AMERICA has failed to compile evidence identifying any of the 500 prisoners it is holding from the Afghanistan war as suitable candidates for a military tribunal, the Pentagon conceded yesterday.
The admission is a major setback for the United States, which claimed that it had detained senior members of Osama bin Laden’s al-Qaeda network and the Taleban regime.
Despite holding the prisoners for weeks, and in some cases months, interrogators lack enough details to build a case against them that could be put before a specially-convened hearing, the officials said.
US Congress questions efficiency of Colombian anti-drug program
The investigative arm of the US Congress has called for a halt in US funding for Colombian coca and poppy eradication programs, unless "measurable progress" is achieved in reducing drug-generating crops.
The General Accounting Office said in a report issued Monday, the US government "faces serious obstacles to achieving progress in Colombia, and the experiences in Bolivia and Peru strongly suggest that alternative development in Colombia will not succeed unless the obstacles are overcome."
The program is being implemented under Colombian President Andres Pastrana's 7.5-billion-dollar Plan Colombia that aims to curb drug trafficking and boost the economy of the war-ravaged South American nation.
U.S. may send troops to Georgia
The United States is “very close” to deciding to send several hundred special operations troops to Georgia to train and possibly advise local troops to hunt suspected al-Qaida terrorists, U. S. military officials told NBC News. The Washington Post reported Wednesday that the Pentagon has already begun providing combat helicopters to the former Soviet republic.
Bush backs Saudi plan for peace in the Middle East
A Middle East peace proposal floated by Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Abdullah gathered momentum yesterday as the White House signalled approval. In a telephone call to the de facto Saudi ruler, President George Bush said the plan, under which Arab states would open full relations with Israel if it withdraws completely from the occupied Palestinian territories, was "helpful".
Stocks Plummet on Rumor; Pentagon Says No U.S. Ground Troops Are in Iraq
WASHINGTON (AP) - The Pentagon denied Tuesday that any U.S. ground troops are inside Iraq, after a rumor of military action helped send stocks down in early trading.
Marine Lt. Col. Dave Lapan, a Pentagon spokesman, said the mistaken report that caused the stir originated with Fox News, which later told him it had mistakenly rerun a report from last week that was subsequently denied by the Pentagon.
Fox did not immediately return a phone call seeking comment.
The Dow Jones industrial average, which opened higher to start the session, fell by about 140 points to 10,033. Analysts also attributed the decline to a report showing slipping consumer confidence. The Dow later regained some of the lost ground.
US threat to peace, says vicar
The vicar’s complaints against the US involved its response to September 11. He criticised conditions in which Taleban prisoners were kept in Guantanamo Bay, capitalism generally, and Christian fundamentalism in the US. He wrote of Americans: “They have not been fighting for civilisation but for empire, power and the American way of life: luxury in a world of poverty.”
TOKYO, Feb. 26 – Japan and South Korea are trying to calm the waters after President Bush's continued harsh rhetoric toward North Korea on his trip to Asia last week.
Analysts here say Bush's comments, in which he castigated the North Korean leader, Kim Jong Il and repeated his judgment that the regime is "evil," have further distanced prospects of renewed cooperation by Pyongyang.
North Korea has reacted angrily to Bush's statements, calling the U.S. president the "kingpin of terrorism" and deeming his trip a "war junket."
US Certifies Theft Of Russian Nuclear Material Has Occurred
An undetermined amount of weapons-grade nuclear material has been stolen in post-Communist Russia, heightening concerns that some of it could have ended up in the wrong hands, the US intelligence community has concluded.
The announcement comes amid warnings by top US officials that Osama bin Laden and his al-Qaeda terrorist network have been making a concerted effort to obtain the know-how and materials to manufacture a crude nuclear or radiological device.
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