Betsey's Loyal Minion

"The United Nation's anti-corruption department has been rocked by accusations that the office itself is corrupt. "

"WASHINGTON - Al Gore on Thursday accused President Bush of lying about a link between al-Qaida and Saddam Hussein and said the president refuses to back down from that position to avoid political fallout.

'They dare not admit the truth lest they look like complete fools for launching our country into a reckless, discretionary war against a nation that posed no immediate threat to us whatsoever,' Gore, the former vice president who lost the presidency to Bush in 2000, said during a speech at Georgetown University Law Center.

Mostly sidelined from the presidential race, Gore emerges every few months with another stinging review of the Bush administration. The former vice president, who has grown irate and bellowed in previous appearances, took a more tempered but highly sarcastic tone on Thursday. Gore accused Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney "

"Saudi Arabia will allow foreigners who feel threatened by the wave of militant violence in the kingdom to carry guns for their protection, Interior Minister Prince Nayef bin Abdulaziz said.

'In principle a Saudi has the right to carry a weapon, if he has a permit. Likewise a foreign resident, if he felt in danger he could get a permit to carry a weapon,' Nayef was quoted as saying by the official Saudi Press Agency on Thursday. 'I mean a personal weapon which a person can have in his own country,' the prince said."

"John F. Lehman, a Reagan-era GOP defense official told NBC's 'Meet the Press' that documents captured in Iraq 'indicate that there is at least one officer of Saddam's Fedayeen, a lieutenant colonel, who was a very prominent member of al Qaida.'"

"Coalition forces Tuesday night conducted the second strike within a week on a site in Fallujah believed to be a safe house for suspected terrorist Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, a senior coalition official said.
U.S. Brig. Gen. Mark Kimmitt said the strike was directed at a target in central Fallujah, and was based on 'multiple confirmations of actionable intelligence.'"

Afghan soldiers beheaded four Taliban fighters after guerrillas cut off the heads of an Afghan interpreter for U.S.-led forces and an Afghan soldier, a government commander said on Tuesday.

"HAVANA - Tens of thousands of Cubans rallied Monday, as Fidel Castro (news - web sites) warned President Bush (news - web sites) against launching a military attack on Cuba, saying it would provoke a mass exodus and an all-out ground war.

Washington has repeatedly denied it is planning any military action against Havana. But an increased tightening of sanctions against the island, along with the Bush administration's pre-emptive strike on Iraq, has convinced the Cuban leadership that a military attack is not impossible. 'Do not try crazy adventures such as surgical strikes or wars of attrition using sophisticated techniques because you could lose control of the situation,' Castro said in a speech addressed specifically to Bush before the morning. 'You could shatter the immigration agreement and provoke a mass exodus that we would not be in a position to prevent, and you could bring about an all-out war between young American soldiers and the Cuban people,' he said. 'That would be very sad.' "

United Nations-mandated auditors have sharply criticised the US occupation authority for the way it has spent more than $11bn in Iraqi oil revenues and say they have faced "resistance" from coalition officials.


In an interim report, obtained by the Financial Times, KPMG says the Development Fund for Iraq, which is managed by the US-led Coalition Provisional Authority and channels oil revenue into reconstruction projects, is "open to fraudulent acts".

"However, Bertie Ahern, the Irish prime minister credited with clinching the agreement in Brussels, said he was convinced Europeans would embrace the charter."