WASHINGTON

SENATE CONFIRMS GOSS TO HEAD CIA

The Republican-led Senate approved President Bush’s choice to head the CIA, Rep. Porter Goss, over protests from some Democrats who said he has too many Republican ties for a job that requires independence.

The nomination of the Florida congressman, who had planned to retire after eight terms, was confirmed yesterday by a vote of 77 to 17.A former CIA and Army intelligence officer during the 1960s, Mr. Goss would be only the second congressman to take over the helm of the CIA, following former president and House member George H.W. Bush.

Mr. Goss, 65, a native of Waterbury, Conn., will lead an intelligence community that has faced intense criticism for failures prior to the September 11, 2001, attacks and for its prewar estimates on Iraq.

Yet defenders say the 15 agencies that make up the American intelligence network have become more focused and made changes to address international terrorism and other threats.

During six hours of debate, Senator Rockefeller of West Virginia, the senior Democrat on the intelligence panel, questioned whether Mr. Goss would be politically objective and outlined a series of attacks Mr. Goss has made on the Democratic Party and its presidential nominee, Senator Kerry.

– Associated Press

WEST

MILITARY DROPS SPY CHARGES AGAINST INTERPRETER

SAN FRANCISCO – The military yesterday dropped an espionage charge against a Muslim interpreter accused of spying at the camp for terror detainees at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

The development marks the third Guantanamo spy case to fall apart this year, despite vows by Attorney General Ashcroft and military officials to prosecute the alleged threats to the nation’s security. The charge against Senior Airman Ahmad Al Halabi was dropped in exchange for his guilty plea to four “minor infractions,” said defense lawyer Donald Rehkopf Jr.

Specifically, he admitted to taking two photos of his workplace and lying about taking those pictures. He also brought a classified document home without locking it up, which led to a guilty plea to a charge of “conduct prejudicial to good order and discipline.” The judge, Air Force Col. Barbara Brand, approved the plea deal during a hearing yesterday at Travis Air Force Base, about an hour northeast of San Francisco. Mr. Al Halabi’s sentence was not yet announced.

Prosecutor Lt. Col. Brian Wheeler disagreed with calling the convictions minor.

“He took secret documents to his residence, he mailed them to himself,” Wheeler said outside court. “It is, as a matter of law, serious. ‘Secret’ means serious damage to national security if it gets out.”

– Associated Press

E-COMMERCE

WAL-MART YANKS ‘PROTOCOLS’ FROM WEB SITE

Wal-Mart yesterday removed the anti-Semitic forgery “The Protocols of the Learned Elders of Zion” from its online store in response to complaints from the Anti-Defamation League that the book’s account of a Jewish cabal plotting world domination was being advertised as authentic.

Walmart.com had been selling a paperback English translation of the book for $22.46.The Web site says the book “is not available at this time.”

Historians believe the document, which purports to be compilation of minutes from a late 19th-century meeting of Jewish leaders scheming to take over the world, was devised by tsarist secret police in Russia at the turn of the 20th century as part of an effort to stir up anti-Semitism. The ADL believes the document continues to foster anti-Semitism in the Arab world. Two years ago, Egyptian television aired a miniseries based on the document.

In a statement, the ADL’s national director, Abraham Foxman, said his group was “pleased” by Wal-Mart’s decision to discontinue selling the book. He said the Web site had contained a “misleading” description of the book that would leave customers with the impression that it was not a forgery.

– Staff Reporter of the Sun