2 - The Michigan Daily - Wednesday, November 23, 2005 NATION/WORLD Dirty bomb suspect indicted NEws INBRIEF U.S. charges Padilla with being part of a North American terror cell that aimed to recruit overseas WASHINGTON (AP) - Jose Padilla, a U.S. citizen held in a Navy brig as an enemy combatant for more than three years, was charged yesterday with being part of a North American terror cell that sent money and recruits overseas to "murder, maim and kidnap." However, absent from the indictment were the sensational allegations made earlier by top Justice Department officials: that Padilla sought to blow up U.S. hotels and apartment buildings and planned an attack on America with a radiological "dirty bomb." Attorney General Alberto Gonzales wouldn't say why none of those allegations were included in the indictment, commenting only on the charges that were returned by a Miami grand jury against Padil- la and four other alleged members of a terror cell. "The indictment alleges that Padilla traveled overseas to train as a terrorist with the intention of fighting a violent jihad," Gonzales said. The charges are the latest twist in a case pitting the Bush administration's claim that the war on terrorism gives the government extraordinary powers to protect its citizens, on one side, against those who say the government can't be allowed to label Americans "enemy combatants" and hold them indefinitely without charges that can be fought in court. By charging Padilla, the administration is seeking to avoid a U.S. Supreme Court showdown over the issue. In 2004, the justices took up the first round of cases stem- ming from the war on terrorism, and Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, who is retiring, wrote, "A state of war is not a blank check for the president when it comes to the rights of the nation's citizens." Eric Freedman, a professor at Hofstra Law School, said the Padilla indictment was an effort by the administration "to avoid an adverse decision of the Supreme Court." Jenny Martinez, a Stanford 'law professor who rep- resents Padilla at the Supreme Court, said, "There's no guarantee the government won't do this again to Mr. Padilla or others. The Supreme Court needs to review this Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, second from left, announces the indictment of Jose Padilla, a U.S. Citizen, during a news conference at the Department of Justice yesterday in Washington. Padil- la, a Brooklyn-born Muslim convert, held for three years as an enemy combatant suspected of plot- ting a "dirty bomb" attack in the U.S., has been indicted on charges that he conspired to "murder, kidnap and maim" people overseas. case on the merits so the lower court decision is not left lying like a loaded gun for the government to use when- ever it wants." Padilla's lawyers had asked the justices to review his case last month, and the Bush administration was facing a deadline of next Monday for filing its legal arguments. Padilla's appeal argues that the government's evidence "consists of double and triple hearsay from secret wit- nesses, along with information allegedly obtained from Padilla himself during his two years of incommunicado interrogation." Gonzales said there no longer was an issue for the justices to resolve since Padilla would have his Catholic Church speak against gay seinar'ian VATICAN CITY (AP) - Reiterating its stand against sexually active gays in the priesthood, the Vatican also says in a new document that men with "transitory" homosexual- ity must have overcome their sexual tendencies for at least three years before entering the clergy. The long-awaited "Instruction,"due to be released next week, was posted yesterday on the Internet by the Italian Catholic news agency Adista. A church official who has read the docu- ment confirmed its authenticity; he asked that his name not be used because the piece has not been published by the Vatican. Conservative Roman Catholics who have decried the "gay subculture" in seminaries will likely applaud the policy because it clarifies and perhaps toughens what the Vatican expects of seminarians and their administrators. Critics of the policy warned that, if enforced, it will likely result in seminarians lying about their orientation and will decrease the already dwindling number of priests in the United States even further. Estimates of the number of gays in U.S. seminaries and the priesthood range from 25 percent to 50 percent, according to a review of research by the Rev. Donald Cozzens, an author of "The Changing Face of the Priesthood." The document, from the Vatican's Congregation for Catholic Education, says the church deeply respects homosexuals. But it also says it "cannot admit to the seminary and the sacred orders those who practice homosexuality, present deeply rooted homo- sexual tendencies or support so-called gay culture." "Those people find themselves, in fact, in a situation that presents a grave obstacle to a correct relationship with men and women. One cannot ignore the negative consequences that can stem from the ordination of people with deeply root- ed homosexual tendencies," it said. "If instead it is a case of homosexual tendencies that are "One cannot ignore the negative consequences tha can stem from the ordinati of people with deeply root homosexual tendencies." - Vatican document p the Internet y merely the expression of a transitory problem, for e in the case of an unfinished adolescence, they mu have been clearly overcome for at least three years b nation as a deacon." Vatican prohibitions on sexually active gays priests are not new, and a 1961 document says ho should be barred from the priesthood. But the issu the fore in 2002, at the height of the clergy sex abu in the United States. A study by the John Jay College of Crimin found most abuse victims since 1950 werea boys. Experts on sex offenders said homosexu more likely than heterosexuals to molest youn but that did not stifle questions about gay ser In addition, some Catholic researchers said cultures" in seminaries were alienating hete prompting them to drop out. day in court. However, the attorney general would not rule out that Padilla could be reclassified as an enemy combatant at some point. Padilla will be transferred from military cus- tody to the Justice Department and will be held at a federal prison in Miami. Gonzales said the case would go to trial in September, in Miami. Padilla could face life in prison if convicted of being part of a conspiracy to murder, maim and kidnap overseas. The other two charges, providing material sup- port to terrorists and conspiracy, carry maximum prison terms of 15 years each. S U.S. s bans som-e t ionpoultry on ed Bird flu case not the same form as the osted on virulent form in Asia esterday WASHINGTON (AP) - U.S. offi- xample as cials need details on a Canadian case st however of bird flu to decide whether to con- efore ordi- tinue a ban on poultry .from British Columbia. becoming Canadian officials said the case of mosexuals flu, confirmed Sunday, wasn't the vir- ie came to ulent form in Southeast Asia blamed se scandal for more than 60 human deaths. Still, the U.S. on Monday banned imports al Justice of poultry from mainland British adolescent Columbia to prevent the spread of the als are no virus to U.S. flocks. g people, Canadian officials plan to report to ninarians. the U.S. within 24 hours, according "gay sub- to Canada's chief veterinary officer, rosexuals, Dr. Brian Evans. Depending on the results, the U.S. could restrict imports from a small- er, regional area, U.S. Agriculture eSDepartment spokesman Jim Rogers said. "We're waiting to get more infor- mation from Canada, at which point we could be able to scale back" the ban, Rogers said. "We just need that information." explosive The governments of Taiwan, Japan lear. The and Hong Kong indicated they would ther con- take similar action. istence of The Canadian Food Inspection Agency said Sunday that a duck at a and inter- commercial poultry farm in British spects at Columbia had tested positive for bird Eastern flu. The virus was a low-pathogenic d in The North American form that doesn't v. 2. The kill poultry and is not a threat to countries people, officials said. But the virus sickens and weakens the birds, and hts Watch entire flocks are destroyed to prevent eating the its spread. terrorists The virulent form of bird flu in to Poland Asia has not been found in the U.S. fork-based and is only now spreading into east- alniceanu ern Europe. Authorities there say ania and that cooking kills the virus; health ny airport officials in the U.S. say that eating detention properly handled and cooked poultry "onclusion is safe. ,raft from The farm with the infected duck, tained. in Chilliwack outside of Vancouver, Paris on isn't licensed to export. Authorities airs com- have begun killing about 56,000 Europe's birds on the farm with carbon diox- darty said ide gas and have quarantined four have been other farms within three miles of me capac- the area. in Spain, An outbreak of bird flu in 2004 in hannon in British Columbia prompted the kill- ing of 17 million birds. BERLIN Merkel faces challenges in Germany Angela Merkel was elected yesterday as Germany's first female chancellor, tak- ing power at the helm of an unwieldy alliance of the right and left that now offi- cially has the job of turning around Europe's biggest economy. Lawmakers voted 397-202 with 12 abstentions to make Merkel Germany's eighth leader since World War II, succeeding Gerhard Schroeder, whose seven- year government of Social Democrats and Greens was ousted by voters Sept. 18. Schroeder was the first to walk over and congratulate a smiling Merkel after the vote was announced. "Dear Mrs. Merkel, you are the first democratically elected female head of government in Germany," parliament president Norbert Lammert said. "That is a strong signal for women and certainly for some men, too. I wish you strength, God's blessing and also some enjoyment in your high office." She was sworn in several hours later, promising in her oath of office to defend the country's constitution. The Protestant minister's daughter added the optional phrase "so help me God." Merkel will need all the help she can get as her government, made up of politi- cians who until a few weeks ago were partisan opponents, tackles chronically high unemployment, currently at 11 percent, and lagging economic growth. BAGHDAD Suicide car bomber kills 21 people in Iraq A suicide car bomber killed 21 people in northern Iraq yesterday after insurgents lured police to the scene by shooting an officer, officials said. The U.S. command said three more U.S. soldiers have been killed, pushing the American military death toll for the conflict to 2,100. Elsewhere, insurgents fired a mortar shell at a U.S. ceremony transferring one of Saddam Hussein's palaces in Tikrit to Iraqi control. The shell failed to explode but sent the U.S. ambassador, the top American commander and robed tribal sheiks scurrying for cover as the round whistled overhead. The suicide bomber struck on a busy commercial street in Kirkuk, a mixed Arab, Kurdish and Turkoman city in an oil-producing region 180 miles north of Baghdad. About half the dead were police who rushed to the scene after gunmen killed a fellow officer. In addition to the 21 dead, another 24 people were wounded, according to police Brig. Gen. Sarhad Qader. TAMPA, Fla. Teacher who had sex with student pleads guilty A female teacher pleaded guilty yesterday to having sex with a 14-year- old student, avoiding prison as part of a plea agreement. Debra Lafave, 25, whose sensational case made tabloid headlines, will serve three years of house arrest and seven years' probation. She pleaded guilty to two counts of lewd and lascivious battery. The former Greco Middle School reading teacher apologized during the hearing, saying "I accept full responsibility for my actions." The boy told investigators the two had sex in a classroom at the school, located in Temple Terrace near Tampa, in her Riverview town house and once in a vehicle while his 15-year-old cousin drove them around Marion County. The boy told investigators Lafave told him her marriage was in trouble and that she was aroused by the fact that having sex with him was not allowed. He said he and Lafave, a newlywed at the time, got to know each other on their way back from a class trip to SeaWorld Orlando in May 2004. CORRECTIONS A photo caption in yesterday's edition of the Daily incorrectly stated that GM's Willow Run plant will soon be closing. The caption should have read that the Ypsilanti Parts Processing Center will stop operations in 2007, even though the Willow Run plant is photographed. An article in Monday's edition of the Daily (The Other Rivalries) said the Michigan softball team leads the all-time series with Iowa. Iowa actually leads the all-time series 51-41-1. Please report any error in the Daily to corrections@michigandaily.com. 420 Maynard St., Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1327 www.michigandaily.com 6 6 JASON Z. PESICK Editor in Chief pesick@michigandaily.com 647-3336 Sun.-Thurs. 5 p.m. - 2 am. JONATHAN DOBBERSTEIN Business Manager business@michigandaily.com 764-0558 Mon-Fri. 9 a.m. - 5 p.m. 0 European investigator prob ,alleged C] If evidence is uncovered, it could be a major embarrassement for U.S. PARIS (AP) - The head of an investigation into alleged secret CIA prisons in Eastern Europe said yester- day he was checking 31 suspect planes that landed in Europe in recent years and was trying to acquire past satel- lite images of sites in Romania and Poland. If the European probe uncovers evi- dence of covert facilities, the potential impact ranges from major embarrass- ment for the United States to political turmoil in countries that might have participated, even unwittingly. Coun- Aprionffights tries found housing secret detention chances of uncovering centers also could be suspended or state secrets seemed unc expelled from the 46-member Council U.S. government has nei of Europe, a human rights watchdog firmed nor denied the exi organization. such facilities. In an interview with The Associ- Allegations the CIA hid, ated Press, Swiss senator Dick Marty rogated key al-Qaida su said the Council of Europe, on whose Soviet-era compounds in behalf he was investigating, had a Europe were first reporte "moral obligation" to look into claims Washington Post on Nov the CIA set up secret prisons on the paper did not name the continent to interrogate al-Qaida sus- involved. pects. A day later, Human Rig He said that despite lack of proof, said it had evidence indi( there were "many hints, such as suspi- CIA transported suspected cious moving patterns of aircraft, that captured in Afghanistant have to be investigated." and Romania. The New Y But given the limited powers of the group identified the Kog Strasbourg-based council, Marty's military airfield in Rom Poland's Szczytno-Szyman as possible sites for secret centers, saying it based its o : on flight logs of CIA airc I LiP .2001 to 2004 that it had ob nc d grn8 ng . ., In a report presented in WU Gf 0lOOU. .. Tuesday to the legal affa mittee of the Council of parliamentary assembly, M other airports that might h used by CIA aircraft in so ity are Palma de Mallorca Larnaca in Cyprus and SI Ireland. 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