Courier-Post from Camden, New Jersey • Page 3

Saturday, April 17, 2004 www.courierpostonlinc.com CqurierPost The World. International, National and Regional News News Editor Chris Silvestri Agenda Scheduled launch of Gravity Probe to test predictions of Albert Einstein's general theory of relativity, from Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif. See our Web site for breaking national and international news. csilvestricourierpostonIine.com (856) 317-7849 Bush, Blair stand firm 5 Allies back June 30 transition, envoy's plan A k-' 'ir A inm if VP I fCtf 1 1 Bush defends support of Gaza withdrawal plan. 6A "It was never going to be easy and it isn't now" in Iraq, said Blair, who echoed Bush's comments and also his resolve.

"We will not waver in the face of fear and intimidation," said Bush. Both Bush and Blair turned aside questions that questioned the motives behind their adding that American-and British-dominated military forces "will remain in Iraq to help the new government succeed." The president spoke at a news conference in the sun-splashed White House Rose Garden, standing shoulder by shoulder once more with Blair, his principal ally in the effort to topple Saddam Hussein and restore democracy in Iraq. By SCOn LINDLAW Associated Press WASHINGTON President Bush, with a strong second from British Prime Minister Tony Blair, signaled support Friday for an interim government to take power in Iraq on June 30 and said the plan under development by a U.N. envoy is "broadly acceptable to the Iraqi people." The authority of the coalition backed by the United States will expire on the June 30 deadline previously set, Bush said, J. SCOn APPLEWHITEAssociated Press British Prime Minister Tony Blair and President Bush hold a Rose Garden news conference Friday.

fir mi dig nmi Faiopito 'lf A art rr I i 4 mrr. Book: Plan for Iraq war began in '01 Associated Press WASHINGTON President Bush quietly ordered creation of a war plan against Iraq while overseeing a national security team torn by that course, including a vice president determined to link Saddam Hussein to al-Qaida, says a new book. Bob Woodward, in Plan of Attack, says Secretary of State Colin Powell believed Vice President Dick Cheney developed as Woodward puts it an "unhealthy fixation" on trying to find a connection between Iraq and the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. Bush dismissed such characterizations of Cheney.

The Associated Press obtained a copy of the book, which will be in bookstores next week and covers the 16 months leading to the March 2003 invasion. Bush told Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld in November 2001 after U.S. forces attacked Afghanistan to prepare for possible war with Iraq, and kept some members of his closest circle in the dark, Woodward said. In an interview with the author, Bush said he feared that if news had gotten out about the Iraq plan as America was fighting another conflict, that would Music blares as forces taunt rebels By JASON KEYSER Associated Press FALLUJAH, Iraq In Fallujah's darkened, empty streets, U.S.

troops blast ACDC's "Hell's Bells" and other rock music full volume from a huge speaker, hoping to grate on the nerves of this Sunni Muslim city's gunmen and give a laugh to Marines along the front line. Unable to advance farther into the city, an Army psychological operations team hopes a mix of heavy metal and insults shouted in Arabic including, "You shoot like a goat herder" will draw gunmen to step forward and attack. The loud music recalls the Army's use of rap and rock to help flush out Panamanian leader Manuel Noriega in 1989. The Marines' psychological operations came as U.S. negotiators were pressing Fallujah representatives to get gunmen in the city to abide by a cease-fire.

In the meantime, perhaps the fiercest enemy everyone here seems to agree is the boredom. "The longer we wait to push into the city, the more dangerous it's going to be," said Cpl. Miles Hill, 21, from Oklahoma. "They (the insurgents) have time to set stuff up." He guesses the insurgents are likely rigging doors with explosives, knowing Marines will kick them in during searches if they sweep the city. JOHN MOOREAssociated Press Lance Cpl.

Scott Kinser describes a firefight to fellow Marines stationed in Fallujah, Iraq, Friday. Missing American soldier shown captive on videotape DEVELOPMENTS By JIM KRANE Associated Press BAGHDAD, Iraq Videotape broadcast Friday shows a captive U.S. soldier flanked by masked gunmen with DENIS DOYLEAssociated Press Socialist leader Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero (right) Is congratulated by a Socialist member of Parliament after he was elected Spain's new prime minister at the Spanish Parliament In Madrid on Friday. 2 former executives cleared in Qwest case DENVER A federal jury acquitted two former Qwest executives of improperly booking nearly $34 million in revenue, a stinging defeat for the government in the first criminal trial stemming from accounting irregularities at the telecommunications giant. The jury deadlocked in the case against a third defendant and on most counts against a fourth.

Thomas Hall, Grant Graham, John Walker and Bryan Treadway were accused of improperly booking nearly $34 million in revenue as part of a $100 million deal in 2001 to link Arizona schools to the Internet. N.M. senator is victim of credit-card theft ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. Someone charged more than $800 to Sen. Pete Do-menici's credit cards last month after he lost his wallet during a visit to Albuquerque.

The New Mexico Republican said he was surprised none of the cashiers who rang up the purchases raised questions when the buyer signed the six-term senator's name to a receipt. "Geez, you thought everyone knew me," he said. The credit card companies will not hold the senator responsible for the purchases, he said. Man jailed 18 years is pardoned in N.C. RALEIGH, N.C.

A man who served 18 years in prison for a murder he didn't commit has been pardoned by North Carolina governor Easley and could be eligible for $360,000 in compensation. Darryl Hunt was twice convicted of the 1984 murder of Deborah Sykes, who was raped and killed as she walked to her job as a copy editor at the now-defunct Winston-Salem Sentinel. He was freed after 18 years in prison in December when DNA evidence led police to another man, who confessed to the killing and said he acted alone. A judge vacated the charges in February. REALITY CHECK Stowaway Chinese cat will be given asylum A Tampa, business owner opening a shipment of merchandise from China got an additional item he didn't expect a severely undernourished cat.

The female cat, named China by animal service staff members, tipped the scale at just over 3 pounds after being trapped in the container for the nearly monthlong trip. Norman Goldberg, owner of Quality Discount Cages, said he discovered the cat a week ago when he received the shipment of bird cages at his warehouse. Goldberg's brother-in-law e-mailed the factory in China where the cages originated, Dayang Co. "We have two cats, but they disappeared one month ago," a company staffer replied. "Please raise it, or you can give it to the animal asylum." If the cat is healthy, it will be put up for adoption.

Courier-Post wire services Iraq's top Shiite cleric, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Husseini al-Sistani, warned the U.S. military against entering the holy city of Najaf to capture a radical cleric wanted for murder. U.S. Maj. Gen.

John Sattler said the 2,500 U.S. troops deployed on the edge of the southern city would not move in for now. Negotiations are under way to find a compromise. American 'experts were working to determine whether four bodies found west of Baghdad were the remains of private U.S. contractors missing since an April 9 convoy attack.

Three Czech journalists and a Syrian-Canadian aid worker were freed by their captors; all said they were in good health. A man from the United Arab Emirates and a Danish businessman were reported kidnapped. A Chinese citizen was reportedly released Friday, two days after being taken captive. automatic rifles, the second American and first U.S. serviceman confirmed kidnapped in with my child." Maupin, of Batavia, Ohio, and Sgt.

Elmer C. Krause, 40, of Greensboro, N.C, were listed as missing after their convoy was attacked April 9 outside Baghdad, amid a wave of kidnappings blamed on insurgents. Two dozen foreigners have been abducted in the past week amid the worst violence Iraq has seen since the U.S.-led invasion on March 20, 2003. In the latest bloodshed, U.S. troops skirmished with Shiite militiamen near the southern city of Kufa; five Iraqis died.

In the north, mortars fired by insurgents killed eight Iraqi civilians in Mosul. 1 i MAUPIN Iraq since the end of war. Wearing a floppy desert hat, 20-year-old Pfc. Keith Maupin, known as "Matt," appears unharmed in the grainy footage but looks tense and frightened as he sits on the floor. He glances down frequently before looking into the camera to identify himself.

"My name is Keith Matthew Maupin. I am a soldier from the 1st Division," he is heard saying in the tape, aired on the Arab TV station Al-Ja-zeera. "I am married with a 10-month-old child. I came to liberate Iraq, but I did not come willingly because I wanted to stay cause "enormous inter national angst and do mestic speculation." Change of fortune Airport security program The Democratic and Republican state committees have roughly a rflvfirsfiri their financial nnsitinns frnm four years ano -a- Debts dilute war chest to focus on fliers' behavior $918,000 i $644,000 how rr works $134,001 i $125,500 i J- March '00 11 April '04 1 Here's how behavior pattern recognition works at Logan International Airport, according to Massachusetts State Police: Security officials on foot watch people as they move through terminals. They look for odd or suspicious behavior.

If they see it, law enforcement officials then start a pleasant conversation. Where are you going? Why? The officer will try to identify deceit through subtle cues in suspects' body language, what they say and how they say it. At checkpoints, screening supervisors have a score sheet with a list of behaviors on it. If enough suspicious activities are noted to reach a certain score, they'll notify the troopers. Republicans Democrats By LESLIE MILLER Associated Press WASHINGTON When someone at an airport is sweating, is it because he's running late or trying to hide something? Could hand signals between people in a terminal be part of an inside joke or a terror plot? A pilot program using "behavior pattern recognition" is under way at Boston's Logan International Airport, where two of the planes used by the Sept.

11 hijackers took off. Air marshals, passenger screeners and state police stationed there have undergone special training in things to look for that could indicate a terrorist plot. Israeli officials have employed a version of the technique for years to protect air travelers against terrorists. At Logan, uniformed and undercover security officials watch people as they move through terminals. They look for odd or suspicious behavior: heavy clothes on a hot day, loiter- By MICHAEL SYMONS Gannett State Bureau TRENTON Democrats have more than five times more money than Republicans in their three major campaign accounts, say fund-raising reports made public Friday, though their edge is dulled by $885,000 in unpaid debts.

Democrats are expected to have an easier time raising funds because, for the first time since 1991, they control the governor's office and both houses of the state Legislature. But once debts are subtracted, the Democratic State Committee and the "leadership" committees run by the Senate president and Assembly speaker are worth $369,645 as of March 31, compared with $203,892 for the GOP "big three." "That's not much difference," said David P. Rebov-ich, a political science professor at Rider University in Lawrenceville. "It's a Democratic-leaning state, ers without luggage, anyone observing security methods. At the security checkpoints, screening supervisors have a score sheet with a list of behaviors on it.

If a passenger hits a certain number, a law enforcement officer will be notified to question the person. Air marshals watch the airport crowds as they wait for their flights; they, too, alert the troopers if they see something suspicious. Massachusetts State Police Maj. Tom Robbins, who oversees the troopers at Logan, said the program has been a success. The technique is not new to the government Cus toms agents have used the technique to look for smugglers at border crossings.

But some civil libertarians are wary, concerned the program could lead to unlawful searches and seizures and persecution of law-abiding passengers. Rafi Ron, former head of security at Israel's Ben Gur-ion Aii-port, was hired to train Logan's state troopers in behavior pattern recognition. He said terrorists understand the limitations of security technology. Walkthrough metal detectors and X-ray machines for carry-on bags can't detect plastic explosives, for example. SHELDON L.

SNEED Courier-Post D-Camden, and Assemblyman Louis D. Green-wald, D-Voorhees. There's also $150,000 owed to South Jersey Democratic party boss George E. Norcross III and his relatives; $50,000 to Gayle E. Schmidt, chief operating officer of U.S.

Vision which is partially owned by Norcross. Also included is $100,000 to Susan and Geoffrey Hudson of Voorhees; $50,000 loaned by two executives at Commerce Insurance, where Norcross is chairman and chief executive officer. S59SX2.r 3 "Til EBBS and they're the party in power in state government. Democrats incurred their debts in October, when 15 individuals or political committees made huge loans in advance of the midterm elections. Some of the loans are interest-free, while others were at the prime interest rate plus 1 percent.

Outstanding debts include $235,000 to the campaign funds of four Camden County lawmakers Sen. John H. Adler, D-Cherry Hill, Sen. Wayne R. Bryant, D-Lawnside, Assembly Majority Leader Joe Roberts.