The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com

Thursday, January 17, 2008 - 3A

NEWS BRIEFS
WASHINGTON
Lawmaker says CIA
told official not to
destroy tapes
The CIA official who gave the
command to destroy interroga
tion videotapes apparently acted
against the direction of his supe-
riors, the top Republican on the
House Intelligence Committee said
yesterday.
"It appears he hadn't gotten
authority from anyone," said Rep.
Pete Hoekstra (R-Holland), speak-
ing to reporters after the first day of
closed testimony in the committee's
investigation. "It appears he got
direction to make sure the tapes
were not destroyed."
Hoekstra said that raises the
troubling prospect that there's a
thread of unaccountability in the
spy culture.
"I believe there are parts of the
intelligence community that don't
believe they are accountable to
Congress and may not be account-
able to their own superiors in the
intelligence community, and that's
why it's a problem," he said.
SHARM EL-SHEIK, Egypt
Egypt supports
Bush peace plan
President Bush's fast-track plan
for a Mideast peace agreement got
a welcome endorsement yesterday
from a nation long seen as a key
Arab mediator. Bush responded by
* pulling his punches on the human
rights backpedaling in Egypt that
has cooled relations with this long-
time ally.
The president closed an eight-day
Mideast trip well-fed from several
lingering meals with his Arab hosts
and upbeat about what even some of
America's closest allies say is an un-
expected and ambitious drive. An
Israeli-Palestinian agreement has
eluded U.S. presidents for decades,
and Bush didn't put much effort
into trying for the first seven years
of his presidency.
Bush had a message for skepti-
cal Arab states whose help he needs
to make any accord stick and who
doubt the president's intention to
personally shepherd a deal. "I mean
what I'm saying," Bush said.
HAVANA
Castro too sick to
) campaign
Fidel Castro said yesterday he is
not yet healthy enough to address
Cuba's people in person and can't
campaign for Sunday's parliamen-
tary elections.
se"I am not physically able to
speak directly to the citizens of the
municipality where I was nomi-
nated for our elections," the ailing
81-year-old wrote in an essay pub-
lished by state news media.
Hours later, government televi-
sion broadcast images of a frail but
upbeat Castro meeting Brazil's vis-
iting President Luiz Inacio Lula da
Silva on Tuesday.
The first video of Castro in three
months showed him sitting and lis-
teningintentlywith a finger pressed

to his forehead, then later standing
and speaking, waving a finger for
emphasis.
LANSING
r Unemployment rate
inches higher
Michigan's unemployment rate
increased to 7.6 percent in Decem-
ber.
Michigan had the nation's high-
est unemployment rate for much of
2007. Many analysts expect the job-
less rate to rise above 8 percent this
year as the state's economy contin-
ues to struggle.
The national unemployment rate
in December was 5 percent.
Michigan's seasonally adjusted
unemployment rate was 7.4 percent
in November. The rate has been
roughly in the same range since
August.
Jobs were lost last month in
manufacturing. Jobs were added
in several service sectors, including
health and education.
- Compiled from
Daily wire reports

Former Mich. congressman
accused of funding terror

WASHINGTON (AP) -A former
congressman and delegate to the
United Nations was indicted yes-
terday on charges of working for an
alleged terrorist fundraising ring
that sent more than $130,000 to an
al-Qaida supporter who has threat-
ened U.S. and international troops
in Afghanistan.
Mark Deli Siljander, a Michi-
gan Republican when he was in
the House, was charged with
money laundering, conspiracy and
obstructing justice for allegedly
lyingaboutbeinghiredto lobbysen-
ators on behalf of an Islamic charity
that authorities said was secretly
sending funds to terrorists.
The 42-count indictment,
unsealed in U.S. District Court
in Kansas City, Mo., accuses the
Islamic American Relief Agency of
paying Siljander $50,000 for the
lobbying - money that turned out
to be stolen from the U.S. Agency
for International Development.

The charges paint "a troubling
picture of an American charity
organization that engaged in trans-
actions for the benefit of terrorists
and conspired with a former United
States congressman to convert sto-
len federal funds into payments for
his advocacy," Assistant Attorney
General Kenneth Wainstein said.
Siljander, who served in the
House from 1981-1987, was appoint-
ed by President Reagan to serve
as a U.S. delegate to the United
Nations for one yearin 1987. Callsto
Silander's business outside Wash-
ington went unanswered yesterday.
His attorney in Kansas City, James
R. Hobbs, said Siljander would
plead not guilty.
"Mark Siljander vehemently
denies the allegations in the indict-
ment," Hobbs said in a statement.
He said Siljander has been praised
for his "attempts to bridge the gap
between Christian and Muslim
communities worldwide."

WHAT DO
IHODES/MARSHALL/MITCHELL
SCHOLARS
DO AFTER THEIR STUDIES

JI

Come to a Rhodes/Marshall/Mitchell Orientation Session:

To learn more, please contact the Provost's Council on Student Honors at
734-763-8123 or visit the website at

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