o'1A TL,., OA:-L,:..e..,.., r'%-:1.. A- Ine Micnigan uaily - Iursday, January 5, 2006 NATION/WORLD Go't to transfer Padilla to Fla NEWS IN BRIEF Supreme Court will later would be considered "in due course." the appeal was moot. J. Michael Luttig warned the adminis- H "That's fine. It's great," said Donna The criminal charges do not involve tration that it was risking its credibil- lt if d Ptntinr a1e nn.- b WAR1MN:TAN i ru eeC U Cn 101WaS aDUSe of presidential powers WASHINGTON (AP) - The Supreme Court agreed yesterday to let the military transfer accused "enemy combatant" Jose Padilla to Miami to face criminal charges in what was at least a temporary victory for the Bush administration. The justices overruled a lower court, which had attempted to block the transfer as part of a rebuke to the White House. The high court said it would decide later whether to consider the inmate's argument that President Bush over- stepped his authority by ordering Padilla's indefinite detention in 2002. It granted the Bush administration's request for a transfer in a one-page order and said Padilla's broader appeal Newman, one of Padilla's lawyers. "Both things are good. I don't think it's a bad day for us." Padilla's jailing as an enemy com- batant for the past 3 1/2 years has been the subject of multiple court rulings and criticism by civil rights groups. The former Chicago gang member was arrested at Chicago's O'Hare Airport and put in military custody, where he was held without charges and traditional legal rights. The Supreme Court had been asked to use Padilla's case to define the scope of a president's power over American citizens taken into custody on U.S. soil. The justices had been expected to agree to hear his appeal, but shortly before word was to come, the govern- ment brought criminal charges against him in Florida and then argued that allegations that had been made by the administration since 2002 - that Padilla was part of an al-Qaida backed plot to blow up apartment buildings. Instead, a grand jury charged Padilla with being part of a North American terrorism cell that raised funds and recruited fighters to wage violent jihad outside the United States. A panel of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond, Va., refused last month to allow the trans- fer of Padilla from military custody in South Carolina to civilian custody. The court criticized the Bush admin- istration's use of one set of facts before the courts to justify Padilla's military detention without charges and another to persuade a grand jury in Miami to indict him on the terror- ism-related charges. In the appeals court decision, Judge ity with the courts by changing tactics in what could be interpreted as an effort to avoid judicial scrutiny. Solicitor General Paul Clement, the administration's Supreme Court lawyer, had told the justices that the appeals court denial of the transfer was "an unwarranted attack on the exercise of executive discretion." The 4th Circuit had backed the Bush administration last year, with a broad ruling that said the president could hold citizens indefinitely with- out charges on U.S. soil as part of the war on terrorism. Luttig, who was named to the bench by President Bush's father, said last month that the administration's actions left the impression that Padilla had been held in military custody "by mistake," and that such government tactics could prove costly. Suicide bombing at funeral kils 32 Bush campaign donates tainted cash Republican officials said yesterday that President Bush's re-election campaign was donating to charity a $2,000 campaign contribution by the Saginaw Chippewa Indian tribe of Michigan following a plea agreement by lobbyist Jack Abramoff. Abramoff, who represented the Saginaw Chippewa tribe, agreed to tell investigators about alleged bribes to lawmakers and their aides in a wide-ranging probe. Bush's re-election campaign was giving up $6,000 worth of contributions in all. Abramoff, his wife and the Saginaw Chippewa tribe each donated $2,000 to the Bush campaign, said Republican National Committee spokeswoman Tracey Schmitt. At this point, there is nothing to indicate that contributions from those individual donors represents anything other than enthusiastic support for the (Bush-Cheney) BC-04 re-election campaign," Schmitt said. The money is being donated to the American Heart Association. RAFAH, Gaza Strip Militants smash Egypt-Gaza border wall Hundreds of angry Palestinians streamed into Egypt yesterday after militants with stolen bulldozers broke through a border wall, and two Egyptian troops were killed and 30 were wounded by gunfire in the rampage. About 3,000 Egyptian Interior Ministry troops who initially had no orders to fire swarmed the border but were forced to withdraw about a half-mile, said secu- rity forces Lt. Sameh el-Antablyan, who announced the casualties. Gen. Essam el-Sheikh said Egyptian forces later began firing back. The scene was one of utter chaos. An Egyptian armored vehicle was burning and hundreds of Palestinians could be seen crouched in farm fields just inside Egypt. The militants' rampage through the southern Gaza town of Rafah underscored the growing lawlessness in Palestinian towns, especially in Gaza, and represented the most brazen challenge to the authority of Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas. Earlier, the Egyptian troops fired tear gas and shot into the air. A witness said three Palestinians were injured - one seriously, when a troop carrier crushed him against a wall. WASHINGTON Bar Association gives Alito highest rating Judge Samuel Alito gained the American Bar Association's highest rating for a Supreme Court nominee yesterday, giving him a boost before next week's Senate confirmation hearings. Interest groups now will try to help or hinder Alito's chances by spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on television, radio and Internet ads nationwide and in the states of key senators, before and during the Senate Judiciary Committee's hearings. This is the second time the ABA, the nation's largest lawyers' organization, has rated Alito, who was nominated by President Bush on Oct. 31 as the replacement for retiring Justice Sandra Day O'Connor. The "well qualified" rating - the highest - is the same one that Alito earned in 1990 when President Bush's father, George H.W. Bush, nominated him to the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. *53 killed in surge of attacks; bombers said to be trying to force coalition to compromise BAGHDAD (AP) - A suicide bomber struck a funeral for a Shiite politician's nephew yesterday, killing at least 32 mourn- ers, wounding dozens and splattering tomb- stones with blood - part of a surge of violence as Iraqi leaders try to form a coali- tion government. Altogether, 53 people died in yesterday's attacks, which included two car bombings in Baghdad and a militant ambush on a convoy of 60 oil tanker trucks heading from Iraq's biggest refinery to the capital. The funeral bombing in Muqdadiyah, 60 miles north of Baghdad, bore hallmarks of Islamic extremist groups such as al-Qaida in Iraq. Politicians said the attack was an attempt to hinder a broad-based government, or force the dominant Shiite alliance into further compromises. Shiites were said to be close to a deal on a coalition with Sunni Arabs and Kurds nearly three weeks after parliamentary elections. The bomber struck as more than 100 mourn- ers chanted a ritual Islamic prayer, "There is no god but God." They were at the cemetery to bury a 14-year-old boy a day after he was killed in a failed assassination attempt on his uncle, Ahmed al-Bakka, the director of the local hospital. "We were walking in the funeral pro- cession when a strange person joined the crowd," said Amer Khazim, 37. "Suddenly, there was a strong sound and we were turned upside down . ... I saw many legs and hands flying all over the place." Another mourner, Jabar Thamir, said the crowds had just entered the cemetery alongside the pallbearers. "Afterward, many people were very scared, while others were busy checking the injured before the arrival of the ambulances," he said. Al-Bakka, who was not at the funeral, is the head of the local branch of the Dawa party. Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari leads the party, which is a main partner in the country's largest Shiite political coalition, the United Iraqi Alliance. A senior Dawa official said such attacks were meant to exert pressure on the United Iraqi Alli- ance to accept a less than optimal compromise in the formation of the government. "We expect attacks to increase before the for- mation of the government," Ali al-Adib said. U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan noted that the "horrendous crime" was the latest in a series of increasingly violent attacks after the Dec. 15 elections, and called on Iraqis not to undermine the democratic process. 0 g 'a TALLMANSVILLE, Wana Coal exec apologies for wrong death toll A top coal company official expressed regret yesterday that the families of the 12 dead miners were mistakenly led to believe for three hours that their loved ones were alive. "In the process of being cautious, we allowed the jubilation to go on longer than it should have," said a choked-up Ben Hatfield, chief executive of mine owner lx : International Coal Group. Hatfield said the initial mistake resulted from a miscommunication among the rescue crews. Another ICG executive, vice president Gene Kitts, sug- AP PHOTO gested that the misunderstanding resulted because the rescuers who reached A relative grieves over the body of a bombing victim during a the victims in the mine were wearing full-face oxygen masks and used radios funeral service outside the Muqdadlya hospital mourgue yesterday. to report their findings to their base. I I CORRECTION Compiled from Daily wire reports A story in the Dec. 12 edition of the Daily incorrectly stated that Block M Records's music is available on iTunes Music Store. The music can be accessed on the record label's website, www.blockmrecords.org. Please report any error in the Daily to corrections@michigandaily.com. 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