ALBANY

CLINTON SAYS SHE WILL NOT BACK LIEBERMAN IF HE LOSES PRIMARY

Senator Clinton, a longtime supporter of Senator Lieberman, said yesterday she will not back the Connecticut Democrat’s bid for re-election if he loses their party’s primary. “I’ve known Joe Lieberman for more than 30 years. I have been pleased to support him in his campaign for re-election, and hope that he is our party’s nominee,” the former first lady said in a statement issued by aides. “But I want to be clear that I will support the nominee chosen by Connecticut Democrats in their primary,” she added. “I believe in the Democratic Party, and I believe we must honor the decisions made by Democratic primary voters.” Asked about Mrs. Clinton’s comment, Mr. Lieberman’s spokeswoman, Marion Steinfels, said the three-term senator was “totally focused on winning the Democratic primary.”

– Associated Press

CITYWIDE

MAYOR SAYS IT IS ‘INAPPROPRIATE’ TO KEEP KERIK’S NAME ON A JAIL

Mayor Bloomberg said yesterday it is “inappropriate” to keep Bernard Kerik’s name on a Manhattan jail. Mr. Kerik, a police commissioner under Mayor Giuliani, pleaded guilty last week to two misdemeanors for accepting $165,000 in home renovations from a contractor and for neglecting to report a $28,000 loan from a developer. Over the weekend, Mr. Bloomberg ordered that the name of the facility be changed. The mayor said yesterday he attended a Yankees game on Friday night with Mr. Giuliani and that they talked about “many things,” but that he did not make the decision to strip Kerik’s name until Saturday.

– Staff Reporter of the Sun

POLICE BLOTTER

POLICE INVESTIGATE DROWNING IN POOL

BABYLON – A 20-year-old man was found drowned in a public swimming pool early yesterday. A Babylon safety officer was checking the State Trooper Fabio Buttitta Memorial Pool at about 2:20 a.m. yesterday when he saw a person lying motionless at the bottom of the pool and several youths leaving the facility, police said. Maruful Haque, 20, of Deer Park, was pronounced dead at a nearby hospital. The county police’s homicide squad was investigating.

– Associated Press

SUSPICIOUS PACKAGES ATTRIBUTED TO HOMELESS MAN

A string of suspicious packages sighted in Park Slope on Monday were attributed to a homeless man, police officials said yesterday. Police responded to calls about 12 suspicious packages at eight locations, but found only empty suitcases. Early suspicions led some to believe the packages to be a political art project or the work of mischievous teenagers. Investigators yesterday found a woman who said she gave a homeless man all her suitcases after she saw him rooting in her garbage. Police said they believe the man deposited the suitcases on street corners and places throughout Park Slope as he walked around.

– Staff Reporter of the Sun

MANHATTAN COUPLE’S ALLEGED KILLER ARRESTED

Police arrested the man they said killed a Manhattan couple inside their Lower East Side apartment last week. Yesterday, police charged Angel Quinones, 30, of Water Street in Manhattan, with two counts of second-degree murder. According to police, 66-year-old Cecelia Ruiz and her husband Carlos, 70, were found bludgeoned inside their Madison Street apartment Friday. Police said the suspect surrendered to detectives yesterday.

– Special to the Sun

NY1 CAMERAMAN FALLS TO HIS DEATH ON BRIDGE

A cameraman for NY1 News fell to his death early yesterday after falling off the pedestrian walkway of the Queensborough Bridge. Christian Milin, 27, of 44th Street in Queens was walking across the Queensborough Bridge around 3:30 a.m. when he fell onto the East 60th Street exit ramp roadway of the lower level, police said. Milian was reportedly walking home after visiting several Manhattan nightspots with a friend. He was brought to New York Hospital with severe injuries and died later in the day, police said. Milin had worked as a cameraman for NY1 since 2001, according to a report posted on their Web site yesterday.

– Special to the Sun

IN THE COURTS

FILING: NSA PROGRAM LEADS ATTORNEYS TO ABANDON E-MAILING CLIENTS

The disclosure of the National Security Agency eavesdropping program has led some civil rights attorneys to adopt a cloak-and-dagger mentality in an effort to ensure their conversations with clients are confidential, according to a court filing. In a series of affidavits filed in U.S. District Court in Manhattan last week, three attorneys who represent terror suspects say they have abandoned phone calls and e-mails in favor of sealed letters and face-to-face visits in foreign countries in order to communicate with their clients, many of whom live abroad. When a prospective client calls on the telephone, the lawyer often begins by saying that the government may be listening in, the affidavit by one attorney, William Goodman, claims. Mr. Goodman is the legal director at the Center for Constitutional Rights, which is involved in several lawsuits brought by men detained and investigated for links to terrorism. The affidavits are in support of a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the Bush administration’s program of eavesdropping without a warrant.

– Staff Reporter of the Sun