Ex-congressman Charged in Terror Conspiracy

AP - Ex-lawmaker charged in terror conspiracy

A former congressman and delegate to the United Nations was indicted Wednesday on charges of working for an alleged terrorist fundraising ring that sent more than $130,000 to an al-Qaida supporter who has threatened U.S. and international troops in Afghanistan.

Mark Deli Siljander, a Michigan Republican when he was in the House, was charged with money laundering, conspiracy and obstructing justice for allegedly lying about being hired to lobby senators on behalf of an Islamic charity that authorities said was secretly sending funds to terrorists.

Bhutto had Proof of Plans to Rig Elections

All previous posts about things relating to this assassination can be seen here.

Reuters - Bhutto had "proof" state rigging poll

Benazir Bhutto was poised to reveal proof that Pakistan's election commission and shadowy spy agency were seeking to rig an upcoming general election the night she was assassinated, a top aide said on Tuesday.

Senator Latif Khosa, who authored a 160-page dossier with Bhutto documenting rigging tactics, said they ranged from intimidation to fake ballots, and were in some cases unwittingly funded by U.S. aid.

Bhutto had been due to give the report to two visiting U.S. lawmakers over dinner on December 27, the day she was killed in a suicide bombing.

Bhutto Named Possible Killers

My previous posts about this assassination can be seen here.

Daily Mail - Bhutto email named killers weeks before assassination

Benazir Bhutto claimed three senior allies of Pakistan's president General Musharraf were out to kill her in a secret email to Foreign Secretary David Miliband written weeks before her death.

Astonishingly, one of them is a leading intelligence officer who was officially responsible for protecting Miss Bhutto from an assassination.

The second is a prominent Pakistani figure, one of whose family members was allegedly murdered by a militant group run by Miss Bhutto's brother. The third is a well-known chief minister in Pakistan who is a long-standing opponent of Miss Bhutto.

More on BAE and Tony Blair

Previous related posts:

Probe says Saudi Prince Received Secret Payments

Blair Dismisses New Investigation of Bribery Claims

BAE Faces U.S. Criminal Inquiry

A new article: BBC - Blair 'fears' on Saudi arms probe

Tony Blair raised fears about an investigation into a Saudi arms deal days before it was dropped last year, a newly-disclosed document has shown.

The then PM had said the decision to stop the probe into the BAE deal was taken because of national security and was not linked to commercial interests.

But in a letter released during a legal case, Mr Blair refers to "concern" over ongoing business negotiations.

Downing Street has refused to comment on the letter to his attorney general.

The letter from Mr Blair to Lord Goldsmith dated 8 December 2006 was released to the High Court during a case brought by two pressure groups who are challenging the legality of the decision to end investigations into BAE Systems' dealings with Saudi Arabia.

It refers "critical difficulties" that might have affected the major contract for new military aircraft

Ordered to Kill an Iraqi Civilian

AP - Ordered to kill unarmed Iraqi, U.S. soldier testifies

A U.S. soldier cried today as he told a court martial that his staff sergeant ordered him to shoot an unarmed Iraqi. He said the sergeant then laughed and told the trooper to finish the job as the dying man convulsed on the ground.

The military reported, meanwhile, that it had opened an investigation into the deaths of five women and four children this week in a village where American forces had carried out ground and air assaults.

Prosecutors claim the first case involved the killing of an Iraqi man with a 9-mm pistol, placing an AK-47 rifle by his body to make it seem as though he was armed, and failing to ensure humane treatment of a detainee, the victim.

Blackwater back to Operating in Iraq

My last post about Blackwater: Blackwater Loses License to Operate in Iraq

AFP - Blackwater back on the streets of Baghdad

Despite opposition from Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, US security company Blackwater was back on the streets of Baghdad on Friday, four days after being grounded over a fatal shooting incident.

AP - Feds Target Blackwater in Weapons Probe

Federal prosecutors are investigating whether employees of the private security firm Blackwater USA illegally smuggled into Iraq weapons that may have been sold on the black market and ended up in the hands of a U.S.-designated terrorist organization, officials said Friday.

11 Public Officials Arrested

AP - 11 N.J. officials arrested on corruption

FBI agents arrested 11 public officials in towns across New Jersey Thursday on charges of taking bribes in exchange for influencing the awarding of public contracts, the U.S. Attorney's Office said.

Two of those arrested are state lawmakers, two are mayors, three are city councilmen, and several served on the school board in Pleasantville, where the scandal began.

All 11, plus a private individual, are accused of taking cash payments of $1,500 to $17,500 to influence who received public contracts, according to criminal complaints, said Michael Drewniak, a spokesman for U.S. Attorney Christopher J. Christie.

Democratic state Assemblymen Mims Hackett Jr. and Alfred E. Steele were arrested, as was Passaic Mayor Samuel Rivera. Also arrested were Keith Reid, the chief of staff to Newark's City Council president; Passaic councilmen Jonathan Soto and Marcellus Jackson; two current Pleasantville school board members, three former board members and a private citizen. One of the former school board members is now a Pleasantville city councilman.

More than 100 public officials in the state have been convicted on federal corruption charges in the last five years. Two other Democratic state senators, Wayne Bryant of Lawnside and Sharpe James of Newark, are among others facing pending corruption charges.

FBI Helped Frame 4 Men for Murder

AP - Judge: FBI Helped Frame 4 Men for Murder

The FBI helped frame four men for a 1965 murder and withheld information that could have cleared them, a federal judge ruled Thursday in ordering the government to pay $101.7 million for the decades they spent in prison.

Army Officers Taking Bribes

AFP - US ex-army officer pleads guilty to taking bribes in Iraq

A former US army reserve major pleaded guilty to accepting bribes from US government contractors while deployed in Iraq, the US Department of Justice said Monday.

John Allen Rivard, 48, faces up to 30 years in prison after he pleaded guilty to bribery, conspiracy to commit bribery and money laundering at federal court in Austin, Texas, a statement by the department said.

In a similar case, federal agents arrested US Army Major John Cockerham, 41, at a Texas army base late Sunday on charges of bribery, money laundering and conspiracy linked to his role as a contracting officer in Kuwait in 2004 and 2005.

Federal agents also arrested Cockerham's wife Melissa, 40, on charges of money laundering and conspiracy, the Justice Department said Monday in a separate statement.

$660 Million Clergy Abuse Settlement

AP - Judge approves $660M abuse settlement

A judge on Monday approved a $660 million settlement between the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles and more than 500 alleged victims of clergy abuse, the largest payout yet in a nationwide sex abuse scandal.

Previously, the Los Angeles archdiocese, its insurers and various Roman Catholic orders had paid more than $114 million to settle 86 claims. Several religious orders in California have also reached multimillion-dollar settlements in recent months, including the Carmelites, the Franciscans and the Jesuits.

Lewis Libby Won’t Go to Jail

The Guardian - Saved from prison by Bush's favour: the White House aide who lied to a grand jury

George Bush created a political storm yesterday by intervening to stop the disgraced White House aide, Lewis "Scooter" Libby, from going to jail. The president, in a statement, said the prison sentence imposed on Mr Libby, who was found guilty of perjury in a complex spy case linked to the Iraq war, was too harsh.

He commuted Mr Libby's jail sentence, but did not grant him a pardon. Mr Libby still faces a $250,000 (£125,000) fine and will remain on probation.

AP - Bush won't rule out full Libby pardon

President Bush on Tuesday refused to rule out an eventual pardon for I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, leaving open the chance he may wipe away the former White House aide's criminal record after already erasing his prison sentence.

"I rule nothing in or nothing out," Bush said when asked about whether he might pardon Libby before leaving office in January 2009.

President Clinton pardoned 140 people on his last day in office, including fugitive financier Marc Rich — whose lawyer was Libby.

On Christmas Eve in 1992, just before he left office, the first President Bush pardoned former Defense Secretary Caspar Weinberger and a CIA official as they awaited trial on Iran-Contra charges, as well as four other administration officials who had pleaded or been found guilty in the affair.

My previous post about Libby can be seen here.

Israeli President Resigns, Avoids Rape Charges and Jail Time

AP - Israeli president resigns but avoids jail time

President Moshe Katsav signed a plea bargain Thursday that will force him to resign but included no rape charges and entailed no jail time, Attorney General Meni Mazuz said.

Under the deal, Katsav — who had insisted he was innocent of wrongdoing and the victim of a slur campaign — will plead guilty to sexual harassment, indecent acts and harassing a witness, Mazuz said.

Katsav will pay damages to complainants, but receive a suspended sentence, he added. He did not say when Katsav would step aside, and the president’s office had no details.

Here is an old post from January: Israeli President Urged To Resign

BAE Faces U.S. Criminal Inquiry

My previous posts on BAE:

Probe says Saudi Prince Received Secret Payments

Blair Dismisses New Investigation of Bribery Claims

New article: The Guardian - BAE faces criminal inquiry in US over £1bn payments

The US department of justice is preparing to open a corruption investigation into the arms company BAE, the Guardian has learned. It would cover the alleged £1bn arms deal payments to Prince Bandar of Saudi Arabia.

Washington sources familiar with the thinking of senior officials at the justice department said yesterday it was "99% certain" that a criminal inquiry would be opened under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA). Such an investigation would have potentially seismic consequences for BAE, which is trying to take over US arms companies and make the Pentagon its biggest customer.

Blair Dismisses New Investigation of Bribery Claims

Telegraph - Blair: No new BAE probe despite bribe claims

Tony Blair has dismissed calls to reopen an investigation into a 1980s arms deal as new allegations surfaced that £1 billion in secret "sweetener" payments were made to a Saudi Prince.

Here is a post from yesterday about what’s happening.

Probe says Saudi Prince Received Secret Payments

BBC - Saudi prince 'received arms cash'

A Saudi prince who negotiated a £40bn arms deal between Britain and Saudi Arabia received secret payments for over a decade, a BBC probe has found.

The UK's biggest arms dealer, BAE Systems, paid hundreds of millions of pounds to the ex-Saudi ambassador to the US, Prince Bandar bin Sultan.

The payments were made with the full knowledge of the Ministry of Defence.

Prince Bandar "categorically" denied receiving any improper payments and BAE said it acted lawfully at all times.

According to Panorama's sources, the payments were written into the arms deal contract in secret annexes, described as "support services".

They were authorised on a quarterly basis by the MoD.

It remains unclear whether the payments were actually illegal - a point which depends in part on whether they continued after 2001, when the UK made bribery of foreign officials an offence.

The payments were discovered during a Serious Fraud Office (SFO) investigation.

The SFO inquiry into the Al Yamamah deal was stopped in December 2006 by attorney general Lord Goldsmith.

Here is a post which has an article about the stopped SFO investigation.

Lewis Libby Sentenced

Reuters - Ex-Cheney aide sentenced to 30 months in leak case

A former top aide to U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney was sentenced on Tuesday to 2 1/2 years in prison for lying and obstructing an investigation related to the Bush administration's handling of the Iraq war.

U.S. District Judge Reggie Walton imposed the stiff sentence on Lewis "Scooter" Libby for lying to investigators trying to determine who leaked the identity of CIA analyst Valerie Plame in 2003.

Walton also imposed a fine of $250,000 and two years probation.

A spokeswoman for President George W. Bush, who could pardon Libby, said Bush had no plans to intervene in the case while the appeals process continues.

A hearing was set for next week on whether Libby can remain out of prison as he appeals.

That process could last until nearly the end of Bush's second and final term in office, when he would presumably be more free to pardon his vice president's one-time top assistant.

"I find it very plausible that we're going to see a pardon right in that window after the election and before the president leaves office" in January 2009, said Scott Fredricksen, a former government lawyer.

Reuters - White House: Bush won't intervene now in Libby case

President George W. Bush does not plan to intervene in the case of a former top aide to Vice President Dick Cheney while the appeals process is still under way, his spokeswoman said on Tuesday.

My previous post on Lewis Libby can be seen here.

5 Britons Questionably Abducted in Iraq

BBC - Five Britons abducted in Baghdad

Five Britons have been kidnapped from Iraq's finance ministry in Baghdad, the British government has confirmed.

Those abducted include four bodyguards from security company GardaWorld and a finance expert.

Witnesses and sources told the BBC that the kidnappers wore police uniforms and arrived in up to 40 police vehicles.

There are conflicting reports about exactly how Tuesday's abduction took place.

Witnesses said it was carried out by what appeared to be a police unit.

The street was sealed off at both ends and the kidnappers, in police camouflage uniforms, walked straight past guards at the finance ministry building on Palestine Street, the witnesses said.

A police source told the BBC that dozens of police vehicles were used in the operation.

The BBC's Paul Wood in Baghdad says that if such reports are true, it could point to the involvement of a renegade police unit, possibly special commandos.

While it has been possible in the past for criminals or militants to hire police uniforms and vehicles, he says, the scale of this operation suggests real police involvement.

It is well known that the Iraqi police are heavily infiltrated by militia groups, leading to split loyalties and corruption, our correspondent says.

UN Troops Traded Gold for Guns

BBC - UN troops 'traded gold for guns'

Pakistani UN peacekeeping troops have traded in gold and sold weapons to Congolese militia groups they were meant to disarm, the BBC has learnt.

These militia groups were guilty of some of the worst human rights abuses during the Democratic Republic of Congo's long civil war.

The trading went on in 2005. A UN investigative team sent to gather evidence was obstructed and threatened.

The team's report was buried by the UN itself to "avoid political fallout".