MIDDLE EAST

U.S. ARMY RE-OPENS INVESTIGATION IN DEATH OF IRAQI CHEMIST

The U.S. Army says it has reopened an investigation into the suspected bludgeoning death of a key Iraqi government scientist in American custody, a chemist who allegedly experimented with poisons on prisoners in the days of Saddam Hussein.

Mohammad Munim al-Izmerly, 65, is the only known weapons scientist among at least 96 detainees who have died in American custody in Iraq. Questions have surrounded the death ever since his body was dropped off at a Baghdad hospital in February 2004, two weeks after he died.

When it first came to light in press reports last May, the U.S. military, newly under fire for prisoner abuse in Iraq, refused to answer queries about the chemist’s death. Now, months later, the Army says an investigation has begun.

“The case was initially closed, but after further investigative review a determination was made to reopen the investigation,” an Army spokesman, Christopher Grey, told the Associated Press.

– Associated Press

TROOPS PURSUING TALIBAN MILITANT GET INTO FIREFIGHT

KABUL, Afghanistan – American-led forces trying to capture a suspected Taliban militant got into a firefight that left seven people dead, including two children and a woman, the military said yesterday.

The suspected militant, Raz Mohammed, and two other insurgents were also killed in the firefight Tuesday in southeastern Paktika province near the Pakistani border, the military said.

“Coalition troops were fired on by Raz Mohammed and other Taliban forces when they attempted to capture Mohammed,” the military said in a statement. “During the ensuing firefight, Mohammed and two other enemy insurgents were killed. An Afghan woman and two children also died.”

An Afghan helping coalition troops also was killed, the military said. It was unclear if the man was a member of the Afghan security forces or an informer.

A purported Taliban spokesman, Mullah Hakim Latifi, said the clash occurred when U.S. troops surrounded the tents where Mohammed was living in Waza Khwa, an impoverished district on the Pakistani border.

– Associated Press

HITLER BOOK IS BEST-SELLER IN TURKEY

ISTANBUL, Turkey – Turkish bookshops have a best seller, but some of them are hesitant about giving it too much display.

It’s “Mein Kampf.”

The popularity of Adolf Hitler’s book, filled with anti-Jewish diatribes and dreams of world domination, is puzzling some Turks. Does it reflect rising anti-Semitic or anti-Western sentiment in Muslim Turkey? Or anger over Israel’s treatment of the Palestinians and the war in Iraq? Is it a backlash against the country’s moves to join the European Union? Or does it simply offer a cheap thrill?

At least two new Turkish-language versions are out in paperback and selling for as little as $4.50, but they could run into legal trouble. They were printed without the permission of the Finance Ministry of the German state of Bavaria, which was given control of Hitler’s estate after World War II and is keen to suppress the book.

German diplomats in Turkey have been told to explore court action. “The book ‘Mein Kampf’ should not be reprinted,” says the Bavarian finance minister, Kurt Faltlhauser. “The state of Bavaria administers the copyright very restrictively to prevent an increase of Nazi ideas.”

– Associated Press

WESTERN EUROPE

POPE FORCED TO SIT OUT MORE HOLY WEEK CEREMONIES

VATICAN CITY – Poor health forced Pope John Paul II to sit out more Holy Week ceremonies and he watched Holy Thursday services on television, but the pontiff sent a message to reassure the faithful that he was “spiritually present.”

The pontiff also was expected to make his presence felt at a Good Friday procession only through a video to participants at the Colosseum, failing to appear in person for the first time in his 26-year papacy.

Two breathing crises last month that culminated with surgery to insert a breathing tube in his throat have taken their toll of the 84-year-old pontiff, whose stamina already was worn down by years of battling Parkinson’s disease and crippling knee and hip ailments.

“With mind and heart I am close to you,” the pontiff said in a message read aloud by a cardinal to worshippers gathered in St. Peter’s Basilica for Holy Thursday services recalling the Last Supper of Christ.

– Associated Press

BOBBY FISCHER RELEASED, CALLS AMERICA ‘ILLEGITIMATE’

Sitting in the first-class cabin whisking him away from nine months detention in Japan, chess icon Bobby Fischer yesterday launched a rambling diatribe against America, calling it “an illegitimate country” that should be given back to the American Indians. The reclusive Mr. Fischer – who is taking up residence in Iceland to avoid arrest in America – also unleashed his anger at Israel and likened President Bush to a comic book character.

Mr. Fischer said he was “kidnapped” in Japan, and that Mr. Bush and Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi were in cahoots trying to deprive him of freedom and return him to America, where he is wanted on criminal charges.

“Bush does not respect law,” Mr. Fischer said in an interview with Associated Press Television News on board the SAS flight to Copenhagen, Denmark, where he had a stopover before being flown to Iceland, which this week granted him citizenship.

– Associated Press

ITALIAN COURT DELAYS EXTRADITION DECISION

ROME – A Rome court delayed a decision yesterday on whether to extradite an Italian man wanted in connection with a 2003 triple homicide in Connecticut – the second such delay in the case.

Benedetto Cipriani, who attended the hearing held behind closed doors in Rome, is fighting the extradition. He might face capital punishment if extradited.

The court started hearing the case on December 9, and requested time to examine the risk of a death penalty sentence in the case. Yesterday, when a ruling had been expected, the court said it required a few more days, according to the defense lawyer, Filippo Misserville.

Mr. Cipriani is accused by Connecticut authorities of being the ringleader in a murder-for-hire plot that led to a triple homicide in a Windsor Locks, Conn., car repair shop in July 2003. He was arrested in Italy last April. If extradited, Mr. Cipriani could face trial on three counts of murder and one count of conspiracy.

– Associated Press

CARIBBEAN

POLICE FIRE ON PROTESTERS DEMANDING RETURN OF ARISTIDE

Police opened fire yesterday during a street march in Haiti’s capital to demand the return of ousted President Jean-Bertrand Aristide, killing at least one protester and injuring two others, witnesses said. The clash heightened tensions ahead of fall elections.

The shooting follows a spate of violence this week that saw two U.N. peacekeepers and two ex-soldiers killed in clashes, underscoring the country’s shaky security climate more than a year after Aristide’s ouster in an armed uprising.

Yesterday’s protest, one of the largest in recent weeks, started peacefully in the seaside slum of Cite Soleil with thousands of marchers chanting “Aristide forever!” and waving photos of the deposed leader.

Several gunshots rang out as the demonstrators approached the local police station, which was guarded by dozens of black-clad, heavily armed Haitian officers, including some positioned on the roof with their rifles trained at the crowd. A small group of U.N. civilian police was also present.

– Associated Press