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USS Cole charges expected soon
by Ahmed Al-Haj
Associated Press
ADEN, Yemen—Yemeni investigators are ready
to chaige at least two people in the apparent ter
rorist attack on the USS Cole, a source said Sun
day, six weeks after an explosion tore through the
warship as it sat in Aden’s harbor.
Chaiges are expected to be filed as soon as this
week gainst the two suspects, the source said. They
could be sentenced to death if convicted.
But any chaiges are unlikely to mean the end
of the probe: U.S. investigators suspect an interna
tional conspiracy was behind the bombing.:
Seventeen U.S. sailors were killed and 39 more
injured on Oct. 12, when two suicide bombers
steered a small boat laden with explosives along
side the Cole and detonated it while the destroyer
was refueling. U.S. and Yemeni officials have said
the attack appeared to be a carefully planned, well
financed operation, and the bomb materials were
expertly prepared.
The Yemeni source close to the investigation
would not identify the two men he described as
main suspects about to be charged. But last week,
other sources said authorities had detained six Yemeni
men they believe were key accomplices — in
cluding one who was allegedly in charge of the op
eration in Yemen.
American officials have said they believe the
operation was carried out by a network of small
cells of two or three people, probably from one
or more anti-American Islamist organizations, in
cluding Yemen’s Islamic Jihad, Egypt’s al-Gamaa
al-Islamiya aad Saudi dissident Osama bin Laden’s
followers.
Bin Laden, an exiled Saudi millionaire, lives ir
Afghanistan. U.S. officials believe he ordered the
1998 bombings of the U.S. embassies in Kenya anc
Tanzania that killed 224 people.
Officials have suggested that the Cole attack
ers were from various Arab countries, including
Yemen, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia, and that they may
be operating from both Afghanistan and Yemen
A Yemeni security official, also speaking or
condition of anonymity Sunday, said investigations
revealed that an Egyptian suspect whom he iden
tified only as Hamdi fled Yemen a month before
the bombing along with five others, including z
Libyan man. He said all six men had links to Islamic
Jihad, but he did not elaborate further.
The first Yemeni source said the chaiges plannee
against at least two suspects included carrying oul
the attack, threatening state security, forming ar
armed gang and possessing explosives.
Conviction on all four charges would carry a
minimum sentence of 10 years in prison, the source
said, adding that the suspects could be executed if
convicted of threatening state security or carrying
out the bombings. Most executions in Yemen are
by firing squad and are performed in public to set
an example.
The prosecution will review the case by
Tuesday before filing charges, the source said on
condition of anonymity. The prosecutor declined
to comment Sunday.
In Yemen, a court generally sets a trial date
within a few days of charges being filed. That date
usually is within a week. According to Yemeni law,
the trial will take place in Aden, where the attack
took place, the source said.
,
Certified
from page 1
be, declaring that he and Gore had no
choice but to challenge the Florida cer
tification.
“The election was close,” Bush said,
“but tonight, after a count, a recount and
yet another manual recount, Secretary
Cheney and I are honored to have won
the state of Florida, which gives us the
needed electoral votes to win the elec
tion.”
Moments after Republican Harris
declared Bush the winner of Florida's 25
electoral votes at a ceremony in Talla
hassee, Lieberman said she had certified
“an incomplete and inaccurate count”
and he and Gore would challenge it.
But Bush, in a nationally-televised
address from Austin, said, “I respectful
ly ask” that Gore reconsider further con
testing the hair-line Florida count.
If the certification of a 537-vote Bush
maigin stands, the Texas governor would
win 271 electoral college votes — one
more than necessary for victory —-to
L'o / iur vjuic.
Harris said Bush had 2,912,790 votes
and Gore had 2,912,253. That gave Bush
the 537-vote lead out of 6 million cast,
although Harris rejected partial returns
from Palm Beach County. An unofficial
AP tally including recounted Palm Beach
County votes showed Bush ahead by 357.
The secretary of state's formal dec
laration, which set off GOP cheers out
side the Florida capital and at the state
capitol in Austin, Texas:
“Accordingly, on behalf of the
state elections canvassing commission
and in accordance with the laws of the
state of Florida, I hereby declare Gov
ernor George W. Bush the winner of
Florida's 25 electoral votes.”
Lieberman said, “The integrity of our
self-government” could be cast into doubt
without Democratic steps to get the most
complete and accurate count possible.
Gore's lawyers were to file their chal
lenge in the courts of Leon County,
site of the state capitol at Tallahassee,
Monday morning.
James A. Baker III, the former
secretary of state speaking for Bush —
who was making his own statement lat
er Sunday night — said that count al
ready has been delivered, repeatedly.
He said Bush “won this election”
under the rules set by law before Elec
tion Day, Nov. 7 — and under rules
changed after the election. Baker de
nounced Gore's lawyers for what he called
an extraordinary resort to the courts —
although Bush has his own set of law
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Supreme Court, which hears oral argu
ments on Friday.
“At some point there must be clo
sure,” Baker said. “At some point the
law must prevail and the lawyers must
go home.
“We have reached that point,” he
said. "... It is time to honor the will of
the people.”
For all that, Baker said Bush will “ab
solutely” go ahead with his case in the
U.S. Supreme Court, challenging the state
supreme court ruling that led to the ex
tended certification deadline and hand
recounts of ballots cast by machine in
four disputed Democratic-leaning coun
ties.
“We have no assurance that the oth
er side will stop,” he said.
Anticipating the certification. Gore
was preparing a speech to be delivered
on Monday, explaining his case for the
continuing challenge.
I
The recounts,
at a glance:
■ Statewide: Counties turned
in results to meet a 5 p.m.
EST deadline, after which
Florida Secretary of State
Katherine Harris certified the
election outcome - prompting
more legal challenges.
■ Palm Beach County did not
finish its count in time. Up to
1,000 votes in that county
were not counted.
■ Republican George W.
- Bush's unofficial lead was 537
votes if hand recounts and
recertified totals from a total of
17 counties were included. His
official lead over Democrat Al
Gore absent any ballots from
these recounts was 930 votes.
■ Gore planned to contest
some county results, including
those in Palm Beach and
Miami-Dade counties, in state
courts Monday, a campaign
spokesman said.
■ Bush's lawyers dropped a
lawsuit over rejected overseas
absentee ballots, but was tar
geting individual counties, try
ing to pad his lead with votes
from military personnel.
■ The U.S. Supreme Court
will hear a Bush appeal seek
ing to bar hand-counted ballots
on Dec. 1. Bush wants the
court to overturn the Florida
Supreme Court's decision to
allow the hand recounts to
continue.
‘Secretary Cheney and I
are honored to have won
... Florida, which gives us
the needed electoral votes
to win the election.’
George W. Bush
Republican presidential hopeful
‘It is in our nation's
interest that the
winner in Florida is
truly the person who
got the most votes.’
Joe Ueberman
Democratic
vice-presidential hopeful
Mexico’s new president
says U.S. should accept
more blame for drugs
by Niko Price
Associated Press
SAN CRISTOBAL, Mexico — Only days before his
historic inauguration as president, Vicente Fox said Amer
ica should deal with its drug habit and pledged to join
the United States and Canada in what he called “NAF
TA-plus.”
In an interview with The Associated Press before he
takes office on Friday, Fox said the United States is too
quick to write off Mexico as a corrupt haven for drug
smugglers — and too reluctant to look in the mirror.
“The United States year after year blames us. Why?”
Fox asked. “Who lets the drugs into the United States?
Who is doing gigantic business in the United States, then
sends down millions of dollars that corrupt Mexican po
lice officers and government officials?”
Fox said the two countries need to “sit down... and
work this out together.”
Fox has promised strong measures against drug cor
ruption, but his comments indicate he will continue —
or increase — Mexico’s long-standing complaint that the
supply of drugs would not exist without demand in the
United States.
He also said that despite a tepid reaction from both
Geoige W. Bush and A1 Gore, he was confident that he
would persuade his northern neighbors to expand the
North American Free Trade Agreement and eventually
to open their borders entirely to Mexican goods — and
maybe even workers — along the lines of the European
Union. ■
“I am proposing a ‘NAFTA-plus,’” he said. “I’m
proposing that 20,30 years down the road we form a North
American common market in which we become partners,
the United States, Canada and Mexico.
“I will continue to insist on this, and I know I will
win the battle,” Fox said. “I am going to persuade Bush
or Gore, whoever it is. And I am going to persuade the
American people.”
Fox’s election on July 2 was a historic change for
Mexico, ending 71 years of rule by a single party. On Fri
day, the country enters a new era as Fox takes office —
and takes on dire problems including crippling poverty,
widespread corruption and rampant crime.
A fanner and former Coca-Cola executive, Fox pledged
to treat the country as a CEO would a money-losing com
pany, and to build “agovemment that costs less and does
more.”
This weekend, he took his final breather before the
presidency, retreating to his hometown of San Cristobal,
a farming village 210 miles northwest of Mexico City.
Fox milked a cow, tended to horses in the stables and
played tennis, and joined his children in an out-of-tune
number with a mariachi band. He sat for an interviews
Saturday with The Associated Press and CNN in his moth
er’s living room, amid porcelain figurines of horses and
black-and-white wedding photos of family members.
Chatting with his children and posing for photogra
phers, Fox seemed extremely relaxed given what he’s fac
ing.
“It’s just like in school,” Fox said. “When it’s time
for exams, the people who have studied go in calmly, with
the confidence that everything will go well.... I am go
ing to be the best president this country has ever had.”
Fox said he was aware of the giant — probably un
realistic — expectations Mexicans have for him, but
claimed he wasn’t worried about them. On the contrary.
“I would never throw cold water on that enthusiasm,
on that hope,” he said. “I dare say that this is Mexico’s
revolution of hope.”
But he cautioned people not to expect too much, say
ing most of the changes he envisions will take much longer
than his six-year term.
“I think the development process Mexico is facing
will be long,” he said. “We have said that in a genera
tion we want to have the Mexico that we always should
have had.... The 21st century is the century of Latin Amer
ica and of Mexico. We are going to be the winners.”
Fox said he had been surprised by the smoothness with
which Mexico has accepted the democratic opening in
which he was elected, and that he had expected more re
sistance from the ruling party and other opposition forces.
“I’m very satisfied, and I have to recognize not only
the Mexican people, but also President (Ernesto) Zedtl
lo, who came onto national television... and declared the
winner Vicente Fox because he was convinced that I
had won,” Fox told CNN.
Then he smiled.
“Maybe,” he said, “this should happen in the Unit
ed States.”
Clinton cheers America’s charity
by Lawrence Knutson
Associated Press
WASHINGTON — President Clinton praised Americans
on Saturday for charitable giving that is growing along with
the economy and challenged young people to “discover the
rewards of generosity.”
Americans contributed a record $190 billion to chari
table causes in 1999, a 41 percent increase since 1995, the
president said in his weekly radio address, citing a report by
his Council of Economic Advisers.
Seven in IX) American homes made at least one chari
table contribution last year, and even half of all Americans
who make less than $ 10,000 had at least one charitable con
tribution.
The money helped feed hungry people, immunize chil
dren, build homes for the poor, tutor immigrants, restore
parks and send disaster relief to people at home and around
the world, Clinton said.
“We’re making a difference, but we still have more to
do,” he said.
Clinton, seeking to appeal to the idealism of young
Americans, announced a $2 million privately funded ini
tiative that will train young people to identify charitable
needs in their communities, teach them how to raise and
distribute money, and build leadership skills.
“We need to help younger people recognize their own
capacity to do good, and help them discover the rewards of
generosity,” the president said.
He said he wanted to tap into the spirit he said is dis
played by the more than 150,000 young people who last
year joined AmeriCorps, the volunteer community based
service agency.
“With the help and guidance of several major philan
thropic oiganizations, we developed a national blueprint to
do just that — the Youth Giving Project,” he said.
It will be coordinated by a nonprofit coalition of ex
perts on youth programs that can provide local groups with
training materials, access to a comprehensive Web site and
expert advice.
Clinton said the relatively modest investment can pro
duce enormous dividends.
That’s true, he said, because members of the baby boom
generation stand to inherit $ 12 trillion from the World Whr
II generation and will likely pass on even more to their own
children.
Noting the figures in the report by his economic ad
visers, Clinton credited a strong economy and rising in
comes, as well as Americans’ generous spirit, for the in
crease in charitable contributions.
News Briefs
■ S.C. city named
best-mannered
CHARLESTON (AP) — Charleston
has earned another title as the nation’s
most mannerly city, followed by the
Illinois and Iowa communities known
as the Quad Cities. Charleston has
been on the list all 24 years it has been
compiled by etiquette expert Marja
belle Young Stewart, and the ranking
she issued Friday was the seventh that
rates the city No. 1. Following the
Quad Cities area — Davenport and
Bettendorf, Iowa, and Moline and
Rock Island, 111. — Milwaukee ranked
third this year and Las Vegas was
fourth.
■ Cheney downplays
his heart condition
WASHINGTON, D.C. (AP) — Told
by doctors his heart condition would
not impair his ability to serve as vice
president, Dick Cheney left the hospi
tal Friday with a prescription for a
blood thinner and advice to take the
weekend off before returning to a
“full, normal, active life.” Cheney said
he and George W. Bush talked by
phone and chatted about his health,
but spent a lot of time talking about
Florida, “which is what we usually
talk about these days.” Asked whether
he had given any thought to asking
Bush to replace him on the GOP tick
et, the 59-year-old Republican vice
presidential candidate replied, “No.
Not yet.”
■ Four more die
in Mideast fighting
LEBANON (AP) — Israel — still
engaged in violence with the Palestini
ans — faced fresh security problems
Sunday in Lebanon, where it rained
missiles and machine gun fire in retali
ation for a Hezbollah bombing that
killed one soldier. The assault was Is
rael's first cross-border retaliatory at
tack since pulling its troops from
southern Lebanon in May to end Is
rael's 18-year occupation of a border
enclave there. The Israeli army con
firmed striking back with gunfire after
the roadside bombing in Chebaa Farms
near the Lebanese border. One civilian
was slightly injured on the Lebanese
side. Lebanese President Emile La
houd, in comments on state-run televi
sion, called the Israeli raids a "grave
precedent that may entail serious
repercussions for which Israel is alone
responsible."
■ Discounts drive
customers to the
malls in droves
NEW YORK (AP) — The nation’s
retailers opened the holiday shopping
season Friday with rampant discount
ing and special deals to get consumers
to start spending again. Shoppers, who
have been in a spending funk over the
past few months, were only too
pleased, waking up at dawn to flock to
stores and malls — and their comput
ers — to take advantage of the bar
gains. Others wanted to get a running
start on what are expected to be this
year’s hot toys: scooters and robotic
pets, which do everything from wag
their tails to sense touch and sound.
■ Global warming
conference fails
NEW YORK (AP) — On Sunday:
negotiators headed home from the
U.N. climate conference empty-hand
ed and dejected, trying to figure out
what went wrong and how to put it
right next time. Delegates said they
will reconvene in a few months to try
again. But they also admitted to funda
mental, even philosophical, differences
on how to control greenhouse gas
emissions — differences they say seem
almost insurmountable. The divide is
this: The Europeans and developing
countries say the industrialized world
must reduce the carbon dioxide from
their factories and vehicles according
to legally binding guidelines and tar
gets. A U.S.-led bloc, by contrast, says
there are more efficient, cheaper ways
to attain the same goal, by letting a
freewheeling international market re
place administrative controls.
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