Yemeni Authorities Free a Mastermind of USS Cole Attack… [Derived Headline]
Yemeni authorities free a mastermind of USS Cole attack
By AHMED AL-HAJ
Associated Press Writer
SAN’A, Yemen (AP) – Yemen has set free one of the al-Qaida masterminds of the USS Cole bombing in 2000 that killed 17 American sailors, a senior security official said Thursday.
Jamal al-Badawi, who is wanted by the FBI, was convicted in 2004 of plotting, preparing and helping carry out the USS Cole bombing and received a death sentence that was commuted to 15 years in prison.
He and 22 others, mostly al-Qaida fighters, escaped from prison in 2004. But al-Badawi was granted his freedom after turning himself in 15 days ago and pledging loyalty to Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh, said the official, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media.
The official said police were told by the government to “stop all previous orders concerning measures adopted against al-Badawi.”
Witnesses told The Associated Press that al-Badawi was receiving well-wishers at his home in the al-Buraika district in Aden.
The Interior Ministry said earlier that al-Badawi voluntarily gave himself up to police, but media reports said tribal chiefs mediated his surrender after he renounced terrorism and pledged allegiance to the Yemeni leader.
Al-Badawi had escaped prison once before with nine other suspects of the Cole attack in April 2003, but was rearrested.
Al-Qaida used to have an active presence in Yemen, the ancestral home of Osama bin Laden. The group was blamed for the bombing of the Cole and the attack on a French oil tanker that killed one person two years later.
Also Thursday, a second security official said police have uncovered a terrorist cell composed of four extremists who were recruiting young Yemenis to carry out suicide attacks in Iraq and elsewhere.
The four were allegedly receiving funds from abroad and were recruiting young men in their twenties from mosques and religious seminars during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, said the official, citing their confessions. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media.
Yemen does not have a law that criminalizes Jihad, or holy war. Detainees remain in prison until they either renounce their commitment to Jihad or are released under pressure from family and human rights groups.
Since the suicide attack in July that killed eight Spanish tourists visiting an ancient Yemeni temple, President Saleh has said in several interviews with local papers that al-Qaida had reached a truce with the government.
Myanmar pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi meets with government official
AP Photo TOK114, TOK206, XKK104
YANGON, Myanmar (AP) – Pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi – under house arrest for 12 of the last 18 years – met for a little more than an hour Thursday with a Myanmar government official in a meeting broadcast on state television.
Suu Kyi and government minister Aung Kyi were shown seated in high-backed chairs having a discussion – a scene that suggested two dignitaries in a meeting rather than someone under house arrest.
The Nobel peace laureate was driven from her home to a nearby government guest house, where she held talks with Aung Kyi, the newly appointed “minister for relations,” the report said.
It was the first known meeting between Suu Kyi and the retired major general who was appointed to the post Oct. 8 to hold talks with her.
His exact duties have not been detailed, but it appeared Aung Kyi would coordinate all of Suu Kyi’s contacts with both the regime and the United Nations, which is seeking to end the political deadlock between democracy advocates and the junta.
Appointing a liaison officer was suggested by U.N. special envoy Ibrahim Gambari during a visit to Myanmar weeks ago, state media said. Gambari met with both top junta officials and with Suu Kyi twice at a government guest house during his visit.
Zalmay Khalilzad, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, said “the meeting is a good thing, but not sufficient.”
“There is a need for a full reconciliation process to start, a transition” to democracy, he told reporters at U.N. headquarters in New York.
“We believe it’s very important for Mr. Gambari … to be involved in the dialogue with regard to reconciliation,” he said.
Khalilzad said Suu Kyi “has to be in circumstances where she can consult, meet with her party members, and have informed discussion with the government with regard to the transition, and those circumstances are not there.”
He said the U.S. and the U.N. are trying to get India, China and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations to use their influence to encourage the government to change Suu Kyi’s conditions, speed Gambari’s return, and release prisoners.
The U.N. has said Myanmar had agreed to move up the date of Gambari’s next visit to early November from mid-November.
Myanmar’s government has been strongly criticized for sending troops to crush peaceful protests in late September. The military junta said 10 people were killed, but diplomats and dissidents say the death toll is likely much higher. Thousands were arrested, and the hunt for participants is reportedly continuing.
Aung Kyi, who on Wednesday was elevated by the government to labor minister from deputy labor minister, has a reputation among foreign diplomats, U.N. officials and aid groups as being relatively accessible and reasonable, compared with junta leaders, who are highly suspicious of outsiders. He has had the delicate task of dealing with the International Labor Organization, which accuses the junta of using forced labor.
Earlier this month, the government said the junta leader, Senior Gen. Than Shwe, was willing to meet with Suu Kyi – but only if she met certain conditions, such as renouncing support for other countries’ economic sanctions against the military regime.
Than Shwe has only met Suu Kyi once before, in 2002.
Meanwhile, Gambari met Chinese officials for a second day of talks Thursday to push Beijing to do more to pressure Myanmar’s leaders to ease its restrictions on pro-democracy activists.
Making his fifth stop in a six-nation tour, Gambari met Vice Foreign Minister Wang Yi a day after Assistant Foreign Minister He Yafei expressed backing for the U.N. envoy’s efforts.
“We will continue to support you in playing a constructive role in finding a peaceful resolution in Myanmar,” Wang said before the two began their closed-door talks.
China – a political partner of Myanmar’s junta and one of its top trading partners – has joined U.N. Security Council members in criticizing the crackdown and has nudged the junta to talk with Gambari. But it also has blocked the Security Council from imposing sanctions.
Myanmar’s military has ruled the country since 1962. The current junta took power in 1988 after crushing the democracy movement led by Suu Kyi. In 1990, it refused to hand over power when Suu Kyi’s party won a landslide election victory.
The protests in Myanmar began Aug. 19 after the government raised fuel prices in one of Asia’s poorest countries. But they were based in a deep-rooted dissatisfaction with the repressive military rule that has gripped the country, previously known as Burma, since 1962. The protests were faltering when Buddhist monks took the lead late last month.
The junta’s mouthpiece, the New Light of Myanmar, reported Thursday authorities would charge what they called the “bogus” Buddhist monks who led the protests.
“Most of the monks from the National Front of Monks are ex- convicts and the bogus monks who led the protests in violation of cleric rules” will be charged, the newspaper quoted Religious Affairs Minister Brig. Gen. Thura Myint Maung as saying during a meeting with senior monks in Yangon.
The minister said authorities had detained several monks for questioning but are releasing those who had unwittingly taken part in the protests. He did not mention how many. The report also did not say what the “bogus” monks would be charged with.
Buddhist monks enjoy great respect among the country’s population at large, and the violent suppression of their protests has seriously hurt the junta’s reputation.
To counter the bad impression, state media have been filled with stories suggesting the monks who took part in the protests were a tiny minority and not entirely religious, and reporting virtually daily on junta members visiting monasteries to make donations.
Commanding officer of nuclear sub relieved of duty; investigation found falsified records
By CHELSEA J. CARTER
Associated Press Writer
LOS ANGELES (AP) – The commanding officer of the nuclear-powered submarine USS Hampton was relieved of his duty Thursday because of a loss of confidence in his leadership, the Navy said Thursday.
Cmdr. Michael B. Portland was relieved of duty after a U.S. Navy investigation found the ship failed to do daily safety checks on its nuclear reactor for a month and falsified records to cover up the omission.
“His oversight of the crew’s performance did not identify these issues” without an outside inspection, Navy Lt. Alli Myrick, a public affairs officer, told The Associated Press.
It appears from a preliminary investigation on the Hampton that sailors in Submarine Squadron 11 had skipped the required analysis of the chemical and radiological properties of the submarine’s reactor for more than a month, even though a daily check is required.
The Hampton, a Los Angeles Class submarine assigned to Submarine Squadron Eleven, is the most advanced nuclear attack submarine in the world, carrying a torpedo, cruise missile, and mine-laying arsenal, according to information on the Navy’s Web site. The submarine is docked in San Diego.
Myrick said Portland will be reassigned and the Hampton will not conduct operations until the Navy can confirm the safety standards have been met.
Portland’s removal comes after officials also discovered that logs on the Hampton had been filled out to make it appear the daily checks of the reactor water had actually been done.
Other members of the squadron discovered the lapse during a routine examination required as part of the redundancy built into the system so problems are caught. The examination was done as the submarine was nearing the end of a West Pacific deployment that concluded Sept. 17.
The investigation was first reported in Monday’s edition of Navy Times newspaper, which quoted an unidentified source as saying that failing to measure and maintain the correct water chemistry in the reactor over the long-term could cause corrosion in the propulsion system.
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