National briefs

By Compiled from Times wires

© St. Petersburg Times, published September 23, 2000

Official angered at U.S. for letting Cubans stay

NEW YORK -- Cuba accused the United States on Friday of complicity in "a double act of piracy" for bringing the Cubans who commandeered a state-owned plane that crashed in the Gulf of Mexico to Florida this week.

Ricardo Alarcon, the president of Cuba's National Assembly, said Cuba wanted those responsible returned, saying anyone who commits such a crime "should be treated like a delinquent, as a violator of international rights, as a thief, as an air pirate."

In this case, the U.S. Coast Guard "went into the ocean, far from the U.S. border, to help a pirate finalize an operation of human contraband," Alarcon said at a press conference at Cuba's U.N. mission a day after U.S.-Cuban migration talks.

One person was killed Tuesday when the Cuban crop-duster with 10 people on board ditched in the Gulf of Mexico about 50 miles west of Cuba. A passing freighter rescued the nine survivors, who were later picked up by U.S. authorities and taken to Florida.

On Thursday, the Immigration and Naturalization Service said all nine would be allowed to apply for residency in the United States.

Government settles last Ruby Ridge lawsuit

WASHINGTON -- The federal government paid $380,000 Friday to Kevin Harris, who alleged his rights were violated when an FBI sniper wounded him during the 1992 Ruby Ridge siege.

The Justice Department announced the settlement of the last remaining lawsuit arising from the weeklong standoff at the Idaho compound of white separatist Randy Weaver. The government did not admit any liability as it paid Harris to drop his $10-million damage suit.

Aryan Nations founder to give up compound

COEUR D'ALENE, Idaho -- In a blow to hate groups that have made the Northwest their clubhouse, the founder of the Aryan Nations has agreed to give up his Idaho compound to satisfy a $6.3-million verdict against the white supremacist organization.

Richard Butler wanted to avoid the spectacle of sheriff's vans showing up to seize the 20-acre property, lawyers said Friday. He has agreed to hand over the property no later than Oct. 25.

Butler will deed the property near Hayden Lake to Victoria and Jason Keenan, who won the jury award earlier this month after they were attacked outside the sect's compound in 1998.

Group clarifies stance on opening prayer

WASHINGTON -- The Family Research Council, a leading conservative advocacy group, issued a statement Friday to clarify an Internet article that criticized the House for inviting a Hindu to deliver the opening prayer.

"We affirm the truth of Christianity, but it is not our position that America's Constitution forbids representatives of religions other than Christianity from praying before Congress," FRC executive vice president Chuck Donovan said.

Reno orders review of actions in Lee case

WASHINGTON -- After a private meeting with President Clinton to patch up their differences over the Wen Ho Lee case, Attorney General Janet Reno ordered an internal review of Justice Department actions in the matter.

The White House session came the week after a rare public disagreement, in which Clinton said the nuclear weapons scientist's long detention "just can't be justified." Reno has refused to apologize to Lee for what the federal judge in the case called Lee's shameful pretrial detention.

Potato salad recalled amid fears of listeria

FORT WORTH, Texas -- Mrs. Crockett's Kitchens Inc. recalled several brands of potato salad that might contain listeria bacteria.

The voluntary recall covers products with expiration dates of Oct. 3-25, the company said Thursday. They were distributed in 37 states and in Mexico.

Consumers should throw away the salad or return it to retailers. The company's recall hotline is (888) 578-7707.

Federal inmate set to be executed

HARRISBURG, Pa. -- An inmate sentenced to death for strangling his cellmate has dropped all appeals, making him likely to become the first person to be executed by the federal government since 1963.

David Paul Hammer, 41, a con man so violent that Oklahoma built him a special isolation cell with steel doors and shatterproof glass, is scheduled to die by lethal injection Nov. 15.

The date was set by a federal judge in Williamsport, Pa., on Thursday after a judicial panel granted his request to drop an appeal of his death sentence.

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