The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
KING OF THE RING
NEWS BRIEFS
WASHINGTON
" U.S. denounces
Chinese missile test
The United States criticized
China yesterday for conducting an
anti-satellite weapons test in which
an old Chinese weather satellite
was destroyed by a missile.
The Bush administration has
kept a lid on the test for a week as
it weighs its significance. Analysts
said China's weather satellites
would travel at about the same alti-
tude as U.S. spy satellites, so the
test represented an indirect threat
to U.S. defense systems.
"The United States believes
China's development and testing of
such weapons is inconsistent with
the spirit of cooperation that both
countries aspire to in the civil space
area," National Security Coun-
cil spokesman Gordon Johndroe
said. "We and other countries have
expressed our concern to the Chi-
nese."
HOUSTON
Truck driver given
life for immigrant
smuggling deaths
A truck driver was spared the
death penalty and sentenced to
life in prison yesterday for his role
in the nation's deadliest human
smuggling attempt - a journey that
ended in the deaths of 19 illegal
immigrants crammed in a swelter-
ing tractor-trailer.
Tyrone Williams, 36, was con-
victed last month of 58 counts of
conspiracy and harboring and
transporting immigrants.
The federal court jury deliber-
ated for a little more than five days
before deciding to send Williams
to prison without the possibility of
parole for each of the immigrants
who died from dehydration, over-
heating and suffocation in his truck
during the 2003 trip from South
Texas to Houston.
LOS ANGELES
Marine pleads
guilty to murder of
Iraqi citizen
A Marine corporal pleaded
guilty yesterday to kidnapping and
murdering an unarmed Iraqi civil-
ian last year, and said he and other
servicemen went after him because
they were "sick and tired of getting
bombed."
Cpl. Trent Thomas, 25, is the
first of seven Marines and a Navy
medic accused in the case to plead
guilty to murder. Four others have
pleaded guilty to reduced charges
in exchange for their testimony.
Prosecuourn said the eight-man
squad kidnapped 52-year-old
Hashim Ibrahim Awad in Hamda-
nia, took him to a roadside hole and
shot him to death, placing an AK-47
and shovel by his body to make it
look as if he was an insurgent caught
planting a bomb.
SEOUL, North Korea
North Korea says
talks with U.S.
yielded agreement
North Korea said today that it
held sincere and positive talks this
week on its nuclear program with
the United States.
In an upbeat assessment, the
communist state said the talks
yielded "a certain agreement," but
it declined to elaborate on what
that was.
North Korea's Foreign Minis-
try said the talks between U.S.
envoy Christopher Hill and North
Korea's main nuclear negotia-
tor Kim Kye Gwan in Germany
had been held in a "sincere atmo-
sphere.'
Hill and Kim met for three days
in Berlin, and were believed to have
discussed when to convene the next
session of international talks on the
North's nuclear programs, among
other issues.
- Compiled from
Daily wire reports.
' 37 million
The number of people, on aver-
age, who watched the premiere of
Fox's popular reality show "Amer-
ican Idol" on Tuesday night. It was
the most popular season premiere
since the series debuted in 2002,
and an increase from last year's
premiere, which garnered about
35.5 million viewers.
Friday, January 19, 2007 - 3
11-year- od
killer walks
free at 20
ALLISON GHANIAN/Daiy
Alex Gulko, a local artisan, fashions a gold ring in his shop on East Liberty Street. All of his prodocts are custom-made. Gulko
has been in the jewelry industry for about 30 years.
Mahdi Army under siege
in Sadr City, fighters sa.-..y
U.S., Iraqi troops
seize commanders in
nighttime raids
BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) - Mahdi
Army fighters said yesterday they
were under siege in their Sadr City
stronghold as U.S. and Iraqi troops
killed or seized key commanders
in pinpoint nighttime raids. Two
commanders of the Shiite militia
said Prime Minister Nouri al-Mali-
ki has stopped protecting the group
under pressure from Washington
and threats from Sunni Muslim
Arab governments.
The two commanders' account of
a growing siege mentality inside the
organization could represent a tacti-
cal and propaganda feint, but there
was mounting evidence the militia
was increasingly off balance and had
ordered its gunmen to melt back into
the population. To avoid capture,
commanders report no longer using
cell phones and fighters are remov-
ing their black uniforms and hiding
their weapons during the day.
During much of his nearly eight
months in office, al-Maliki has
blocked or ordered an end to many
U.S.-led operations against the
Mahdi Army, which is run by radi-
cal Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, the
prime minister's keypoliticalbacker.
As recently as Oct. 31, al-Maliki,
trying to capitalize on American
voter discontent with the war and
White House reluctance to open a
public fight with the Iraqi leader
just before the election, won U.S.
agreement to lift military block-
ades on Sadr City and another Shiite
enclave where an American soldier
was abducted.
But al-Maliki reportedly had a
change of heart in late November
while going into a meeting in Jor-
dan with President Bush. It has
since been disclosed that the Iraqi
leader's vision for a new security
plan for Baghdad, to which Bush
has committed 17,500 additional
U.S. troops, was outlined in that
meeting.
In 1997, case sparked
debate on juvenile
criminals
PONTIAC (AF) - Nathaniel
Abraham lost his freedom as a child
and gained it as a man. But those
surrounding him in court yesterday
said he should take his first unsu-
pervised steps in nearly a decade
with great care and caring people.
A judge released Abraham from
all state supervision, more than
nine years after the then-11-year-
old used a rifle to shoot and kill a
man outside a Pontiac convenience
store.
The 20-year-old man who stood
before Oakland County Probate
Judge Eugene Moore for his final
status hearing yesterday bore
little resemblance to the scared
boy whose feet couldn't touch the
ground while he sat at the defense
table during his 1999 murder trial.
Abraham, a foot taller and 100
pounds heavier than he was at the
time of his arrest, has been living
in a halfway house in Bay City, 70
miles north of his family in Pontiac.
It was in Pontiac that he was con-
victed of second-degree murder in
the 1997 death of 18-year-old Ron-
nie Lee Greene. Though convicted
as an adult, Abraham was sentenced
as a juvenile by Moore.
Abrahamo was the first young
person charged with murder to be
prosecuted under'a 1997 Michigan
law that allowed adult prosecutions
of children of any age in a serious
felony case.
Moore gave a lengthy speech in
court yesterday, chronicling Abra-
ham's progress. Highlights includ-
ed obtaining a high-school diploma
in 2005 after being three to four
grade levels behind and a growing
sense of responsibility for himself
and empathy for others.
Moore cited a few missteps, like
fighting and stealing cleaning sup-
plies for his girlfriend, but said
"none were very serious" and Nate
now had the "guts" to succeed.
"Show us all that you have
become a caring, productive mem-
ber of society," said Moore, who has
been stern yet supportive of Abra-
ham over the years.
"I know you can do it. Do it."
Abraham turns 21 today and was
expected tobe released at that time,
but Moore signed the release order
yesterday. With that, Abraham was
a free man, walking out the door in
a pinstripe suit and a fedora. St was
a stark contrast from when police
arrested the then-sixth-grader at
his school, his face painted for Hal-
loween.
Before walking out of the court-
room, he thanked all those involved
in his case and said he owed a debt
to them. He singled out Moore for
taking a chance.
"You saw something in me before
a lot of people did," Abraham said.
"Sure enough, I'm not going back
into society to cause any other fam-
ilies any hurt or harm."
Abraham's arrest in 1997sparked
debate onthe treatment ofjuveniles
accused of violent crimes.
Prosecutors at the time said
Abraham had hidden the rifle,
told people he intended to kill and
voiced worry about gangs coming
after him. The defense argued the
shooting was accidental and that
he was aiming at trees and not at
Greene.
Abraham's release follows years
in a maximum-security facility
and a short stay at a medium-secu-
rity camp. Opinions diverge on how
much he's changed in that time.
For Oakland County Chief Dep-
uty Prosecutor Deborah Carley
and Greene's family, the remorse
has been lacking and they don't
believe he has been fully rehabili-
tated.
The offenses might be viewed as
minor to others, but Carley said it's
onlybeenduringthepastfewmonths
that he stole the supplies from the
halfway house and on another occa-
sion left without telling anyone.
"There are so many problems,"
she said. "This is not success."
Robin Adams, Greene's mother,
said she doesn't think Abraham is
ready for release, and would prefer
that he have an electronic tether on
his leg for law enforcement to keep
track of him. Still, she hopes he has
great deal of private supervision
and support.
Ahmadinejad: Iran will noL back down
TEHRAN, Iran (AP) - President
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad lashed
back over the U.S. military buildup
in the Gulf, saying yesterday that
Iran is ready for any possibility in
the standoff over its nuclear pro-
gram.
The president made clear he
was not backing down in his tough
rhetoric toward the United States,
despite criticism at home. Conser-
vatives and reformists alike have
openly challenged Ahmadinejad's
nuclear diplomacy tactics, many
saying his fiery anti-Western
remarks are doing more harm than
good.
Ahmadinejad said their calls for
compromise echo "the words of the
enemy."
At the same time, Ahmadinejad's
top national security official, Ali
'Larijani, sharply denounced U.S.
policy in Iraq, saying Washington
is fueling Shiite-Sunni hatred.
Washington has accused Iran
of backing militants fueling Iraq's
violence, increasing tensions amid
the dispute over Iran's nuclear pro-
gram, which the U.S. says aims to
produce nuclear weapons.
The United States sent an air-
craft carrier to the Gulf this week
- the second to deploy in the region
- a buildup that Defense Secretary
Robert Gates said was intended to
impress on Iran that the four-year
war in Iraq has not made America
vulnerable.
In an apparent reaction to the
deployment, Ahmadinejad vowed
Thursday that Iran would not back
down over its nuclear program,
which Tehran says is being devel-
oped only to produce energy.
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