The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
Monday, November 18, 2013 - 3A
The Michigan Daily - michigandailycom Monday, November18, 2013 - 3A
NEWS BRIEFS
BATTLE CREEK, Mich.
Boy holding plastic
gun shot by police,
is minorly injured
A 14-year-old boy was shot by
Battle Creek police while hold-
ing a plastic gun.
Deputy Chief " James Saylor
says the boy was crouching out-
side a convenience store Satur-
day with what looked like a real
handgun. He tells the Battle
Creek Enquirer that the boy's
injuries aren't life-threatening.
The officer is a 21-year veteran
who has been placed on leave.
State police will investigate.
* Saylor says police were called
to the scene by someone who
reported a man with a handgun
walking with a woman on Upton
Avenue.
OURAY, Colo.
Two killed, 20
others injured in
mining accident
Two workers were killed and
20 others were injured Sunday
in a mining accident near the
southwestern Colorado town of
Ouray.
* The Ouray County sheriff's
office was called to the Rev-
enue Virginius mine at about
7:20 a.m., county spokeswoman
Marti Whitmore said. The min-
ers were trapped underground
and were confirmed dead Sunday
afternoon.
"Anything that has been
reported is speculative," Whit-
more said. "We don't know what
the cause is."
Star Mine Operations, LLC,
the owner of the mine, couldn't
immediately be reached for com-
ment, but Whitmore said the
company has accounted for all of
the workers at the site.
She said 20 people were taken
to area hospitals, and all but two
have been treated and released.
The conditions of those two hos-
pitalized workers haven't been
released.
JOHANNESBURG
Nelson Mandela
ill, can't speak,
former wife says
South Africa's former presi-
dent, Nelson Mandela, remains
"quite ill" and unable to speak
because of tubes that are keeping
his lungs clear of fluid, though he
is relaxed, his former wife told a
South African newspaper.
"He remains very sensitive to
any germs, so he has to be kept
literally sterile. The bedroom
there (in his suburban Johannes-
burg home) is like an ICU ward,"
Winnie Madikizela-Mandela told
the Sunday Independent. "He is
95 years old and it is difficult for
him, because of all the tubes that
are in his mouth to clear the (fluid
from his) lungs, and prevent an
infection recurring." Because of
those tubes, she said, he commu-
nicates through his face.
"But the doctors have told
us they hope he will be able to
recover his voice," she said, add-
ing that he is being treated by 22
doctors at his home.
WARSAW, Poland
U.N. climate talks
this week to discuss
global failure
U.N. climate talks head into a
tense final week Monday after the
diplomatic effort to reduce global
warming gases was hit by a series
of setbacks, including Japan's
decision to ditch its voluntary
emissions target.
The two-decade-old negotia-
tions have so far failed to achieve
their goal of slashing emissions of
C02 and other greenhouse gases
that scientists say are warming
the planet. They don't seem to be
getting any closer after a tumul-
tuous first week at this year's ses-
sion in Warsaw.
Despite a tearful call for
action from a delegate from the
typhoon-ravaged Philippines,
no major carbon polluter raised
their pledges to cut emissions.
-Compiled from
Daily wire reports
Half of the Senate
approves military
sexual-assault bill
In this Wednesday, April17, 2013 file photo, Pakistan's former president and military ruler Pervez Musharraf, center,
leaves after appearing in court in Rawalpindi, Pakistan.
Pakistan to try its former
president with treason
Musharraf to be
first military ruler
tried for crime
ISLAMABAD (AP) - Paki-
stan's.government plans to put
former President Pervez Mush-
arraf on trial for treason for
declaring a state of emergency
and suspending the constitution
while in power, the interior min-
ister said Sunday.
Musharraf, a former army
chief, would be the first military
ruler tried for treason in a coun-
try that has experienced three
military coups in its 66-year
history. He could face the death
penalty or life in prison if he is
convicted of treason, but some
question whether the country's
powerful army actually will
let that happen. Musharraf has
maintained his innocence.
The government plans to send
a letter to the Supreme Court
on Monday asking that treason
proceedings begin under Article
6 of the constitution, Interior
Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali
Khan said during a news confer-
ence. The government made its
decision after an inves- ti-
gating committee formed under
the direction of the Supreme
Court collected enough evi-
dence for a trial, Khan said.
"Gen. Musharraf is accbunt-
able to the nation and the consti-
tution," Khan said.
He specifically mentioned
Musharraf's decision to sus-
pend senior judges, including
the chief justice of the Supreme
Court, and detain them after he
declared a state of emergency on
Nov. 3, 2007. He was apparently
concerned they would challenge
his re-election as president.
"The constitution was ruined
and violated,"Khan said. "The judi-
ciary was humiliated. Judges were
manhandled physically, confined
along with family and children."
The interior minister insisted
that the government's decision
to put the former president on
trial for treason was not a per-
sonal vendetta by Prime Min-
ister Nawaz Sharif, who was
toppled in a military coup by
Musharraf in 1999.
The government didn't indicate
it would press charges against
Musharraf for his coup, perhaps
because the move was retroac-
tively approved by the Supreme
Court and parliament at the time.
One of Musharraf's lawyers,
Ilyas Siddiqui, said the former
president's legal team would
decide its strategy once the court
formally begins proceedings.
The prime minister said
in June that the government
intended to try Musharraf for
treason, but would consult with
other political parties on the
move. Senior lawmakers from
the two main opposition parties
expressed their support for the
government's plan to try Mush-
arraf at the time.
Musharraf 'governed the
country for nearly a decade after
the 1999 coup but was forced to
step down in 2008 after grow-
ing discontent with his rule. He
left the country soon after. He
returned to Pakistan in March
after years in self-imposed exile,
with the hope of running in the
national election that was held
in May. But he was disqualified
from participating in the vote
because of his actions while in
power and has spent most of his
time battling legal cases.
Musharraf was held under
house arrest for months after
Legislation proposes
giving special
counsel to survivors
WASHINGTON (AP) - Sen.
Kirsten Gillibrand has secured
public support from nearly half
the Senate, but not enough votes,
for her proposal to give victims
of rape and sexual assault in the
military an independent route
outside the chain of command
for prosecuting attackers.
Gillibrand's solution for a
problem the military calls an
epidemic appears to have stalled
in the face of united opposition
from the Pentagon's top ech-
elon and its allies in Congress,
including two female senators
who are former prosecutors.
Opponents of the proposal by
Gillibrand, D-N.Y., :insist that
commanders, not an outside mil-
itary lawyer, must be account-
able for meting out justice.
Even so, major changes are
coming for a decades-old military
system just a few months after
several high-profile cases infu-
riated Republicans and Demo-
crats ina rapid chain of events by
Washington standards.
"Sexual assault in the mili-
tary is not new, but it has been
allowed to fester," Gillibrand
said in a recent Senate speech.
The Senate this week is set to
consider an annual defense policy
bill that would strip commanders
of their ability to overturn jury
convictions, require dishonor-
able discharge or dismissal for
any individual convicted of sexu-
al assault and establish a civilian
review when a decision is made
not to prosecute a case.
The bill would provide a
special counsel for victims and
eliminate the statute of limita-
tions.
Those changes in military
law are backed by members of
the Senate Armed Services
Committee. But overshadow-
ing the revisions is the testy,
intense fight over Gillibrand's
proposal to strip commanders
of their authority to prosecute
cases of sexual assault. She
wants to hand responsibility
to seasoned military lawyers
outside the chain of command.
Her solution has divided
the Senate, splitting Republi-
cans and Democrats, men and
women, even former attorneys
general, into unusual coalitions.
The lobbying has been fierce,
with dueling data, testimonials
and news conferences with vic-
tims. Opponents invited Marine
Corps Brig. Gen. Loretta Reyn-
olds to the closed-door Republi-
can caucus last week.
Among Gillibrand's 47
announced supporters are con-
servative Sens. Ted Cruz, R-Tex-
as, and Rand Paul, R-Ky., along
with 16 of the Senate's 20 women.
Standing against the plan
is the chairman of the Sen-
ate Armed Services Commit-
tee, Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich.;
the panel's military veterans
John McCain, R-Ariz., and Jack
Reed, D-R.L, and three of the
committee's women - Sens.
Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., and
Kelly Ayotte, R-N.H., both for-
mer prosecutors, and Sen. Deb
Fischer, R-Neb.
Gillibrand says she privately has
received backing from more than
50 senators, but support remains
short of the filibuster-proof 60
votes that likely will be needed for
her amendment to the defense bill.
To secure more votes, she said last
week she was considering scaling
back her plan to focus solely on
sexual assault and rape instead of
all serious crimes. That prompt-
ed complaints from her original
backers that it would create "pink
courts," and Gillibrand said on
ABC's "This Week" Sunday she
wasrevertingto herinitialbill.
Libya residents protest city's
recent violent militia attacks
Syrians flood into
Lebanon amid fights
Fights over
weekend resulted
in nearly 50 deaths.
TRIPOLI, Libya (AP) -
Residents of the Libyan capi-
tal launched a general strike
Sunday and held protests,
demanding the city's myriad of
powerful militias be disbanded
after violence in which nearly
50 people were killed over the
weekend.
Tripoli residents are seeth-
ing with anger over the violence
that erupted Friday, particular-
ly directed at powerful militias
from the western city of Misra-
ta operating in the capital. The
violence broke out when thou-
sands of protesters marched"
on a neighborhood controlled
by a number of powerful Mis-
rata militias, prompting some
militiamen to open fire, killing
43 people. A day later, another
militia attempted to overrun
a military base, resulting in a
clash with government forces
that left four dead.
In an apparent angry
response at the popular pres-
sure, Misrata's city council
announced late Sunday that it is
withdrawing its representatives
from the interim national par-
liament and from the Cabinet.
Misrata has at least two min-
isters in the government: the
economy and culture ministers.
The Misrata city council also
called on all armed groups, even
those who are working under
the government, to withdraw
from the capital for a 72-hour
period.
In its statement, the Misrata
city council held the govern-
ment responsible for the secu-
rity situation in Tripoli and for
the safety of citizens originally
from Misrata. There was no
immediate government reac-
tion to the decision.
Earlier Sunday, a security
official said the deputy intelli-
gence chief was abducted as he
left Tripoli's airport. It was not
clear who abducted Mustafa
Nouh, whose family is original-
ly from Misrata.
Public anger had been direct-
ed at the militias from Misrata,
who had developed a strong
presence in the capital follow-
ing the fall of longtime dictator
Moammar Gadhafi in 201L
Except for several protests,
streets were deserted as the
vast majority of Tripoli's busi-
nesses and schools were closed,
with bakeries, pharmacies,
hospitals and gas stations the
main exception. The head of
Tripoli's city council, Al-Sadat
al-Badri, said the strike is to
last three days.
Fearing renewed violence,
armed residents have set up
checkpoints to protect their
neighborhoods.
On Sunday, nearly a hundred
protesters entered the parlia-
ment building while lawmakers
were in session, demanding leg-
islation to disband the militias
and forcing the session to break
up.
Lawmaker Fatma al-Misbari
said the interim parliament was
under strong pressure, but it did
not specify from whom.
"There is no consensus.
There is pressure on the council
and the government," she said
at the parliament building.
Libya's militias originated
in the "revolutionary" brigades
that fought against Gadhafi's
forces in 2011. Since his ouster
and death, they have refused to
disarm and have grown in size
and power. Many have been
enlisted by the state to serve as
security forces, since the army
and police remain weak, unde-
requipped and underpaid. But
many continue to act as armed
vigilante factions with their
own interests, sometimes turn-
ing political feuds into armed
conflicts.
Too weak to disarm the mili-
tias, the military, police and
government have tried to co-
opt them, paying them to take
on security roles such as guard-
ing districts, facilities, and even
polling stations during elec-
tions. But the policy has back-
fired, empowering the militias
without controlling them.
At the parliament, protesters
carried a coffin draped in Lib-
ya's post-Gadhafi flag and held
posters declaring those killed in
the recent violence to be "mar-
tyrs of dignity."
Speaking to Libya's Al-Ahrar
TV, Ali Azouz said the protest-
ers had entered the building to
demand that legislators order
the disbanding of militias and
their removal from Tripoli.
"We were revolutionar-
ies since (the start of the 2011
uprising) but when we were
asked to hand back our weap-
ons we did so and went back to
work," Azouz said, denounc-
ing the existence of the armed
groups.
Libya's state news agency
LANA said Sunday that the
Misrata militias accused of
being responsible for Friday's
killings in the southern Tripoli
neighborhood of Gharghour
had abandoned their bases
there. The militias had turned
villas and residential com-
pounds of former Gadhafi-era
officials into camps where they
stashed weapons.
It is not clear where the Mis-
rata militias went.
A government-affiliated mili-
tia, the Libya Shield-Central
Command, announced late Sat-
urday that it had taken control
ofGharghour, declaring it a mil-
itary zone and vowing to turn it
over to the government. 'The
majority of Libya Shield's mili-
tiamen also hail from Misrata.
Many Tripoli residents also
marched in protest against
Libya Shield's takeover of
Gharghour.
Clashes occur as
government tries to
limit rebel support
BEIRUT (AP) - Thousands
of Syrians poured into Lebanon,
taking shelter in wedding halls
and makeshift shacks after flee-
ing heavy fighting in a moun-
tainous region across the border
in Syria, while a massive explo-
sion Sunday targeting a govern-
ment building outside Damascus
killed at least 31 soldiers.
The clashes in Qalamoun, an
area that stretches north of the
Syrian capital along the Leba-
nese frontier, appeared to be
part of a long-anticipated gov-
ernment offensive aimed at cut-'
ting an important rebel supply
route and cementing President
Bashar Assad's hold on a key
corridor from the capital to the
coast
- A government victory in the
strategic region would deal a
severe blow'to the already belea-
guered rebels on Damascus'
doorstep. Over the past month,
Assad's forces have made head-
way against the rebels on two
key fronts, capturing a string of
opposition-held suburbs south of
Damascus and taking two towns
and a military base outside the
northern city of Aleppo.
Still, the opposition remains
firmly entrenched in other areas
around Damascus and capable
of carrying out large attacks. A
massive bombing Sunday leveled
a government office in the north-
eastern suburbof Harasta,killing
at least 31 soldiers, according to
the Britain-based Syrian Obser-
vatory for Human Rights.
Three brigadiers and one
major general were among the
dead, according to the group's
director, Rami Abdurrahman.
There was no immediate con-
firmation from government offi-
cials or state media.
SU,--IK
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