Iraq

House, Senate Republicans disagree on abuse hearings

WASHINGTON - Congressional Republicans clashed with each other Tuesday about the wisdom of further hearings into prisoner abuse by U.S. soldiers, with a House chairman accusing the Senate of "disserving our military operation" in Iraq by summoning additional commanders to testify.

"I think the Senate has become mesmerized by cameras and I think that's sad," said Rep. Duncan Hunter of California, who chairs the House Armed Services Committee.

Sen. John Warner, R-Va., who chairs the Senate Armed Services Committee, declined to comment directly on Hunter's allegation, but several Republicans on his panel rushed to Warner's defense. "I believe he's doing the right thing," said Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz.

Warner also disclosed plans to call a dozen top military and civilian officials to testify before his committee as part of a wide-ranging investigation into "all aspects of detainee operations in Iraq."

WASHINGTON - Ahmad Chalabi, the controversial Iraqi exile once favored by senior Bush administration officials to lead postwar Iraq, is losing his Pentagon funding, a senior U.S. official told a Senate committee Tuesday.

For months, congressional critics had complained about the $340,000 a month that the Pentagon has been paying Chalabi and his group, the Iraqi National Congress, cash that continued to flow even after U.S. intelligence agencies found that prewar intelligence provided by the INC about Saddam Hussein's weapons of mass destruction was at times misleading, inflated or even fabricated.

In testimony before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Tuesday, Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz, one of Chalabi's strongest supporters in the administration, said the Pentagon has decided to stop funding the INC.

Wolfowitz's explanation was terse. It was "a decision that was made in light of the process of transferring sovereignty to the Iraqi people," he said. "We felt it was no longer appropriate for us to continue funding in that fashion."

LONDON - At least one British soldier was arrested Tuesday in an investigation of faked photographs of alleged abuse of Iraqi prisoners by British forces, the Ministry of Defense said.

The photos had appeared in Britain's Daily Mirror. The tabloid printed a front-page apology Saturday after announcing that top editor, Piers Morgan, would resign.

In its brief statement Tuesday, the Defense Ministry said that the arrest of "at least one" soldier, the first of its investigation into the origin of the photos, was a routine part of its inquiry and that no charges were filed. A ministry spokeswoman refused to say if there had been more arrests.

LONDON PROTEST: Antiwar protesters wore black hoods and chanted "Bush go home" outside a London hotel where former President George Bush was attending a fundraising dinner Tuesday for his son's re-election campaign. About 200 demonstrators from the Stop the War Coalition took part.

NEW MEDALS: American military serving in Iraq and Afghanistan will be eligible for additional medals under legislation approved by the Senate on Tuesday. Under the bill passed 98-0, members of the military can be given an "Operation Enduring Freedom" medal, an "Operation Iraqi Freedom" medal or both. The legislation, passed by the House on March 30, now goes to the president.

World and national headlines

© 2006 • All Rights Reserved • St. Petersburg Times 490 First Avenue South • St. Petersburg, FL 33701 • 727-893-8111 Contact the Times | Privacy Policy Standard of Accuracy | Terms, Conditions & Copyright