Nation in brief

9/11 panel close to deal on questioning al-Qaida prisoners

WASHINGTON - The leaders of the commission investigating the Sept. 11 terror attacks revealed Tuesday that they were close to an agreement with the Bush administration that would allow the panel to submit questions to captured al-Qaida leaders who are believed to have been involved in planning the attacks.

"We think the result will be that we will have the information we need from these people," Lee H. Hamilton, the vice chairman of the commission.

Commission officials, who face a July deadline for completing the panel's final report, have repeatedly sought access to al-Qaida leaders who have been captured since Sept. 11, especially Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, Abu Zubaydah and others close to Osama bin Laden who are believed to have been architects of the 2001 attacks.

But the Bush administration has tightly controlled information about the detained al-Qaida leaders, especially the details of what they have said under interrogation about plans for other attacks.

SEPT. 11 FRAUD: A man was indicted Tuesday for falsely claiming his ex-wife died in the Sept. 11 attacks on the World Trade Center in order to collect money from a congressional fund for victims. Stephen Daniel Laskowski, 57, also lied about how many children the couple had - a nonexistent son and set of triplets - so he could claim even more money, prosecutors said. Survivors of Sept. 11 victims received an average death benefit of $250,000, plus $100,000 per child. Five other people nationwide have been charged with scams to collect Sept. 11 funds. One was acquitted.

WASHINGTON - Stung by high gasoline prices, the Senate by a wide margin voted its approval Tuesday of a $14-billion package of tax breaks that supporters said were designed to spur U.S. energy production and hold down prices.

Democrats joined Republicans as senators in a 85-13 vote turned back an attempt by Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., to strip the energy provision from a corporate tax bill passed later Tuesday by the Senate. McCain called the energy subsidies a "shameless scam" to benefit the oil and gas industries and other energy interests.

Supporters of the tax provisions argued that with gasoline prices soaring beyond $2 a gallon across much of the country, Congress must take action to stimulate domestic energy production.

Lawmakers have acknowledged, however, that most of the tax incentives are aimed at long-term production and would have little impact on high prices for gasoline, natural gas and crude oil this year.

Nevertheless, actions are needed to convince industry "to get back into the business of producing," Sen. Larry Craig, R-Idaho said.

The bill includes $9-billion in tax incentives for the oil and gas industry, plus billions more to encourage development of clean coal technology and renewable fuels. It also contains measures aimed at energy conservation and development of renewable energy sources.

The fate of the energy tax provisions remains uncertain in the House.

WASHINGTON - Timothy Muris said on Tuesday that he had decided to step down as chairman of the Federal Trade Commission.

The White House announced that President Bush had selected Deborah Majoras, a former top antitrust official at the Justice Department, to succeed him.

Muris said he planned to leave this summer, said Nancy Ness Judy, a spokeswoman at the agency.

Muris said he intends to return to George Mason University, where he taught antitrust law before he became chairman of the agency in 2001, Judy, the agency spokeswoman, said.

Muris led the agency in its popular crusade against telemarketers, creating a "do-not-call" registry and then successfully defending it from court challenges brought by the industry.

ARLINGTON, Va. - A national memorial honoring soldiers who die in missions other than declared wars was dedicated Tuesday, a decade after gruesome images of a soldier's body being dragged through the streets of Mogadishu, Somalia, inspired high school students in Ohio to propose the idea.

The memorial to soldiers killed in terrorist attacks, training accidents, covert operations, humanitarian efforts and peacekeeping activities is the first new one at Arlington National Cemetery in nearly a decade. The memorial is simple: a red granite block under a magnolia tree.

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