THURSDAY, APRIL 25, 2002
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN = 9P
WORLD NEWS
Tape shows Chavez used army against protesters
MARACAY, Venezuela — President Hugo Chavez ordered troops and tanks into Caracas' streets to confront a massive opposition demonstration that ultimately ended in a blood bath, according to an audiotape released yesterday.
The Associated Press
The bloodshed led disgusted generals to oust Chavez on April 12. Loyalist troops and thousands of Chavez militants rebelled April 13, and Chavez was restored to power on April 14.
In the tape released by the Venezuelan media, Chavez is heard ordering the activation of "Plan Avila," a state security emergency plan, to contain hundreds of thousands of civilians who marched on the presidential palace April 11 to demand Chavez resign.
"I order you to start Plan Avila. The first move we must make is to send the Ayala Battalion," Chavez tells an unidentified officer via radio.
Venezuelan generals have said they refused to obey the order requiring them to use force against unarmed civilians. At least 17 people died that day anyway, and several investigations are under way to determine who is to blame.
The tape shows that Chavez was prepared "to shoot against the protesters as a last resort," said Fausto Maso, a columnist with El Nacional newspaper.
There was no immediate comment from the presidency.
Congress is trying to establish its own truth commission to investigate the April 11 deaths and subsequent violence that killed more than 50 people.
Vatican stops short of zero tolerance
The Associated Press
VATICAN CITY — After an extraordinary meeting sparked by a sex abuse scandal, American Roman Catholic leaders agreed yesterday to make it easier to remove priests guilty of sexually abusing minors — but they stopped short of a zero-tolerance policy to dismiss all abusive priests.
The American church leaders said they would recommend a special process to defrock any priest who had become "notorious and is guilty of the serial, predatory sexual abuse of minors." In cases that are "not
notorious" they will leave it up to the local bishop to decide if such a priest is a threat to children and should be defrocked.
The reference to "serial" attacks appeared to contradict a statement earlier yesterday by Cardinal Theodore McCarrick of Washington, who indicated that the American cardinals meeting with Pope John Paul II reached consensus on a "one-strike-you're-out" policy that would dismiss any priest involved in a future sex abuse case.
The statement came at the end of two days of talks between American cardinals and top bishops with Vatican officials aiming to stem the sex abuse scandal engulfing the U.S. church. The church leaders will take their recommendations to a meeting of U.S. bishops in June to draw up a policy on dealing with abusive priests.
But the final statement was less than the blanket order for the dismissal of all abusive priests that some had sought.
After a marathon final session that delayed announcement of the final statement by two hours, four church officials appeared at a press briefing. But only one, McCarrick, leads a U.S. archdiocese. Also on the
panel were U.S. bishops' head Wilton Gregory; Cardinal James Francis Stafford, an American who is president of the Pontifical Council for the Laity at the Vatican; and Vatican spokesman Joaquin Navarro-Valls.
"There is a growing consensus certainly among the faithful, among the bishops, that it is too great a risk to assign a priest who has abused a child to another ministry," Gregory told reporters.
The group, as expected, reaffirmed priestly celibacy, another issue that has troubled the American church.
British man set free in Sept.11 case
The Associated Press
LONDON — The extradition case against an Algerian pilot once described by U.S. authorities as a trainer for the Sept. 11 hijackers fell apart yesterday when a British judge ruled the United States had not provided sufficient evidence the man was involved in terrorism
It was the first Sept. 11 related case outside of the United States to crumble since the attacks. The defendant, Lotfi Raissi, had been free on bail since February.
Raissi was linked to terrorism.
Judge Timothy Workman turned down a U.S. request seeking Raissi's extradition on lesser charges of lying to the Federal Aviation Authority when he filled out a form seeking to extend his pilot's license in April 2001.
Workman also said during the daylong hearing at Bow Street Magistrate's Court in London that U.S. authorities had provided no evidence
"He has appeared before me on several occasions where allegations of involvement with terrorism were made," Workman told the court. "I would like to make it clear that I have received and the court has received no evidence to support such a contention."
U. S. Justice Department spokesman Bryan Sierra declined to say whether the United States would continue to seek Raissi's extradition.
"The court has ruled, and our investigation into the events of Sept. 11th continues," he told The Associated Press in Washington.
Raissi's family cheered the decision.
Standing on the steps of the courthouse with his lawyer, Richard Egan, Raissi said: "I'm very relieved it is all over and want to thank Mr. Egan and my family for standing by me. I want to thank the British public for believing in my innocence," he said.
Authorities capture al-Qaida suspect
The Associated Press
MADRID, Spain — Spanish police moved against Osama bin Laden's terror network yesterday, arresting a second suspect accused of channeling hundreds of thousands of dollars to at least five al-Qaida operations.
At a news conference with the chief of Interpol, Spanish Interior Minister Mariano Rajoy laid out a detailed case against a "network of businesses that devoted part of their profits to al-Qaida." The suspect arrested yesterday and two others in custody sent some $600,000 to Islamic radicals linked to bin Laden in the United States, Saudi Arabia, Belgium, China, Turkey, Jordan, Syria and the Palestinian territories, Rajoy said.
Galeb Kalaie Zouaydi, also known as Abu Talha, who was taken into custody Tuesday. They described Abu Talha as a major al-Qaida financial figure and believe both men operated with Bassan Dalati Satut, who was arrested in Spain in November.
Syrian-born Ghasoub al-Abrash al-Ghalyoun was detained in Madrid early yesterday and police said he was an associate of another Syrian-born Spaniard, Muhammed
Spain has been a major focal point of the international investigation launched after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on the United States. Authorities tracked suspected Sept. 11 ringleader Mohamed Atta to Spain and have made over a dozen arrests in the past eight months.
Using a police flow-chart to show al-Qaida's money transfers, Rajoy said cash was sent to five al-Qaida operations.
The rest of the money was sent to mosques and Islamic centers in Syria, Afghanistan, Germany, Egypt, Jordan, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, the Palestinian territories and the United States, Rajoy said.
Two shot, one killed in standoff
BETHLEHEM, West Bank Two Palestinians inside the Church of the Nativity compound were shot yesterday and one of them died as Israeli and Palestinian negotiators gathered next door for a second round of talks to end the standoff at one of Christianity's holiest sites.
The Associated Press
In Washington, Secretary of State Colin Powell told Congress he had no evidence of an Israeli massacre of Palestinians at the Jenin refugee camp on the West Bank. Powell had sought to mend deep divisions between Israel and the United Nations over the composition of a U.N. team dispatched to investigate the actions of Israeli troops in the camp, where Palestinian claim there was a massacre.
"Clearly, innocent lives may well have been lost," Powell testified. But, he said, "I have no evidence of mass graves. I see no evidence that would support a massacre took place."
U. N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan has ordered the team to arrive in the Middle East by Saturday. But Israel balked, saying it wants the mission to include people with military and anti-terrorism experience. Israel has not said what it will do if they are not added to the team.
The trouble at the church, built over a grotto where Christian tradition holds Jesus was born, began about dawn, when a Palestinian was shot and seriously wounded by an Israeli sniper.
The Palestinian who died was hit in shooting that erupted about 5 p.m., as the Israeli and Palestinian delegations were arriving to start the second day of negotiations at the peace center next to the church.