8A THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
NEWS
Baby, it's cold outside Allen Fieldhouse
Menan True/KANSAN
Stephanie Mcllroy, Wichita junior, and Laura Mcllroy, Wichita freshman, wait Saturday in the freezing cold to get good seats for the men's basketball game against Missouri. Stephanie Mcllroy said it was only worth waiting in the cold for a rival game like Missouri.
Soon-to-be government sees problems
BAGHDAD, Iraq — Iraqi political parties have run into major obstacles in talks on a new national unity government, officials said Sunday, raising the possibility of a major delay that would be a setback to U.S. hopes for a significant reduction in troop levels this year.
MONDAY. FEBRUARY 20. 2006
WAR IN IRAQ
BY QASSIM ABDL-ZAHRA
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
In northeastern Iraq, search parties alerted by a shepherd found the wreckage of a German private plane that went
Gunmen ambushed a convoy of trucks carrying construction material to the U.S. military north of Baghdad on Sunday, killing four Iraqi drivers. A police general also died in a roadside bombing in northern Iraq.
missing in bad weather three days earlier with five Germans and one Iraqi on board. Iraqi and U.S. officials said there was no sign of survivors.
calm violence by luring the Sunni Arab minority away from the Sunni-dominated insurgency so that U.S. and other foreign troops can begin to head home.
U. S. officials hope a new government that includes representatives of all Iraq's religious and ethnic communities can help
But prospects for a broad-based coalition taking power soon appeared in doubt after officials from the Shiite and Kurdish blocs told The Associated Press that talks between the two groups had revealed major policy differences.
A long delay could affect American plans to hand over more security responsibility to the Iraqi military — a move that could be risky without a civilian government in place.
the new government is supposed to be complete by mid-May, but some U.S. officials believe the process could take longer.
Forming a new governing coalition is crucial to the U.S. strategy for drawing down its forces in Iraq. Under the new constitution,
"If the position of the Shiite alliance is final, then things will be more complicated and the formation of the government might face delays," a Kurdish negotiator said.
INTERNATIONAL
Israel says it won't give to new Palestine
BY RAVI NESSMAN
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
JERUSALEM - Israel branded the Palestinian government a "terrorist authority" Sunday and halted the transfer of hundreds of millions of dollars in tax money after Hamas took control of the Palestinian parliament.
But the Israeli government held off on adopting even more drastic measures recommended by security officials, mindful of possible international reaction.
The sanctions came as the Palestinian militant group worked to consolidate its power and form a government, nominating one of its more pragmatic leaders, Ismail Haniyeh, to be the new prime minister.
Mahmoud Abbas, president of the Palestinian Authority, was scheduled to meet with Haniyeh in Gaza on Monday and formally ask him to assemble a Cabinet, a task Haniyeh would have five weeks to complete. Haniyeh said Hamas would begin talks with possible coalition partners Monday.
Also Sunday, Israeli troops killed four Palestinians in two separate incidents.
The Islamic group, which calls for the destruction of Israel and has carried out scores of deadly suicide bombings against Israelis, trounced Abbas' corruption-riddled Fatah Party in Jan. 25 elections, winning 74 of 132 parliament seats.
Israel and Western countries demanded the group renounce violence and recognize Israel's
right to exist, but Hamas resisted pressure to moderate. The group took control of the Palestinian legislature when the new parliament was sworn in Saturday.
"The PA is — in practice — becoming a terrorist authority," acting Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert told his Cabinet at the beginning of its meeting Sunday. "Israel will not hold contacts with a government in which Hamas takes part."
The Cabinet decided to stop the transfer of the roughly $55 million a month it collects in taxes and tariffs on behalf of the Palestinian Authority. The order did not specify when the payments would stop, but government spokesman Asaf Shariv said the next payment, scheduled for early March, "won't take place."
Army Radio quoted Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz saying the cutoff would be reviewed each month.
The Palestinian Authority relies on that money to help pay the salaries of roughly 140,000 government employees, including about 57,000 in the security forces.
Should the government, the Palestinians' largest employer, be forced to lay off tens of thousands of workers, it would lead to increased chaos and poverty in Palestinian towns throughout the West Bank and Gaza.
Palestinian experts estimate that the Palestinian budget shortfall is about $1 billion a year, and the Israel-collected funds would cover about half.
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