2 - The Michigan Daily - Tuesday, December 14, 2004

NATION/WORLD


"This is a coup for Oracle" - Jim Shepherd, AMR Research analyst N
Oracle seals PeonleSoft buvout HEAD NR.

.. 1_ _

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - Ending 18
months of bad blood, Oracle Corp. raised
its takeover bid for bitter rival PeopleSoft
Inc. by 10 percent to seal a $10.3 billion
deal that will create the world's second
largest maker of business applications
software. PeopleSoft administers the
University's Wolverine Access website.
The agreement, announced yesterday,
caps a rancorous Silicon Valley feud
marked by churlish exchanges between
the companies' management teams and
colorful courtroom battles.
Redwood Shores-based Oracle
brought an end to the hostilities by
sweetening its all-cash offer to $26.50
per share, up from a $24 bid that Peo-

pleSoft's board had rejected as inad-
equate.The final offer represents a 75
percent premium from PeopleSoft's
market value before Oracle launched
the takeover battle in June 2003.
"A lot of people compared us to Don
Quixote titling at windmills, but finally
we now have PeopleSoft," Oracle CEO
Larry Ellison said during an interview
yesterday. "Clearly, it's a great feeling.
It's not that I wanted to win just for the
sake of winning. It's the fact that Peo-
pleSoft is instrumental to our strategy."
The resolution pleased investors. Peo-
pleSoft's shares surged $2.47, or 10.3
percent, to $26.42 during yesterday's
trading on the Nasdaq Stock Market,

Oracle hopes to mount a more serious
challenge to German software maker SAP's
leadership in business applications software.

while Oracle's shares gained $1.25, or
9.4 percent, to $14.53.
By picking up 12,750 PeopleSoft cus-
tomers and nearly $3 billion in annual
revenue, Oracle hopes to mount a more
serious challenge to German software
maker SAP's leadership in business
applications software.
After completing the takeover next
month, Oracle expects the PeopleSoft
acquisition to boost its earnings by about

$400 million, or 8 cents per share, dur-
ing the fiscal year ending in May 2006.
"This is a coup for Oracle," AMR
Research analyst Jim Shepherd said.
"While there were other acquisitions
that interested them, none could do for
them what this will do."
Oracle eventually hopes to buy other
tech companies, but won't consider any
other large acquisitions until PeopleSoft
is fully digested, Ellison said.

Bombing in Iraq
kis 13 people

BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) - An al-
Qaida-linked suicide bomber blew up
his vehicle yesterday near cars waiting
to enter the Green Zone, home to the
U.S. Embassy and Iraq's interim gov-
ernment, killing 13 Iraqis on the anni-
versary of Saddam Hussein's capture.
As insurgents continued to step up
attacks against U.S. and Iraqi forc-
es ahead of next month's elections,
the country's interim president said
Washington was wrong for disman-
tling Iraq's security forces, including
its 350,000-strong army, after last
year's invasion.
"Definitely dissolving the Ministry
of Defense and the Ministry of Interior
was a big mistake," Ghazi al-Yawer told
British Broadcasting Corp. radio, say-
ing it would have been more effective to
screen out former regime loyalists than
to rebuild from scratch.
He added: "As soon as we have effi-
cient security forces that we can depend
on we can see the beginning of the
withdrawal of forces from our friends
and partners and I think it doesn't take
years, it will take months."
U.S. military commanders, howev-
er, say American forces will be in Iraq
for several years and that troop num-
bers will rise from 138,000 to 150,000
before the Jan. 30 national elections,

which many Iraqis fear could be tar-
geted by militants opposed to the
occupation and bent on derailing the
political process.
American and Iraqi leaders had
hoped the ouster of Saddam - who
was captured one year ago yesterday
on a farm near his hometown of Tikrit
- and the detention or death of most of
his top aides would deal the insurgency
a knockout blow.
But the uprising has escalated and
the number of attacks on U.S. and Iraqi
forces has risen steadily. About 550
U.S. soldiers died in the first year after
the invasion was launched; almost 750
troops have died in the nine months that
followed.
Jordanian militant Abu Musab al-Zar-
qawi's al-Qaida in Iraq group claimed
credit for yesterday's deadly attack in
central Baghdad, where a suicide car
bomber detonated his explosives-packed
car near a checkpoint leading into the
heavily fortified Green Zone, killing 13
Iraqis and wounding 15. No U.S. troops
were injured.
A U.S. soldier with the 1st Corps Sup-
port Command was killed and another
wounded yesterday in a vehicle accident
near a military base in Balad, 50 miles
north of the capital. It was unclear what
caused the accident.

WASHINGTON
Murder rate falls in first half of 2004
Murders in the United States dropped by nearly 6 percent in the first half of the
year after rising for four straight years, the FBI reported yesterday. Almost all other
crimes declined, too.
Overall, violent crime was down 2 percent in the first six months of the year
compared with the same period of 2003, according to preliminary figures pro-
vided to the FBI by more than 10,700 state and local police agencies. Violent crime
includes murder, rape, robbery and aggravated assault.
Property crimes - burglary, larceny and motor vehicle theft - also declined
about 2 percent, and arsons fell by nearly 7 percent. The only type of crime that
increased was rape, which was up 1.4 percent nationwide and 6.5 percent in cities
with populations of 1 million or more.
Experts aren't sure why crime is falling. James Lynch, professor at American
University's Department of Justice, Law and Society, said it could be because of
increased focus on homeland security.
"You're after terrorists, but you're picking up other things," Lynch said. "That's
the only thing I can think of because the economy certainly isn't robust."
KABUL, Afghanistan
Report: New prisoner abuse cases found
Human Rights Watch said yesterday it had uncovered two more cases of prison-
ers dying in American custody in Afghanistan, and it accused the Bush adminis-
tration of "dragging its feet" on investigations that could have prevented the abuse
of prisoners in Iraq.
In an open letter to Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, the New York-based
rights group said it had new evidence of "an alleged murder of a detainee by four
U.S. military personnel" in Afghanistan in 2002. More recently, it said a man
picked up on Sept. 24, died the next day at an American base, but it did not specify
the cause of death.
"It's time for the United States to come clean about crimes committed by U.S.
forces in Afghanistan," said Brad Adams, the group's Asia division director. "The
United States has to get serious about prosecuting people implicated in prisoner
deaths and mistreatment."
SANTIAGO, Chile
Pinochet indicted for abuses during dictatorship
Former dictator Gen. Augusto Pinochet was indicted and placed under house
arrest yesterday for the kidnapping of nine dissidents and the killing of one of them
during his 1973-90 military regime. The indictment marked the third attempt to try
Pinochet in Chile for abuses from his 17-year dictatorship, none so far successful.
Judge Juan Guzman said he decided to try the 89-year-old retired general -
reversing a previous court decision to exempt Pinochet from trial on health grounds
- after questioning him and examining reports from court-appointed doctors.
"Gen. Pinochet has been declared mentally competent to face a criminal trial in
Chile," Guzman ruled.
The defense team immediately announced an appeal, saying Pinochet suffers
from worsening dementia, and legal proceedings could take months.
HERZLUYA, Israel
Israel plans to withdraw troops during election
Israel will withdraw its troops from Palestinian towns for 72 hours during next
month's Palestinian presidential election, the defense minister said yesterday, sig-
naling that a deadly weekend attack on an Israel army post is not derailing fledg-
ling peace 'efforts.
Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz also said it is in Israel's interest to coordinate next
year's planned withdrawal from the Gaza Strip with the Palestinians.
The Islamic militant group Hamas and gunmen with ties to the ruling Fatah
movement claimed responsibility for Sunday's attack on an army outpost on the
Gaza-Egypt border. The militants detonated 1 1/2 tons of explosives, killing five
soldiers and wounding'five in what they dubbed "Operation Angry Volcano."
- Compiled from Daily Wire reports

An armed Iraqi keeps guard in front of the bullet-marked Governorate
building for Al Anbar Province, in Ramadi, Iraq, yesterday. The first
anniversary of Saddam Hussein's capture was yesterday.

Allegations surround former Bush nommiee

NEW YORK (AP) - Bernard Ker-
ik's nanny problem might have proved
the least of his troubles if he had pressed
ahead with his bid to become homeland
security secretary.
The past few days have seen news
reports about a rash of possible personal
and professional improprieties on the
part of the former New York City police
commissioner, including big stock-
option windfalls, connections with peo-
ple suspected of doing business with the

mob, and, yesterday, allegations he had
simultaneous extramarital affairs with
two women.
Citing unidentified sources, the New
York Daily News said Kerik had over-
lapping affairs with Judith Regan, the
publisher of his recent memoir, and a city
correction officer. He used the same New
York City apartment for liaisons with the
women during his 18-month tenure as
head of the nation's largest police depart-
ment ending in 2001, the paper said.

Kerik, 49, who married his current
wife in 1998 and has two children with
her, apparently grew close to Regan
while writing his book, "The Lost Son,"
in which he described being abandoned
by his prostitute mother.
The relationship first drew scrutiny in
2001 after Kerik reportedly dispatched
detectives to question people the pub-
lisher had accused of stealing her cell
phone. In 2002, Kerik was ordered to
pay a conflict-of-interest fine for using

moted the former street cop's Cabinet
candidacy"- refused to discuss the
alleged affairs.
"The things about his personal life,
he'll have to answer himself," he told
reporters outside his New York consult-
ing firm, where Kerik also works.
Kerik withdrew his nomination Fri-
day night because, it turned out, he had
briefly employed an illegal immigrant
as a housekeeper and nanny.
Giuliani still insisted Kerik would have

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three police offi-
cers to do research
about his mother
for the book.
Other recent
reports claim that
around the same
time of the alleged
affairs, Kerik
accepted unreport-
ed gifts of thou-
sands of dollars in
cash and other items
from associates at a

Recent reports claim
Kerik accepted gifts
from a construction
company allegedly
tied to organized
crime.

been a "very, very
good choice" for
homeland security
secretary if not for
the nanny problem.
"Everyone
thinks he would
have been superbly
qualified," he said,
adding that Kerik
would remain a
partner at the firm
Giuliani Partners.
remains convinced

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New Jersey con-

President Bush

struction company while serving under
Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, first as correc-
tion chief, then as police commissioner.
Authorities suspect the company, Inter-
state Industrial Corp., has ties to orga-
nized crime; the company denies any
wrongdoing.
Kerik's attorney, Joseph Tacopina,
said yesterday he would not comment
on any aspect of his client's personal
life. A call to Regan was not immedi-
ately returned.
Giuliani - a close friend and busi-
ness associate who had actively pro-

Kerik "is someone who has a solid
record of achievement," White House
spokesman Scott McClellan said.
It was unclear whether Kerik was
working yesterday. A message left for
him at Giuliani Partners was not imme-
diately returned.
When Bush picked Kerik on Dec.
3 to succeed Tom Ridge as homeland
security chief, he won early support
in Republican and some Democratic
quarters based on his leadership of the
Police Department following the Sept.
11 attacks.

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