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The Tampa Tribune

Published: November 16, 2009

In Asia, Obama, Medvedev see nuke pact in sight, climate-change deal illusive

SINGAPORE (AP) - President Barack Obama said Sunday the United States and Russia would have a replacement treaty on reducing nuclear arms ready for approval by year's end, an announcement designed as an upbeat ending to a summit with Asia-Pacific leaders.

While publicizing progress with Russia on arms control - part of Obama's agenda to advance nuclear disarmament - the president and other leaders bowed to the obvious on climate change. They discussed a compromise agreement for a 192-nation gathering next month in Copenhagen, indirectly admitting that the meeting would not produce a new global treaty to reduce the heat-trapping carbon emissions that are warming the planet.

Nearing the end of his two days in Singapore, Obama also attended a second summit with leaders of the 10 southeast Asian countries that make up the ASEAN group. Obama was the first U.S. president to sit in on the meetings, that included a senior leader of Myanmar - part of a shift in U.S. policy away from isolating the repressive Myanmar military government.

Obama tells Myanmar junta to free Aung San Suu Kyi, other political prisoners
SINGAPORE (AP) - President Barack Obama on Sunday told Myanmar's junta to free pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi during an unusual face-to-face interaction with a top leader of the ruling military.

Obama delivered the strong message during his summit with leaders of 10 Southeast Asian nations, which included Myanmar Prime Minister Gen. Thein Sein.
White House press secretary Robert Gibbs told reporters that Obama called on Myanmar to free his fellow Nobel Peace laureate Suu Kyi and other political prisoners, and end oppression of minorities.

"Obama brought that up directly with that government," Gibbs said, indicating that the president spoke directly to Thein Sein.

For decades, Western governments have avoided direct contacts with leaders of Myanmar because of the regime's poor human rights record and suppression of democracy.

Iran's parliament speaker calls US move to seize mosques linked to Iran disgraceful

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) - Iran on Sunday denounced as 'disgraceful' U.S. moves to seize four mosques and a New York City skyscraper owned by a Muslim nonprofit organization suspected of Iranian links.

Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani said the moves show that President Barack Obama's slogan for change was deceitful and he was no different from his predecessor George W. Bush.

"Extension of sanctions and restrictions against Iran for another year by the American president and the blocking the accounts and assets of the Alavi Foundation in America is a real disgrace," he told parliament.

In what could prove to be one of the biggest counterterrorism seizures in U.S. history, prosecutors on Thursday filed a civil complaint in federal court against the Alavi Foundation, seeking the forfeiture of more than $500 million in assets.

Confiscating the properties would be a sharp blow against Iran, which the U.S. government has accused of bankrolling terrorism and trying to build a nuclear bomb, charges Iran has denied.

Militants stage pair of attacks against anti-Taliban figures in Pakistan, killing 1

PESHAWAR, Pakistan (AP) - Militants staged a pair of attacks against anti-Taliban figures in northwestern Pakistan on Sunday, killing one of the men as part of an escalating campaign to weaken the country's resolve to fight Islamic extremism.

Militants have killed more than 300 civilians and security force personnel in the last month in retaliation for an army offensive launched in the tribal area of South Waziristan, where al-Qaida and Taliban leaders are believed to be hiding.

The government has supplemented its military campaigns by helping tribal leaders and local government officials set up militias to battle the Taliban. The militias, known as lashkars, have been compared to Iraq's Awakening Councils, which helped U.S. forces turn the tide against al-Qaida there.

As in Iraq, militants in Pakistan have targeted the leaders of such groups.

Source: Obama administration eyes near-empty Illinois prison to house Guantanamo inmates

CHICAGO (AP) - The Obama administration may buy a near-empty prison in rural northwestern Illinois to house detainees from Guantanamo Bay along with federal inmates, a White House official said Saturday.

The maximum-security Thomson Correctional Facility, about 150 miles west of Chicago, was one of several evaluated by the Federal Bureau of Prisons, and emerged as a leading option to house the detainees, the official told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because a decision has not been made.

President Barack Obama wants alleged terrorism suspects from the controversial military-run detention center in Cuba to be transferred to U.S. soil so they can be prosecuted for their suspected crimes.

Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn has been hinting at a possible new use for Thomson, and he issued a statement saying he would hold a news conference Sunday to outline those plans.

Thomson was built by the state in 2001 with 1,600 cells, but budget problems prevented it from fully opening, and it now houses about 200 minimum-security inmates.

Mourners grieve at funerals for some of 13 soldiers killed in Fort Hood shooting massacre

KIEL, Wis. (AP) - Hundreds of people lining the main street of an Indiana town on Saturday fell solemnly silent as the white hearse passed. Mourners waited for hours outside a Wisconsin gymnasium to say goodbye to a soldier who once promised to take down Osama bin Laden.

And in Oklahoma, a newlywed grieved for her husband of nearly three months.

Several victims of the Nov. 5 shooting massacre at Fort Hood, Texas, were laid to rest Saturday across the country, after family members, friends, fellow soldiers and strangers passed their flag-draped coffins and paid their respects.

In Plymouth, Ind., Sheila Ellabarger had placed two foot-high American flags in the grass where she watched the procession for U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Justin DeCrow. She said her children went to school with DeCrow and his wife - his high school sweetheart - and she knew others in his family.

"He was killed by a terrorist in my mind but he was still killed in the line of duty. We owe him a debt of gratitude, him and his family and the other soldiers. We owe them our lives, our freedom," Ellabarger said.

A politically risky and legally challenging setting chosen for NYC trial of 9/11 suspects

WASHINGTON (AP) - In a move both politically and legally risky, the Obama administration plans to put on trial the professed mastermind of the Sept. 11 terror attacks and four alleged accomplices in a lower Manhattan courthouse.

The venue for the biggest trial in the age of terrorism means prosecutors must balance difficult issues such as rough treatment of detainees and sensitive intelligence-gathering with the Justice Department's desire to prove that the federal courts are able to handle terrorism cases.

Attorney General Eric Holder announced the decision Friday to bring Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and four others detained at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, to trial in a courtroom barely a thousand yards from the site of the World Trade Center's twin towers they are accused of destroying.

Trying the men in civilian court will bar evidence obtained under duress and complicate a case where anything short of slam-dunk convictions will empower President Barack Obama's critics. U.S. civilian courts prohibit evidence obtained through coercion, and a number of detainees were questioned using harsh methods some call torture.

Holder insisted both the court system and the untainted evidence against the five men are strong enough to deliver a guilty verdict and the penalty he expects to seek: a death sentence for the deaths of nearly 3,000 people who were killed when four hijacked jetliners slammed into the towers, the Pentagon and a field in western Pennsylvania.

Hillary Clinton says she would 'look forward' to sitting down for coffee with Sarah Palin

WASHINGTON (AP) - Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton says she would be happy to talk to Sarah Palin over coffee.

In an interview for broadcast Sunday on NBC's "Meet the Press," Clinton says she's never met the one-time GOP vice presidential hopeful and former Alaska governor and thinks it would be very interesting to sit down and talk with her.

Clinton was responding to a question about a passage in Palin's new book. Palin writes that if she and Clinton ever meet for coffee, "I know that we would fundamentally disagree on many issues." But Palin says, "my hat is off to her hard work on the 2008 campaign trail."

Clinton, in Singapore for a meeting of world leaders, says she's ready to have a cup of coffee and maybe she could make a case on some of the issues on which the two women disagree.

'Hello, Ohio!' Springsteen flubs greeting to Michigan audience in 'front man's nightmare'

AUBURN HILLS, Mich. (AP) - Want to get away, Boss?

Bruce Springsteen bellowed "Hello, Ohio!" to his fans at the Auburn Hills Palace. That's in Michigan.

The 60-year-old rock legend referred to the neighboring state several times Friday night until E Street Band guitarist Steve Van Zandt whispered in his ear.

A visibly embarrassed Springsteen grinned and said such a mistake was "every front man's nightmare."

The Detroit Free Press says Springsteen rocked the forgiving audience for nearly three hours with new and old hits, including a complete performance of his album "Born to Run."

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