2 - The Michigan Daily - Tuesday, February 8, 2005' NATION/WORLD Mideast cease-fire planned NEWS IN BRIEF 6 SHARM EL-SHEIK, Egypt (A P) - Israeli and Palestinian leaders said they will declare a formal end to more than four years of fighting dur- ing a summit today in this Egyptian resort - a breakthrough in Mideast peacemaking that comes after both sides also accepted invitations to meet separately with President Bush at the White House. The cease-fire deal, finalized dur- ing last-minute preparations yester- day on the eve of the summit, was the clearest indication yet of momen- tum following Yasser Arafat's death, the election of a new Palestinian leader and a signal from the White House that it plans a renewed push for peace. "The most important thing at the summit will be a mutual declaration of cessation of violence against each other," said Saeb Erekat, a Palestin- ian negotiator. Erekat said the agreement also includes the establishment of joint committees - one to determine criteria for the release of Palestin- ian prisoners held in Israeli jails, and the other to oversee the gradual withdrawal of Israeli forces from Palestinian cities on the West Bank. An Israeli government official, speaking on condition of anonymity, confirmed the cease-fire agreement and said it would also include an end to Palestinian incitement to violence, such as official Palestinian TV and radio broadcasts that glorify suicide bombers and other attackers. Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon will attend the summit today in this Egyptian beach resort, along with Jordan's King Abdullah II and the host, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. It will be the first meeting of the Israeli and Palestinian leaders since Abbas, also known as Abu Mazen, succeeded Arafat after his death on Nov. 11. In Washington, Bush said the background for peace talks improved with Abbas's election in January. His invitations to both sides to separate talks this spring seemed a clear signal he plans a stepped-up peacemaking effort in his second term. "What you're watching is a pro- cess unfolding where people are becoming more trustworthy," the president said. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, ending two days of pre-summit talks in Israel and the West Bank, called it "a time of hope, a time we can hope for a better day for the Pal- estinian and Israeli people both." Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak arrives at the venue of the African Union Summit in Abuja, Nigeria, on Jan. 30. Mubarak said he will try and mediate the Mideast leaders in today's peace summit. WASH I NGTON Bush plans cuts in $2.5 trilon budget President Bush proposed a $2.57 trillion budget yesterday that erases scores of programs and slices Medicaid, disabled housing and many more but still worsens federal deficits by $42 billion over the next five years. In one of the most austere presidential budgets in years - one that faces precarious prospects in Congress - Bush would give nine of the 15 Cabinet- level departments less money in 2006 than they are getting this year. Overall, he would cut nonsecurity domestic spending - excluding automatically paid benefits like Medicare - by nearly 1 percent next year. Bush said it was the first such reduction proposed by the White House since President Reagan's day. Forty-eight education programs would be eliminated, including one for ridding drugs from schools. In all, more than 150 government-wide programs would be eliminated or slashed deeply, including Amtrak subsidies, oil and gas research, and grants to communities hiring police officers. Bush would slow the growth of benefit programs by $137 billion over the next decade, nearly quadruple the savings he proposed a year ago with little success. Chief among the targets would be Medicaid, the federal-state health insurance pro- gram for the poor and disabled, but farmers' payments, student loans and veterans medical services were also on the chopping block. BAGHDAD, Iraq Kurdish vote leads Allawi in Iraq election A Kurdish ticket pulled into second place ahead of U.S.-backed Prime Minister Ayad Allawi's candidates in Iraq's national election after votes were released yes- terday from the Kurdish self-governing area of the north. First election returns from the Sunni heartland confirmed yesterday that many Sunnis stayed away from ballot box, leaving the field to Shiite and Kurdish candi- dates. A Shiite-dominated ticket backed by the Shiite clergy leads among the 111 candidate lists, with a final tally of last week's election for a 275-member National Assembly expected by week's end. Allawi, who favors strong ties with the United States, had hoped to emerge as a compromise choice for prime minister, but the Shiite cleric-backed ticket say they want one of their own for the top job. Kurds, estimated at 15 to 20 percent of the population, gave most of their votes to a joint ticket made up of the two major Kurdish parties, which was in second with about 24 percent of the votes reported as of yesterday. One of the Kurdish leaders, Jalal Talabani, has announced his candidacy for the presidency. ROME New Togo president sworn in amid protests The man the military picked to succeed his late father as Togo's president was sworn in yesterday, even as Western diplomats boycotted the ceremony and hundreds of protesting students tried to disrupt it. Faure Gnassingbe came to power in a tiny, impoverished country with little experi- ence of rule of law, having spent nearly 40 years under the ruthless rule of his father. President Gnassingbe Eyadema, who died of a heart attack Saturday, was among the last of Africa's "Big Men" who held power through patronage, the loyalty of their ethnic and regional groups and military force. NEW YORK Mayor Michael Bloomberg staked out a compromise in the gay-marriage debate: He would publicly support gay marriage, but challenge a court decision allowing it. That stance has pleased almost no one. Fellow Republicans are calling him a Democrat in disguise, and gays are calling him a coward. The furor illustrates Bloomberg's peculiar political dilemma as a mod- erate Republican running for re-election in November in this overwhelm- ingly liberal, Democratic city with an active gay community. " d" Prsonersa i teyeredsaue The Associated Press c !r__ _ _ ___ . 1 _ 1_ _*_t1t t tr 1 " Nearly a dozen detainees at the Guantanamo Bay prison camp contend they were wrongly imprisoned after repeated abuse by U.S. troops in Afghanistan and Pakistan, including beatings with chains, electric shock and sodomy, their lawyer said yesterday. "These are classic stories of men who ended up in Guantanamo by mistake," charged attorney Tom Wil- ner, who represents 11 Kuwaiti prisoners held in the detention center at the U.S. Navy base in eastern Cuba. Most of his clients say they falsely confessed to belonging to Afghanistan's ousted Taliban regime or the al-Qaida terror network as a way to stop the abuse, Wilner said. He said one is too angry over his treat- ment to discuss details of his case, but all argue their detentions are unjustified. Human rights groups and defense lawyers have long charged that some information used as the basis for incarcerations at Guantanamo Bay resulted from abuse or torture. Many of the 545 prisoners there have been held for more than three years, most without charge. About 150 have been let go, but officials have not given explanations for their release. The government has denied using torture, but mul- tiple investigations into abuse at detention camps in Afghanistan and Guantanamo are under way. It is not Alit Guantanamo, the physical abuse - at least for Kuwaitis - has stopped, but there has been a switch to mental torture." - Tom Wilner Attorney who is representing 11 Kuwaiti prisoners held at the Guantanamo Bay prison camp clear whether some of the men's statements could be dismissed if investigators confirm there was abuse during interrogations. Maj. Michael Shavers, a Pentagon spokesman, said all "credible" abuse allegations are investigated, but he suggested the Kuwaitis' claims were consistent with al- Qaida tactics to falsely allege abuse or mistreatment. "That these detainees are now making allegations of abuse seems to fit the standard operating procedure in al-Qaida training manuals," Shavers said in response to questions from The Associated Press about the Kuwaitis' accusations. Although most of the 11 Kuwaitis say physical abuse stopped once they arrived at Guantanamo, all complain of mistreatment, such as being locked in cells with scant reading materials and little informa- tion on the outside world, Wilner said in a conference call from Washington to discuss recently declassified notes on his meetings with the detainees. "At Guantanamo, the physical abuse - at least for Kuwaitis - has stopped, but there has been a switch to mental torture," he said. Wilner and other lawyers representing the Kuwaitis were allowed to interview the prisoners for the first time in December and January, after the Supreme Court ruled in June that foreigners detained as enemy com- batants at Guantanamo could challenge their imprison- ment. Wilner last visited his clients Jan. 10 to 13. Lawyers are required to surrender attorney-client notes before leaving the U.S. base. The notes are sealed and sent to a secure facility in Arlington, Va., where attorneys must request for them to be reviewed and unclassified. The lawyers must also get government permission to speak about their conversations with the detainees. - Compiled from Daily wire reports 1I: 1 www. michigandaily.com 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. 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