WASHINGTON

ASHCROFT: NUKE THREAT IS LARGEST U.S. DANGER

The possibility that Al Qaeda or its sympathizers could gain access to a nuclear bomb is the greatest danger facing America in the war on terrorism, Attorney General Ashcroft said yesterday.

American officials “from time to time” uncover evidence terrorists are trying to develop nuclear capability, Mr. Ashcroft said without providing any specifics. It is not clear whether they have made any progress, but America must take the threat seriously, he said in an interview with the Associated Press.

“If you were to have nuclear proliferation find its way into the hands of terrorists, the entire world might be very seriously disrupted by a few individuals who sought to impose their will, their arcane philosophy, on the rest of mankind,” he said.

Mr. Ashcroft, 62, is ending four years as the nation’s chief law-enforcement officer, much of the period devoted to a war on terrorism that began with the attacks of September 11, 2001. He will leave office when his successor, Alberto Gonzales, is confirmed by the Senate and sworn in, possibly next week.

– Associated Press

KENNEDY CALLS FOR TROOP WITHDRAWAL IN IRAQ

Immediately after Sunday’s election in Iraq, President Bush should take steps to negotiate a timetable to begin bringing the troops home, Senator Kennedy said yesterday as he described his own plans for a stable Iraqi government.

Saying the American military’s continued presence in Iraq is fanning the flames of conflict, Mr. Kennedy said at least 12,000 U.S. troops should leave at once, and a complete withdrawal should be finished as early as possible in 2006.

The Massachusetts Democrat said America must give Iraq back to its people rather than continue an occupation that parallels the failed policies of the Vietnam War. “The U.S. military presence has become part of the problem, not part of the solution,” Mr. Kennedy said in a speech to Johns Hopkins University’s School of Advanced International Studies. “We need a new plan that sets fair and realistic goals for self-government in Iraq, and works with the Iraqi government on a specific timetable for the honorable homecoming of our forces.”

While not the first member of Congress to call for withdrawing the troops, Mr. Kennedy is the first senator to do so. Republican National Committee spokesman Brian Jones criticized Mr. Kennedy’s timing.

“It’s remarkable that Senator Kennedy would deliver such an overtly pessimistic message only days before the Iraqi election,” said Mr. Jones. “Kennedy’s partisan political attack stands in stark contrast to President Bush’s vision of spreading freedom around the world.”

– Associated Press

NORTHEAST

SHANLEY ACCUSER BREAKS DOWN ON THE STAND UNDER CROSS-EXAMINATION

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – After a grueling second day of intense and graphic questioning by a defense lawyer, the man who has accused defrocked priest Paul Shanley of raping him as a child broke down on the witness stand yesterday and begged the judge not to force him to continue testifying.

“I can’t do this again,” the man said, his shoulders slumped and his head down as Mr. Shanley’s attorney asked graphic questions about the nature of the alleged abuse. “I can’t start over again.”

At one point during the questioning, the accuser loudly sobbed as he clasped his hands behind his head and pressed his forehead against the rail of the witness stand.

Frank Mondano, Mr. Shanley’s attorney, has spent the past two days seeking to undermine the accuser’s credibility, grilling him about his troubled childhood, his abuse of alcohol and steroids, his gambling habit – and his motivation for coming forward with what he says are repressed memories of the alleged abuse.

Mr. Mondano has said the man made up his story to cash in on the multimillion-dollar settlements paid to victims of abuse by priests in Boston’s Roman Catholic Archdiocese.

The accuser, now a 27-year-old firefighter, says Mr. Shanley raped and molested him at a parish outside Boston beginning when he was 6. He didn’t remember the abuse until early 2002, when he heard a friend’s account of being abused as a boy by Mr. Shanley.

The man is the lone remaining accuser in the case against the 74-year-old Shanley, one of the central figures in the Boston clergy sex-abuse scandal. His case became one of the most notorious in the scandal because personnel records showed that church officials knew Mr. Shanley publicly advocated sex between men and boys, yet continued to transfer him from parish to parish.

– Associated Press

SOUTH

GOVERNMENT ENCOURAGES STATES TO USE ALL FLU SHOTS, IF AVAILABLE

ATLANTA – Afraid millions of doses will go to waste, the government all but dropped its restrictions on the flu vaccine yesterday, encouraging states with ample supplies to offer shots to anyone who wants one.

The vaccine shortage from last fall has turned into a surplus because the flu season has been mild and because many people were scared off by the prospect of long lines at clinics.

As a result, the government has been backing away from restrictions that said flu shots should be reserved for elderly people, babies, and those with chronic medical conditions.

The government stopped just short of dropping all restrictions yesterday. Dr. Julie Gerberding, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said that is because there still are parts of the country that do not have enough vaccine. “The CDC’s broad goal in all of this is to try to make the best use of the vaccine doses that we have,” she said. “The reason why we are not opening this up nationally is because the mismatch between supply and demand is very much a local issue. The people who know best how to manage their situation is the local agency.”

Ms. Gerberding did not specify which states still have shortages, and a CDC spokesman was unable to provide details.

– Associated Press