Nation in brief

Deportation on hold for 'enemy combatant'

WASHINGTON - The Bush administration on Thursday postponed deporting Yaser E. Hamdi, the Saudi-American captured in Afghanistan almost three years ago, because of Saudi government objections to requirements that it monitor him for five years, even though he has not been charged with a crime.

Saudi officials, clearly irritated, said they found that provision of Hamdi's release agreement unreasonable. They also noted that the supervision duties, which entail ensuring that Hamdi does not leave the country for five years, were imposed upon Saudi Arabia, even though no Saudi officials were involved in the negotiations.

A State Department official called the disagreement minor and said the administration believed it could be resolved in the next few days. The government had promised to release Hamdi no later than Thursday.

Secretary of State Colin Powell, speaking to reporters Thursday morning, said, "We're working, and I think we'll eventually work our way through it."

WASHINGTON - Members of the Sept. 11 commission called on House leaders Thursday to drop controversial proposals regarding immigration and law enforcement power, saying they could sink Congress's efforts to revamp the nation's intelligence operations this fall.

In the strongest signal yet that they prefer the Senate's approach to key recommendations from the report they issued in July, the commissioners also insisted that a proposed national intelligence director have clear budgetary and administrative control of intelligence-gathering agencies in the Defense Department. The House bill leaves much of that power with the defense secretary.

"The Senate bill is a giant step forward" and "the right vehicle for our recommendations" regarding the executive branch, said commission chairman and former New Jersey Gov. Thomas Kean, a Republican.

WASHINGTON - The House ethics committee Thursday said Majority Leader Tom DeLay acted improperly when he tried to convince Rep. Nick Smith, R-Mich., to change his vote from "no" to "yes" on a bill to provide a Medicare prescription drug benefit.

The committee approved an investigative report that serves as "a public admonishment" against DeLay and Rep. Candice Miller, R-Mich. The committee also admonished Smith himself for failing to fully cooperate with the committee.

The retiring Smith originally leveled the explosive allegation last November that unidentified lawmakers and business interests promised substantial money to his son's congressional campaign if he voted for the legislation. Smith said the same interests threatened to support other candidates if he didn't change his vote from "no" to "yes."

CALIFORNIA QUAKE: A powerful aftershock rattled central California on Thursday, two days after a magnitude-6.0 quake struck one of the state's most seismically active areas. There were no immediate reports of damages or injuries. The aftershock had a preliminary magnitude of 5.0, and was felt as far south as Santa Barbara and north to San Jose.

CIA SHUFFLE: New CIA director Porter Goss has replaced the agency's No. 3 official and made several other changes as he closes his first week on the job. Goss announced Thursday that Michael Kostiw will replace A.B. "Buzzy" Krongard as the agency's executive director.

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