Detroit Free Press from Detroit, Michigan • 13

FRIDAY, APRIL 8. 2005 I3A DETROIT FREE PRESS WWW.FREEP.COM Hussein enemies now in charge DCX I Kerkorian loses lengthy merger dispute Smite, Kurdish leaders underscore big shift IRAQ'S PRIME MINISTER r.i ttd a Diuimin KNIOHr KIDDER NEWSPAPERS BAGHDAD, Iraq Cementing Iraq's first democratic government in 50 years, one of Saddam Ajussein's most implacable ene-inies took his oath as president Thursday and quickly named an- other longtime up the U.S. and French embassies in Kuwait in 1983, but al-Jaafari has distanced himself from the attacks. In 2003, U.S. authorities chose him to serve in Iraq's first interim government.

He later became a key member of the United Iraqi Alliance, the Shi'ite bloc that captured a slight majority in the assembly. Job: His principal responsibility will be to oversee the drafting of a permanent constitution by Aug. 1 5 and to prepare the country for fresh elections by the end of the year. Ibrahim al-Jaafari Age; 58 Background: A physician by training, he spent more than two decades first in Iran, then in Britain as an exile trying to topple former President Saddam Hussein's government. In high school, he joined the Dawa Party, which at the time called for overthrowing Iraq's secular regime in favor of an Islamic nation, and was an undercover operative in his college days.

Dawa was accused of carrying out several terrorist attacks, including trying to blow i foe of the ousted dictator to the powerful post of prime minister. Shi'ite politi-i cian Ibrahim was appointed prime Djmister after new presi-den't, Kurdish leader Jalal Ta- and members of his Tikriti clan. The presidency is largely a ceremonial job; the prime minister wields more power. Al-Jaafari's principal responsibility will be to oversee the drafting of a permanent constitution by Aug. 15 and to prepare the country for fresh elections by the end of the year.

Drafting the constitution in a fashion that protects the interests of Iraq's often-feuding ethnic groups including the disaffected Sunni Muslim minority while ensuring national unity promises to be an immense challenge. Interim Prime Minister Ayad Allawi, who was appointed last year by U.S. occupation authorities, resigned Thursday, although he'll stay on for a week or two in a caretaker role, until al-Jaafari appoints his cabinet. Sunnis, viewed as the backbone of the insurgency, make up 20 percent of Iraq's population but hold only 17 of the 275 National Assembly seats. The Kurds, who also account for about 20 percent of the population, hold 75 seats in the assembly.

Many Sunnis stayed home from the Jan. 30 elections out of Ibrahim al-Jaafari party explicitly calls for implementation of sharia, or Islamic law. But Al-Jaafari has avoided any direct comment on his earlier advocacy of an Islamic nation. His appointment has nonetheless raised fears among some Sunnis and Kurds that he may still wish to move Iraq in that direction. The Associated Press contributed to this report.

protest or fears for their safety. A physician by training, al-Jaafari spent more than two decades first in Iran, then Britain as an exile trying to topple Hussein's government. In 2003, U.S. authorities chose him to serve in Iraq's first interim government. He later became a key member of the United Iraqi Alliance, the Shi'ite bloc that captured a slight majority in the assembly.

Al-Jaafari's conservative Dawa labani, was sworn in as the first non-Arab president of a predominantly Arab nation. "Their arrival to the halls of power represents a historic reversal for their ethnic groups, often relegated to prisons, exile or rebel redoubts by Hussein, a Sunni who filled top jobs with close relatives WOMEN I Toughness in combat aids U.S. effort Gay soldier challenges Pentagon secrecy policy By MALIA RULON ASSOCIATED PRESS painted himself as someone who had been duped and lied to by Schrempp. He insisted his lawsuit was "about deceit and fraud." Schrempp, meanwhile, maintained that he always intended for the two companies to merge into one of the world's premier automakers and that his comments to the press were mischar-acterized. DaimlerChrysler lawyers painted Kerkorian as a greedy opportunist who saw a chance to sue for a quick buck after Chrysler suffered heavy losses, put more Germans in charge and Schrempp's remarks were taken out of context.

In automotive circles, most experts and employees have largely accepted the union as a takeover. At the same time, many also have concluded that the deal may have saved Chrysler, which required a congressional bailout in the 1970s and has always suffered through cyclical slumps. David Cole, director of the Center for Automotive Research in Ann Arbor, said Chrysler may well have survived, but it was wise for Eaton to pair up with a larger partner. "Chrysler really did need a complimentary partner to them, particularly with the global reach and the technology" that Chrysler lacked, he said. Some industry watchers felt sympathy for Chrysler workers after the merger, who seemed trapped in a clash of cultures.

"It's over. Now everybody can get on the same track and heading in the same direction," Cole said. But few have felt much concern for Kerkorian, who is worth an estimated $8.9 billion. "Trying to fool Kirk Kerkorian is not something that's ever been done successfully," said David Healy, who studies the auto industry for clients of brokerage Burnham Securities. Despite that, Healy still viewed the deal as a takeover for the following reasons: The company is incorporated in Germany, Schrempp was to be CEO after Eaton's retirement and Daimler-Benz did pay a sizeable premium to Chrysler shareholders.

Farnan didn't rule on every aspect of the allegations, but he ultimately sided with DaimlerChrysler. His ruling focused a great deal on Kerkorian's savvy. Unlike the class-action shareholders, Kerkorian was privy to intimate details of the deal through former Tracinda employee James Aljian, a Chrysler director and later a member of DaimlerChrysler's shareholder committee. Farnan also took great pains to show how DaimlerChrysler followed the terms of the deal it laid out for investors and he noted that the agreement always came with a buyer-beware clause. Documentation to shareholders, he noted, "pointed out that there can be no assurance that this integration, and the synergies expected from that integration, will be achieved as rapidly or to the extent currently anticipated." Contort SARAH A WEBSTER at 313-222-5394 or swebstenafreepress Free Press business writer Jamie Butters and the Associated Press contributed to this report.

From Page 11A Eaton to the witness stand, and ended more than a year ago, on Feb. 11, 2004, after a series of interruptions. Because this was a bench trial, or one with no jury, Farnan was responsible for a decision in the case. The lawsuit and the potential for a ruling in favor of Kerkorian has hung over DaimlerChrysler and its employees like a black cloud for years, and the legal wrangling racked up fees that were estimated several years ago to approach $50 million. So the decision was welcome news in Germany and Auburn Hills, where the Chrysler Group is based.

"We are pleased that the court's decision confirms, once and for all, that the Tracinda case lacked any merit and that all claims against DaimlerChrysler relating to the 1998 merger were completely baseless," Schrempp said in a news release. "We will continue to concentrate our efforts on making this merger a great success by implementing our strategy and optimizing our operations in the U.S., in Germany and around the globe. We at DaimlerChrysler remain committed to creating value for all of our shareholders." DaimlerChrysler shares traded at about $80 when the company was formed and topped $100 in early 1999. Shares closed at $42.50 on Thursday. "We are going to look at our options and decide what to do," said Kerkorian attorney Terry Christensen.

"We don't think it's right." Kerkorian was a bit more pointed in his response to the outcome: "The Americans were laughed at in the German board meetings for having agreed to become a German corporation. Daimler management marveled at the success of their project Blitz and the takeover of an American icon." Kerkorian filed his lawsuit in 2000 after the Financial Times newspaper recorded an interview with the confident Schrempp, in which he explained how he planned to make Chrysler a division of the new company all along but had to go about it in a "roundabout way" for "psychological reasons." The notion that the merger was actually a takeover also was the subject of a 2000 book, "Taken for a Ride: How Daimler-Benz Drove Off with Chrysler," written by Bill Vlasic and Bradley Stertz, which detailed inner machinations within the companies that seemed to support the idea of a secret takeover masterminded by Schrempp. In an e-mail, Stertz said he had not seen the ruling and did not have a comment at this time. In 2003, DaimlerChrysler settled a class action with a group of former Chrysler Corp. investors for $300 million over the allegations a settlement that seemed to bolster Kerkorian's case and raise the chances that DaimlerChrysler might lose its case.

But the holdout battle between Kerkorian and Schrempp was largely perceived as a clash of titans, with no sympathetic victim. Kerkorian, the savvy billionaire investor who is credited with helping to develop Las Vegas, From Page 11A vy captain who directs the Women in the Military project of the nonpartisan, Washington-based Women's Research and Education Institute. "The nature of the engagement over there is such that the women have had to learn how to fight back. And that's been a mighty, mighty big change." The change refuels a long-run-njng debate about whether women should serve in combat units. Those opposed to the ban say it shows that women can hold their own.

Those favoring the ban worry that the nature of the fight in Iraq will make it more likely that the military will sidestep or ease the rules. Among supporters of the ban on women in combat is Elaine Donnelly the president of the Center for Military Readiness, a socially con-j servative advocacy group. The Ar-f my should reassess whether women should serve in units such as Hester's 617th Military Police Company that can end up so close I to the action, Donnelly said. "I think there's some military police roles that women can do and do well," Donnelly said. "But when they start doing things very similar to what the infantry does, that, I think, is a whole different position." Women are permitted to pilot i 1 i A.

a i causing any harm," said Stout, who saysr he is openly gay among most of his 26-member platoon. Stout, of Utica, Ohio, says he has not encountered trouble from fellow soldiers and would like to stay if not for the policy that permits gay men and women to serve only if they keep their sexual orientation secret. He was awarded the Purple Heart after a grenade sent pieces of shrapnel into his arm, face and legs while he was operating a machine gun on an armored Humvee last May. The issue of whether gays should be allowed to openly serve in the military has received increased attention in recent months as the Army has struggled to meet its recruiting goals. Martha Rudd, a spokeswoman for the Army at the Pentagon, declined to comment about Stout, saying the Army doesn't comment on specific cases.

WASHINGTON An Army sergeant wounded in Iraq wants a chance to remain in the military as an openly gay soldier, a desire that's bringing him into conflict with the Pentagon's "don't ask, don't tell" policy. Sgt. Robert Stout, 23, who served in Iraq for more than a year as a combat engineer and was awarded a Purple Heart, said by acknowledging he is gay, he could be jailed and probably will be discharged before his scheduled release date, May 31. i He is believed, to be the first gay soldier wounded in Iraq to publicly discuss his sexuality, said Aaron Belkin, director of the Center for the Study of Sex-, ual Minorities in the Military at the University of California, Santa Barbara. "We can't keep hiding the fact that there's gay people in the military and they aren't gade 3,000 to 5,000 soldiers with the primary mission of engaging in direct combat on the ground.

That still leaves room for them to serve in police, supply, maintenance and other units that closely support combat troops. Those units are vulnerable in Iraq, where conventional front lines don't exist and insurgents target relatively lightly protected patrols and supply lines. "We've always operated under the assumption that there were such things as frontline troops," said Michael O'Hanlon, a military expert at the Brookings Institution. "It's obviously not true in an insurgency or stabilization mission." Danger knows no gender One female soldier was killed in the war before President George W. Bush declared an end to major combat on May 1, 2003.

Since then, 19 more female soldiers and two female civilian military employees have been killed in hostile action, according to the Pentagon. At least 261 women in the military, most in the Army, have been wounded in action since the war's March 19, 2003, onset. Like their male counterparts, female troops have fallen prey to homemade bombs, mortars, rockets, gunshots and vehicle crashes resulting from hostile action. "The fact is that in Iraq now, everyone is in danger," said Martha Rudd, an Army spokeswoman. Neither Pullen, 21, nor Hester was wounded in the March 20 fight.

Four soldiers of the Nebraska National Guard's 1075th Transportation Company, which had been traveling with the convoy and helped repel the attack, and three Kentucky soldiers were wounded. Donnelly said the courage of iiicr onniir amr rnrair rn omn nur Hester and Pullen is admirable. "But the danger of ambushes or the experience of being in an ambush is not the same as what a combat soldier is trained and dispatched to do: to deliberately engage in offensive action against the enemy." Others see the firefight as evidence that women can handle combat assignments. It rebuts arguments that female soldiers will break bonds among male soldiers in combat units and that women can't stand the rigors of living in the field, said Manning. Military leaders "are certainly learning an awful lot from this about women, in general, as far as how they function in this type of environment," Manning said.

"What they are learning is that women can deal with all that stuff and deal with it very well." ort almost any vessel and to serve I most roles in the Army and Marine I Corps. In the Army alone, they constitute about 15 percent of 500,000 active soldiers and about 25 percent of 212,000 reservists. Women remain barred from infantry, armor, special forces and certain artillery units. Defense Department policy also excludes them from units smaller than a bri DOME I Pontiac stadium slated to close next year TIMELINE Or THE DISPUTE ALAN KAMUDADatrolt Fret Prm From Page 11A attracted a record crowd of 61, 983 fans. For nearly three years, the city has been trying to decide what to do with the Silverdome and the 132 acres it sits on.

Two developers want to transform the site; the City Council hopes to name the winner by the end of the year. But before the Silverdome becomes a pile of rubble it will probably be demolished to make way for an office park or a further extension of suburbia here are a few memories to relish: The two biggest crowds ever came in 1987 when Pope John Paul II conducted mass for 93,682 people? "Just being in his presence was absolutely amazing. I was able to have my whole family with me, and aunt who had just come in from Ec-undor," said Bueno, who said he's attended about 95 percent of the events at the Silverdome. Wrestlemania III attracted 93,173 people to the dome to heckle and scream at the choreographed niayhem from performers like Hulk Hogan and Rowdy Roddy Piper. The 10 seasons and 15,629 yards rushed by Barry Sanders; the sin-gle'-game rushing record broken by.

O.J. Simpson during the Thanksgiving Day game in 1976 when he rushed for 273 yards, even though the Lions beat his team, the Buffalo Bills, and too many more magical football moments to Key dates In the dispute between DaimlerChrysler AQ and billionaire Kirk Kerkorian: May 7, Chrysler Corp. and Daimler-Benz AQ announce plans for a merger of equals. Billionaire investor Kirk Kerkorian also enters into a contract with the automakers, promising to vote his Chrysler shares In favor of the deal. Aug.

6, 1998: Daimler and Chrysler send a proxy statement and prospectus of the merger to shareholders. It notes that IChrysler's largest shareholder, 'Kerkorian, already has pledged his support. Sept 18, 1 998: Chrysler shareholders approve the merger. Nov. 17, 1998: The deal closes, and DaimlerChrysler is created.

For each share of Chrysler, holders of the automaker's stock receive 62 percent of a share in the new company. Jan. 8, 1999: DaimlerChrysler shares reach an all-time high of $105 a share. Oct 30, 2000: The Financial Times publishes an Interview with DaimlerChrysler Chief Executive Officer Juergen Schrempp, in which the former Daimler chairman appears to boast about how he planned to make Chrysler a division all along, but had to go about It In a "roundabout way" for "psy- chological reasons." Nov. 17, 2000: Chrysler President James Holden Is fired, and former Daimler executive Dieter Zetsche takes his place.

Nov. 27, 2000: Kerkorian files a lawsuit against DaimlerChrysler and Schrempp, alleging the merger was a takeover that cheated him out of a higher price. Other shareholders also file suit on the same grounds, eventually forming a class action. Aug. 22, 2003: DaimlerChrysler reaches a $300-million settlement agreement with shareholders in the class action, but not with Kerkorian.

Dec. 1, 2003: A trial begins In the case between Kerkorian and DaimlerChrysler. Dec. 16, 2003: The trial goes Into recess after DaimlerChrysler lawyers discover more than 60 pages of confidential notes detailing the merger that were not property disclosed to Kerkorian's legal team. Feb.

9, 2004: The trial resumes, with key witnesses, such as Schrempp, recalled to the stand. Feb. 11, 2004; The trial ends. April District Judge Joseph Farnan Jr. rules In favor of DaimlerChrysler.

The first steel sections of the long-planned, stadium are hoisted into place as workmen try to stay on schedule In 1975. The Silverdome is likely to be demolished after it closes next year. Clyde Frank, who poured the cement pilings and helped install the seats and has lived across the street from the Silverdome for its entire 30-year history. "But the rest of those, it was just too much noise for me." Contact KATHLEEN GRAY at 24S-351-3298 orgrayfrecpress.com. it in a flower pot, but it died right away.

"The World Cup was definitely a great end to my ride there." Performances from every rock star imaginable from Elvis to Madonna to Michael Jackson to the Rolling Stones and the Who. The last concert will be the Warped Tour on July 31. "I saw iVB. King there," said games when fans from around the globe came to Pontiac and 283,598 fans watched the first indoor games played on real grass, cultivated by the horticulture whizzes at Michigan State University. "We made a lot of money and we made history," said Mike Abing-ton, executive director of the Silverdome until the end of 1994.

"I took 8tfme of the turf and put 1994 World XJup soccer "I.