2 - The Michigan Daily - Friday, January 6, 2006 NATION/WORLD Sharon most likely won't return NEWS IN BRIEF I ~ EU i ULII L I VRI~ay aamlri * Associates say leader is unlikely to reassume duties even if he survives RAMALLAH, West Bank - Pal- estinian leaders anxiously followed reports of Ariel Sharon's deteriorat- ing health yesterday, fearing the prime minister's departure from the political scene could worsen turmoil in the West Bank and Gaza - or even derail Pales- tinian elections, The Israeli leader is still widely reviled in the Arab world, but reactions among ordinary Palestinians were largely subdued. A few schoolchil- dren handed out candy in a Gaza refu- gee camp and hoisted posters saying, "Death to Sharon." The 77-year-old Israeli leader was in serious condition at a Jerusalem hos- pital after seven hours of emergency surgery to stop widespread bleeding in his brain. Sharon's associates said they did not expect the prime minister to recover enough to resume his post. Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas telephoned Israeli officials to express concern over Sharon's condition. "We look with great worry on what Sharon scolded Abbas for not doing enough to halt terror attacks. Before he took ill, Sharon - who suffered a minor strokeon Dec. 18 before his massive stroke Wednesday night - had been expected to lead his Kadima Party and its peacemak- ing agenda to a solid victory in March 28 Israeli elections. That vote was called after Sharon defected from the hard-line Likud Party he formed 30 years ago, despairing of persuading it to make more concessions to the Palestinians. The vacuum created by Sharon's absence is liable to translate into more indecision and tougher positions toward the Palestinians, Palestinian officials said. "We are really concerned," said Pal- estinian negotiator Saeb Erekat. "We hope that competition (to succeed him) will not be at our expense, meaning more settlements, more walls, more incursions, more assassinations, more occupation, more dictates." Mohammed Dahlan, a senior Pales- tinian official, said Sharon's departure from the political stage would "turn the political situation on its head, both in Israeli society and the entire region" A newspaper seller carries fresh copies with the headline in Hebrew, "Struggles for his life," referring to Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon out- side the emergency room of Hadassah Hospital in Jerusalem yesterday. might happen if (Sharon) is impaired," Abbas said upon returning to Ramal- lah late yesterday. The two leaders last met in June to coordinate the unilateral withdrawal from Gaza. During the tense meeting, Democrats could delay Alito vote PITTSBURG H N/i ne survivor undergoes treatment The lone survivor of a coal mine explosion that killed 12 other miners was moved yesterday to a Pittsburgh hospital to undergo oxygen treatment, hospital officials said. Randal McCloy was in a coma and appeared to have suffered brain damage, according to a doctor. He arrived at Allegheny General Hospital after being taken by ambulance from West Virginia University's Ruby Memorial Hospital, said Tom Chakurda, a spokesman at Allegheny. Weather conditions did not allow him to be flown to Pittsburgh, Chakurda said. "Mr. McCloy's organ systems have responded fairly well to the treatment he has received over the last 36 hours at WVUH," said Larry Roberts, director of WVU's trauma center. "His left lung is no longer collapsed. But we have not seen the neu- rological improvement we would like to see." McCloy, 26, of Simpson, was rescued early Wednesday after being trapped in the Sago Mine near Tallmansville for more than 42 hours. Twelve other miners died. McCloy was struggling with the effects of oxygen deprivation to his vital organs, including his brain, and remained in a coma, John Prescott said Thursday at the WVU hospital. WASHINGTON Gingrich: Abramoff affair hurts GOP As politicians led by President Bush scrambled to ditch campaign contribu- tions from disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff, former House Speaker Newt Gin- grich cautioned Republicans they risk losing control of congressional majorities if they try to put all the blame on lobbyists. "You can't have a corrupt lobbyist unless you have a corrupt member (of Congress) or a corrupt staff. This was a team effort," Gingrich told a Rotary Club lunch in Wash- ington on Wednesday. He called for systematic changes to reduce the enormous finan- cial advantages that incumbents have in congressional elections. As head of a conservative movement based on ethics concerns and promises to curb federal growth, Gingrich led the GOP in 1994 to its first House majority in 42 years. But he decided to resign in 1998 when Republicans lost seats a year after Gingrich himself was fined $300,000 for violating House rules barring the use of tax-exempt foundations for political purposes. RICH MOND ,Va DNA may exonerate executed man Gov. Mark Warner ordered DNA evidence retested yesterday to determine whether a man convicted of rape and murder was innocent when he was exe- cuted in 1992. If the testing shows Roger Keith Coleman did not rape and kill his sister-in-law in 1981, it would be the first time in the United States a person has been exonerated by scientific testing after his execution, according to death penalty opponents. Warner said he ordered the tests because of technological advances that could provide a level of forensic certainty not available in the 1980s. "This is an extraordinarily unique circumstance, where technology has advanced significantly and can be applied in the case of someone who consistently maintained his innocence until execution," said Warner, a Democrat who leaves office Jan. 14. "I believe we must always follow the available facts to a more complete picture of guilt or innocence," Warner said. CAR ACAS, Venezuela Coffee crisis reaching boiling point Coffee is vanishing from Venezuelan stores as producers protest price con- trols they say are strangling profits - no laughing matter in a country where drinking the bitter brew is not simply a habit but a culture. Troops and inspectors have begun raiding inventories held by private com- panies in an effort to ease the scarcity, authorities said Wednesday. The dispute over the bitter beans can be traced back to early 2003, when coffee fell under price controls for staple foods imposed by President Hugo Chavez's government as a way to counter inflation and protect the poor. But prices set in early December outraged coffee producers, prompting protests in downtown Caracas and paralyzing deliveries. 0I In battle over replacement for seat on Supreme Court, Dems may try filibuster to push vote back WASHINGTON - Senate Democrats plan to delay the Judiciary Committee's vote on Samuel Alito's nomination to the Supreme Court for at least a week, slowing what could have been a quick con- firmation process for President Bush's pick to replace retiring Justice Sandra Day O'Connor. Senate Judiciary Chairman Arlen Specter had hoped to hold a committee vote on Alito's nom- ination on Jan. 17, a little over a week from the Monday start of the federal appellate judge's con- firmation hearings. But Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) told Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) yesterday that Democrats will invoke their right to hold the Alito committee vote over for one week, Senate lead- ership aides told The Associated Press. The aides spoke on conditions of anonymity because the move had not been announced yet. Frist had been pushing for a Jan. 20 confirmation vote for Alito in the full Senate. The date of the Sen- ate's confirmation vote would also have to be delayed if the Democrats follow through on their plan to delay. The Supreme Court is in recess until Feb. 21. Reid spokesman Jim Manley, when contacted, refused to comment. Calls to Sen. Patrick Leahy of Vermont, the Judiciary Committee's top Democrat, were not immediately returned. During the confirmation process for now-Chief Justice John Roberts, Republican and Democratic senators agreed not to delay the committee vote on his nomination by using the customary one-week delay. No such agreemen't was reached on Alito. The move is the latest in a tactical battle between Republicans and Democrats over Alito's nomina- tion. The longtime conservative lawyer and judge will face the Judiciary Committee on Monday for his confirmation hearings to become the 110th Supreme Court justice. Democrats haven't completely given up the notion of blocking Alito's nomination to the Supreme Court, though they're certainly not talking about it before his confirmation hearings. "I don't think anybody today sees a reason for a fil- ibuster, but they may after the hearing if the answers are troubling to them or they feel they haven't gotten - Compiled from Daily wire reports CORRECTIONS FILE PHOTO President Bush watches Judge Samuel Alito, right, speak after he announced Alito as his new nomi- nee for the Supreme Court, in the Cross Hall of the White House last October. Please report any error in the Daily to corrections@rmichigandaily.com. + + 420 Maynard St., Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1327 www.michigandaily.corn the answers to important questions," said Carl Tobi- as, a University of Richmond law professor. Democrats contend Alito is too conservative and could undermine some rights if confirmed. Some of their liberal supporters have urged Democrats to do whatever they can to block the nomination, includ- ing a filibuster. It takes 41 votes to sustain a filibuster. With the Senate split with 55 Republicans, 44 Democrats and one Democratic-voting independent, Democrats He avy L wrack, could launch an Alito filibuster with no GOP votes. Democrats have said repeatedly they don't plan to filibuster Alito's nomination, although they also have refused to promise to refrain from the stalling tactic on the federal appeals court judge. "I don't think it's wise for members to try and out- line a strategy other than to make sure these hearings are comprehensive and they're done with dignity and respect for the nominee," said Edward Kennedy (D- Mass.) 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. bloodshed s Iraq again Day fourth deadliest since Saddam's fall in 2003; insurgents kill 130 in attack BAGHDAD - Suicide bombers infiltrated a line of police recruits and a crowd of Shiite pilgrims yesterday as insurgents killed 125 civilians and five U.S. soldiers, escalating attacks while political factions worked to forge a coalition government. The stark surge in post-election vio- lence produced familiar but heartrend- ing images on a day that was the fourth deadliest since the fall of Saddam Hus- sein in 2003. A woman and an infant girl in a bright red jumpsuit lay in a pool of blood, their faces covered by a sheet as men ferried the wounded in pushcarts in Karbala, 50 miles south of Bagh- dad. Ball bearings lay scattered on the bare earth next to Shiite Islam's holiest shrine in Iraq. After the devastating attack in Rama- di, a Sunni insurgent stronghold 70 miles west of the capital, police recruits got back in line to continue the screening process, said Marine Capt. Jeffrey S. Pool. They were apparently desperate for a relatively well-paying job in the impov- cy that its patience was wearing thin. But in a chord struck by several poli- ticians yesterday, the party also con- demned policies it said were imposed by the U.S.-led coalition that were hampering Iraqi security forces' coun- terterrorism work. The Americans have increased their oversight of Shiite-dom- inated security forces following wide- spread charges of abuse, especially of Sunni Arab detainees. "Not allowing these two ministries to do their job means exposing helpless Iraqis to ruthless terrorists," SCIRI said. "They should know that the patience of our people will not last for a long time with these sectarian dirty crimes:" The warning to Sunnis carried the pos- sibility of using militias like the Badr Bri- gade, the former military wing of SCIRI, to exact vengeance against Sunni sup- porters of insurgents. Hadi al-A'meri, the secretary general of the Badr Brigade, also blamed the attacks on the U.S.-led coalition. "Why are they putting obstacles in the way of the work of the Interior Ministry?" he asked. The U.S. Embassy in Baghdad said it was appalled by the attacks. "This terror aims simply to kill innocent Iraqis and provoke further conflict between them," the embassy said. 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