Pittsburgh Post-Gazette from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania • Page 4

Nov 16 2006 PITTSBURGH POST-GAZETTE THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 16, 2006 WWW.POST-GAZETTE.COM A-4 INTERNATIONAL For news updates, visit www.post-gazette.com/ nationworld WORLD BRIEFS Rice: Talks with N. Korea not imminent HANOI, Vietnam Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice yesterday suggested that new talks intended to shutter North nuclear program may not come quickly. The six-nation talks have been mothballed for a year, during which North Korea red a long-range missile and conducted an underground nuclear explosion that unnerved Asia and the West. The United States, South Korea, China, Japan and Russia have offered impoverished North Korea a package of economic, political and energy incentives if it gives up its nuclear weapons. The North agreed to the deal in September 2005, but then backed away.

3 Muslim teachers jailed BANGKOK, Thailand A Thai court yesterday sentenced three Muslim teachers to 10 years each in prison for rebellion and criminal conspiracy charges related to their membership in an Islamic separatist group, but acquitted them of murder charges in a 2004 bombing, their lawyer said. More than 1,800 people have died in violence in three southernmost, Muslim- majority provinces Yala, Pattani and Narathiwat since an Islamic insurgency ared in January 2004. Southern Muslims have long complained of discrimination at the hands of the Buddhist majority, especially in jobs and education. Strike ends in Bangladesh DHAKA, Bangladesh An opposition alliance said yesterday it would suspend a strike that paralyzed Bangladesh for four days but promised to return to the streets if their demand for election reforms goes unmet. Fourteen parties began the strike Sunday, calling out tens of thousands of demonstrators to block roads, rail lines and sea ports to force the removal of four election cials who they accuse of favoring former Prime Minister Khaleda coalition.

The cials deny the allegations and refused to resign. During the blockade, clashes broke out between rival factions and two people were killed and dozens injured. Most stores and schools closed and supplies to the capital were disrupted, causing food prices to increase by as much as 30 percent. strengthens MEXICO CITY Sergio strengthened into a Category 2 hurricane yesterday, its winds increasing to 98 mph as it drifted far off coast. Sergio, the 10th hurricane of the year in the eastern was located 480 miles south of Manzanillo, Mexico, and was creeping southeastward at 2 mph, the U.S.

National Hurricane Center in Miami said. Center forecaster Michelle Mainelli said the hurricane could strengthen further, but was expected to stay over water, parallel to the Mexican coast, for the next ve days. Sergio was a small, compact hurricane, with winds extending only 45 miles out from the center. Also in the Turkey has suspended military relations with France in a dispute over whether the mass killings of Armenians early in the last century amounted to genocide. The move was the latest backlash against French legislation that, if approved by the Senate and president, would criminalize denial that the killings of Armenians in Turkey were Thousands of people living along northern Pacific coast fled to higher ground yesterday after a powerful undersea earthquake prompted tsunami warnings as far away as Alaska.

The 8.1-magnitude quake struck an area claimed by both Russia and Japan, but the waves did not swell higher than 23 inches. meteorological agency withdrew its tsunami warning after about three hours. GI pleads guilty in rape, murder case By Ryan Lenz The Associated Press FORT CAMPBELL, Ky. One of four U.S. soldiers accused of raping a 14-year-old Iraqi girl last spring and killing her and her family pleaded guilty yesterday and agreed to testify against the others.

Spc. James P. Barker agreed to the plea deal to avoid the death penalty, said his civilian attorney, David Sheldon. The military judge presiding over the case, Lt. Col.

Richard Anderson, asked Spc. Barker why he participated in the attack in Mahmoudiya, a village about 20 miles south of Baghdad. It was among the worst in a series of alleged attacks on civilians and other abuses by military personnel in Iraq. hated Iraqis, your Spc. Barker answered.

can smile at you, then shoot you in your face without even thinking about Col. Anderson accepted the plea agreement, which calls for Spc. Barker to serve at least life in prison. The judge will decide in a hearingtoday whether Spc. Barker should be allowed to seek parole.

Sgt. Paul E. Cortez, 24, and Pfc. Jesse V. Spielman, 22, members of the 101st Airborne Division with Spc.

Barker, also are charged in the case. Sgt. Cortez deferred entering a plea during his arraignment yesterday morning. Pfc. Spielman will be arraigned in December.

The fourth soldier, Pfc. Bryan L. Howard, 19, also deferred entering a plea at his arraignment in October. A fifth person, former Army Private Steve Green, 21, pleaded not guilty last week to civilian charges including murder and sexual assault. Mr.

Green was discharged from the Army for a before the allegations became known, and prosecutors have yet to say if they will pursue the death penalty against him. The group is accused of raping the girl and burning her body to conceal their crimes, then killing the father, mother and 6-year-old sister. After entering his plea yesterday, Spc. Barker gave the court a vivid account of the events. Spc.

Barker said he and the others were drinking and playing cards while they manned a traffic checkpoint. Mr. Green brought up the idea of raping the girl and killing her family, he said. brought it up to me, and asked me what I thought about it. At a couple of points, I told him he was Spc.

Barker said. Spc. Barker said he and Mr. Green then approached the others with the idea, but there never was a verbal agreement to do it. just got set in motion, we just started changing myself, Cortez and Spc.

Barker said. the time we started changing clothes, it was more or less a nonverbal agreement that we were going to go along with what we were Spc. Barker said he, Mr. Green and Sgt. Cortez raped the girl, and Mr.

Green killed the girl, her parents and her sister. Spc. Barker did not name Pfc. Spielman and Pfc. Howard as participants in the rape and slayings, though he said they were at the house when the assault occurred and had come knowing what the others intended to do.

Sgt. Cortez, who could face the death penalty if convicted, and Pfc. Howard watched from the audience as Spc. Barker described the assault. In plea deal, soldier agrees to testify against 3 others charged in the crimes Mass kidnapping further reveals deep sectarian divide in Iraq By Solomon Moore Los Angeles Times BAGHDAD, Iraq day after a mass kidnapping raid in the capital, Shiite and Sunni Arab government officials yesterday bickered over the actual number of men still missing.

Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, a Shiite, claimed that all but two of 39 abductees taken Tuesday by heavily armed gunmen wearing police uniforms had been released. Sunni Arab officials, including the minister in charge of the Higher Education Ministry building where the raid took place, say as many as 150 were kidnapped, and that 70 remain missing. Ministry fears were compounded yesterday by the discovery around the capital of 55 unidentified bodies. In addition, education officials questioned the motives of the government and their tally of the missing abductees. They also criticized Mr.

insistence that the kidnappers were not real police commandos and his reluctance to blame Shiite militias, some of whom have infiltrated the force and conducted death-squad killings and kidnappings. Mr. Maliki is himself a Shiite, and the ministry is run by Sunni Arabs. At a news conference at Baghdad University, Mr. Maliki emphasized the effectiveness of the response and pledged to punish the perpetrators of the raid.

Five Iraqi security officials, including the police chief and an Iraqi army general in charge of the Karada district where the raid occurred, remained in custody yesterday. But Abed Thiab Ajili, a Sunni Arab politician who is the minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research, reiterated his claim yesterday that 150 men were abducted, and declared that he was temporarily suspending his leadership of 200 universities and research centers until the last hostage is freed. Ministry spokesman Basil Ismael Khateeb said the number of released captives proved that estimates by Mr. office are too low, and that initial reports of more than 100 abductees are more accurate. Mr.

Khateeb said ministry officials arrived at that number by counting the number of men who work at the Scholarship and Cultural Relations Directorate office on a daily basis, interviewing released hostages and witnesses and estimating the number of visitors who might have been there at the time of the raid. Even by the estimate, the mass kidnapping would be among the larg- est in a battle zone where ransom demands and disappeared people are commonplace. Both Sunni Arab insurgents and Shiite paramilitary groups engage in kidnappings to intimidate opponents. Mafia-style ransom networks also abduct people with impunity. Kidnappings by men in police uniforms, however, raise the specter of militia death- squad operations that have produced a steady flow of mutilated and dumped corpses many of them Sunni Arabs.

As the number of bodies discovered around Baghdad increased yesterday, ministry officials and Sunni Arab leaders said they were worried that some of the abductees may be among the dead. By last night, however, none of the bodies had been identified as victims of kidnapping. very afraid that some of the kidnapped people will be among those said Dr. Ala Maki, a medical school professor and Sunni Arab parliament member, who chairs the higher education committee. that is the case, we will be in a very critical situation that will put the government and the Interior Ministry and Defense Ministry and the power of the state into question: What are their real intentions? Is this a real government? Or is there no government at In his comments at Baghdad University, Mr.

Maliki took pains to condemn the kidnappers. government has shown a strong response in chasing the ignorant and undisciplined criminals who have joined hands with Satan. By doing this, these criminals proved themselves to be worse than the Tak- said Mr. Maliki, using an Arabic term that translates roughly as Hadi Images Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, center, arrives at Baghdad University yesterday to talk to students and professors. government has shown a strong response in chasing the ignorant and undisciplined criminals who have joined hands with Satan.

By doing this, these criminals proved themselves to be worse than the Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, using an Arabic term that translates roughly as Marine gets brig for role in Iraqi murder By Tony Perry Los Angeles Times CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. In high school in nearby Encinitas, John J. Jodka III and his 11th-grade classmates dramatized the court-martial of Lt. William Calley for the My Lai massacre in Vietnam. His teacher says young Jodka at the time offered thoughtful, incisive comments about the need for soldiers to balance their duty to follow orders with their personal sense of morality.

Yesterday, Marine Pfc. Jodka, now 20, was sentenced to 18 months in the brig for his role in the kidnapping and murder in April of an unarmed Iraqi, Hashim Ibrahim Awad, 52, in Hamandiya, west of Baghdad. In an unwavering voice, Pfc. Jodka told the judge, Lt. Col.

David Jones, that his loyalty to the Marines in his squad and his respect for the sergeant and corporals in charge of the squad overwhelmed his belief that the plan to kidnap and execute a suspected insurgent was illegal and immoral. That same loyalty, he said, led him to be part of a conspiracy to lie to superiors about the killing and to insist for months that he was innocent. Pfc. Jodka said, is nothing but your squad. If you depend on those men, never survive Pfc.

Jodka said he agonized over his decision to plead guilty because it could be interpreted as disloyalty to the Marines in his squad, several of whom have been charged in connection with the killing. most difficult part for me is that I had to weigh my own integrity and need for the truth with the loyalty to the Marines that I had bonded with in he said under questioning from one of his attorneys. Pfc. father, his voice breaking with emotion, pleaded with Col. Jones to J.J.

to his family and to His son was just a when he was sent to Iraq, the elder Jodka said. At least 16 U.S. service personnel have been convicted or have pleaded guilty in the unwarranted killing of Iraqis since the war began in March 2003. Two received life sentences. The Marine Corps is still investigating whether to file murder and other charges against Marines from Camp Pendleton for the deaths of 24 Iraqis at Haditha in November 2005.

Pfc. Jodka pleaded guilty Oct. 26 to aggravated assault and conspiracy to obstruct justice in the death of Mr. Awad, a former Iraqi police officer. In exchange, authorities dropped charges of murder, kidnapping and larceny, which could have brought a life sentence.

Navy corpsman Melson Bacos, who also pleaded guilty in Mr. death, was sentenced to a year in the brig. The corpsman, unlike Pfc. Jodka, never fired his weapon at Mr. Awad.

In all, eight members of Kilo Company, 3rd battalion, 5th regiment, were charged in the killing, which occurred shortly after midnight April 26. Prosecutors say Sgt. Lawrence Hutchins III, the squad leader, decided to kill a suspected insurgent who had been arrested three times but let go for lack of evidence. When that individual could not be located, the Marines allegedly decided to kidnap and kill Mr. Awad, who was suspected of helping to plant roadside bombs.

Pfc. Jodka said he was unaware that the man that he and others shot at was not the original target of the search. Gen. Abizaid shot back: would also say that despair is not a Sen. John McCain, another presidential contender, voiced disappointment that Gen.

Abizaid seemed to be clinging to the an assertion the general rejected. In an unusual admission, Gen. Abizaid said there should have been more U.S. troops, as well as Iraqi and foreign forces, to stabilize the country after the U.S.-led invasion in March 2003. Shinseki was right that a greater international force contribution, U.S.

force contribution and Iraqi force contribution should have been available immediately after major combat he said. Gen. Abizaid also said the policy of of Iraq society introduced in 2003 by proconsul L. Paul Bremer was too severe. Under hard questioning from Mr.

McCain, Gen. Abizaid spoke frankly about the stress on U.S. forces, which he said constrains any major troop increase. can put in 20,000 more Americans tomorrow and achieve a temporary effect. But when you look at the overall American force pool available out there, the ability to sustain that commitment is simply not something that we have right now with the size of the Army and the Marine he said.

He later told a House panel that exceeding current troop levels would place tremendous on the Army. Mr. McCain, who favors a significant boost in U.S. forces, quizzed Gen. Abizaid on why more troops were not being sent to the Sunni insurgent stronghold of Anbar province, where U.S.

casualties are among the highest in Iraq, and where Marine commanders say they lack sufficient forces. Abizaid, is Al Anbar province under Mr. McCain asked. Anbar province is not under control, Gen. Abizaid replied.

He said he recently released a Marine expeditionary unit of more than 2,000 troops from the Middle East to reinforce troops in Anbar. Still, he said Baghdad, not Anbar, will remain the main military effort, and that Iraqi forces will have to do more. regret deeply that you seem to think that the status quo and the rate of progress making is acceptable. I think most Americans do Mr. McCain concluded.

Gen. Abizaid disagreed, saying his new emphasis on training is major Other Republicans showed a new skepticism about U.S. policy in Iraq. taking us a lot longer than we said Sen. Saxby Chambliss, R-Ga.

Even Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman John Warner, opened by noting that, on Nov. 26, U.S. troops will have been fighting in Iraq longer than they fought in World War II. On the broader debate over Iraq strategy, Gen. Abizaid said partitioning the country, as some analysts have suggested, is viable.

I imagine, in particular, how a Sunni state could he said, predicting it would devolve into an al-Qaida terrorist haven. A Shiite state would fall under domination by Iran, he said. Amid widespread criticism by lawmakers of Iraqi government leadership, Gen. Abizaid stressed that he has confidence in Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, and had urged him in a meeting this week to disarm Shiite militias By that, he testified, he meant in four to six months. The Iraqi army will take the lead in pacifying militias, he said, emphasizing that is one reason the U.S.

military should redouble efforts to train Iraqi forces. That option is said to be favored by several members of the Iraq Study Group, the bipartisan panel led by Republican former Secretary of State James Baker and former Rep. Lee Hamilton, which is expected to make recommendations next month. General suggests in Iraq ABIZAID, FROM PAGE A-1.