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> Fri., Aug. 20, 2004
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Today's lead stories:
Department of Justice Uses Secret Evidence
Guantanamo Bay Update
Micah Garen Taken Hostage in Iraq
EPA Neglecting Pollution
Bush's Plan to Withdraw Troops from Europe
FSRN Headlines
As many as 300-thousand people many undocumented immigrants,
are expected to have their driver’s licenses suspended
in New York State. Leigh Ann Caldwell has the story from WBAI
in New York.
Today an African couple in Houston fought for custody of
their infant son against a Texas lawmaker. KFPT's Alistair
Omari reports from the courthouse.
The Senate in Nigeria has approved President Obasanjo's request
to send more than 15-hundred troops to Sudan's western Darfur
region. Sam Olukoya reports from Lagos.
Argentina will delay loan talks with International Monetary
Fund until 2005. From Buenos Aires, Mat Goldin explains.
[top]
Department of Justice Uses Secret Evidence
Attorney General John Ashcroft announced today that three
men have been indicted, and that two have been arrested, for
allegedly participating in a racketeering conspiracy to help
fund the Palestinian resistance group Hamas. Ashcroft credited
the Patriot Act in getting the information to serve the indictments.
Meanwhile, two federal cases are challenging certain provisions
of the Patriot Act. The Justice Department, in defending the
act, is submitting secretive evidence that the neither the
plaintiff's lawyers nor the public may see. Mitch Jeserich
reports from DC.
[top]
Guantanamo Bay Update
Human rights groups will enter Guantánamo Bay for
the first time since the detention camps were set up there
two years ago. The representatives of these groups will be
part of a handful of people who will be able to witness the
long awaited military commission hearings. Selina Musuta brings
you this report.
[top]
Micah Garen Taken Hostage in Iraq
Uncertainty surrounds the seizure of Najaf's holy Imam Ali
Mosque. The US-appointed Iraqi interim government says it
has taken control of the Shi'ite rebel territory, but Muqtada
al-Sadr's Mehdi militiamen deny the claim. And bloodless takeover
of Najaf by the Iraqi interim government would be seen as
a major political victory for interim Prime Minister Iyad
Allawi, who has faced constant insurgency since his June 28
appointment. Meanwhile, on August 13, Connecticut-born Micah
Garen, a journalist working in Iraq, went missing. This last
Wednesday, a group calling itself the Martyr's Squad was reported
to be holding Garen hostage. In a video aired on Al-Jazeera,
a man presumed to be Geron is seen kneeling in front of five
armed men. The group has threatened to kill Garen unless US
forces withdraw from Najaf. Today, Maqtada Al-Sadr and the
Mehdi Army called for Garen's immediate release. Robert Shaw
works with the Human Rights information office for the International
Federation of Journalists. He joins us today from Brussles,
Belgium.
[top]
EPA Neglecting Pollution
A report released this week by environmental groups accuses
regulators of looking the other way when power plants emit
millions of pounds of pollution each year. Legal loopholes
in some states allow plants to violate clean air permits,
if the emissions are deemed an accident. From KPFT in Houston
Erika McDonald reports.
[top]
Bush's Plan to Withdraw Troops from Europe
President Bush has announced plans to bring home up to 70,000
troops from Europe and Asia within a decade in a major realignment
which he explains as an attempt to "reduce stress on
American troops and their families" and to "save
American taxpayers money." According to analysts, it
could bring big changes in the long-standing arrangements
with key allies, particularly Germany and Poland. Currently
the US has about 115,000 troops stationed in Europe and another
97,000 in the Asia-Pacific region. Danuta Szafraniek reports
from Warsaw.
[top]
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