on the sixth anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks, members of the public are not allowed into the area.
Mr. Browne’s comments came late yesterday in the form of a clarification of remarks made earlier in the day by Mr. Kelly, who said that a ground zero visit by Mr. Ahmadinejad, a strident critic of the United States and an object of scorn for the Bush administration, was under consideration.
Speaking to reporters at Police Headquarters, Mr. Kelly said that a request had been made by Iran’s Permanent Mission to the United Nations, and “we are talking to them right now.” He said that Mr. Ahmadinejad would not be allowed into the section of ground zero where construction is taking place, but that a visit nearby might be allowed.
“It is something we are prepared to handle if in fact it does happen,” he said.
Mr. Browne said later that Commissioner Kelly had been reviewing several security questions involving many heads of state who will be attending the General Assembly session and that he misspoke when asked about the Iranian leader’s visit.
Mr. Ahmadinejad, elected in 2005, has clashed with the Bush administration over his country’s nuclear program and human rights record, and has faced international criticism for calling the Holocaust a “myth.”
He is expected to arrive in New York on Sunday, address the United Nations on Monday, and leave the city on Wednesday morning, Mr. Kelly said. Mr. Ahmadinejad is also scheduled to speak at Columbia University on Monday. Lee C. Bollinger, the president of Columbia, said yesterday that Mr. Ahmadinejad would speak at a World Leaders Forum, but that strict conditions had been set.
The Iranian president has visited Manhattan before, and been greeted by protest.
A year ago, after he was invited to address the same Columbia forum he is scheduled to attend on Monday, Mr. Ahmadinejad’s invitation was withdrawn.
The possibility of a visit to ground zero, as suggested by Mr. Kelly yesterday, provoked a cool response from the White House.
“This is a matter for the City of New York, but ground zero would be an odd place for the president of a country that is a state sponsor of terror to visit,” said Gordon Johndroe, a White House spokesman.
Before the department’s clarification, the presidential candidates condemned the prospect of Mr. Ahmadinejad’s visiting ground zero.
“It is unacceptable,” said Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton. “Under no circumstances,” said Rudolph W. Giuliani, the former mayor of New York. “Ahmadinejad’s shockingly audacious request should be met with a vehement no,” said the former Massachusetts governor, Mitt Romney.
Skip to next paragraph
City Room Blog
The latest news and reader discussions from around the five boroughs and the region.
Go to City Room » Late in the day, it said, the request had already been turned down.
Iran asked this month that its president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, be permitted to visit ground zero when he attends the opening of the United Nations General Assembly next week.
Paul Browne, the chief spokesman for Commissioner Kelly, said the request — that Mr. Ahmadinejad be allowed to lay a wreath at the former site of the World Trade Center — had been made by Iranian officials earlier this month in a meeting that was also attended by officials of the United States Secret Service and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.
Mr. Browne said the request was rejected because the Iranians wanted Mr. Ahmadinejad to visit the area of ground zero where construction is under way, but he said that any additional request that he appear near the site of the 9/11 terrorist attack would also be denied out of concerns about security. Although relatives of the victims were allowed to visit the site briefly on the sixth anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks, members of the public are not allowed into the area.
Mr. Browne’s comments came late yesterday in the form of a clarification of remarks made earlier in the day by Mr. Kelly, who said that a ground zero visit by Mr. Ahmadinejad, a strident critic of the United States and an object of scorn for the Bush administration, was under consideration.
Speaking to reporters at Police Headquarters, Mr. Kelly said that a request had been made by Iran’s Permanent Mission to the United Nations, and “we are talking to them right now.” He said that Mr. Ahmadinejad would not be allowed into the section of ground zero where construction is taking place, but that a visit nearby might be allowed.
“It is something we are prepared to handle if in fact it does happen,” he said.
Mr. Browne said later that Commissioner Kelly had been reviewing several security questions involving many heads of state who will be attending the General Assembly session and that he misspoke when asked about the Iranian leader’s visit.
Mr. Ahmadinejad, elected in 2005, has clashed with the Bush administration over his country’s nuclear program and human rights record, and has faced international criticism for calling the Holocaust a “myth.”
He is expected to arrive in New York on Sunday, address the United Nations on Monday, and leave the city on Wednesday morning, Mr. Kelly said. Mr. Ahmadinejad is also scheduled to speak at Columbia University on Monday. Lee C. Bollinger, the president of Columbia, said yesterday that Mr. Ahmadinejad would speak at a World Leaders Forum, but that strict conditions had been set.
The Iranian president has visited Manhattan before, and been greeted by protest.
A year ago, after he was invited to address the same Columbia forum he is scheduled to attend on Monday, Mr. Ahmadinejad’s invitation was withdrawn.
The possibility of a visit to ground zero, as suggested by Mr. Kelly yesterday, provoked a cool response from the White House.
“This is a matter for the City of New York, but ground zero would be an odd place for the president of a country that is a state sponsor of terror to visit,” said Gordon Johndroe, a White House spokesman.
Before the department’s clarification, the presidential candidates condemned the prospect of Mr. Ahmadinejad’s visiting ground zero.
“It is unacceptable,” said Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton. “Under no circumstances,” said Rudolph W. Giuliani, the former mayor of New York. “Ahmadinejad’s shockingly audacious request should be met with a vehement no,” said the former Massachusetts governor, Mitt Romney.
In blow to Democrats, Senate kills anti-war bill !
WASHINGTON (AFP) — President George W. Bush's administration Wednesday thwarted the latest bid by Democrats to derail its Iraq strategy, as the Senate blocked a bid to limit the numbers of troops ready for deployment.
After wavering Republican Senators came under fierce political pressure, the bill garnered 56 votes in the 100-member chamber, but in a stinging defeat for Democrats, fell four votes short of the required 60-vote supermajority.
The measure, framed by Democratic Senator James Webb, and co-sponsored by Republican war critic Senator Chuck Hagel, would have mandated rest periods for troops equal to the length of time they spent on combat tours.
Its failure was the latest bitter disappointment for Democrats who grabbed control of Congress last year, but have repeatedly failed to change the course of US strategy in the unpopular war.
Hagel had argued in a day of impassioned debate that US troops were being stretched beyond endurance, and facing rising rates of stress, divorce and personal hardship by repeated combat tours in Iraq and Afghanistan.
"We cannot continue to look at war and the people who fight and die in wars as abstractions, as pawns, as objects," said Hagel.
"The humanity of this is lost.
But critics branded the bill a "back-door" attempt to enforce a drawdown of US troops from Iraq. Supporters did not dispute the fact it would limit troop levels, but said it was vital to ease the strain on the US military.
Though Secretary of Defense Robert Gates had warned he would ask Bush to veto the measure had it passed, the bill was seen as the Democrats best shot this year of challenging Bush's control of the war.
Republicans celebrated the defeat of the bill, which they said would have amounted to a legislated surrender in Iraq, a week after Bush declared his troop surge strategy a success.
Senator and 2008 presidential candidate John McCain branded the bill "dangerous," adding it would have "the effect of changing policy on the war."
Republican Senator Jim Bunning issued an outspoken attack on the bill.
"I will not support this slow bleed strategy in Iraq, it ties the hands of our commanders," he said.
Republican Senator John Warner, an expert on the military, who has expressed disquiet about war strategy, had considered voting for the measure, but was swayed by top military brass in a meeting on Wednesday.
He said the provision would interfere with Bush's gradual troop redeployment plan from Iraq, to 'pre-surge' levels of around 130,000 by mid-2008, and would limit specialist troops available in Iraq.
"I regretfully say I have been convinced by those in professional uniform -- they cannot do it," said Warner.
Another Republican Senator Arlen Specter, who had expressed interest in the bill, also changed his mind of meeting senior military officers.
Webb said he had been hopeful that the bill would get the required 60 votes, but concluded his quest was derailed by a fierce lobbying operation organized by the White House.
"When it became possible, and likely that we would get to 60 votes, the White House really revved up the engines on this," he told reporters after the vote.
The bill's 56-vote tally was exactly the same as the number a similar version garnered in June, when it last came up for the vote, showing little progress by Democrats in thwarting Bush's war strategy.
Faced with apparently solid Republican backing for Bush on the war in the Senate, Democrats are now expected to make several symbolic -- but almost certain to fail -- attempts to establish troop withdrawal timetables.
By the Democratic script, September was supposed to have been the month, when constant pressure on wavering Republican senators broke the back of Bush's support for the war in Congress.
But a public relations campaign by the White House, and testimony by war commander General David Petraeus and US ambassador to Baghdad Ryan Crocker now seems to have been decisive.
After wavering Republican Senators came under fierce political pressure, the bill garnered 56 votes in the 100-member chamber, but in a stinging defeat for Democrats, fell four votes short of the required 60-vote supermajority.
The measure, framed by Democratic Senator James Webb, and co-sponsored by Republican war critic Senator Chuck Hagel, would have mandated rest periods for troops equal to the length of time they spent on combat tours.
Its failure was the latest bitter disappointment for Democrats who grabbed control of Congress last year, but have repeatedly failed to change the course of US strategy in the unpopular war.
Hagel had argued in a day of impassioned debate that US troops were being stretched beyond endurance, and facing rising rates of stress, divorce and personal hardship by repeated combat tours in Iraq and Afghanistan.
"We cannot continue to look at war and the people who fight and die in wars as abstractions, as pawns, as objects," said Hagel.
"The humanity of this is lost.
But critics branded the bill a "back-door" attempt to enforce a drawdown of US troops from Iraq. Supporters did not dispute the fact it would limit troop levels, but said it was vital to ease the strain on the US military.
Though Secretary of Defense Robert Gates had warned he would ask Bush to veto the measure had it passed, the bill was seen as the Democrats best shot this year of challenging Bush's control of the war.
Republicans celebrated the defeat of the bill, which they said would have amounted to a legislated surrender in Iraq, a week after Bush declared his troop surge strategy a success.
Senator and 2008 presidential candidate John McCain branded the bill "dangerous," adding it would have "the effect of changing policy on the war."
Republican Senator Jim Bunning issued an outspoken attack on the bill.
"I will not support this slow bleed strategy in Iraq, it ties the hands of our commanders," he said.
Republican Senator John Warner, an expert on the military, who has expressed disquiet about war strategy, had considered voting for the measure, but was swayed by top military brass in a meeting on Wednesday.
He said the provision would interfere with Bush's gradual troop redeployment plan from Iraq, to 'pre-surge' levels of around 130,000 by mid-2008, and would limit specialist troops available in Iraq.
"I regretfully say I have been convinced by those in professional uniform -- they cannot do it," said Warner.
Another Republican Senator Arlen Specter, who had expressed interest in the bill, also changed his mind of meeting senior military officers.
Webb said he had been hopeful that the bill would get the required 60 votes, but concluded his quest was derailed by a fierce lobbying operation organized by the White House.
"When it became possible, and likely that we would get to 60 votes, the White House really revved up the engines on this," he told reporters after the vote.
The bill's 56-vote tally was exactly the same as the number a similar version garnered in June, when it last came up for the vote, showing little progress by Democrats in thwarting Bush's war strategy.
Faced with apparently solid Republican backing for Bush on the war in the Senate, Democrats are now expected to make several symbolic -- but almost certain to fail -- attempts to establish troop withdrawal timetables.
By the Democratic script, September was supposed to have been the month, when constant pressure on wavering Republican senators broke the back of Bush's support for the war in Congress.
But a public relations campaign by the White House, and testimony by war commander General David Petraeus and US ambassador to Baghdad Ryan Crocker now seems to have been decisive.
12.09.2007
Shinzo Abe's Year in Power
Sept. 12, 2007: Abe announces he will resign as Japanese prime minister.
Sept. 9, 2007: Abe says he is ready to resign if Parliament fails to extend a mission to refuel U.S.-led coalition warships in the Indian Ocean.
Sept. 5, 2007: Environment Minister Ichiro Kamoshita and his political-fund-management group come under fire over an ¥8 million ($69,000) discrepancy in records of loans from the lawmaker to the group declared in fund reports in the 1990s. Kamoshita denies any ill intent, and Abe and other government officials rally to his defense.
Sept. 3, 2007: Agriculture minister Takehiko Endo resigns only a week after his appointment because of a scandal involving misuse of farm subsidies.
Aug. 27, 2007: Abe starts his campaign to bounce back from an election defeat by selecting older, more experienced cabinet ministers, many of whom served in the administration of Junichiro Koizumi, Abe's predecessor.
Aug. 1, 2007: Agriculture minister Norihiko Akagi steps down to take responsibility for a major electoral defeat for the ruling party. Akagi is suspected of reporting $730,000 in office expenses over the past decade for a political office that was registered at his parents' address and was defunct. Akagi has denied any wrongdoing.
July 29, 2007: Just 10 months after Abe takes office, the ruling Liberal Democratic Party loses its majority in the Upper House. Despite the electoral defeat, Abe says he would remain in office.
July 3, 2007: Japan's defense minister, Fumio Kyuma, resigns after he offended many Japanese with remarks about the 1945 U.S. atom-bomb attacks. Kyuma had said in a speech that the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, which together killed more than 200,000 people, were inevitable.
May 28, 2007: Agriculture Minister Toshikatsu Matsuoka hangs himself just hours before he is to face questioning over alleged bookkeeping fraud.
March 26, 2007: Abe, under fire for denying that Japan forced women to work as sex slaves during World War II, offers an apology but refuses to clearly acknowledge Japan's responsibility for running the frontline brothels.
Jan. 9, 2007: Japan's conservative government upgrades the Defense Agency to a full ministry for the first time since World War II as part of Abe's push to raise the military's profile.
Dec. 27, 2006: Minister for administrative reforms Genichiro Sata resigns after admitting that a political support group had engaged in fraudulent accounting. Abe chooses Yoshimi Watanabe, a cabinet vice-minister, to replace Sata.
Dec. 21, 2006: The head the government's tax panel, Masaaki Homma, resigns amid an outcry over his use of a plush government apartment to house his mistress.
Sept 26, 2006: Shinzo Abe, the leader of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, is elected prime minister of Japan. He announces a cabinet lineup that indicates he will follow many of the policies of his predecessor, Junichiro Koizumi.
Sept. 9, 2007: Abe says he is ready to resign if Parliament fails to extend a mission to refuel U.S.-led coalition warships in the Indian Ocean.
Sept. 5, 2007: Environment Minister Ichiro Kamoshita and his political-fund-management group come under fire over an ¥8 million ($69,000) discrepancy in records of loans from the lawmaker to the group declared in fund reports in the 1990s. Kamoshita denies any ill intent, and Abe and other government officials rally to his defense.
Sept. 3, 2007: Agriculture minister Takehiko Endo resigns only a week after his appointment because of a scandal involving misuse of farm subsidies.
Aug. 27, 2007: Abe starts his campaign to bounce back from an election defeat by selecting older, more experienced cabinet ministers, many of whom served in the administration of Junichiro Koizumi, Abe's predecessor.
Aug. 1, 2007: Agriculture minister Norihiko Akagi steps down to take responsibility for a major electoral defeat for the ruling party. Akagi is suspected of reporting $730,000 in office expenses over the past decade for a political office that was registered at his parents' address and was defunct. Akagi has denied any wrongdoing.
July 29, 2007: Just 10 months after Abe takes office, the ruling Liberal Democratic Party loses its majority in the Upper House. Despite the electoral defeat, Abe says he would remain in office.
July 3, 2007: Japan's defense minister, Fumio Kyuma, resigns after he offended many Japanese with remarks about the 1945 U.S. atom-bomb attacks. Kyuma had said in a speech that the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, which together killed more than 200,000 people, were inevitable.
May 28, 2007: Agriculture Minister Toshikatsu Matsuoka hangs himself just hours before he is to face questioning over alleged bookkeeping fraud.
March 26, 2007: Abe, under fire for denying that Japan forced women to work as sex slaves during World War II, offers an apology but refuses to clearly acknowledge Japan's responsibility for running the frontline brothels.
Jan. 9, 2007: Japan's conservative government upgrades the Defense Agency to a full ministry for the first time since World War II as part of Abe's push to raise the military's profile.
Dec. 27, 2006: Minister for administrative reforms Genichiro Sata resigns after admitting that a political support group had engaged in fraudulent accounting. Abe chooses Yoshimi Watanabe, a cabinet vice-minister, to replace Sata.
Dec. 21, 2006: The head the government's tax panel, Masaaki Homma, resigns amid an outcry over his use of a plush government apartment to house his mistress.
Sept 26, 2006: Shinzo Abe, the leader of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, is elected prime minister of Japan. He announces a cabinet lineup that indicates he will follow many of the policies of his predecessor, Junichiro Koizumi.
Philippine ex-president gets life sentence
MANILA, Philippines -- Deposed Philippine President Joseph Estrada, who once pulled off the biggest election victory in Philippine history, has been sentenced to life in prison on charges he took bribes and kickbacks in office.
Estrada was convicted of plunder -- a capital offence -- though the death penalty was recently abolished.
He was acquitted of perjury for allegedly falsely declaring his assets.
It was unclear when he might be eligible for parole.
He was given credit for the time he has spent in detention.
Riot police and troops kept hundreds of flag-waving Estrada backers several blocks from the Sandiganbayan, the anti-graft court in Manila that the former action film star inaugurated before he was ousted in January 2001 by the country's second people power revolt.
Security also was very tight around the presidential palace as President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo worried about a repeat of violent protests that followed Estrada's arrest in April 2001.
Estrada's son, Senator Jinggoy Estrada, and lawyer Eduardo Serapio were acquitted of all charges.
Estrada said before the verdict he would appeal a conviction but did not immediately tell the court he would do so.
Estrada was convicted of plunder -- a capital offence -- though the death penalty was recently abolished.
He was acquitted of perjury for allegedly falsely declaring his assets.
It was unclear when he might be eligible for parole.
He was given credit for the time he has spent in detention.
Riot police and troops kept hundreds of flag-waving Estrada backers several blocks from the Sandiganbayan, the anti-graft court in Manila that the former action film star inaugurated before he was ousted in January 2001 by the country's second people power revolt.
Security also was very tight around the presidential palace as President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo worried about a repeat of violent protests that followed Estrada's arrest in April 2001.
Estrada's son, Senator Jinggoy Estrada, and lawyer Eduardo Serapio were acquitted of all charges.
Estrada said before the verdict he would appeal a conviction but did not immediately tell the court he would do so.
18.08.2007
Congressional probe promised for deadly mine
WASHINGTON - Congress will investigate and hold hearings on the Utah mine disaster, several key congressional leaders vowed Friday after a second tragedy at the Crandall Canyon mine brought rescue operations to a halt.
The chairwoman of the Senate subcommittee that oversees mine safety promised a congressional probe, as did the the head of the House Education and Labor Committee. Utah politicians also backed an investigation of what went wrong in the initial mine tunnel collapse and the subsequent rescue effort that claimed three lives Thursday night.
"We owe it to all those affected by this tragedy and to mine workers everywhere to find out why this accident occurred, and how future disasters can be prevented," said Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., chairman of the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, which has oversight of mine safety.
Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., the chairwoman of HELP subcommittee on employment and workplace safety, said in "light of the tragic events" she promised to join with colleagues to "conduct a comprehensive investigation into the causes of this tragedy, the handling of the response, and the ways we can improve mine safety and rescue efforts across our nation."
Rep. George Miller, D-Calif., said the latest news was "extremely disturbing," and while his prayers are with the rescuers, their families and the trapped miners, the tragedy has again
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raised serious questions about mine safety and how to improve it.
"The Education and Labor Committee intends to answer those questions by investigating and convening hearings at the appropriate time," Miller said in a statement.
Neither member set any timetable for hearings, citing the still-ongoing rescue efforts. "Obviously, right now the only job that matters is the job of reaching the six trapped miners while limiting, as much as possible, the risk to rescuers," Miller said.
Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr., who called for a suspension of any rescue effort until the safety of the responders could be assured, signaled support for a congressional investigation, saying that Washington must use this experience as a lesson on how to improve mine safety.
"I think this is a defining moment for the history of mining," Huntsman said during a news conference. "And we all expect to come out of this better and smarter and safer."
The last congressional hearings on a mine disaster emerged in 2006 out of the deaths of 12 miners at the Sago mine in West Virginia and resulted in the passage of the MINER Act.
That legislation was called the biggest improvement in mine safety regulations in some 30 years, and forced mine owners to continuously update emergency response plans, required two-way communications and electronic tracking equipment within three years and boosted penalties for flagrant violations.
But several members say the bill did not go far enough and are pushing additional measures in the House and Senate to beef up safety requirements. The Senate version speeds up the date by which mines must install improved underground communication systems and enhances penalties for a mine with a "pattern of violations."
While no member of Congress on Friday would say if the mine disaster might spur the legislation's passage it's likely to gain support following the Utah tragedy.
Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, said the Mine Safety and Health Administration would "completely" investigate the tragedy and Congress should hold hearings, but he cautioned that any investigation needs to be put off until the miners are rescued.
"I know that many in Congress will want to get involved in this, and I'll support the efforts to make sure miners are as safe as possible," Hatch said. "But for the present time, we need to let the professionals do their job, with our support but without our interference."
tburr@sltrib.com
gehrke@sltrib.com who spoke at a news conference Friday in Huntington.
Bush offers condolences
WASHINGTON - President Bush called Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. on Friday about the Crandall Canyon mine disaster, the second call the president has made to Huntsman to express concern for the trapped miners and their families.
"The president spoke to Gov. Huntsman this afternoon to offer his support and condolences to all those affected by this tragedy and said he is keeping the miners, rescue workers and their families in his thoughts and prayers," said White House spokesman Trey Bohn.
Bush initially called shortly after the mine disaster hit last week to offer any federal help needed.
The chairwoman of the Senate subcommittee that oversees mine safety promised a congressional probe, as did the the head of the House Education and Labor Committee. Utah politicians also backed an investigation of what went wrong in the initial mine tunnel collapse and the subsequent rescue effort that claimed three lives Thursday night.
"We owe it to all those affected by this tragedy and to mine workers everywhere to find out why this accident occurred, and how future disasters can be prevented," said Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., chairman of the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, which has oversight of mine safety.
Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., the chairwoman of HELP subcommittee on employment and workplace safety, said in "light of the tragic events" she promised to join with colleagues to "conduct a comprehensive investigation into the causes of this tragedy, the handling of the response, and the ways we can improve mine safety and rescue efforts across our nation."
Rep. George Miller, D-Calif., said the latest news was "extremely disturbing," and while his prayers are with the rescuers, their families and the trapped miners, the tragedy has again
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
raised serious questions about mine safety and how to improve it.
"The Education and Labor Committee intends to answer those questions by investigating and convening hearings at the appropriate time," Miller said in a statement.
Neither member set any timetable for hearings, citing the still-ongoing rescue efforts. "Obviously, right now the only job that matters is the job of reaching the six trapped miners while limiting, as much as possible, the risk to rescuers," Miller said.
Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr., who called for a suspension of any rescue effort until the safety of the responders could be assured, signaled support for a congressional investigation, saying that Washington must use this experience as a lesson on how to improve mine safety.
"I think this is a defining moment for the history of mining," Huntsman said during a news conference. "And we all expect to come out of this better and smarter and safer."
The last congressional hearings on a mine disaster emerged in 2006 out of the deaths of 12 miners at the Sago mine in West Virginia and resulted in the passage of the MINER Act.
That legislation was called the biggest improvement in mine safety regulations in some 30 years, and forced mine owners to continuously update emergency response plans, required two-way communications and electronic tracking equipment within three years and boosted penalties for flagrant violations.
But several members say the bill did not go far enough and are pushing additional measures in the House and Senate to beef up safety requirements. The Senate version speeds up the date by which mines must install improved underground communication systems and enhances penalties for a mine with a "pattern of violations."
While no member of Congress on Friday would say if the mine disaster might spur the legislation's passage it's likely to gain support following the Utah tragedy.
Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, said the Mine Safety and Health Administration would "completely" investigate the tragedy and Congress should hold hearings, but he cautioned that any investigation needs to be put off until the miners are rescued.
"I know that many in Congress will want to get involved in this, and I'll support the efforts to make sure miners are as safe as possible," Hatch said. "But for the present time, we need to let the professionals do their job, with our support but without our interference."
tburr@sltrib.com
gehrke@sltrib.com who spoke at a news conference Friday in Huntington.
Bush offers condolences
WASHINGTON - President Bush called Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. on Friday about the Crandall Canyon mine disaster, the second call the president has made to Huntsman to express concern for the trapped miners and their families.
"The president spoke to Gov. Huntsman this afternoon to offer his support and condolences to all those affected by this tragedy and said he is keeping the miners, rescue workers and their families in his thoughts and prayers," said White House spokesman Trey Bohn.
Bush initially called shortly after the mine disaster hit last week to offer any federal help needed.
06.08.2007
Opposition in Lebanon declares win
BIKFAYA, LEBANON — In a probable blow to the Western-backed government, a key opposition leader Sunday declared victory in voting for a seat in parliament that was widely regarded as a proxy fight between the government and the pro-Syrian opposition.
Under guard by soldiers, tens of thousands of voters cast ballots in mountain villages northeast of the capital, where two civil war veterans and former allies were pitted against each other in a heated struggle for the Christian vote. After the opposition leader declared victory, the faction aligned with the government immediately claimed fraud but urged followers to remain calm.
Amin Gemayel, an ally of the government, was competing in the election for the seat of his dead son against a relatively unknown candidate, Kamil Khoury, who was backed by Michel Aoun, an ally of the Shiite-dominated opposition.
Pierre Gemayel, a young, popular Cabinet minister, was shot and killed late last year. His supporters believe Syria had a hand in his assassination, a charge denied by the government in Damascus.
Late Sunday evening, Khoury's camp announced it had won the seat. But official results were not expected until today.
"The big winner today is Syria," said Michael Young, an opinion editor at the Daily Star, a Lebanese newspaper. "At the end of the day, Gemayel did not win, and Aoun did not lose…. It's an ideal situation if Syria decides to impose its candidate" for president.
According to the Lebanese political system, the post of president is reserved for a Maronite Christian, and the vote was widely seen as a precursor to the upcoming election of a new president by parliament. President Emile Lahoud must step down by Nov. 23.
The race for the legislative seat highlighted deep divisions within the Christian community. Before the vote, Gemayel led an emotional campaign, telling voters that casting a ballot for him would be like casting a rose on his son's grave. Volunteers in his stronghold of Bikfaya handed out white roses to voters to commemorate the slain politician.
"Pierre Gemayel didn't die of a heart attack or in a car accident," said Eli Fares, the 36-year-old owner of La Vida, an electronics shop in Bikfaya. "Our heroes are all in the cemetery."
Like Fares, many Christians on both sides of the divide thought the election was a chance to reassert themselves on the political scene.
"This is a fight for our existence here as Christians in this area," Fares said.
Amin Gemayel, who heads the Falangist Party, served as Lebanon's president in the '80s during the nation's civil war, and appointed Aoun prime minister at the end of his term.
Although Aoun helped put an end to almost 30 years of Syrian domination, the 72-year-old former army commander upset the political balance last year by allying himself with Hezbollah, the Shiite group that is opposed to the predominantly Sunni government and supported by Syria and Iran.
"We have to think of being Lebanese first, then Christians, et cetera, second," said Joe Chebli, in explaining his vote for Khoury.
Despite the importance of the vote, there were few reports of violence. The Reuters news agency reported that two people were shot and wounded in clashes between supporters of rival political groups Sunday night.
In Bikfaya, supporters of Gemayel yelled out to an SUV full of Aoun supporters: "Go back to Daheer!" referring to the predominately Shiite suburbs of Beirut.
Prime Minister Fouad Siniora characterized the election as a peaceful response to a string of political assassinations. "Democracy in Lebanon will defeat terrorism," he said in a statement.
The Lebanese government has been paralyzed since a walkout by the opposition late last year.
In another election in Beirut, pro-government candidate Mohammed Amin Itani easily won a Sunni seat in parliament that came open when lawmaker Walid Eido was killed in a car bombing in June.
Iowa Republicans See Romney As Straw Poll Winner
With a week to go before the Iowa Republican Party's critical straw poll, an informal survey of Iowa Republican Party leaders, conducted by Real Clear Politics, shows high expectations for former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney. Those high expectations of local party leaders could be a huge benefit, if Romney meets them, or a painful negative should he fail. The numbers, and the expectations for all the candidates, show a race that could dramatically change on Saturday.
Of the 30 Republican officials - representing county parties around the state and the party's Central Committee - who responded to the survey via email, 93% picked Romney to win in Ames. Many saw his commitment to the state as indicative that he will prevail next Saturday; the same percentage said it was Romney whose campaign had the most visible presence in their locations.
Poll participants were asked to predict the top five finishers at the straw poll, and answers were ranked in order. A first place vote was worth five points, a second place vote was worth four points, et cetera, meaning 150 points was the maximum one candidate could achieve.
Predicted finish.bmp
Romney scored 144 points out of 150 possible. Colorado Congressman Tom Tancredo, who, according to an ABC/WP poll of Iowa voters, is the top choice of 5% of likely Iowa Republican caucus-goers, finished a distant second, with 59 points. Tancredo, though, led national front-runners Rudy Giuliani, who finished third with 55 points, and Fred Thompson, who finished sixth with 41 points. Neither Giuliani nor Thompson are actively participating in the straw poll.
Tancredo's second-place finish, if that lead holds on Saturday, would be a massive coup for a campaign driven largely by the congressman's views on illegal immigration and the war on terror. 20% of respondents, a slight plurality, said Tancredo had the most to gain at the poll, and that his performance would improve his standings in national polls. Aside from Romney, Tancredo was the only candidate to receive any first-place votes.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, Texas Congressman Ron Paul, a libertarian in the truest sense of the word, did not receive a single vote in the poll. The lone anti-war voice on the GOP stage, Paul would be unlikely to earn support, or even notice, of people involved in Republican circles enough to be an elected board member.
The most intriguing subplot leading up to the poll on Saturday has been an increasingly bitter feud between two candidates vying for the religious vote. Kansas Senator Sam Brownback and former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee have for weeks accused the other of dirty campaign tactics, the latest incident being an email a Huckabee supporter sent to two Brownback supporters urging them to drop the senator, a Catholic, in favor of the governor, a Baptist minister. When Brownback's campaign complained to the press, Huckabee's manager urged Brownback to "stop whining."
The two face an uncertain future after Saturday's vote. Both are low on money, and both are counting on a voting bloc that, if divided, could see its influence over the GOP nomination wane. Iowa is home to more evangelical Christians than any state, proportionally, outside the South, and with a united bloc, either Huckabee or Brownback could cause the front-runners trouble. Taking either candidate's best score on all 30 ballots, their 72 points easily trumps any candidate but Romney. Divided, Huckabee finishes fourth, with 52 points, while Brownback's 42 points come in fifth.
Former Wisconsin Governor Tommy Thompson, who has said he will drop out if he does not perform well in Iowa, is not expected by Iowa's Republican elite to rise to the top. If Thompson does come in seventh, at 32 points and behind Fred Thompson, his campaign may come to a premature close.
Most To Lose.bmp
But it was not Thompson who most respondents said had the most to lose come Saturday. Instead, Arizona Senator John McCain, once the front-runner, and Romney are seen as the two risking the most come the weekend, with 30% naming each when asked. McCain, who announced he would not participate in the event mere hours after Giuliani did, is the victim of an Iowa Republican electorate still furious with him for ignoring them in 2000 and again this year, as well as for what they perceive as his less-than-complete conservatism. McCain, said one respondent representative of many in the survey, "is not a loyal Republican."
Romney, though, is the front-runner with a strong potential upside and the steepest possible downside. The candidates' performance at yesterday's debate, broadcast as a special edition of ABC's "This Week," showed that others recognized Romney's front-runner status in Iowa as well. Romney defended himself from charges from Brownback, who accused the Massachusetts governor of failing to be completely pro-life.
Seeking to boost their own support while cutting Romney down, other candidates "have hinged their efforts into trying to tear us down," said Romney spokesman Kevin Madden. "A lot of analysts will watch and see if anybody has a kamikaze mission, so to speak, that's going to effect us."
Though Romney is widely viewed as the candidate poised to walk away with the straw poll and thought of as the strongest organizationally in Iowa, there is a danger that many of the voters he busses in from around the state may not intend to follow through on voting for him. "People are known to show up at the straw poll with a ticket paid for by candidate A, yet they vote for candidate B," wrote one respondent, recalling businessman Steve Forbes' 1999 campaign. Forbes "bussed in a lot more people than he got votes from."
Most To Gain.bmp
The candidates with the greatest potential, according to most, are those in the so-called second tier, candidates without the money to compete directly with Romney or Giuliani. In Ames, it could be a good day for several contestants near the back of the pack. "They have the opportunity to show strong support from activists and potentially gather momentum in other states," said Sioux County Republican chairman Mark Lundberg.
Respondents to the poll differed on candidates they support, but their views on who the opposition will be come 2008 could hardly have been more unified. All but two predicted that New York Senator Hillary Clinton would be the Democratic nominee, though two believed it would be either her or Illinois Senator Barack Obama. One respondent declined to guess, while another predicted the Democratic winner would be either Delaware Senator Joe Biden or former North Carolina Senator John Edwards.
08 Win.bmp
Asked which candidate would be best able to defeat Clinton or whomever may be the eventual Democratic nominee, Iowa Republican leaders chose Giuliani, by a small 30% plurality, over Romney, who finished second with 23%.
As the straw poll draws near, pressure on candidates builds. Each campaign is operating at full speed to entice their voters to the polls. "We're working very hard every day making calls and trying to motivate our voters," said Brownback's Rob Wasinger. "We're putting an investment of staff and an investment of time there," said Jesse Benton, spokesman for Ron Paul.
Underscoring the importance of Ames, Benton responded to request for comment on his way to Iowa. Wasinger, Brownback's national campaign manager, has been in Ames since last week. They are but the first of what could be up to 40,000 visitors the sleepy college town hosts next week for what will be the most pivotal moment thus far in the Republican race.
Reid Wilson, an associate editor and writer for RealClearPolitics, formerly covered polls and polling for The Hotline, National Journal’s daily briefing on politics. Wilson’s work has appeared in National Journal, Hotline OnCall and the Arizona Capitol Times. He can be reached at
Of the 30 Republican officials - representing county parties around the state and the party's Central Committee - who responded to the survey via email, 93% picked Romney to win in Ames. Many saw his commitment to the state as indicative that he will prevail next Saturday; the same percentage said it was Romney whose campaign had the most visible presence in their locations.
Poll participants were asked to predict the top five finishers at the straw poll, and answers were ranked in order. A first place vote was worth five points, a second place vote was worth four points, et cetera, meaning 150 points was the maximum one candidate could achieve.
Predicted finish.bmp
Romney scored 144 points out of 150 possible. Colorado Congressman Tom Tancredo, who, according to an ABC/WP poll of Iowa voters, is the top choice of 5% of likely Iowa Republican caucus-goers, finished a distant second, with 59 points. Tancredo, though, led national front-runners Rudy Giuliani, who finished third with 55 points, and Fred Thompson, who finished sixth with 41 points. Neither Giuliani nor Thompson are actively participating in the straw poll.
Tancredo's second-place finish, if that lead holds on Saturday, would be a massive coup for a campaign driven largely by the congressman's views on illegal immigration and the war on terror. 20% of respondents, a slight plurality, said Tancredo had the most to gain at the poll, and that his performance would improve his standings in national polls. Aside from Romney, Tancredo was the only candidate to receive any first-place votes.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, Texas Congressman Ron Paul, a libertarian in the truest sense of the word, did not receive a single vote in the poll. The lone anti-war voice on the GOP stage, Paul would be unlikely to earn support, or even notice, of people involved in Republican circles enough to be an elected board member.
The most intriguing subplot leading up to the poll on Saturday has been an increasingly bitter feud between two candidates vying for the religious vote. Kansas Senator Sam Brownback and former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee have for weeks accused the other of dirty campaign tactics, the latest incident being an email a Huckabee supporter sent to two Brownback supporters urging them to drop the senator, a Catholic, in favor of the governor, a Baptist minister. When Brownback's campaign complained to the press, Huckabee's manager urged Brownback to "stop whining."
The two face an uncertain future after Saturday's vote. Both are low on money, and both are counting on a voting bloc that, if divided, could see its influence over the GOP nomination wane. Iowa is home to more evangelical Christians than any state, proportionally, outside the South, and with a united bloc, either Huckabee or Brownback could cause the front-runners trouble. Taking either candidate's best score on all 30 ballots, their 72 points easily trumps any candidate but Romney. Divided, Huckabee finishes fourth, with 52 points, while Brownback's 42 points come in fifth.
Former Wisconsin Governor Tommy Thompson, who has said he will drop out if he does not perform well in Iowa, is not expected by Iowa's Republican elite to rise to the top. If Thompson does come in seventh, at 32 points and behind Fred Thompson, his campaign may come to a premature close.
Most To Lose.bmp
But it was not Thompson who most respondents said had the most to lose come Saturday. Instead, Arizona Senator John McCain, once the front-runner, and Romney are seen as the two risking the most come the weekend, with 30% naming each when asked. McCain, who announced he would not participate in the event mere hours after Giuliani did, is the victim of an Iowa Republican electorate still furious with him for ignoring them in 2000 and again this year, as well as for what they perceive as his less-than-complete conservatism. McCain, said one respondent representative of many in the survey, "is not a loyal Republican."
Romney, though, is the front-runner with a strong potential upside and the steepest possible downside. The candidates' performance at yesterday's debate, broadcast as a special edition of ABC's "This Week," showed that others recognized Romney's front-runner status in Iowa as well. Romney defended himself from charges from Brownback, who accused the Massachusetts governor of failing to be completely pro-life.
Seeking to boost their own support while cutting Romney down, other candidates "have hinged their efforts into trying to tear us down," said Romney spokesman Kevin Madden. "A lot of analysts will watch and see if anybody has a kamikaze mission, so to speak, that's going to effect us."
Though Romney is widely viewed as the candidate poised to walk away with the straw poll and thought of as the strongest organizationally in Iowa, there is a danger that many of the voters he busses in from around the state may not intend to follow through on voting for him. "People are known to show up at the straw poll with a ticket paid for by candidate A, yet they vote for candidate B," wrote one respondent, recalling businessman Steve Forbes' 1999 campaign. Forbes "bussed in a lot more people than he got votes from."
Most To Gain.bmp
The candidates with the greatest potential, according to most, are those in the so-called second tier, candidates without the money to compete directly with Romney or Giuliani. In Ames, it could be a good day for several contestants near the back of the pack. "They have the opportunity to show strong support from activists and potentially gather momentum in other states," said Sioux County Republican chairman Mark Lundberg.
Respondents to the poll differed on candidates they support, but their views on who the opposition will be come 2008 could hardly have been more unified. All but two predicted that New York Senator Hillary Clinton would be the Democratic nominee, though two believed it would be either her or Illinois Senator Barack Obama. One respondent declined to guess, while another predicted the Democratic winner would be either Delaware Senator Joe Biden or former North Carolina Senator John Edwards.
08 Win.bmp
Asked which candidate would be best able to defeat Clinton or whomever may be the eventual Democratic nominee, Iowa Republican leaders chose Giuliani, by a small 30% plurality, over Romney, who finished second with 23%.
As the straw poll draws near, pressure on candidates builds. Each campaign is operating at full speed to entice their voters to the polls. "We're working very hard every day making calls and trying to motivate our voters," said Brownback's Rob Wasinger. "We're putting an investment of staff and an investment of time there," said Jesse Benton, spokesman for Ron Paul.
Underscoring the importance of Ames, Benton responded to request for comment on his way to Iowa. Wasinger, Brownback's national campaign manager, has been in Ames since last week. They are but the first of what could be up to 40,000 visitors the sleepy college town hosts next week for what will be the most pivotal moment thus far in the Republican race.
Reid Wilson, an associate editor and writer for RealClearPolitics, formerly covered polls and polling for The Hotline, National Journal’s daily briefing on politics. Wilson’s work has appeared in National Journal, Hotline OnCall and the Arizona Capitol Times. He can be reached at
03.08.2007
First Alarm About Bridge Raised in 1990
MINNEAPOLIS -
It was 1990 when the federal government first issued an ominous label for the state's busiest bridge: "structurally deficient." In the ensuing years, inspectors found cracks and corrosion on the Interstate-35W bridge. They stepped up inspections from once every two years to every year, and made what they thought were the necessary repairs. They were convinced that the bridge had no safety issues at all.
Their actions have come under intense scrutiny since the 40-year-old bridge plummeted into the Mississippi River on Wednesday, killing at least four and injuring another 79.
Police said the death count would surely grow because bodies had been spotted in the fast-moving currents. As many as 30 people were still reported missing.
"We have a number of vehicles that are underneath big pieces of concrete, and we do know we have some people in those vehicles," Police Chief Tim Dolan said Thursday. "We know we do have more casualties at the scene."
The eight-lane I-35W bridge, which carried 141,000 vehicles a day, was in the midst of mostly resurfacing repairs when it buckled during the Wednesday evening rush hour.
Dozens of cars plummeted more than 60 feet into the Mississippi River, some falling on top of one another. A school bus sat on the angled concrete.
Among the missing is Sadiya Sahal, 23, and her 2-year-old daughter, Hanah Mohamed. Sahal, who is five months pregnant, left home at 5:15 p.m. with the toddler in the back seat. She called her family at 5:30 p.m. saying she was stuck in traffic on the bridge, according to Omar Jamal, a spokesman for the family. That was her last phone call.
"Her husband is destroyed. He's in shock," Jamal said.
Officials identified the dead as Sherry Engebretsen, 60, of suburban Shoreview; Julia Blackhawk, 32, of Savage; Patrick Holmes, 36, of Moundsview; and Artemio Trinidad-Mena, 29, of Minneapolis.
Ronald Engebretsen said he and his family were trying to come to grips with his wife's death. "She's a great person. She's a person of great conviction, great integrity, great honesty and great faith in her God," he said.
National Transportation Safety Board chairman Mark Rosenker said his investigators got two big breaks Thursday with a surveillance video showing the collapse and a computer program that would analyze how the bridge failed. Those two things would speed their work and allow them to do a smaller reconstruction of part of the bridge span, rather than the whole thing.
Despite the powerful images of devastation from the collapse, some believed the design of the bridge reduced the death toll.
Joseph Schofer, professor of civil and environmental engineering at Northwestern University, said the bridge's underlying arch truss stopped heavy pieces of steel from falling onto vehicles when the cars plunged into the water.
Gov. Tim Pawlenty responded Thursday by ordering an immediate inspection of all bridges in the state with similar designs, but said the state was never warned that the I-35W bridge needed to be closed or immediately repaired.
"There was a view that the bridge was ultimately and eventually going to need to be replaced," he said. "But it appears from the information that we have available that a timeline for that was not immediate or imminent, but more in the future."
More than 70,000 bridges across the country are rated structurally deficient like the I-35W bridge, and engineers estimate repairing them all would take at least a generation and cost more than $188 billion.
"I think anybody who looks at the national picture, the national statistics and says that we don't have a problem would be naive or misleading the situation," Pawlenty said. "We have a major problem."
Authorities cautioned not to read too much into the "structurally deficient" tag. The designation means some portions of the bridge needed to be scheduled for repair or replacement. It wasn't a candidate for replacement until 2020.
The collapsed bridge is one of 1,160 bridges in that category, which amounts to 8 percent of bridges in the state. Nationally, about 12 percent of bridges are labeled "structurally deficient."
During the 1990s, inspections found fatigue cracks and corrosion in the steel around the bridge's joints. Those problems were repaired. Starting in 1993, the bridge was inspected annually instead of every other year.
State bridge engineer Dan Dorgan said the bearings could not have been repaired without jacking up the entire deck of the bridge. Because the bearings were not sliding, inspectors concluded the corrosion was not a major issue.
After a study raised concern about cracks, the state was given two alternatives: Add steel plates to reinforce critical parts or conduct a thorough inspection of certain areas to see if there were additional cracks. They chose the inspection route, beginning that examination in May.
"We thought we had done all we could," Dorgan told reporters near the mangled remains of the span. "Obviously something went terribly wrong."
The collapsed bridge's last full inspection was completed June 15, 2006. The report shows previous inspectors' notations of fatigue cracks in the spans approaching the river, including one four feet long that was reinforced with bolted plates.
Although concern was raised about cracks, some experts theorized it's no coincidence the collapse happened when workers and heavy equipment were on the bridge. The construction work involved resurfacing and maintenance on guardrails and lights, among other repairs.
"I would be stunned if this didn't have something to do with the construction project," said David Schulz, director of the Infrastructure Technology Institute at Northwestern University. "I think it's a major factor."
Associated Press writers Seth Borenstein, Brian Bakst, Ryan Foley and Jon Krawczynski contributed to this report.
US marine guilty of Iraq murder
A US marine has been convicted of murdering an Iraqi man after an attempt to locate and execute an alleged insurgent went disastrously wrong.
A US court martial heard that Sgt Lawrence Hutchins and the squad he led hatched a plan to kidnap and kill a suspected militant in Hamdania, west of Baghdad, in April last year.
When they could not find him, they instead kidnapped another man, believed to be Hashim Ibrahim Awad, a father of 11, from a neighbouring house, dragged him to a hole and shot him, prosecutors told the court martial.
Squad members tried to cover up the murder by planting a shovel and an AK-47 by the man's body to make it look like he was an insurgent planting a bomb.
Hutchins, 23, faces a possible life sentence after being convicted of murder, conspiracy to murder, making a false official statement and larceny. He was acquitted of kidnapping, assault and housebreaking.
He had also been charged with premeditated murder but the military jury dismissed the premeditation element from the verdict.
Hutchins stood rigidly and stared straight ahead in the courtroom as the verdict was read out. His wife sobbed silently with her head bowed.
Several witnesses testified that the plot was born out of frustration after suspected insurgents kept evading prosecution.
Lawyers for Hutchins argued that he participated in the plot because his own officers had set a poor leadership example and had given approval for marines to use violence in capturing and interrogating suspected insurgents.
Another squad member, Cpl Marshall Magincalda, 24, was convicted of conspiracy to murder, larceny and house breaking and could also receive a life sentence. He was acquitted of premeditated murder and kidnapping.
A military psychiatrist said Magincalda developed post-traumatic stress disorder and severe depression as a result of combat.
"He was essentially a broken shell," Jennifer Morse told the court. "This was a young man who was gone, who was clearly haunted by his memories."
All eight members of the squad were initially charged with murder and kidnapping.
Four lower-ranking marines and a navy corpsman agreed deals with prosecutors in exchange for their testimony and received sentences ranging from one to eight years in prison.
A jury last month acquitted another corporal of murder but convicted him of conspiracy to commit murder and kidnapping.
Prosecutors had identified the victim as Mr Awad, 52, a 52-year-old retired policeman. However, he is now referred to in court papers as an "unknown Iraqi male" after defence lawyers said authorities could not conclusively establish the victim's identity.
A US court martial heard that Sgt Lawrence Hutchins and the squad he led hatched a plan to kidnap and kill a suspected militant in Hamdania, west of Baghdad, in April last year.
When they could not find him, they instead kidnapped another man, believed to be Hashim Ibrahim Awad, a father of 11, from a neighbouring house, dragged him to a hole and shot him, prosecutors told the court martial.
Squad members tried to cover up the murder by planting a shovel and an AK-47 by the man's body to make it look like he was an insurgent planting a bomb.
Hutchins, 23, faces a possible life sentence after being convicted of murder, conspiracy to murder, making a false official statement and larceny. He was acquitted of kidnapping, assault and housebreaking.
He had also been charged with premeditated murder but the military jury dismissed the premeditation element from the verdict.
Hutchins stood rigidly and stared straight ahead in the courtroom as the verdict was read out. His wife sobbed silently with her head bowed.
Several witnesses testified that the plot was born out of frustration after suspected insurgents kept evading prosecution.
Lawyers for Hutchins argued that he participated in the plot because his own officers had set a poor leadership example and had given approval for marines to use violence in capturing and interrogating suspected insurgents.
Another squad member, Cpl Marshall Magincalda, 24, was convicted of conspiracy to murder, larceny and house breaking and could also receive a life sentence. He was acquitted of premeditated murder and kidnapping.
A military psychiatrist said Magincalda developed post-traumatic stress disorder and severe depression as a result of combat.
"He was essentially a broken shell," Jennifer Morse told the court. "This was a young man who was gone, who was clearly haunted by his memories."
All eight members of the squad were initially charged with murder and kidnapping.
Four lower-ranking marines and a navy corpsman agreed deals with prosecutors in exchange for their testimony and received sentences ranging from one to eight years in prison.
A jury last month acquitted another corporal of murder but convicted him of conspiracy to commit murder and kidnapping.
Prosecutors had identified the victim as Mr Awad, 52, a 52-year-old retired policeman. However, he is now referred to in court papers as an "unknown Iraqi male" after defence lawyers said authorities could not conclusively establish the victim's identity.
29.07.2007
Japan’s voters give Abe a thrashing
Until Sunday, Japan’s public had not had the opportunity to pass its verdict on Shinzo Abe, the blue-blood politician anointed prime minister by the ruling Liberal Democratic party last September.
Voters clearly relished the opportunity. In upper house elections, they handed Mr Abe's party a crushing defeat and rewarded the opposition Democratic Party of Japan with a clear majority. It was the first time in the ruling LDP’s 52-year history – only nine months of which it has spent out of power – that it won fewer seats than the biggest opposition bloc.
The DPJ won overwhelmingly, not only in the big cities, where it has always been strong, but also in the countryside, where the LDP has traditionally been all but unassailable. Many well-known LDP senators in former rural strongholds were defeated by political novices, whose main election message was that they were not running for Mr Abe.
By midnight Sunday night, with all but 10 seats declared, it looked as though the LDP would fail to reach 40 seats, much worse than the 44 seats that forced the resignation of Ryutaro Hashimoto, former LDP prime minister, in 1998. The DPJ was projected to win more than 60.
Yukio Hatoyama, secretary-general of the DPJ, said Sunday night: “People have lost trust in the Abe administration. We clearly felt this during the campaign.” He and other members of his party said Mr Abe should resign and the LDP call a general election by dissolving the more powerful lower house. That would mark the long-awaited dawn of two-party politics after years of LDP monopoly, he said.
There were at least three main reasons for Mr Abe’s pummelling. First, his cabinet has become mired in a series of political scandals, many involving dirty money, which called into question the prime minister’s judgment and leadership. Two cabinet members quit and Toshikatsu Matsuoka, farm minister, committed suicide amid a corruption scandal.
On the eve of the election, Norihiko Akagi, Mr Abe’s choice to replace Mr Matsuoka, was fleeing reporters pursuing him over allegations that he had massively fiddled his political expenses. “The politics and money scandal plagued us right until the end,” said Hidenao Nakagawa, secretary-general of the LDP, Sunday night.
Second, Mr Abe, 52, has sorely lacked the charisma of his popular predecessor, Junichiro Koizumi, and has failed to convince the public that they should share his political convictions. The youngest prime minister since the war has pushed constitutional revision, patriotic education and breaking free of Japan’s war-related guilt. But polls suggest Japanese people are more concerned about continuing economic problems, especially in poorer rural areas, where five years of economic growth has failed to filter through.
“The Japanese public had absolutely no interest in the themes being promoted by Abe,” said Jiro Yamaguchi, politics professor at Hokkaido university, located in one of Japan’s most economically deprived regions.
The final straw for Mr Abe’s administration was an admission that the government had lost 50m pension records. Although the prime minister was not directly responsible for a problem dating back 10 years, his government’s lacklustre response poured fuel on already flaming passions. The DPJ took credit by bringing the pension shambles to light in the first place.
Mr Abe was Sunday night insisting that he would not resign, saying he would fulfil his promise to the public to “proceed with reform and create a beautiful country”. Takao Toshikawa, editor of Inside Line, a political newsletter, said pressure might still build for him to quit, particularly if the DPJ-controlled upper house passed a censure motion in September when parliament is expected to reconvene.
Hirotaka Futatsuki, a political commentator, said that many of Mr Abe’s enemies within the LDP, including those who regard him as too nationalistic, might be emboldened to mount a leadership challenge. “They are not going to go down with Abe on a sinking ship,” he said. “They will move aside and watch him drown.”
But several LDP heavyweights, as well as Akihiro Ota, leader of Komeito, the junior collation member, said they backed Mr Abe’s decision to stay on. Even Mr Abe admitted that it would be “very tough” and that he would have to learn to work with the opposition DPJ “where necessary”.
Using the sort of bland language that has infuriated his critics and failed to electrify his natural supporters, he said Sunday night: “I will reflect on what I have to reflect on and, when the results are finally in, I will think how to respond.”
U.K.'s Brown Wants Bush Talks in U.S. to Focus on Trade, Darfur
Prime Minister Gordon Brown will push for progress on world trade talks and an end to the conflict in the Darfur region of Sudan when he travels to the U.S. to meet President George W. Bush today.
Brown, who took over from Tony Blair on June 27, will visit Bush in Camp David, Maryland today and tomorrow and address the United Nations in New York on July 31. His spokesman Michael Ellam said trade and Darfur are the ``main issues'' the British government wants to talk about. U.K. involvement in Iraq will also be discussed, he said.
The meetings mark Brown's opportunity to shape U.K. policy toward the U.S. after he sent conflicting signals about his intentions. While Brown has stressed the importance of maintaining the trans-Atlantic relationship, he has appointed officials critical of Bush to his government.
``It is firmly in the British national interest that we have a strong relationship with the United States,'' Brown said en route to his meeting with Bush. ``We should acknowledge the debt the world owes to the United States for its leadership in the fight against international terrorism.''
Policy toward Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, global warming and the humanitarian situation in Sudan top the agenda for the talks, according to officials at the White House and Downing Street. Brown already has visited French President Nicolas Sarkozy in Paris and German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Berlin.
World Trade Organization governments must be prepared to engage in ``intensive negotiations'' in September to rescue global trade talks that will otherwise collapse this year, WTO Director General Pascal Lamy said on July 26.
Draft Accord
Earlier this month, WTO mediators published proposals for a draft accord in a bid to breathe life into discussions that have languished for almost six years. The proposals, which the WTO's 150 members have accepted as a basis for compromise, would lower customs duties on products ranging from beef to car parts, cut U.S. subsidies to farmers and force rich economies including the European Union to slash tariffs and abolish subsidized exports.
Peter Allgeier, the U.S. ambassador to the WTO, said the Bush administration's ``fundamental concern'' with the text on farm trade remains the ``uneven treatment'' in steps some countries are being asked to take to cut tariffs and subsidies.
``Trade should be the top priority in the coming months if we are to get a deal,'' Ellam told reporters traveling with Brown today.
Ellam today said bringing peace to Darfur will also top talks with Bush, following agreement between Britain and France to push the United Nations to introduce sanctions against Sudan unless the country takes steps to end the four-year conflict.
Lives Claimed
The conflict already has claimed at least 200,000 lives and driven 2 million people from their homes. The fighting began in 2003 when rebels seeking a larger share of Sudan's political power and oil wealth attacked the government. Sudan's government in turn organized a force to assault rebel villages.
Neither Brown nor Ellam brought up Britain's policy toward Iraq after the Sunday Times newspaper reported that Simon McDonald, Brown's chief foreign policy aide, had been ``doing the groundwork'' with foreign policy representatives in Washington for a possible withdrawal of U.K. troops from Iraq.
Ellam today said the U.K.'s policy toward Iraq remains unchanged and that there is ``no significance'' in Brown not putting Iraq at the top of his agenda.
``I have always been an Atlanticist and a great admirer of the American spirit of enterprise and national purpose, and to the commitment to opportunity for all,'' Brown said in a statement. ``It is our shared ideals that for two centuries have linked the destinies of our two countries,'' he said.
Predecessor Blair
While Brown's words toward the U.S. have barely departed from the tone set out under his predecessor Blair, some of his actions have been less accommodating of the U.S.
Brown tapped to serve as a junior minister at the Foreign Office Mark Malloch Brown, who told the Daily Telegraph on July 14 that Brown would not be ``joined at the hip'' with Bush. Malloch Brown in 2006 criticized U.S. policy at the United Nations, earning a rebuke from U.S. ambassador John Bolton.
More recently, International Development Secretary Douglas Alexander said the U.S. and Britain should adopt a more multilateral approach to foreign policy.
``The U.S.-U.K. relationship will not be what it has been,'' said Charles Kupchan, senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, who served under President Bill Clinton as director of the National Security Council. ``It will be more distant, more conditional. We can expect more tough talk across the Atlantic.''
`War on Terrorism'
Brown also has avoided joining Bush and Blair in speaking about a ``war on terrorism,'' focusing instead on the need to win over ``hearts and minds'' of potential foes in the Middle East. In January, Brown said he would ``be very frank'' with Bush on subjects of disagreement. More recently, he talked about the importance of preserving the alliance.
``I believe relationships between a British prime minister and an American president will be strong, should be strong and I believe will be strengthened in the months and years to come,'' Brown told reporters in London on July 23.
In Britain, Blair's relationship with Bush cost him popularity with voters and won him ridicule from newspaper cartoonists, who portrayed him as Bush's loyal poodle.
Sixty-nine percent of U.K. voters believe Blair as prime minister was too close to Bush, and 58 percent said the war in Iraq was the biggest mistake of the Labour government, according to a BPIX Ltd. survey on April 8.
Popularity Risen
Labour's popularity has risen above that of the opposition Conservative Party for the first time in more than a year following Blair's decision to step down.
Brown's party had the support of 41 percent of voters compared with 32 percent for the Conservatives and 20 percent for the Liberal Democrats, according to a YouGov Plc. poll of 1,877 adults finished on July 27. No margin of error was provided.
U.K. lawmakers have criticized the way the U.S. handled shared intelligence data in the case of Jamil el-Banna and Bisher al-Rawi, two British residents who were held by the Central Intelligence Agency and shipped to the prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
The episode has ``serious implications for the relationship'' between both countries, said Paul Murphy, a Labour member of Parliament who compiled a 75-page study on the matter released on July 25.
During his visit to Washington, Brown will also meet with Congressional leaders.
27.07.2007
Protest flares at Red Mosque
Hundreds of students have prevented an imam, selected by the Pakistan government, from leading prayers at the Red Mosque in Islamabad.
The mosque was reopened for prayers on Friday after a siege against armed religious students ended in bloodshed two weeks ago.
The protesters say they want the mosque's senior leader, now in detention, returned to his post.
The group chanted slogans against Pervez Musharraf, the president, and called for Abdul Aziz, seen as being pro-Taliban, to be released.
The mosque had been hastily restored and reopened after it was badly damaged in fighting between students at the neighbouring religious college and government troops.
Its roof has been replaced, and bullet-scarred walls patched and painted in yellow. The rooftop minarets have been recoated in white.
The study centre was also badly damaged in the assault and has since been demolished.
Workers had pitched tents on Thursday in anticipation of worshippers filling the main hall on Friday and spilling over outside into Islamabad's monsoon-season heat and humidity.
Outside the mosque, dozens of police and paramilitary officers remained on patrol, and barbed wire still encircled part of the complex.
Police storm
The mosque was left scorched by explosions and sprayed with bullets after commandos stormed the complex on July 10 to end a week-long siege by those inside. At least 102 people died in the fighting and violence earlier in the siege.
The Red Mosque was riddled with bullets [AFP]
Ul-Haq said that 50 bodies found in the mosque after the siege were still to be identified.
He denied that the government was hiding the exact number of casualties.
After the siege, the government sealed off the central mosque and moved quickly to have it repaired, amid outrage in Pakistan that a sacred place had been the scene of violence.
Ul-Haq said the government will pay for the education and accommodation of students from the demolished seminary if asked for.
A senior municipal official said the school would not be reconstructed.
3 killed, 3 injured in explosion at rocket test site in Mojave
Incident at the Mojave airport also injures three workers who are testing a spaceship propellant system.
By Tami Abdollah and Stuart Silverstein, Times Staff Writers
July 27, 2007
Explosion site
Explosion site
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Burt Rutan
Burt Rutan
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Emergency
Emergency
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Somber
Somber
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MOJAVE — Three workers were killed and three others were badly hurt Thursday afternoon in an explosion on the edge of Kern County's Mojave airport during the test of a propellant system for a pioneering private spaceship.
The blast occurred at a private test site run by Scaled Composites, a company founded by high-profile aviation entrepreneur Burt Rutan.
In June 2004, the firm became the first business to launch a reusable manned rocket into space, a craft known as SpaceShip One.
Thursday's explosion — whose sound was likened to a 500-pound bomb by a mechanic working several hundred yards away — is believed to have been caused by an undetermined operating flaw that ignited a tank of nitrous oxide.
Authorities said the blast occurred about 2:30 p.m. at a remote site on the northeastern fringe of Mojave airport, a small, county-run commercial facility about 95 miles north of downtown Los Angeles.
Rutan, looking tired and disheveled, appeared at a 20-minute evening news conference at the desert airport. He told reporters that the blast occurred as the company was testing the propellent flow system for SpaceShip Two, the intended successor to the pioneering SpaceShip One and a project whose details had been closely guarded by Scaled Composites.
"We felt it was completely safe. We had done a lot of these [tests] with SpaceShip One," said Rutan, who added that "we just don't know" why the explosion occurred.
Rutan said the suspected culprit, nitrous oxide, normally is "not considered a hazardous material." Commonly called laughing gas, it is found in dental offices and is used by hot-rodders to boost the horsepower on their vehicles' engines.
According to Rutan, company employees were examining the rate at which the propellant flows through an opening. He emphasized that the test, conducted at room temperatures, did not involve igniting the rocket motor or sparking any fire.
The three who died and the three who were injured, Rutan said, were his employees. He said "several more" of his employees escaped injury.
A Kern Medical Center spokesman said two of those who perished apparently died at the scene, and the third died at the hospital following surgery. The three injured workers — two with "critical" injuries and one with "serious" injuries — suffered numerous shrapnel wounds, according to the spokesman.
Rutan, who took some moments to collect himself before speaking, said he had just come from a meeting with a few concerned workers and relatives of employees.
Scaled Composites has been 40% owned by Northrop Grumman since 2000. The Century City-based company agreed this month to buy the business in its entirety, pending regulatory approval. On Thursday, however, Northrop Grumman declined to comment on the tragedy, referring all questions to Scaled Composites.
Local authorities did not provide the names of the three dead or the three injured workers, who were flown by helicopter to Kern Medical Center in Bakersfield. But relatives of one Scaled Composites employee, Charles "Glen" May, said they were notified by the company that their family member had died.
Gary May, 47, who lives near Dallas, said his 45-year-old brother, generally known as Glen, had been away from the company for a year but returned to Scaled Composites on Monday. "He really enjoyed working there," Gary May said of his brother, citing the camaraderie at the company.
Gary May also cited the excitement of working for a company whose projects were financed by famous entrepreneurs such as Richard Branson of Virgin Atlantic and Paul Allen, a co-founder of Microsoft.
Branson and Allen were backing the SpaceShip Two project that was being tested Thursday. About three times larger than SpaceShip One, it is to be powered by much more powerful rocket engines and is supposed to carry six passengers and two pilots.
Robert Albarran Jr., an aircraft mechanic working several hundred yards from the explosion, said the sound of the blast "was louder than a sonic boom."
Albarran said the noise was so loud that he initially was worried that the aircraft fuselage that he was working on, which was suspended on braces off the ground, "was actually collapsing and coming down."
"It felt like the aircraft was actually moving and rattling," he said. "It was really scary."
By Tami Abdollah and Stuart Silverstein, Times Staff Writers
July 27, 2007
Explosion site
Explosion site
click to enlarge
Burt Rutan
Burt Rutan
click to enlarge
Emergency
Emergency
click to enlarge
Somber
Somber
click to enlarge
MOJAVE — Three workers were killed and three others were badly hurt Thursday afternoon in an explosion on the edge of Kern County's Mojave airport during the test of a propellant system for a pioneering private spaceship.
The blast occurred at a private test site run by Scaled Composites, a company founded by high-profile aviation entrepreneur Burt Rutan.
In June 2004, the firm became the first business to launch a reusable manned rocket into space, a craft known as SpaceShip One.
Thursday's explosion — whose sound was likened to a 500-pound bomb by a mechanic working several hundred yards away — is believed to have been caused by an undetermined operating flaw that ignited a tank of nitrous oxide.
Authorities said the blast occurred about 2:30 p.m. at a remote site on the northeastern fringe of Mojave airport, a small, county-run commercial facility about 95 miles north of downtown Los Angeles.
Rutan, looking tired and disheveled, appeared at a 20-minute evening news conference at the desert airport. He told reporters that the blast occurred as the company was testing the propellent flow system for SpaceShip Two, the intended successor to the pioneering SpaceShip One and a project whose details had been closely guarded by Scaled Composites.
"We felt it was completely safe. We had done a lot of these [tests] with SpaceShip One," said Rutan, who added that "we just don't know" why the explosion occurred.
Rutan said the suspected culprit, nitrous oxide, normally is "not considered a hazardous material." Commonly called laughing gas, it is found in dental offices and is used by hot-rodders to boost the horsepower on their vehicles' engines.
According to Rutan, company employees were examining the rate at which the propellant flows through an opening. He emphasized that the test, conducted at room temperatures, did not involve igniting the rocket motor or sparking any fire.
The three who died and the three who were injured, Rutan said, were his employees. He said "several more" of his employees escaped injury.
A Kern Medical Center spokesman said two of those who perished apparently died at the scene, and the third died at the hospital following surgery. The three injured workers — two with "critical" injuries and one with "serious" injuries — suffered numerous shrapnel wounds, according to the spokesman.
Rutan, who took some moments to collect himself before speaking, said he had just come from a meeting with a few concerned workers and relatives of employees.
Scaled Composites has been 40% owned by Northrop Grumman since 2000. The Century City-based company agreed this month to buy the business in its entirety, pending regulatory approval. On Thursday, however, Northrop Grumman declined to comment on the tragedy, referring all questions to Scaled Composites.
Local authorities did not provide the names of the three dead or the three injured workers, who were flown by helicopter to Kern Medical Center in Bakersfield. But relatives of one Scaled Composites employee, Charles "Glen" May, said they were notified by the company that their family member had died.
Gary May, 47, who lives near Dallas, said his 45-year-old brother, generally known as Glen, had been away from the company for a year but returned to Scaled Composites on Monday. "He really enjoyed working there," Gary May said of his brother, citing the camaraderie at the company.
Gary May also cited the excitement of working for a company whose projects were financed by famous entrepreneurs such as Richard Branson of Virgin Atlantic and Paul Allen, a co-founder of Microsoft.
Branson and Allen were backing the SpaceShip Two project that was being tested Thursday. About three times larger than SpaceShip One, it is to be powered by much more powerful rocket engines and is supposed to carry six passengers and two pilots.
Robert Albarran Jr., an aircraft mechanic working several hundred yards from the explosion, said the sound of the blast "was louder than a sonic boom."
Albarran said the noise was so loud that he initially was worried that the aircraft fuselage that he was working on, which was suspended on braces off the ground, "was actually collapsing and coming down."
"It felt like the aircraft was actually moving and rattling," he said. "It was really scary."
17.07.2007
Man declaring 'I am the emperor' killed at Colorado governor's office
DENVER (AP) -- Gov. Bill Ritter heard the shots echo in the hallway -- pop, pop, pop.
An unidentified man was shot and killed outside the offices of Colorado Gov. Bill Ritter.
1 of 2 Just outside his Capitol office, a man who declared "I am the emperor" had been shot and killed by a state trooper when he refused to drop his gun, authorities said. Inside, Ritter -- a former Denver district attorney -- immediately tried to draw on lessons from his old job.
"I handled a lot of different investigations as the DA, and I went into the mode I would have as the DA, which is to separate those people who listened or heard something and those who actually witnessed something," Ritter said Monday a few hours after the incident.
Ritter was not injured.
Authorities said the unidentified man -- described as wearing dark pants and a white shirt -- had at least two verbal confrontations with state troopers in Ritter's security. The man had walked into the reception area of Ritter's office and was being escorted out before he produced a gun and refused orders to put it down, police spokesman Sonny Jackson said. Watch the governor describe how he went into DA mode »
Four or five shots were heard, but authorities would not say how many times the trooper fired.
Before he was shot, the gunman said, "I am the emperor and I'm here to take over state government," said Evan Dreyer, the governor's spokesman.
Police said they did not know his name or motive.
In the Denver suburb of Northglenn, police said the man may have rented a tuxedo from a formal wear shop Monday morning.
A woman working at a Mr. Neat's store there reported that a man with a pistol and knife in his pockets was fitted for a tuxedo and said "the emperor is coming," police Sgt. Steve Garrow said.
"He did make the statement that today is the day he will reign. The emperor is coming. So it's something that sounds a lot like what that guy Denver had was saying down there," Garrow said.
"It was something to where we felt that it's a good possibility that it's the same guy," Garrow said. "There's nothing confirmed."
Jackson had no immediate comment on the report.
Ritter said he was inside the office with 10 or 11 other people and heard the shots, but he would not say how close he was to the action. He said several members of his staff witnessed the shooting.
"I asked them not to talk to one another so they didn't taint their perceptions, begin talking to the police officers about what we had inside the office in terms of witnesses, so that's basically how I dealt with it," Ritter said in a news conference on the Capitol steps just hours after the shooting.
Ritter said he spoke with his wife, Jeannie, and told her he was fine.
"It was much more difficult communicating with my kids," said Ritter, who has four children, two still living at home. "It's just something that comes with this business."
The shooting occurred shortly after 2 p.m. The man did not fire his weapon, Jackson said.
The Capitol has no metal detectors. They are usually installed temporarily during the governor's annual State of the State address in January but then are removed.
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KMGH: State troopers say man wouldn't drop weapon
Metal detectors were installed after the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks but were removed the following July because lawmakers wanted to ensure the public had easy access.
Ritter said Capitol security would be temporarily stepped up while lawmakers and others discuss any permanent changes. Starting Tuesday, all visitors will be required to enter through a single entrance and pass through a metal detector, he said. It wasn't clear how long that requirement would be in place.
"We live in a country where there is just that constant tension about security versus openness," he said.
State Rep. Edward Casso, who said he saw the gunman after the shooting, said the Capitol should have metal detectors.
"It's kind of freaky someone could get that close," the first-term Democrat said.
Casso described the suspect as being in his 30s or 40s, dressed in a white shirt and dark slacks.
Authorities roped off the area where the man was shot, and an ambulance and eight police cars converged on the building's north entrance.
An hour after the shooting, state troopers and police -- some carrying automatic weapons -- ordered the Capitol evacuated and began a room-by-room search. They did not say whether the search was a precaution or whether they had reason to believe someone else was involved.
Pat Garriott said he was eating in the basement cafeteria when he heard shots.
Nuclear waste drums lose lids in Japan quake
KASHIWAZAKI/TOKYO, Japan (Reuters) -- About 100 drums containing low-level nuclear waste at Tokyo Electric Power Co's (TEPCO) Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear power plant were knocked over by Monday's earthquake and some lost their lids, Kyodo news agency said on Tuesday.
Following the earthquake, a fire broke out at a facility of Tokyo Electric Power's nuclear plant at Kashiwazaki city.
1 of 4 more photos » Checks were being made as to possible effects on the environment, Kyodo added. Officials were not immediately available for comment.
The plant, the world's biggest nuclear power plant, reported a fire and a radiation leak at the facility after Monday's quake.
More than 12,000 people huddled in evacuation centers in northwest Japan on after the earthquake flattened homes, killing nine elderly people and injuring around 1,000.
As aftershocks continued, forecasts for wet weather raised fears of mudslides that could add to the devastation.
"I am worried about the aftershocks," said 80-year-old Toshiko Kojima, who said she had spent a mostly sleepless night in a crowded elementary school gymnasium in the worst-hit city of Kashiwazaki, too afraid to go home.
Water, gas and electricity supplies were cut by the 6.8 magnitude quake that hit Niigata prefecture at 10:13 a.m. (0113 GMT) on Monday, which also caused a small radiation leak and fire at the world's biggest nuclear plant.
With more than 300 homes totally destroyed in Kashiwazaki alone, it was unclear when people could go home and worries were mounting about the health of evacuees, many of whom are elderly.
"The damage was worse than anticipated," Mayor Hiroshi Kaeda told reporters. "If we can restore water service, more people can go home to live, so that is what we want to do first." See crumbled roads and homes after the killer quake
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In Kashiwazaki, people lined up with plastic bottles for fresh water, which was trucked in by local officials and a contingent of about 500 members of the armed forces.
The navy shipped in emergency rations, convenience stores and supermarkets gave out rice balls and bottled water, and smiling soldiers in camouflage uniforms and helmets made rice balls and distributed them at schools and other evacuation centers.
The earthquake halted gas service to about 35,000 homes and disrupted the water supply to all of Kashiwazaki, a city with a population of around 95,000 whose economy relies on nuclear power generation and fishing.
TEPCO said water containing radioactive materials had leaked from a unit at its Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear power plant. The contaminated water was also released into the ocean, but had had no effect on the environment.
The quake was stronger than those its reactors had been designed to withstand, the company added.
A fire in an electrical transformer at the plant was quickly extinguished but it was unclear when TEPCO could restart three power units there.
Media as well as local residents urged the nuclear power industry to take heed of the threat.
"Nuclear power companies must not only keep in mind the quake resistance of buildings and facilities, but must take full precautions so that people in the vicinity and all citizens will trust that if there is a quake, nuclear reactors will be safe," the Nikkei newspaper said.
Retired taxi driver Tomiji Okura, 72, said the nuclear industry had boosted his business, but reactors had to be able to withstand earthquakes. "When you have something like this, it's scary. I want them to be made safe," he said.
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe cut short campaigning for the July 29 parliamentary elections to inspect damage on Monday.
It was unclear when production would re-start at some factories in the area, including a Fuji Xerox printer factory.
Japan is one of the world's most earthquake-prone countries, with a tremor occurring at least every five minutes. Watch CNN's Chad Myers offer a possible explanation for the second quake
Houses, many wooden with traditional heavy tile roofs, collapsed and roads cracked in Monday's quake, centered in the same northwestern area as a tremor three years ago.
Niigata was hit in October 2004 by a quake with a matching magnitude of 6.8 that killed 65 people and injured more than 3,000. It was the deadliest quake in Japan since a magnitude 7.3 tremor hit Kobe city in 1995, killing more than 6,400.
12.07.2007
ANALYSIS: Musharraf wins points over mosque assault - for now
Islamabad - The decision to crush the ranks of radical clerics and armed students at Islamabad's Red Mosque and seminary with military force may give a quick boost to Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf's hand, but is expected to fuel greater unrest in the country in the long term.
The events that led to 106 confirmed deaths from the eight-day siege have sidelined the judicial and political crisis that erupted after Musharraf's controversial suspension of the country's chief justice in March.
Many devout Pakistanis that may have been sympathetic to the clerics' demand for Sharia law in Pakistan will also have been angered to see the mosque transformed into a fortress by its defenders, including the stockpiling of large quantities of arms. Sworn liberal political enemies who criticized Musharraf for allowing extremism to go unchecked have also signalled approval for his actions at the mosque.
'The action was essential,' exiled former prime minister Benazir Bhutto told Britain's Sky TV during the storming operation. 'I'm glad there was no cease-fire with the militants in the mosque because cease-fires simply embolden the militants,' she said, but also predicted a backlash.
The president also waited six months to take firm action, preferring to negotiate a solution, which while exposing him to accusations of appeasement now bolsters his claim that he made every effort to resolve the crisis.
'We demonstrated maximum patience and restraint on Lal Masjid issue,' Musharraf said as the fighting raged. 'No option remained other than an operation.'
The first reaction from the country's liberal media was also one of cautious approval for the president's actions against the two brothers who ran the complex, one of whom subsequently died in fighting while the other was captured trying to escape.
'The government's mistakes in the entire drama notwithstanding, one has to admit that it exercised the utmost restraint. It kept talking to the Aziz-Rashid brothers for months for months and used a variety of channels to free the hostages and disarm the militants,' the influential Dawn newspaper commented.
Musharraf's actions won praise and re-established his reputation as a bulwark against extremism in the United States, which relies on Pakistan as a key ally in its wars against Muslim extremists.
Washington staunchly backed the army general after coercing him into cooperation following the attacks of September 11, 2001, but showed increasing concern in recent months that he was losing control of the situation at home.
'He has gained a couple of points with those that support him,' said retired army general and defence analyst Asad Durrani.
But a sharp backlash from Islamic extremists is inevitable, as well as deepening shock and anger among ordinary citizens if it emerges that hundreds of non-combatants died inside the mosque and seminary.
The body count following the operation looks certain to rise sharply after the army's understatement of the death toll and increasingly implausible denial that women and children died.
'The negative implications start immediately. People don't want to see so many of our own being killed, especially when it comes to women and children,' said Durrani.
But those who oppose Musharaf and see him as a stooge to the West look set to capitalize on the mosque attack.
Osama bin Laden's deputy, Ayman al-Zawahiri, released a videotaped message calling upon Pakistanis to rise up against the military leader.
Accusing Musharraf of working on behalf of the 'crusaders' - a reference to the West - he called the assault on the mosque a 'despicable crime' and 'a message of blinding clarity to the Muslims in Pakistan.
'This crime can only be washed away by repentance or blood,' the al-Qaeda leader said. Taliban insurgents in Afghanistan also called for attacks on the Pakistani armed forces. Thousands of protesters have taken to the streets in cities across the country over the mosque operation, while retaliations to the assault quickly ensued in Pakistan's strongly Islamic tribal areas and the North-West Frontier Province (NWFP) bordering Afghanistan.
Revenge strikes by militants during the Red Mosque siege killed at least 19 people, including 11 members of the country's security forces, which are both the core of Musharraf's power base and the main target of Islamists opposed to his rule.
'Should events in Islamabad provoke an uprising in the tribal areas and the NWFP, it would add to pressure on the military,' said Oxford Analytica. 'An intensification of operations within Pakistan would increase the prospect of cracks emerging within the armed forces. They could appear in the form of army personnel refusing to be take part in anti-terror operations.'
As well as questions about the apparent concealment of the number of casualties in the mosque siege, the government is also under growing pressure to carry out an inquiry into why and how the intelligence agencies failed to get wind of the goings-on in the Lal Masjid and the stockpiling of arms and ammunition in such large quantities
These come against the backdrop of past speculation that the Lal Masjid stand-off was allowed and even encouraged by the intelligence services to demonstrate Musharraf's value as a bulwark against extremism.
'Any investigation into the past will embarrass a lot of quarters,' Pakistan's Daily Times newspaper wrote Thursday. 'President Musharraf will have to confess to a lot more of the murky past of the Pakistani intelligence agencies and army than he has done so far.'
The events that led to 106 confirmed deaths from the eight-day siege have sidelined the judicial and political crisis that erupted after Musharraf's controversial suspension of the country's chief justice in March.
Many devout Pakistanis that may have been sympathetic to the clerics' demand for Sharia law in Pakistan will also have been angered to see the mosque transformed into a fortress by its defenders, including the stockpiling of large quantities of arms. Sworn liberal political enemies who criticized Musharraf for allowing extremism to go unchecked have also signalled approval for his actions at the mosque.
'The action was essential,' exiled former prime minister Benazir Bhutto told Britain's Sky TV during the storming operation. 'I'm glad there was no cease-fire with the militants in the mosque because cease-fires simply embolden the militants,' she said, but also predicted a backlash.
The president also waited six months to take firm action, preferring to negotiate a solution, which while exposing him to accusations of appeasement now bolsters his claim that he made every effort to resolve the crisis.
'We demonstrated maximum patience and restraint on Lal Masjid issue,' Musharraf said as the fighting raged. 'No option remained other than an operation.'
The first reaction from the country's liberal media was also one of cautious approval for the president's actions against the two brothers who ran the complex, one of whom subsequently died in fighting while the other was captured trying to escape.
'The government's mistakes in the entire drama notwithstanding, one has to admit that it exercised the utmost restraint. It kept talking to the Aziz-Rashid brothers for months for months and used a variety of channels to free the hostages and disarm the militants,' the influential Dawn newspaper commented.
Musharraf's actions won praise and re-established his reputation as a bulwark against extremism in the United States, which relies on Pakistan as a key ally in its wars against Muslim extremists.
Washington staunchly backed the army general after coercing him into cooperation following the attacks of September 11, 2001, but showed increasing concern in recent months that he was losing control of the situation at home.
'He has gained a couple of points with those that support him,' said retired army general and defence analyst Asad Durrani.
But a sharp backlash from Islamic extremists is inevitable, as well as deepening shock and anger among ordinary citizens if it emerges that hundreds of non-combatants died inside the mosque and seminary.
The body count following the operation looks certain to rise sharply after the army's understatement of the death toll and increasingly implausible denial that women and children died.
'The negative implications start immediately. People don't want to see so many of our own being killed, especially when it comes to women and children,' said Durrani.
But those who oppose Musharaf and see him as a stooge to the West look set to capitalize on the mosque attack.
Osama bin Laden's deputy, Ayman al-Zawahiri, released a videotaped message calling upon Pakistanis to rise up against the military leader.
Accusing Musharraf of working on behalf of the 'crusaders' - a reference to the West - he called the assault on the mosque a 'despicable crime' and 'a message of blinding clarity to the Muslims in Pakistan.
'This crime can only be washed away by repentance or blood,' the al-Qaeda leader said. Taliban insurgents in Afghanistan also called for attacks on the Pakistani armed forces. Thousands of protesters have taken to the streets in cities across the country over the mosque operation, while retaliations to the assault quickly ensued in Pakistan's strongly Islamic tribal areas and the North-West Frontier Province (NWFP) bordering Afghanistan.
Revenge strikes by militants during the Red Mosque siege killed at least 19 people, including 11 members of the country's security forces, which are both the core of Musharraf's power base and the main target of Islamists opposed to his rule.
'Should events in Islamabad provoke an uprising in the tribal areas and the NWFP, it would add to pressure on the military,' said Oxford Analytica. 'An intensification of operations within Pakistan would increase the prospect of cracks emerging within the armed forces. They could appear in the form of army personnel refusing to be take part in anti-terror operations.'
As well as questions about the apparent concealment of the number of casualties in the mosque siege, the government is also under growing pressure to carry out an inquiry into why and how the intelligence agencies failed to get wind of the goings-on in the Lal Masjid and the stockpiling of arms and ammunition in such large quantities
These come against the backdrop of past speculation that the Lal Masjid stand-off was allowed and even encouraged by the intelligence services to demonstrate Musharraf's value as a bulwark against extremism.
'Any investigation into the past will embarrass a lot of quarters,' Pakistan's Daily Times newspaper wrote Thursday. 'President Musharraf will have to confess to a lot more of the murky past of the Pakistani intelligence agencies and army than he has done so far.'
GOP Unity Fraying on Iraq War
WASHINGTON (AP) - Republican unity is fraying on the long war in Iraq, not to mention civility.
``Wimps,'' House Republican leader John Boehner calls GOP defectors in the Senate - a growing breed as public opinion polls chart ever-deepening opposition to the war and a climbing U.S. casualty count 16 months before the 2008 elections.
With both houses of Congress debating war-related legislation, lawmakers awaited the Bush administration's assessment Thursday of political, economic and military progress made by Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's government.
Administration officials said in advance the report concludes that the Iraqis have failed to pass long-promised laws that the administration has called key to national cohesion and economic recovery, such as legislation that would fairly divide Iraq's oil resources.
But officials said the report also would show progress in several areas, such as a drop in sectarian killings in Baghdad and opposition to al-Qaida terrorists by tribal sheiks in Anbar province.
Predictably, Democrats say the findings are proof the war effort is failing, while Republicans say the limited progress shows hope and that lawmakers should not lose faith.
Boehner, R-Ohio, made his ``wimps'' remark in a private meeting Wednesday with rank-and-file Republicans - ironically at nearly the same moment that several GOP senators beseeched the White House without apparent success for a quick change in course on Iraq.
``I'm hopeful they (White House officials) change their minds,'' Sen. Pete Domenici, R-N.M., said after a meeting that President Bush's national security adviser, Stephen Hadley, held with several Republicans in the Capitol.
Domenici and several other GOP members, including Sens. Richard Lugar of Indiana and George Voinovich of Ohio, say they want Bush to begin reducing the military's role in Iraq. In the meeting, Hadley said Bush wants to wait until September when Gen. David Petraeus, the Iraq war commander, will reassess military progress.
Emboldened by the Republican divide, Democrats called for a vote on legislation to end U.S. combat operations next year. The House planned to vote first on Thursday.
Boehner spokesman Brian Kennedy said the lawmaker's comments ``were intended to illustrate the fact that we just recently voted to give the troops our full support - including ample time for the Petraeus plan to work, and that too much is at stake for Congress to renege on its commitment now by approving what can only be described as another partisan stunt by Democrats.''
A senior U.S. official familiar with the report's conclusions said it would assess Iraq's progress toward congressional benchmarks in three main categories: completed, partially completed and those that show limited or no progress.
Most of the bigger and more difficult issues, the ones that the Bush administration has said were key to Iraq's national cohesion and economic future, likely would fall into the partially completed category, the official said. One major exception was the expectation that Iraq's government would pass a law redressing the effects of a policy to purge Baath Party members following Iraqi President Saddam Hussein's ouster during the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003. There has been almost no progress on that goal.
The official said the Iraqi government would get a passing grade on a few of the military benchmarks that demonstrate its cooperation with Bush's troop buildup this spring.
``It's going to be a mixed picture,'' the official said.
The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the report was not yet public.
``Wimps,'' House Republican leader John Boehner calls GOP defectors in the Senate - a growing breed as public opinion polls chart ever-deepening opposition to the war and a climbing U.S. casualty count 16 months before the 2008 elections.
With both houses of Congress debating war-related legislation, lawmakers awaited the Bush administration's assessment Thursday of political, economic and military progress made by Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's government.
Administration officials said in advance the report concludes that the Iraqis have failed to pass long-promised laws that the administration has called key to national cohesion and economic recovery, such as legislation that would fairly divide Iraq's oil resources.
But officials said the report also would show progress in several areas, such as a drop in sectarian killings in Baghdad and opposition to al-Qaida terrorists by tribal sheiks in Anbar province.
Predictably, Democrats say the findings are proof the war effort is failing, while Republicans say the limited progress shows hope and that lawmakers should not lose faith.
Boehner, R-Ohio, made his ``wimps'' remark in a private meeting Wednesday with rank-and-file Republicans - ironically at nearly the same moment that several GOP senators beseeched the White House without apparent success for a quick change in course on Iraq.
``I'm hopeful they (White House officials) change their minds,'' Sen. Pete Domenici, R-N.M., said after a meeting that President Bush's national security adviser, Stephen Hadley, held with several Republicans in the Capitol.
Domenici and several other GOP members, including Sens. Richard Lugar of Indiana and George Voinovich of Ohio, say they want Bush to begin reducing the military's role in Iraq. In the meeting, Hadley said Bush wants to wait until September when Gen. David Petraeus, the Iraq war commander, will reassess military progress.
Emboldened by the Republican divide, Democrats called for a vote on legislation to end U.S. combat operations next year. The House planned to vote first on Thursday.
Boehner spokesman Brian Kennedy said the lawmaker's comments ``were intended to illustrate the fact that we just recently voted to give the troops our full support - including ample time for the Petraeus plan to work, and that too much is at stake for Congress to renege on its commitment now by approving what can only be described as another partisan stunt by Democrats.''
A senior U.S. official familiar with the report's conclusions said it would assess Iraq's progress toward congressional benchmarks in three main categories: completed, partially completed and those that show limited or no progress.
Most of the bigger and more difficult issues, the ones that the Bush administration has said were key to Iraq's national cohesion and economic future, likely would fall into the partially completed category, the official said. One major exception was the expectation that Iraq's government would pass a law redressing the effects of a policy to purge Baath Party members following Iraqi President Saddam Hussein's ouster during the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003. There has been almost no progress on that goal.
The official said the Iraqi government would get a passing grade on a few of the military benchmarks that demonstrate its cooperation with Bush's troop buildup this spring.
``It's going to be a mixed picture,'' the official said.
The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the report was not yet public.
06.07.2007
Siege mosque cleric vows to fight to death
The Pakistani cleric leading militants holed up in a besieged mosque in the heart of Islamabad has said he would rather die than surrender to government forces, dealing a defiant blow to hopes of a peaceful end to the siege.
Abdul Rashid Ghazi, the deputy cleric of the Lal Masjid, or Red Mosque, today rejected calls by President Pervez Musharraf’s administration for an unconditional surrender, saying he and his following of radical students were ready for martyrdom.
An end to the three-day crisis had appeared to be imminent last night after Mr Ghazi said his supporters would lay down their weapons in return for amnesty. But the government rejected the offer on the grounds that demands of safe passage were unacceptable, insisting the cleric release women and children being held.
“We have decided that we can be martyred but we will not surrender,” Mr Ghazi told a Pakistani television channel. “We are ready for our heads to be cut off but we will not bow to them. This may be my last conversation with you."
Related Links
Pakistan’s Catch-22
Stand-off at mosque after army blasts walls
Fighters in besieged mosque 'close to surrender'
In a further indication that the standoff was far from being resolved, armed troops continued to hit the complex with heavy gunfire and explosives. Since Tuesday, at least 19 people have already been killed in the clashes, and government troops – backed by armoured personnel carriers and helicopter gunships – have been moving closer to the mosque, having destroyed much of its surrounding walls.
There is no turning back. It has to be taken to its logical end,” said Javed Cheema, an Interior Ministry spokesman.
An official from the mosque claimed that further casualties had been caused by today’s gunbattles, and that the building had been hit by further mortar fire from security forces. Hundreds of Islamic students are still inside the compound, along with up to 60 die-hard militants, said to have been schooled in guerrilla warfare at mountain training camps in Kashmir and Afghanistan and who are believed to be equipped with assault rifles, grenades and petrol bombs.
Keen to avoid further damage to his administration, General Musharraf earlier ordered that no military action should be taken until women and children were out of the mosque, amid claims that human shields were being held inside, and authorities have insisted they would not storm the complex until then. Mr Ghazi and his brother Maulana Abdul Aziz – the chief cleric of the mosque, who was captured on Wednesday - have both denied that anyone was being kept against their will.
“For the Pakistan army to go in is no problem, but safety is our foremost objective,” said Tariq Azim, a government spokesman. “We don’t want to harm any innocent lives. We already know that these people are being kept as hostages.”
Today as the violence continued, dozens of parents waited anxiously behind security barriers near the mosque, with about ten allowed to approach the shrine’s entrance. During lulls in the fighting, some parents have approached the complex, handed notes to those inside with the names of their children, who have then emerged. More than 1,000 have fled the complex, most of them young male and female students at the mosque’s seminaries.
Mr Aziz, who was seized as he tried to slip through the military cordon dressed in a burka and high heels, has urged his followers to give themselves up. In an interview with state television Mr Aziz - still dressed in the burka – said that 850 students remained inside. However, Mr Ghazi later insisted the number was 1,900 – a claim which officials could not corroborate.
The violence erupted on Tuesday in the form of deadly street clashes, after months of tension between Pakistan’s US-backed government and mosque’s followers - who have sought to impose Taliban-style rule in the city. Since January, Mr Aziz and his students have led an increasingly aggressive vigilante campaign in the capital, protesting against so-called immoral conduct by kidnapping alleged prostitutes and police officers, and carrying out raids on music and DVD shops.
Key to the campaign is said to be Umme Hassan, the wife of Mr Aziz, whom many regard as more radical than her husband, and who mobilised hundreds of young women who formed the nucleus of the Red Mosque’s movement for enforcement of Sharia. The burka-clad, stick-wielding women known as the Hafza Brigade, had assumed the role of a self-styled vice squad, raiding houses and dragging out women alleged to be involved in prostitution.
They are alleged to have kidnapped seven Chinese nationals who they accused of running a brothel from an acupuncture clinic. They were also seen stopping women and reprimanding them for not covering themselves with Islamic headscarves.
General Musharraf’s authority has been weakened by the spread of militant Islam from tribal areas. His decision to sack the country’s chief justice, who is believed to have opposed constitutional changes proposed by General Musharraf, heightened the political crisis ahead of elections later this year
Abdul Rashid Ghazi, the deputy cleric of the Lal Masjid, or Red Mosque, today rejected calls by President Pervez Musharraf’s administration for an unconditional surrender, saying he and his following of radical students were ready for martyrdom.
An end to the three-day crisis had appeared to be imminent last night after Mr Ghazi said his supporters would lay down their weapons in return for amnesty. But the government rejected the offer on the grounds that demands of safe passage were unacceptable, insisting the cleric release women and children being held.
“We have decided that we can be martyred but we will not surrender,” Mr Ghazi told a Pakistani television channel. “We are ready for our heads to be cut off but we will not bow to them. This may be my last conversation with you."
Related Links
Pakistan’s Catch-22
Stand-off at mosque after army blasts walls
Fighters in besieged mosque 'close to surrender'
In a further indication that the standoff was far from being resolved, armed troops continued to hit the complex with heavy gunfire and explosives. Since Tuesday, at least 19 people have already been killed in the clashes, and government troops – backed by armoured personnel carriers and helicopter gunships – have been moving closer to the mosque, having destroyed much of its surrounding walls.
There is no turning back. It has to be taken to its logical end,” said Javed Cheema, an Interior Ministry spokesman.
An official from the mosque claimed that further casualties had been caused by today’s gunbattles, and that the building had been hit by further mortar fire from security forces. Hundreds of Islamic students are still inside the compound, along with up to 60 die-hard militants, said to have been schooled in guerrilla warfare at mountain training camps in Kashmir and Afghanistan and who are believed to be equipped with assault rifles, grenades and petrol bombs.
Keen to avoid further damage to his administration, General Musharraf earlier ordered that no military action should be taken until women and children were out of the mosque, amid claims that human shields were being held inside, and authorities have insisted they would not storm the complex until then. Mr Ghazi and his brother Maulana Abdul Aziz – the chief cleric of the mosque, who was captured on Wednesday - have both denied that anyone was being kept against their will.
“For the Pakistan army to go in is no problem, but safety is our foremost objective,” said Tariq Azim, a government spokesman. “We don’t want to harm any innocent lives. We already know that these people are being kept as hostages.”
Today as the violence continued, dozens of parents waited anxiously behind security barriers near the mosque, with about ten allowed to approach the shrine’s entrance. During lulls in the fighting, some parents have approached the complex, handed notes to those inside with the names of their children, who have then emerged. More than 1,000 have fled the complex, most of them young male and female students at the mosque’s seminaries.
Mr Aziz, who was seized as he tried to slip through the military cordon dressed in a burka and high heels, has urged his followers to give themselves up. In an interview with state television Mr Aziz - still dressed in the burka – said that 850 students remained inside. However, Mr Ghazi later insisted the number was 1,900 – a claim which officials could not corroborate.
The violence erupted on Tuesday in the form of deadly street clashes, after months of tension between Pakistan’s US-backed government and mosque’s followers - who have sought to impose Taliban-style rule in the city. Since January, Mr Aziz and his students have led an increasingly aggressive vigilante campaign in the capital, protesting against so-called immoral conduct by kidnapping alleged prostitutes and police officers, and carrying out raids on music and DVD shops.
Key to the campaign is said to be Umme Hassan, the wife of Mr Aziz, whom many regard as more radical than her husband, and who mobilised hundreds of young women who formed the nucleus of the Red Mosque’s movement for enforcement of Sharia. The burka-clad, stick-wielding women known as the Hafza Brigade, had assumed the role of a self-styled vice squad, raiding houses and dragging out women alleged to be involved in prostitution.
They are alleged to have kidnapped seven Chinese nationals who they accused of running a brothel from an acupuncture clinic. They were also seen stopping women and reprimanding them for not covering themselves with Islamic headscarves.
General Musharraf’s authority has been weakened by the spread of militant Islam from tribal areas. His decision to sack the country’s chief justice, who is believed to have opposed constitutional changes proposed by General Musharraf, heightened the political crisis ahead of elections later this year
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