4 2 - The Michigan Daily - Wednesday, November 6, 2002 NATION/WORLD Sharon announces early elections JERUSALEM (AP) - A reluctant Ariel Sharon yesterday called early elections for Jan. 28 after the breakup of his fractious coalition, sending Israel into a tempestuous campaign that threatens further instability in the Mideast at a time of a possible con- frontation with Iraq. The surprise move also brought Sharon's archrival for Likud leader- ship, Benjamin Netanyahu, back into government as temporary foreign min- ister. Netanyahu said he will challenge Sharon for the party leadership in a primary to be held within weeks. The winner of that struggle will face the Labor Party leader in the general election. One of the issues on the table then will be how to approach the Pales- tinians, whether to emphasize negotia- tion or war and whether to expel Arafat. Yesterday Netanyahu reiterated his long-standing view that Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat should be expelled and said the explusion could come dur- ing a U.S. strike against Iraq. "I think the most appropriate time will be when Saddam Hussein is thrown out," Netanyahu told Israel TV "I think that will be possible." The dramatic political developments underscored the growing political volatility in Israel, which has had five prime ministers in seven years. Sharon's coalition lasted only 20 months, despite his aim to hang on until next October, the originally scheduled election date. SCOREKEEPERS E n DS Non-Home Games0 T LB $I $100 oLA A IDRINKSM FRI DAYQA 27 Taps! Full Menu! 75 Cent BOTTLES Mon-Home Games 31SATURDY Sharon flip-flopped over 24 hours, saying Monday -it would be irresponsi- ble to hold early elections, and announcing yesterday he was dissolv- ing parliament because he was unable to set up a stable coalition after the departure of the moderate Labor Party. Sharon accused Labor of "political caprice" by bolting over Sharon's refusal to cut funding to Jewish settle- ments in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Palestinian reaction was muted. "We hope the Israeli people will elect a government that can deliver peace," said Cabinet minister Saeb Ereket. The elections could well be influ- enced by the Palestinian militant groups Hamas and Islamic Jihad, which boasted yesterday their bombing and shooting attacks on Israelis led to Sharon's downfall. In the past, suicide bombing cam- paigns by Palestinian militants strenght- ened Israel's hawkish right. Both Hamas and Islamic Jihad vowed to continue such attacks during the race. "Sharon's failure is one of the achievements of the uprising," said Ismail Abu Shanab, a Hamas leader in the Gaza Strip. On Monday, an Islamic Jihad bomber killed himself and two Israelis in a shopping mall in central Israel - and Hamas said there would be more attacks during the election campaign. The violence has pushed Israelis to the right amid growing disillusionment with Arafat, who has done little to stop CAOY.WINY Govt..RNMENT? CALL 76-DAILY Israeli Labor party leader Binyamin Ben-Eliezer, left, and Israeli Knesset members Shimon Peres, Ofir Pines Paz, Ephraim Sneh and Michel Melchior, rear right, pause during a press conference. the attacks. However, the result of the election could be yet another Likud-Labor coalition. Both Sharon and Labor chief Binyamin Ben-Eliezer face internal challenges. In Labor's Nov. 19 election for a new leader, Ben-Eliezer - who as Sharon's defense minister oversaw military offen- sives against the Palestinians - trails a pair of more dovish candidates, legisla- tor Haim Ramon and Haifa Mayor Amram Mitzna, a retired general. Likud's primaries will take place in coming weeks. Initial polls suggested Netanyahu, who was voted out of office in 1999, would wrest the party leader- ship from Sharon, but more recent sur- veys indicated he had fallen behind. Winners of the Labor and Likud pri- maries will be their parties' candidates for prime minister. Israel is returning to an indirect electoral system, with voters choosing a party, not a prime minister. The politician first able to form a stable coalition will become premier. Chairman of SEC resigns under fire NEWS IN BRIEF 2 U.N. resolution will force. Iraq to disarm The Bush administration will submit a revised resolution today to the U.N. Security Council that makes clear that Iraq must disarm, a senior administration official said. The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the proposal has broad council support. Secretary of State Colin Powell worked out some of the final points during a telephone conversation with French Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin, the official said. The Security Council plans to meet this morning to consider the U.S. draft. The official said the resolution, the product of six weeks' intense debate, takes into account the views of the United States and other council members. "It makes clear that Iraq is in material breach (of prior resolutions)," the official said. Earlier, State Department spokesman Richard Boucher spoke of "growing support in the council for a strong resolution that makes clear to Iraq that it has failed to comply in the past, that it needs to comply with a tough inspection regime, that there'll be serious consequences if it doesn't." Powell also conferred during the day with U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan and three foreign ministers, Igor Ivanov of Russia, Jorge Castaneda of Mexico and Joschka Fischer of Germany. JERUSALEM Four plead guilty to bombing that killed 35 Four Palestinian residents of east Jerusalem pleaded guilty yesterday to direct involvement in four bombings that killed 35 people, including five Americans at Hebrew University, court officials said. Prosecutors said the four belonged to a 15-member cell that orchestrated attacks that included a suicide bombing in a Jerusalem cafe in March that killed 11 Israelis, and the Hebrew University cafeteria bombing in July that killed a total of nine people. One of the Palestinians, house painter Mohammed Oudeh, admitted to planting the bomb in the cafeteria at Hebrew University, in the eastern part of Jerusalem. Unlike most Palestinians in the West Bank, Palestinians living in east Jerusalem have Israeli identity cards. This allowed them to travel freely inside Israel and plan the attacks, prosecutors said. Prosecutors demanded that three of the four be given life sentences. The court postponed sentencing until December. In violence yesterday in the southern Gaza Strip, Israeli soldiers came under fire and responded by shooting dead two Palestinians and injuring 19, according to the army and Palestinian officials. WASHINGTON ardo Blyde asked during a congression- al debate on Monday's violence. worldCom charges "At least 17 people were wounded by extend to '99 fraud rubber bullets and more than 60 others hurt by rocks or felled by tear gas in the The government yesterday expanded clashes between Chavez's supporters its civil fraud charges against World- and police and National Guard troops Com and the company raised its esti- in downtown Caracas. mate of inflated earnings to more than The violence began after hundreds of $9 billion in one, of the most stunning Chavez's supporters tried to block accounting scandals of the year. opposition marchers from delivering The Securities and Exchange Com- more than 2 million signatures to the mission announced that it had broadened National Election Council demanding the scope of its civil fraud charges, origi- the referendum. nally filed against the telecom company in June, to include an additional charge VATICAN CITY and to allege that WorldCom misled Vatican to decide fate investors starting at least as early as 1999 through the first quarter of this year. of gays in priesthood WorldCom is in settlement talks with the SEC. The nation's second-largest The Vatican said yesterday it is draft- long-distance carrier, which is operat- ing new guidelines for accepting candi- ing under bankruptcy court protection, dates for the priesthood that will said it told the SEC during those dis- address the question of whether gays cussions that, based on "very prelimi- should be barred. nary reviews" of its accounting, it The brief statement by the Vatican's expects an additional earnings restate- Press Office gave no indication what the ment that could bring the total hole in conclusion may be despite news reports its books to more than $9 billion. that the document will include directives against the admission of homosexuals. CARACAS, Venezuela Vatican congregations have been studying the issue for several years, but V alt the question has received renewed referendum clashes attention given the clerical sex abuse scandal in the United States. Venezuela's government weighed a Most of the victims of molestation petition yesterday for a nonbinding refer- by priests have been adolescent boys. endum on Hugo Chavez's presidency as Experts on sex offenders say there is opponents charged he had lost control of no credible evidence that homosexu- his government after a day of street riots. als are more likely than heterosexu- "Is there a government in Venezuela? als to abuse children. Who has the authority in Venezuela?" opposition lawmaker Ger- - Compiled from Daily wire reports. JOHN t CHRISTIAN DESIGNERS & CRAFTSMEN SINCE 1850 COLLEGE MONOGRAM RING 'YEAR DATE -DEGREE -GREEK LETTERS -YOUR MONOGRAM 14K GOLD $450 WASHINGTON (AP) - Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Harvey Pitt resigned under pressure yesterday night over a series of politi- cal missteps that had embarrassed the Bush White House. In a letter to President Bush, Pitt said "the turmoil surrounding my chairmanship" had made it difficult to do his job. "Rather than be a burden to you or the agency, I feel it is in every- one's best interest if I step aside now, to allow the agency to continue the important efforts we have started." The White House quickly accepted his resignation. Three administration officials, speak- ing on condition of anonymity, said the White House welcomed the resignation of a regulator who had created a host of political problems for Bush in the run- up to last night's elections. The latest came when Pitt failed to share with fellow commissioners infor- mation about William Webster, the newly named chairman of an account- ing industry oversight board, before the agency voted last week to put the for- mer CIA and FBI director in charge of the panel. The revelation led SEC commission- ers, including Pitt, to request an inter- nal investigation tomorrow of Webster's selection - and renewed the almost daily drumbeat of calls from Democrats and other Pitt critics for his resignation. A senior White House official said Bush aides heard over the weekend that Pitt was inclined to resign. Neither the president nor his aides requested the resignation, but Pitt called the White House personnel office yesterday after- noon and said he intended to resign. There were no objections, thus Pitt submitted his resignation late yester- day afternoon. In it, Pitt said he thought the controversy was hurting his ability to lead the SEC. The official said Bush won't have a replacement immediately. They had not begun to search for candidates as of yes- terday night and expected Senate confir- mation to be difficult in the intense political climate, the official said. Pitt, who first worked at the SEC in the late 1960s and built his career as an attorney in appearance-conscious Wash- ington, has been criticized for meeting with the heads of companies under SEC investigation and for his close ties to the accounting industry - at a time when the SEC is investigating major account- ing fraud at big corporations. Pitt repre- sented the Big Five accounting firms while in private practice. In this latest instance, Pitt withheld information about Webster's lead role on the auditing committee for U.S. Technologies, a company facing investor lawsuits alleging fraud. Web- ster told The New York Times that Pitt assured him that SEC staff had looked into the issue and it would not pose a problem. Last month, Democrats asked Bush to remove Pitt, whom they accused of bowing to the accounting industry by opposing the appointment of John Biggs to head the oversight board. Free Brochure RINGBOX.COM 1-888-646-6466 r00t FORHTQHOUGHT HOW TO PROTEST If you wish to create a legacy for your gen- eration, specifically regarding the Iraq sit- uation, then protests are in order. Demand that Saddam Hussein open his country to unre- stricted inspections. Also, demand that the United Nations. draft resolutions, with teeth, that require such inspections. If you do that you may prevent war, while making the world a safer place to live. If you protest against our own government, you will do what the Viet- nam protestors -did; encourage the enemy to hang on long enough to win, despite battlefield defeats on every front. GARY( ULiE 1955 PAULINE BLVD, STE. 100C ANN AR0kbC. Mt 48103 WWGARYU LLIE,COM (800) 345-4694 SEABEE, MCB-3, CHu LAI, RVN 1966 VIETNAM VETERANS OF AMERICA CHAPTER 310 1999-2000 NATIONAL CHAPTER-OF-THE-YEAR '4 Icl hi! 1 i pp.-lln il Attorney of suspected sniper denies charges The Michigan Daily (ISSN 0745-967) is published Monday through Friday during the fall and winter terms by students at the University of Michigan. One copy is available free of charge to all readers. Additional copies may be picked up at the Daily's office for $2. Subscriptions for fall term, starting in September, via U.S. mail are $105. Winter term (January through April) is $110, yearlong (September through April) is $190. University affiliates are subject to a reduced subscription rate. On-campus subscriptions for fall term are $35. Subscrip- tions must be prepaid. The Michigan Daily is a member of The Associated Press and The Associated Collegiate Press. ADDRESS: The Michigan Daily, 420 Maynard St., Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109-1327. PHONE NUMBERS (All area code 734): News 76-DAILY; Arts 763-0379; Sports 647-3336; Opinion 764-0552; Circulation 764-0558; Classified advertising 764-0557; Display advertising 764-0554; Billing 764-0550. E-mail letters to the editor to letters@michigandaily.com. World Wide Web: www.michigandaily.com. 14 1 F ; _- *_ 4 GREENBELT, Md. (AP) - John Allen Muhammad's lawyer derided the government's extortion charges against the sniper suspect yesterday, accusing prosecutors of overreaching in order to make a federal case out of the murder spree. The lawyer's claims came as a feder- al judge ordered Muhammad held without bail. Federal prosecutors brought charges against Muhammad last week under MAYO CLINIC Nurs ing~n.an .Adventure Mayo Clinic Nursing offers unparalleled opportunities for career mobility and growth. At Mayo Clinic, you have the opportunity to practice your profession in a world-renowned medical center with a reputation for high standards, where nursing practice is closely integrated with advanced education and research programs. Our hospitals are acute- care, teaching facilities where quality nursing is our tradition and mission. Mayo Clinic Nursing has received the Magnet Hospital Recognition Status for Excellence in Nursing Service. Magnet Status is the highest weapons and extortion law in the Octo- ber sniper attacks that killed 10 people in the Washington, D.C., area. He could get the death penalty. In court, federal public defender James Wyda accused prosecutors of trying to "shoehorn this case into federal courts" in using the extortion law. He said the government is try- ing to prove that "these seemingly random attacks were all motivated by a crackpot scheme to collect $10 million." Wyda noted that authorities did not even receive a note demanding the money until Oct. 19, well into the shooting spree. "This is no longer a murder case; this is an extortion case," he said out- side court. "They can't prove extortion. They can't meet their burden of proof in making this a federal case." In arguing against bail, federal pros- ecutor James Trusty told Chief Magis- trate Judge Jillyn K. Schulze that Muhammad, 41, used multiple names and birth dates and had been living out of a car. The other sniper suspect, 17-year- old John Lee Malvo, was ordered detained Monday after appearing at a closed juvenile hearing in federal court in Paltnmcr. PFedr a ,hrgeshavea lso I NEWS Usa Kolvu, Managing Editor EDITORS: Lisa Hoffman, Elizabeth Kassab, Jacquelyn Nixon, Shannon Pettyplece STAFF: Elizabeth Anderson, Jeremy Berkowitz, Tyler Boersen, Ted Borden, Autumn Brown, Soojung Chang, Kara DeBoer, Margaret Engoren, Rahwa Ghebre-Ab, Rob Goodspeed, Megan Hayes, Lauren Hodge, Carmen Johnson, Christopher Johnson, C. Price Jones, Shabina S. Khatri, Kylene Kiang, Emily Kraack, Tomislav Ladika, Lydia K. 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