NO, NOT THE OIL! #197 (3/4)

[R Kym Horsell]

The EC has criticised OPEC, saying the group was not interested in
maintaining the stability of oil prices.

(US) ABC TV has shown 2 more pictures, showing smiling soldiers
posting with dead Iraqis. It's reported the victim was beaten to death.

6 am
Manmohan Singh, an elderly, softly-spoken former banker, was last
night named as India's PM.

The AUD is trading at 69.75 US c after hitting 70.25 o'night. Oil is
higher at $US41.50/bbl. The Dow was initially up more than 100 pts,
but dived amid oil worries and poor manufacturing data. NY petrol
futures have hit new record highs. Analysts say they don't expect
drivers to cut back on travel. In AUS, 4wds will cost about $A3,500 pa
to run -- c.f. about $A2,000 for a small sedan. Fuel excise is
budgeted to bring in $A13.3 bn.

The US has denied claims a wedding party was hit accidentally nr the
Syrian border. Villages have videotape of bodies taken from the
compound that was attacked early this morning. They say the bombing
began at 3 am and lots of houses were blown up. At least 40 people
were killed. But the US says a safe house for foreign fighters was
hit. A satellite phone and foreign passports and money were recovered
from the scene.

Midday.
A 22 yo former cell-mate of David Hicks in Afghanistan and Guatmo
says he saw Hicks beaten by US soldiers. The interrogations and
beatings were filmed, he says. PM Howard says the claims must be
taken with a grain of salt. This call has come recently, said Howard.
Why weren't these allegations made earlier? he asked. Sen Bob Brown
has called for an indep investigation into the claims. The PM should
do a bit more listening, said Sen Brown. Lawyer for Hicks -- Stephen
Kenny -- says he was told about the mis-treatment by Hicks when he
first met him in Dec 2003. Hicks told him he'd also mentioned it to
the Red Cross.

340 Aussie peacekeepers are headed home from E Timor. A small number
of advisors will remain for up to 1 y, to help transition the Timor
army from a guerrilla to regular army. For the past 5 y Aussie
soldiers have protected remote villages from possible guerrilla attack
from W Timor. But the fear of reprisals from across the border
remains. About 100 Aussie soldiers will remain as part of a UN force.

6 pm
A US general has admitted the abuse of POW's in Iraq was widespread.
The US military has investigated 75 cases of abuse of prisoners in
Iraq and Afghanistan.

Yesterday's helicopter attack is not the 1st time American pilots have
mistaken celebratory gunfire for an attack.

The US-led coalition in Iraq was left reeling last night after local
reports said up to 45 wedding guests, including many children, had
been killed in an air strike in the W of the country.

He cried, apologised and pleaded for his job, but military police
officer Jeremy Sivits was shown no mercy by the US court martial in Baghdad.

Israel's army yesterday said it would continue its operation in the
Gaza Strip, despite a wave of internat'l revulsion over the killing of
ten demonstrators, several of them children, by Israeli tanks and helicopters.

Companies from AUS, the US and other countries paid a secret
commission to Saddam Hussein's regime under the UN oil-for-food scheme.

Outraged relatives of World Trade Centre victims heckled former mayor
Rudolph Giuliani yesterday at the 9/11 hearings.

9.30 pm
Israel is continuing its campaign in the Gaza Strip. 7 more
Palestinians have died in fresh operations since 10 died last night.
4 Israeli human rights groups filed petitions with the Supreme Court
to investigate the killing of 10 demonstrators. A member of Sharon's
Cabinet has called for renewed peace talks. In NY, the Security Council
has denounced Israel's actions. The vote passed 14 to nil, with the
US abstaining. The vote marks a departure from the usual US position.

Al Aqsa chief Marwan Barghouti has been convicted of involvement in the
murders of 26 Israelis. He's been convicted of 3 charges of murder
and 1 of attempted murder. There wasn't enough evidence for the other
changes He will be sentenced on Jun 16th.

US troops and Iraqi police have raided the HQ of Ahmed Chalabi in
Baghdad. They removed files and computers. An INC rep said it was
politically motivated character assassination. The INC has been
blamed of producing much of the discredited info about Saddam's WMD
programs. US officials in Iraq disavowed any involvement in the
raid, saying it was an Iraqi police matter. INC reps say the US
military and Iraqi police were looking for several INC members who had
retained the use of IGC-supplied vehicles, claiming they were stolen.

10 pm
Wall St had the jitters today on renewed pressure from oil prices. In
AUS, the All Ords closed down 0.3% as oil headed back up. AMP was
down, with investors special about claims of increasing profits. In
Asia, the Nikkei and Hang Seng ended down today. EU shares are also
lower this Thu morning. The greenback is on the way back up, with the
AUD is trading around 69.41 US c. Oil ended up $US1.38 at
$US41.64/bbl. Gold was also higher at $380.40/oz.

11 pm
BBC World News. The HQ and home of Ahmed Chalabi have been raided by
Iraqi police and US soldiers. Chalabi -- once the golden-haired boy
of the Washington neocons -- has recently become openly critical of
the Jun 30 transfer plan. He's a former Iraqi exile and now snr
member of the US-appointed IGC. An aide to Chalabi said troops wanted
to arrest 2 party members. They were told the pair were not present.
The aide said they didn't want to arrest Chalabi himself.

There's been more intense fighting in Rafah. 6 Palestinians have been
killed in the latest clashes. Israel has demolished more houses, and
tanks have moved deeper into the camp. Israel says it's looking for
tunnels that are used to smuggle in weapons from Egypt. But so far,
no tunnels have been found.

China has criticised the Taiwan Pres just as he's been re-confirmed in
the job. Beijing says the President's policies are the greatest threat
to peace and stability in the region.

The new Indian PM says his govt intends to resolve all outstanding
problems with Pakistan. He said India would seek the most friendly
relations with all its neighbours, and the most favourable with
Pakistan. The PM said he would strive to move forward without
sacrificing nat'l security. He also promised a sensible resolution
of the rival Hindu claims for the Aiodia xxx site.

400 refugees adrift off W Africa have been air-dropped provisions.
The French Navy dropped fresh supplies of food and water by chopper.
It's the first provisions the group's received in 2 wks.

A new oligarch trial has opened in Moscow. He's a key shareholder in
Russia's biggest oil company. Elsewhere, the former head of Yukoz is
still on jail, awaiting trial on similar charges.

Brood 10 is emerging in the US. It's set to blanket entire
neighbourhoods from NY to Georgia. The cicadas emerge approx every 17 y.
}}

----------------------------------------
Fri, 21 May 2004.

HEADLINES:
24 killed in Chinese coal mine accident
4 hospitalised after gas explosion
New Iraqi prison photos surface
US promises to investigate detainee abuse claims
Howard urged to investigate abuse claims
Defence may aid accused Iraq abuse troops
No more prison abuse in Iraq: US
US military report draws Iraq, Vietnam parallel
UK, US to work out common strategy in Iraq: rep
Polish Defence Min says soldiers' time in Iraq may be cut
Most Iraqis see US as "occupiers"
Italy bolsters Iraq troop commitment
Iraq poll finds poverty main worry
Fraction of Iraqis helping to rebuild
Farewell to Iraq: the least worst solution
AUS to reopen Libya embassy
Appeal delays evidence in Falconio case
BHP-Billiton blast to halt production
Bomb found outside Rome McDonald's
Bomb rocks Istanbul McDonald's car park
Boy dies in continuing Rafah unrest
Bullet threat won't stop corruption probe, police say
Bush tries to calm nervous Republicans
Call to oust Zimbabwe law-maker
Evidence to be delayed in Falconio case
Fed Govt predicts Mitsubishi job losses
Former Guantanamo inmate says Habib was tortured
French feed stranded refugees
How the Middle E is really being remade
Incoming Indian PM promises stability
Internat'l diamond thieves busted in Shanghai
Israeli Govt welcomes Barghouti verdict
Israeli court convicts Fatah leader
Lees media deal reaches stalemate
Liberals celebrate PM's career
Memory specs developed in Germany
Najaff, Karbala fighting continues
No charges over alleged Storm sex case: police
Pair charged over Blair flour bomb attack
Picasso painting goes missing from Paris museum
Poaching threatens white rhino
Police corruption linked to underworld slayings
Saudi security clash claims 4 lives
Surveillance plane makes maiden flight
UK decides not to send more troops
US paid Chalabi's party $US47 mn, report reveals
US seeks war crimes exemption extension
US troops raid Chalabi's home
US troops sought harsher methods
Unions demand answers after gas blast
Vic police corruption "worst ever", former judge says

24 killed in Chinese coal mine accident
Beijing (AFP). The death toll from a N Chinese coal mine blast rose to
24 on Thu, while state media said chances of finding anyone alive from
an accident in another colliery nearby were dwindling. As of late in
the day, rescue workers had dragged 24 bodies from the Caijiagou mine
in Jiakou county, Shanxi province, the scene of a gas explosion on
Tue. 9 miners were still missing, but dense gases made rescue efforts
extremely difficult. So far only one miner has been found alive after
the blast.

French feed stranded refugees
W Africa (BBC). More than 400 refugees adrift on a ship off the coast
of W Africa have been given their 1st supplies of fresh food and water
for 2 wk. The emergency aid was dropped onto the stricken vessel
by French Navy helicopters. The refugees, mainly women and children,
were making their way back to Liberia following the end of the civil war.

UK, US to work out common strategy in Iraq: rep
London, (Xinhuanet). Brit and the US should be discussing together
the way forward and working out a common strategy in Iraq, instead of
discussing what the coalition should be doing in public by using
"megaphone diplomacy," a rep for Brit PM Tony Blair said Thu.
The PM, the foreign secretary (Jack Straw) and the defence secretary
(Geoff Hoon) had all underlined at a cabinet meeting on Thu that any
apparent disagreements with Washington would impact the morale of the
troops who were carrying out their jobs side by side on the ground, the
official rep briefed journalists on condition of anonymity.
Asked if Blair would continue to believe it was best to discuss any
differences he had with US Pres George W Bush in private,the rep
underlined that the Brit govt would stay in Iraq.
"This is a goal which is shared by our coalition partners, including
the US. Despite all the difficulties, we will continue to work with
them to achieve our objectives," the rep said.
It was in the interests of Brit, the US, other coalition partners and
the Iraqi people to achieve a successful transition of sovereignty on
Jun 30, to build on it and work towards free elections in Jan 2005,
he added.
The rep's comments came after Brit opp'n Conservative Party leader
Michael Howard called on Blair to speak out publicly when he disagrees
with Bush.
Blair should not undermine his accountability to parliament by keeping
any disagreement with Bush secret, Howard said in an interview with
the BBC.
In an article published by the Brit Independent newspaper on Thu,
Howard also urged Blair to act as a "candid" friend to the US and to
abandon his refusal to criticise America's mistakes in Iraq since the
end of last y's war.
Since the abuses of Iraqi prisoners by US troops at Baghdad's Abu
Ghraib prison were made public, many Brit lawmakers have urged Blair
to distance himself from Bush, whose tactics in Iraq they said have
undermined Iraqi support for the coalition.

US paid Chalabi's party $US47 mn, report reveals
Ahmed Chalabi says raids on his HQ appear to be politically motivated.
Washington (AFP/BBC). A report made public in Washington reveals that
the American State Dept had paid at least $47 mn to Ahmed Chalabi's
Iraqi Nat'l Congress -- the INC -- since Mar 2000.
Yesterday, it was announced that those payments had been stopped.
Today's report by the General Accounting Office cites the reasons as
inadequate controls over cash transfers, allegations of fraud, and the
INC resisting US govt policy inside Iraq.
Overnight, Dr Chalabi's home in Baghdad and the INC HQ were raided.
Dr Chalabi, once a leading member of the Iraqi Governing Council and
the choice of the Pentagon, expressed outrage at the raid.
"I think that what the Iraqi police did under the CPA is an act which
will affect badly on the other Iraqi parties who will not now be tools
to them," he said.
"We are friends of America, but when America treats its friends this
way then they are in big trouble."
American forces, who together with Iraqi police besieged the offices,
took away computers and files from the 2 buildings in the southern
Baghdad Amirat neighbourhood.
Coalition rep, Dan Senor, said it was an Iraqi-led operation as part
of an Iraqi investigation, but did not reveal why the raid took place.
There have been questions about how funding the INC received from the
Pentagon has been used.
The Bush Admin says it was not told about the raid until after it had happened.
US Def Sec Donald Rumsfeld says he has few details about the raid.
"To the extent authorities want to inquire of people they can do
that," he said.
Dr Chalabi played a crucial role in persuading the Whitehouse that
Saddam Hussein had WMD.
The White House says it is up to Iraqis to determine if Mr Chalabi
will play a role in the country's new govt.

Polish Defence Min says soldiers' time in Iraq may be cut
Warsaw (Bloomberg). Polish Defence Min Jerzy Szmajdzinski said
soldiers' tour of duty in Iraq may be shortened to 4 m from 6 m, in
line with soldiers of other countries serving in the occupied country.
"We may follow other countries as their soldiers serve in the most
dangerous places for 4 m, though a half-y service is more justified
from an economic and operational point of view," said Szmajdzinski in
a press conference broadcast live on public television in Warsaw. "I
can't rule out such a decision."
Poland, taking part in the US-led occupation of Iraq with 2,416
soldiers, has said it won't follow Spain's decision to withdraw its
soldiers as violence increases before the hand-over of power to Iraqi
authorities on Jun 30.
US Pres George W Bush won support from Italy and Ukraine, 2 other
coalition partners, for maintaining their military presence in Iraq.
Yesterday, Italian PM Silvio Berlusconi met with Bush in Washington,
saying he did not want to withdraw his country's 3,000 soldiers after
having "started the work which cannot be left halfway."
Polish support for the new European Union member's participation in
Iraq has dwindled after 2 Polish soldiers were killed May 8 and
Waldemar Milewicz, the country's most-popular TV reporter, was shot
dead on May 7 while riding in a car about 20 miles S of Baghdad.
* Pullout Timing
Polish Pres Aleksander Kwasniewski has said the country won't call
back its troops prematurely. Caretaker PM Marek Belka, who left
his position in Mar as the economic director of the Iraqi
provisional authority, said on Tue that the country won't "surprise
our allies," with an immediate pullback.
Still, he called for a larger role by the UN so Polish soldiers can be
sent home as soon as possible.
"Our aim is obviously to pull out of Iraq," Belka said at the Internat'l
Press Institute Congress in Warsaw. "The problem is when and how."
Szmajdzinski, who didn't say which other countries have four- month
tours of duty, said the decision to cut the time soldiers served in
Iraq would not lead to a reduction in the total number of soldiers there.
"This will not mean that we are cutting the number of troops," said
Szmajdzinski.

UK decides not to send more troops
London (AFP). Brit has shelved plans to send 3,000 more troops to a
volatile part of S Iraq due to worries about political and public
opp'n at home, a report said.
The reinforcement -- which another report had predicted would be
formally announced next wk -- has been put off again by PM Tony Blair
due to concern about the reaction, the Daily Mirror reported.
On Tue, the Times had said Blair planned to send the troops to a
region including the holy city of Najaff, where radical cleric Moqtada
Sadr has been holed up for more than a m with his militia in defiance
of US-led forces.
They would replace Spanish forces, recently withdrawn following the
country's change of govt.
However the Daily Mirror said in a front-page article that political
will had now been lost.
"The govt's appetite to take on Najaff has all but disappeared. It
doesn't believe it can sell it to the public," a "senior army source"
was quoted as saying.
"3 wk ago, we were readying to go. Now nobody expects it until late
summer at the earliest, if ever," the source said, with the newspaper
adding that no deployment was expected until Sep at the earliest.
Senior army officers had additionally warned the govt that "fatalities
could be expected" if Brit troops were sent to Najaff, the paper said,
while many lawmakers from Blair's ruling Labour party were also
expected to oppose the dispatch of more soldiers.
Brit currently has 7,900 troops occupying southern Iraq, headquartered
in Basra.
Public support for their presence among already sceptical Britons
slipped after no weapons of mass destruction were discovered in Iraq
following the war to unseat Saddam Hussein.
Bloody unrest in Iraq over recent weeks, as well as a scandal
surrounding widespread allegations that US soldiers -- and to a lesser
extent, Brit ones -- mistreated prisoners have also caused worries for Blair.

Italy bolsters Iraq troop commitment
Rome (Reuters). Italian PM Silvio Berlusconi says Italian troops will
stay in Iraq until democracy has taken hold. Speaking just hours
after meeting US Pres George W Bush in Washington, Mr Berlusconi told
Parliament there was a clear timetable for the transfer of power to
Iraqis that would give the UN a bigger role in the coming weeks. Mr
Berlusconi says a candidate has been identified to head the
forthcoming interim govt, but has not yet agreed to accept the post.
Italy has some 3,000 troops in Iraq, the 3rd largest foreign
contingent there after the US and Brit forces.

Bush tries to calm nervous Republicans
George W Bush has urged Congress to keep the faith.
Washington (BBC/Reuters). Pres George W Bush has asked fellow
Republicans to "keep the faith" as he sought to ease their jitters
about Iraq and his lowest approval ratings ever.
His appeal came at a private meeting on Capitol Hill.
One Sen said Mr Bush told them the situation in Iraq is likely to get
worse before it gets better, but he repeated his commitment to hand
over limited sovereignty next m.
There was no dissent.
In fact, the 200 or so Republicans present are reported to have
interrupted the Pres with applause dozens of time.
The fact is though, that the party is rattled.
Events in Iraq have not turned out as they expected and some
Republicans want to see changes in policy.
They have been engaged in open battles with Whitehouse loyalists --
the most dramatic between the ultra-loyal speaker of the House of
Representatives, Dennis Hastett and veteran Sen John McCann.
The 2 have been trading insults for days, each suggesting the other is
not fit to be in the party.
As the autumn elections approach, Republicans are suffering from a fit
of Iraq-induced nerves.

US military report draws Iraq, Vietnam parallel
[UH, OH! Now the US MILITARY is drawing the parallel!]
Washington (Reuters). US action in Iraq could prove a foreign policy
debacle if the Bush Admin ignores Washington's painful failure at
nation-building in S Vietnam a generation ago, a new Army report warns.
As in Southeast Asia, the US is trying to fashion a legitimate state
in Iraq against a backdrop of insurgency, rising US death tolls and
tenuous support at home, said the report published this m by the Army
War College.
But US troops, viewed by many Iraqis as invaders, lack the advantage
of S Vietnam's large domestic security force as they seek to build new
institutions under the pressure of a Jun 30 deadline for transfer of
sovereignty.
"In Vietnam, we were trying to prop up a govt that had little legitimacy.
In Iraq, we're trying to weave together a govt and support it so it
can develop legitimacy. Both are extremely hard to do," said co-author
W Andrew Terrill, of the War College's Strategic Studies Institute.
The Vietnam War, a Cold War catastrophe that still haunts American
policymakers, ended in the 1970s with 58,000 US war dead after public
opinion turned against policies aimed at containing Communism in SE Asia.
Admin officials have rejected assertions Iraq, now a main front in the
US war on terrorism, poses a Vietnam-like quagmire for the 135,000 US
troops now inside the country.
Terrill and his co-author, Air Force War College professor Jeffrey
Record, say there are few military parallels between Iraq and Vietnam,
where Communist fighters backed by the Soviet Union and China defeated
a peak force of 500,000 US troops.
But their 69-page report, titled "Iraq and Vietnam: Differences,
Similarities and Insights," warns of dire consequences if the political
lessons of Vietnam go unheeded. "Repetition of those failures in Iraq
could have disastrous consequences for US foreign policy," it says.
Terrill and Record warned of potentially dangerous political damage to
US-Arab relations if Washington's objective of installing democracy in
Iraq means the establishment a large American military presence in the region.
The War College says the report does not necessarily reflect the views
of the Army, Pentagon or US govt.
* US PUBLIC IMPATIENCE
Given that Iraqis have known nothing but authoritarian rule since the
country's inception, it's impossible to say whether US policy will
succeed, the authors say.
Insurgent violence could also grow after the Jun 30 hand over, when
the run-up to elections magnifies divisions among rival ethnic,
religious and tribal groups, all well-stocked with weapons and ammunition.
"The main threat to state-building in Iraq lies not in the insurgency
in central Iraq but rather in the potential for the recent uprising of
Shi'ite militants to re-ignite, expand, and include large elements of
that community, or the development of the kind of sectarian civil war
that plunged Lebanon into nr anarchy for almost 2 decades," the report says.
US-led forces have proved incapable of achieving order in Iraq, more
than a y after invading the Arab nation to look for weapons of mass
destruction that have not been found.
With US deaths in Iraq now at 791 and taxpayer costs expected to soar
above $180 bn, the authors are cautious about the longevity of US
public support.
"Americans could become very impatient should the rationale for a
continuing and costly US occupation of Iraq shift to a more direct
focus on uplifting the Iraqi people, especially if the Iraq public
appears ungrateful," their report says.

Bomb found outside Rome McDonald's
Rome (Reuters). Italian police have found a homemade bomb inside a
bag left outside a McDonald's fast food outlet in Rome, Italy. They
said a nylon bag left in front of the restaurant was packed with a
camping stove tied to a small amount of gunpowder gathered from
hunting bullets. Police neutralised the bag.

Bomb rocks Istanbul McDonald's car park
2 cars were wrecked in the blast, at a McDonald's restaurant in Istanbul.
Istanbul (Reuters). An explosion apparently caused by a car bomb has
wrecked 2 vehicles outside a McDonald's restaurant in Istanbul, but
nobody was hurt.
Security is of special concern in Turkey's largest city ahead of a
NATO summit there on Jun 28-29, which will be attended by US Pres
George W Bush and dozens of other W leaders.
Television showed 2 cars gutted by the blast, which occurred in the
Acibadem district on the Asian side of Istanbul at 6.15 pm local time.
Police swiftly cordoned off the area.
The state Anatolian news agency quoted the head of the local Admin,
Yuksel Peker, as saying a bomb had probably exploded in the trunk of
one of the 2 cars or underneath it.
CNN Turk said police had received an anonymous phone call warning 15
minutes before the blast, giving police time to evacuate the area.
Police were not immediately available to comment on Thu's incident.
The blast came hours after police in Italy said they found 2 small
home-made bombs outside a McDonald's fast food outlet on the outskirts
of Rome. Police defused both devices, which they said were similar to
Molotov cocktails.
Last Sun night, 4 percussion bombs -- which cause a loud noise but
little damage -- exploded outside branches of Brit bank HSBC in
Istanbul and the capital, Ankara, ahead of a brief visit to Turkey by
Brit PM Tony Blair.
Those blasts caused minor damage and no casualties.
But the fact they targeted HSBC revived memories of 4 big explosions
last Nov which struck Brit and Jewish targets in Istanbul, for which
Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda network claimed responsibility.
61 people died in the Nov attacks, one of whose targets was HSBC's
main Istanbul office.

Saudi security clash claims 4 lives
Riyadh (AFP/BBC). Saudi security forces have killed 4 suspects
during an operation N of Riyadh, as part of a its crackdown on
extremists blamed for a spate of terror attacks. The interior
ministry says 2 security men and a terror suspect were also wounded in
the clash some 320 km from the Saudi capital. The incident was the
latest in a series of clashes, mostly in Riyadh, between suspected
militants and security forces, who have rounded up 100s of extremists
during the past year. 18 suspects on a most-wanted list of 26, issued
last Dec, remain at large.

US seeks war crimes exemption extension
[UH, OH!]
NY (AFP). The United States has circulated a draft Sec Council
resolution to give US peacekeeping troops another one y exemption from
prosecution by the world court at The Hague.
The measure is likely to face misgivings after revelations that US
troops abused prisoners in Iraq.
At first, Washington signed the treaty establishing the court but
later backed out, saying it feared the tribunal would be politicised
and its troops abroad could be charged for war crimes.
The US has since persuaded more than 60 countries to agree to
bilateral immunity deals, lobbying hard and threatening to cut
military assistance to those that do not sign an accord.
Under the draft resolution, nations which have not ratified the
court's founding statute would be exempt from investigation or
prosecution for 12 m.
It also specifies the one y period is renewable "for as long as may be
necessary".
Diplomats said the US would try to push for a vote on Fri.
With the outrage over the treatment of Iraqi prisoners, it was not
immediately clear if the US would be able to muster strong support on
the 15 nation council.
When the existing one y immunity resolution was passed last y, 3
nations abstained and United Nations Sec-Gen Kofi Annan warned the
council could undermine its own authority if exemption became "an
annual routine".
The US got the council to vote unanimously for immunity in 2002 by
vetoing the extension of a UN police training mission in Bosnia.
It threatened to block all peacekeeping operations, one by one, as
their mandates came up for renewal at the council.
Established under the 1998 Rome Statute, the tribunal is the first
permanent internat'l court to try cases of war crimes, crimes against
humanity and genocide.

US troops sought harsher methods
Washington (AP). US interrogators sought approval to use harsher than
usual methods at Guantanamo Bay in 2002, and some of those techniques
were used until military lawyers objected, officials said.
A rep for Def Sec Donald Rumsfeld refused to identify the techniques,
describing them only as "non-doctrinal," -- meaning they were not in
accordance with military doctrine, which is designed to comply with
the Geneva Conventions that protect prisoners of war.
But the Bush Admin has argued that Geneva protections do not apply to
terrorists because they do not follow the rules of warfare.
Rumsfeld rep Larry Di Rita said military cmdrs at Guantanamo Bay faced
a difficult situation because the individuals held there -- mostly
Taliban and al-Qaeda fighters captured during the war in Afghanistan
in late 2001 -- were considered terrorists and some had time-sensitive intel.
"It was a hard darn problem," he said. The focus of interrogations was
on uncovering any info about future terrorist attacks, he added.
Adding urgency was the suspicion that one prisoner at Guantanamo --
whom Di Rita did not identify -- had info about a planned future
attack on the US.
The interrogators at Guantanamo Bay wanted to use harsher methods
against that prisoner. Military lawyers apparently objected to at
least some of those proposed methods, and "as that anxiety became more
apparent," Rumsfeld ordered Jim Haynes, the Pentagon's top lawyers, to
create a working group to examine the issues more fully, a senior
Pentagon official said.
The official and a uniformed lawyer involved in the process briefed
reporters on condition they not be identified.
It was not until mid-Apr 2003, after a comprehensive review by
Pentagon lawyers, policy-makers, intel officers and military
officials, that Rumsfeld approved an interrogation guideline for the
Guantanamo Bay prisoners, Di Rita said.
Before that, approval for "non-doctrinal" interrogation techniques was
on a case-by-case basis, Di Rita said.
The uniformed lawyer who briefed reporters said he and other military
lawyers had no objections to the final Rumsfeld guidelines, which the
official said complied with all internat'l laws.
Di Rita said the Rumsfeld guidelines are classified secret and will
not be made public.
He said the Pentagon had not been entirely clear in public statements
about events related to interrogation policies and practices at
Guantanamo Bay because it had not fully recreated a time-line that
reaches back to the commencement of those interrogations in Jan 2002.
"We're rediscovering a lot of this in the context of trying to make
sure we fully understand all aspects of detainee operations," he said,
adding that Rumsfeld has ordered Pentagon officials to systematically
review how detainee and interrogation guidelines evolved.
Guantanamo Bay is home to some 600 detainees, including Aussies David
Hicks and Mamdouh Habib. A former detainee has alleged Habib was
tortured by his US captors while at the US naval base.

Defence may aid accused Iraq abuse troops
It is the "defence of superior orders," in the jargon of military justice.
Baghdad (Guardian). It didn't work for the Nazis at Nuremberg, or for
Army Lt William Calley, who claimed he was just following orders when
he directed the My Lai massacre during the Vietnam War. But it could
help the Army guards accused of abusing Iraqis inside the Abu Ghraib
prison avoid long sentences -- and just might get them off the hook
entirely -- if they can prove there were such orders and establish who
gave them, experts in military justice say.
"The defence of superior orders is no defence if the accused knows the
act is illegal," explained Michael Noone, a retired Air Force colonel
and military attorney. Soldiers are required to disobey unlawful
commands, he said, but the "big issue is going to be whether or not
the order was obviously illegal."
Pictures taken of nude Iraqis being sexually humiliated in the same
prison where Saddam Hussein's regime tortured 1000s of opponents have
infuriated America's enemies and allies alike. Pres Bush characterised
the abuse as the failings of a few renegade soldiers and promised that
those responsible will be quickly punished.
One of the 7 guards, who tearfully pleaded guilty in Baghdad Wed and
will testify against the others, has said that the mistreatment was
not authorised by superior officers. "If they saw what was going on,
there would have been hell to pay," Spc Jeremy C Sivits told
military investigators.
But most of those accused said they were just following the orders of
intel officers and civilian contractors who told them to humiliate the
prisoners and thereby make them more willing to reveal info.
In letters home to his family, Staff Sgt. Ivan L Frederick said that
he was told "this is how military intel wants it done," and that when
he questioned his battalion cmdr about the harsh inmate conditions, he
was told "to do as he says."
The treatment of prisoners at Abu Ghraib "was being controlled and
devised by the military intel community and other govt'l agencies,
including the CIA," said Guy Womack, an attorney for Spc Charles
Graner Jr, who was arraigned in Baghdad along with Frederick and
Sgt. Javal Davis. "There's going to be plenty of evidence that they
orchestrated all of this."
The defence just might work, said Tim Naccarato, the former chief of
the criminal law division of the Army's Judge Advocate General School.
"If these lower-ranking military policemen can make the case they were
told to do these things, instructed to do these things, they were
cooperating with intel to soften up these prisoners so they would
provide more info, they have the ability to be found not guilty based
not so much on 'I was following orders' but based on the theory that a
criminal act requires not only an act but criminal intent," Naccarato said.
Some members of Congress want to investigate whether the Bush Admin
erected a legal foundation that opened the door for the mistreatment
by announcing in 2002 that al-Qaeda detainees did not qualify for
protection by the Geneva Conventions, which prohibits mistreatment.
Def Sec Donald H Rumsfeld dismissed that assertion as "garbage," but
Sen John Warner, R-Va, chairman of the Senate Armed Services
Committee, insisted that questions remain about "how those in
positions of responsibility either ordered, encouraged or authorised
-- or maybe looked the other way."
The superior orders defence will be extremely difficult to assert in
the courts-martial because the accused must prove who gave them the orders.
"Certainly, the lawyers they're going to have their work cut out for
them," said Eugene Fidell, a defence attorney and president of the
Nat'l Institute of Military Justice.
Military law experts could not recall a single case in which the
superior orders defence completely cleared a defendant, but said it
often works to reduce prison time.
"It may not absolve you, but it would certainly mitigate what you've
done," said David Sheldon, a former Navy attorney.
Davis, 26; Frederick, 37; and Graner, 35, face charges along with Spc
Megan M Ambuhl, 29; PFC Lynndie R England, 21; and Spc Sabrina
Harman, 26.
Graner can be seen grinning broadly behind a pile of naked Iraqis in
one photograph; others show England holding a naked prisoner by a dog
leash and Ambuhl posing with detainees on leashes. Harman is seen
smiling over a pile of naked prisoners. Davis is said to have stepped
on the toes and fingers of prisoners. Frederick is accused of forcing
prisoners to masturbate and form naked human pyramids.
A teary-eyed Sivits, 24, took some of the most explosive photographs.
He pleaded guilty to 4 reduced abuse charges -- the equivalent of
misdemeanours -- and is expected to testify against others.
The following-orders defence, also known as the Nuremberg defence, got
its modern-day start in 1945, after some of the 22 Nazis indicted for
war crimes claimed they were carrying out orders during Germany's
decade-long drive to kill mn of Jews. 11 were sentenced to death, 3
were acquitted and the others were sent to prison.
In Vietnam, the defence did not help Calley, who was sentenced to life
in prison in 1971 for ordering his Charlie Company to kill everyone in
the village of My Lai. Still, some believed he was made a scapegoat
for an undisciplined Army, and Pres Nixon ordered him released after 3 y.
The defence may be more successful in the prison-abuse scandal than in
cases involving genocide or murder. There is no dispute that murder is
wrong, and that an order to commit murder would be an unlawful order. But
laws governing proper interrogation tactics are more open to interpretation.
It is unclear whether fellow soldiers on the court-martial juries
would be sympathetic toward the accused. Many serving in Iraq may
blame the scandal for making their tour more dangerous.
Then again, they also know how hard it can be to disobey a potentially
illegal order, said David Sheldon, a Washington-based military attorney.
"Ask any American what the Geneva Convention requires in the gray area
of intimidation, or ask a young, unsophisticated private guarding a
prison while their buddies on the outside are being shot," Sheldon said.
"You're going to do exactly what these people did if told to."

Former Guantanamo inmate says Habib was tortured
A former detainee at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba says American guards
tortured Aussie man, Mamdouh Habib.
London. Brit citizen Tarek Degoul was released from the military
prison earlier this y and says Mr Habib was punched and kicked,
photographed naked and filmed by US guards.
There have also been reports today that AUS's David Hicks was tied up
and beaten, when he was in the hands of the US military in Afghanistan.
Mr Habib's wife says her husband has not written to his family because
interrogators told him his wife and children were dead.
Mr Degoul told Channel 7 he arrived in Guantanamo Bay the same day as
Mr Habib.
"I could see him being dragged by chains that were attached to his
feet and him screaming from agony," he said.
"From beginning to end it was pure humiliation."
Mr Habib's lawyer Stephen Hopper says the Brit man saw the abuse from
his cell.
"He clearly saw what was going on," he said.
"He saw 5 people go into the prison cell, spray Mr Habib with mace,
use their hands and fists, and kick and punch him.
"Then drag him out by chains that were around his feet out of the cell
and down the corridor until he lost site of him."

Howard urged to investigate abuse claims
Terry Hicks says John Howard should personally visit Guantanamo Bay.
Canberra. The father of Guantanamo Bay detainee David Hicks wants PM
John Howard to visit the US-run detention centre, after fresh
allegations of the abuse of Aussies held there.
The latest claims come from a former Brit detainee at the centre --
Tarek Degoul.
He told Channel 7 he saw Mamdouh Habib being bashed by US guards, and
dragged along the ground by chains bound to his feet.
"I could see him being dragged by chains that were attached to his
feet," he said.
He alleges a beating of Mr Habib was filmed and he was also
photographed naked.
A former Pakistani detainee has separately alleged that Adel man David
Hicks was tied up and beaten by his US captors in Afghanistan.
Mr Howard has expressed doubts about the claims, but Terry Hicks says
where there is smoke there is fire.
"I believe the Aussie Govt has the moral obligation to go across and
have a look themselves," he said.
"Not send people like the consular and all this sort of business
because they only see what they want to see.
"I think John Howard or [Foreign Affairs Min] Mr Downer have to go
over themselves and have a look."
The Fed Opp'n says it wants to know if the Govt has seen any
photographs or videotapes of alleged abuse of the Aussies being held
at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba.
Labor's Nicola Roxon says the Govt needs to reveal what it knows.
"Have they seen video footage of the detention of Mr Hicks and Mr
Habib?" she said.
Mr Hicks's lawyer is pushing for the allegations of abuse to be
examined by a committee of the US Congress.

US promises to investigate detainee abuse claims
Washington. The US says it will investigate claims that Guantanamo
Bay detainees David Hicks and Mamdouh Habib have been abused in US custody.
The Bush Admin has given an assurance to the Aussie Govt that it will
investigate the latest claims of abuse involving 2 Aussies at
Guantanamo Bay.
There have been allegations this wk that SYD man Mamdouh Habib and
Adel man David Hicks have been abused while in US custody.
The issue was raised in meetings today between Aussie officials and
the US State Dept.
The secretary of the Aussie Dept of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Dr
Ashton Calvert, is in Washington for meetings at the State Dept,
including with deputy secretary Richard Armitage.
Today, Dr Calvert raised the issue of Mr Hicks and Mr Habib.
In recent days, 2 former detainees of Guantanamo Bay have claimed they
saw the 2 Aussies being beaten.
The Aussie Govt promised it would seek further reassurances from the
US, and Dr Calvert did that today.
The State Dept says it will work with the American Dept of Defence to
provide a full and timely response to the Aussie Govt, but it did not
say how quickly that would occur.
PM John Howard has again questioned why the claims have only
been raised after the scandal surrounding prisoner abuse in Iraq.
He says the Govt has been in touch with the Aussie embassy in
Washington and he will have something further to say once the
allegations have been investigated.
"We would regard any mistreatment as unacceptable and we are seeking
advice and seeking further assurances -- in the past those assurances
have been very freely given and we'll seek those assurances again," he said.

New Iraqi prison photos surface
NY (AFP). United States prison guards are smiling and giving the
thumbs-up over the body of an unknown prisoner in Iraq's Abu Ghraib
jail in new pictures broadcast by US media.
The photos, broadcast on Thu, show Army Specialist Charles Graner
grinning with his thumbs up as he peers into the camera over an
unidentified body lying on a black body bag.
A 2nd almost identical picture was taken of Specialist Sabrina Harman
over the same body.
Both were shown on CNN television.
Both photographed soldiers are among 7 US guards at Abu Ghraib charged
with prisoner abuse.
One of them, Jeremy Sivits, was sentenced to one y in jail on Wed in
Baghdad, in the 1st court martial over the prisoner abuse scandal.
CNN said the 2 new photographs, which have not been authenticated,
surfaced following Sivits' courts martial in Iraq.
Numerous photographs of US soldiers posing before naked, hooded and
often handcuffed Iraqi prisoners at Abu Ghraib have made the round of
internat'l media since last m.
Hundreds more have been shown only to US lawmakers and kept by the
Pentagon as evidence in upcoming courts martial.
The Pentagon on Wed informed a Senate committee by letter that it had
located another disc with 24 digital photographs of "apparent abusive
acts by US forces".
13 of the pictures on the disc "appear to be images already seen on
internat'l television media," the Pentagon said, adding that it was
not clear whether the images were genuine or fakes.
The widespread abuse -- which the Red Cross has said is tantamount to
torture -- has severely sullied US reputation in Iraq and the entire
Arab world.

No more prison abuse in Iraq: US
Baghdad (AFP). The head of coalition prisons in Iraq, General
Geoffrey Miller, insisted on Thu there is no abuse going on in
coalition detention centres there now. "I can tell you with absolute
certainty that there are no abuses going on in our detention
facilities" in Iraq, Miller told American ABC television. He said he
was confident that coalition forces will "continue to get valuable,
actionable intel (from prisoners) to help us win the war and to be
able to save American lives." Asked about a pair of newly released
photos showing US soldiers laughing nr the body of an inmate at Abu
Ghraib prison, Gen Miller said: "I find those pictures inappropriate
and we're all ashamed of any of our soldiers or leaders who would do
inappropriate actions." But he added: "These are the actions of a
very small number of leaders and soldiers." Miller, the former cmdr
of the US detention camp at Guantanamo Bay, testified on the abuses at
Abu Ghraib before the Senate Armed Services Committee on Wed.

Most Iraqis see US as "occupiers"
London (Reuters). Opinion poll results to be released next wk show
nearly 9 out of 10 Iraqis see US forces as occupiers rather than
liberators or peacekeepers, the Financial Times has reported. It
quoted the Iraq Centre for Research and Strategic Studies as saying
more than half of 1,600 Iraqis polled wanted the troops of the US-led
coalition to leave Iraq, compared with about 20% in an Oct survey.
The poll was conducted before photos showing abuse of Iraqi prisoners
by US troops were made public. The newspaper said on Thu the Centre
was considered reliable enough by US officials that they had submitted
questions to be used in the poll. "Iraqis always contrast American
actions with American promises and there's now a wide gap in
credibility," the newspaper quoted the head of the Centre, Saadoun
Duleimi, as saying.

Iraq poll finds poverty main worry
Baghdad (Reuters). Iraqis care more about declining living standards
than US promises of political freedom, and prefer a rebel cleric
hunted by US forces to most mainstream politicians, according to a
poll due for release next wk.
The survey revealed a sharp drop in the number of Iraqis who view US
troops as liberators -- just 7% when the poll was taken last m,
compared to over 40% 6 m ago.
More than 40% of Iraqis would feel safer if US troops left Iraq now, a
preview of the poll showed.
Based partly on questions provided by the US occupation authority, the
survey taken by the Iraqi Centre for Research and Strategic Studies
indicated widespread indifference to the process Washington promises
will lead to elections next y.
Sadoun al-Dulame, head of the centre, said the poll of 1,640 people
across Iraq suggested failure to make good on promises of
reconstruction had now caught up with the US Admin.
"We said that if the CPA [Coalition Provisional Authority] does not
give specific attention to economic and social problems they are going
to face serious problems," he said.
Iraqis polled in Baghdad and 6 provinces last m ranked Moqtada
al-Sadr, the rebel cleric whose militia US forces have been trying to
crush for weeks, among the top 3 figures in the country.
31% of respondents said they strongly supported Sadr -- compared to
50% for Ayatollah Ali Sistani, the top religious authority for
majority Shi'ites -- compared to single digits 3 ma, Dulame said.
Ibrahim al-Jaafari, the head of a large Shi'ite party, received strong
support from 38% of respondents, with most leading political figures,
including others mooted for top posts in an interim govt, faring poorly.
Seventy-seven% said they supported no political party, and more than
85% said they had no interest in candidacy for elected office.
69% said there was someone unemployed in their household and 67.5% of
those said they had been out of work for more than 4 m.
In what Dulame saw as an ominous sign for a country many fear could
split along sectarian or ethnic lines, 44% said they had a very favourable
opinion of religious groups, compared to Iraq's other institutions.
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