2 - The Michigan Daily - Tuesday, March 7, 2006 NATION/WORLD Iraqi president fails in attempt to rally parliament Deadlock resulted from assasination of Sunni Arab leader of forces protecting capital BAGHDAD (AP) - Iraq's presi- dent failed in a bid yesterday to order parliament into session by March 12, further delaying formation of a gov- ernment and raising questions wheth- er the political process can withstand the unrelenting violence or disinte- grate into civil war. The deadlock came as snipers assassinated Maj. Gen. Mibder Hatim al-Dulaimi, the Sunni Arab in charge of Iraqi forces protecting the capital. A torrent of bombings and shootings killed 25 more Iraqis yesterday, end- ing a relative lull in violence. Offi- cials also found four bodies. At the heart of the dispute is a con- troversy over the second-term can- didacy of the Shiite prime mninister, Ibrahim al-Jaafari, whose most pow- erful supporter is the anti-American cleric Muqtada al-Sadr. The Sunni Arab minority blames al-Jaafari for failing to control the Shiite militiamen who attacked Sunni mosques and clerics after the Feb. 22 shrine bombing in Samarra. Kurds are angry because they believe al-Jaafari is holding up resolution of their claims to control the oil-rich city of Kirkuk. In a bid to force a showdown in the dispute, President Jalal Talabani, a Kurd, announced he would order parliament to convene Sunday for the first time since the elections in December and the ratification of the results on Feb. 12. Such a meeting would have started a 60-day countdown for the legisla- tors to elect a president, approve al-Jaafari's nomination as prime min- ister and sign off on his Cabinet. Talabani was mistakenly counting on the signature of Vice President Adil Abdul-Mahdi, a Shiite, who lost his own bid for the prime minister's nomination by one vote to al-Jaaf- ari. Talabani had in hand a power of attorney from the other vice presi- dent, Ghazi al-Yawer, a Sunni, who was out of the country. The Shiite bloc closed ranks and AP rrHO Iraqi President Jalal Talabani speaks during a press conference after a meeting with members from the United Iraqi Alliance yesterday. ALEXANDRIA, Va. Moussaoui's lies blamed for 9/11 Opening its argument that Zacarias Moussaoui be executed, the govern- ment asserted yesterday that he "did his part as a loyal al-Qaida soldier" and caused the deaths of nearly 3,000 people by failing to tell what he knew of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. Moussaoui's defense countered that his dreams of being a terrorist were far removed from anything he could actually do, and that he had no part in the attacks. "That is Zacarias Moussaoui in a nutshell," said his court-appointed lawyer Edward MacMahon. "Sound and fury signifying nothing." As Moussaoui stroked his beard and families of Sept. 11 victims watched on closed-circuit TV, prosecutor Rob Spencer evoked the horror of that day and laid blame on the only man charged in the United States in the attacks. "He lied so the plot could proceed unimpeded," Spencer asserted. "With that lie, he caused the deaths of nearly 3,000 people. He rejoiced in the death and destruction." ATLANTA Second bird flu vaccine in the works With new versions of bird flu emerging, U.S. health officials announced yesterday that scientists must stir up a different vaccine recipe to try to protect people. That's not unexpected because flu viruses - whether in birds or people - are constantly changing. Federal health officials are merely trying "to keep right on the virus's tail and keep our vaccines as up to date as much as we can," said William Schaffner, a Vanderbilt University vaccine expert. But despite its mutations, the continent-hopping bird flu virus seems content slaying wild birds and farm chickens, causing an estimated $10 billion in global agricultural losses. NEW YORK Iraq war protesters arrested for conduct Cindy Sheehan, who drew international attention when she camped outside Presi- dent Bush's ranch to protest the Iraq war, was arrested yesterday along with three other women during a demonstration demanding the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq. The march to the U.S. Mission to the United Nations by about a dozen U.S. and Iraqi anti-war activists followed a news conference at U.N. headquarters, where Iraqi women described daily killings and ambulance bombings as part of the escalating violence that keeps women in their homes. Women Say No to War, which helped organize the news conference and march, said Sheehan and three other women were arrested while trying to deliver a petition to the U.S. Mission to the United Nations with more than 60,000 signatures urging the "withdrawal all troops and all foreign fighters from Iraq." Police said they were arrested for criminal trespassing and resisting arrest. NEW YORK AT&T merger would cut 10,000 jobs AT&T Inc. plans to cut up to 10,000 jobs, mostly through normal turnover, if its $67 billion purchase of BellSouth Corp. is approved by shareholders and regulators, AT&T's chief financial officer said Monday. The work force reduction would take place over three years, AT&T's Rick Lindner said. Before the cuts, the combined company would have around 317,000 employees, including Cingular Wireless LLC, which is now an AT&T-BellSouth joint venture. The new company would be the country's largest phone company - with nearly half of all lines. It also would be the largest cell-phone carrier and the largest provider of broadband Internet service. Abdul-Mahdi declined to sign, at least for now. In an emergency meet- ing with Talabani yesterday, seven Shiite leaders rejected the president's demand for them to abandon al-Jaaf- ari's nomination. It remained unclear when parlia- ment might convene, despite the constitutional directive that set Sun- day as the deadline. Nor was it clear how the disagreement over al-Jaafari might be settled. Guards tell Congress that Homeland Security headquarters is insecure 6 6 6 Security service cites several problems, including inadequate training and failed security tests WASHINGTON (AP) - The agency entrusted with protecting the U.S. homeland is having diffi- culty safeguarding its own headquarters, say private security guards at the complex. The guards have taken their concerns to Con- gress, describing inadequate training, failed secu- rity tests and slow or confused reactions to bomb and biological threats. For instance, when an envelope with suspicious powder was opened last fall at Homeland Security Department headquarters, guards said they watched in amazement as superiors carried it by the office of Secretary Michael Chertoff, took it outside and then shook it outside Chertoff's window without evacu- ating people nearby. The scare, caused by white powder that proved to be harmless, "stands as one glaring example" of the agency's security problems, said Derrick Daniels, one of the first guards to respond to the incident. "I had never previously been given training ... describing how to respond to a possible chemical attack,' Daniels told The Associated Press. "I wouldn't feel safe nowhere on this compound as an officer." Daniels was employed until last fall by Wack-, enhut Services Inc., the private security firm that guards Homeland's headquarters in a residential area of Washington. The company has been criti- cized previously for its work at nuclear facilities and transporting nuclear weapons. Homeland Security officials say they have little control over Wackenhut's training of guards but plan to improve that with a new contract. The department said the suspicious powder incident was overblown because the mail had already been irradiated. Two senators who fielded complaints from sev- eral Wackenhut employees are asking Homeland's internal watchdog, the inspector general, to inves- tigate. The IG's office had no immediate response to the request. "If the allegations brought forward by the whis- tleblowers are correct, they represent both a security threat and a waste of taxpayer dollars," Democrat- ic Sens. Byron Dorgan of North Dakota and Ron Wyden of Oregon wrote. "It would be ironic, to say the least, if DHS were unable to secure its own headquarters." Daniels left Wackenhut and now works security for another company at another federal building. He is among 14 current and former Wackenhut employ- ees - mostly guards - who were interviewed by The Associated Press or submitted written state- ments to Congress that were obtained by AP. Wackenhut President Dave Foley disputed the allegations, saying officers have a minimum of one year's security experience, proper security clear- ances and training in vehicle screening, identifica- tion of personnel, handling of suspicious items and emergency response. "In short, we believe our security personnel have been properly trained, have responded correctly to the various incidents that have occurred ... and that this facility is secure," he said. He declined, howev- er, to address any of the current or former employ- ees who have become whistleblowers. Wackenhut is no stranger to criticism. Over the last two years, the Energy Department inspector general concluded that Wackenhut guards had thwarted simulated terrorist attacks at a nuclear lab only after they were tipped off to the test; and that guards also had improperly handled the trans- port of nuclear and conventional weapons. . Homeland Security is based at a gated, former Navy campus in a college neighborhood - several miles from the heavily trafficked streets that house the FBI, Capitol, Treasury Department and White House. Homeland Security spokesman Brian Doyle said Wackenhut guards are still operating under a contract signed with the Navy, and the agency has little control over their training. A soon-to-be- implemented replacement contract will impose new requirements on security guards, he said. Daniels, the former guard who responded to the white powder incident, said the area where the pow- der was 'found wasn't evacuated for more than an hour. Available biohazard face shields went unused. Doyle said the concerns were overblown because all mail going to the Homeland Security complex is irradiated to kill anthrax. He said "the incident was resolved before anything was moved." Daniels said that after the envelope was taken outside, and the order finally given to evacu- ate the potentially infected area, employees had already gone to lunch and had to be rounded up and quarantined. Former guard Bryan Adams recognized his inadequate training one day last August, when an employee reported a suspicious bag in the parking lot. "I didn'ta have a clue about what to do," he said. Adams said he closed the vehicle checkpoint with a cone, walked over to the bag and called superiors. Nobody cordoned off the area. Eventually, some- one called a federal bomb sq'uad, which arrived more than an hour after the discovery. "If the bag had, in fact, contained the explosive device that was anticipated, the bomb could have detonated several times over in the hour that the bag sat there," Adams said. - Compiled from Daily wire reports CORRECTIONS Due to an editing error, a story in yesterday's SportsMonday (Unusual starters get 'M' off on right foot) incorrectly stated that eight seniors played in last week's basket- ball game against Indiana. It should have said eight seniors were honored. Please report any error in the Daily to corrections@michigandaily.com. 420 Maynard St., Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1327 www.michigandaily.com Great Pay, Flexible Hours. Call now to apply. 800-2Review PrincetonReview.com Annan to ask UN. assembly to consider outsourcing operations DoNN M. FRESARD Editor in Chief fresard@michigandaily.com 647-3336 Sun.-Thurs. 5 p.m. - 2 a.m. CONTACT INFORMATION News Tips Corrections Letters to the Editor Photography Department Arts Section Editorial Page Sports Section Display Sales Classified Sales Online Sales Finance JONATHAN DOBBERSTEIN Business Manager business@michigandaily.com 764-0558 Mon.-Fri. 9 a.m. - 5 p.m. Newsroom: 763-2459 Office hours: Sun.-Thurs. 11a.m. -2 a.m. news@michigandaily.com corrections@michigandaily.com tothedaily@michigandaily.com photo@michigandaily.com 764-0563 artspage@michigandaily.com 763-0379 opinion@michigandaily.com 763-0379 sports@michigandaily.com 764-8585 display@michigandaily.com 764-0554 clzssijied@michigandaily.com 14 764-0557 onlineads@michigandaily.com 615-0135 finance@michigandaily.com 763-3246 0 rvieton cieview Reform report calls for dramatic changes to current U.N. policy UNITED NATIONS (AP) - Sec- retary-General Kofi Annan will ask U.N. member states to consider outsourcing some U.N. operations as part of an overhaul of the world body's management, according to an outline of his proposed reforms obtained by The Associated Press. Annan's reform report, which is expected to be released today, calls for creating "a truly mobile international civil service" for the United Nations, whose management came under heavy criticism during the recent oil-for-food scandal and revelations of widespread sexual abuse by U.N. peacekeepers. There has been speculation for months that the U.N. was preparing to embark on a major program of outsourc- ing, including its translation operations. The report does not contain con- crete proposals for outsourcing, according to the outline of key points obtained over the weekend. But Annan wants the General Assembly "to free up" existing limitations so managers more accountable. Annan was asked to submit his proposals during the first quarter of 2006. The United States has been push- ing for a major management overhaul that would give the secretary-general more power and flexibility. But the 191- member General Assembly, dominated by developing countries, controls the U.N's purse strings and is not expected to give up any power easily. The outline of the report stressed the dramatic expansion of U.N. oper- ations in the past decade, including a fourfold increase in peacekeeping budgets and deployments since 1998. Annan's report will call for $280 million annually to provide better pay and benefits for people in the field, where the U.N. Secretariat is hav- ing difficulty recruiting and training staff. The secretary-general will also request a doubling of funds for train- ing and staff development "to address the significant under-investment over the years," the document said. Another key element in the reform package is overhauling top management. 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