Casio watches cited as terrorism evidence

Casio watches citedas terrorism evidence
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico -- An Iraqi replaces the battery of a Casio watch in Iraq, Baghdad. But are they bomb timers, or just time pieces? The common watches, some worth less than $30, have become part of the often ambiguous web of evidence against detainees at Guantanamo Bay. The U.S. military cites the digital watches worn by prisoners when they were captured as possible evidence of terrorist ties. Casios have been used repeatedly in bombs, after all, including one used by the architect of the 1993 World Trade Center attack; the explosive device was set off on a Philippine Airlines flight, killing a passenger. Wearing a Casio is cited among the unclassified evidence against at least eight of the detainees whose transcripts were released by the Pentagon after a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit by The Associated Press.
Rep who opposes war winsProfile in Courage Award
BOSTON -- Rep. John Murtha, a Vietnam veteran who has denounced the war in Iraq, was named a recipient of the John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award on Thursday. Alberto Mora, a former Navy general counsel who warned Pentagon officials that U.S. policies dealing with terror detainees could invite abuse, also will receive the award from the John Fitzgerald Kennedy Library Foundation. Murtha, a Pennsylvania Democrat, was recognized "for the difficult and courageous decision of conscience he made in November 2005, when he reversed his support for the Iraq war and called for the withdrawal of U.S. troops from the conflict," the foundation said in a statement. Sen. Edward M. Kennedy and Caroline Kennedy, the late president's daughter, will present the awards May 22 at the library.
U.N. Staff Union votesno confidence in Annan
UNITED NATIONS -- The U.N. Staff Union overwhelmingly voted no confidence in Secretary-General Kofi Annan on Thursday over his proposal to radically overhaul U.N. operations. The union, representing over 5,000 staff at U.N. headquarters, said it was dismayed at many proposals in Annan's blueprint, especially the call to consider outsourcing a variety of U.N. services from translations to billing. The disappearance of permanent appointments and a new policy on job mobility without job security implied a "fundamental attack against the international civil service," it said.
Probe: Madrid bombingnot ordered by Al-Qaida
MADRID, Spain -- A two-year probe into the Madrid train bombings concludes the Islamic terrorists who carried out the blasts were homegrown radicals acting on their own rather than at the behest of Osama bin Laden's Al-Qaida network, two senior intelligence officials said. Spain still remains home to a web of radical Algerian, Moroccan and Syrian groups bent on carrying out attacks -- and aiding the insurgency against U.S. troops in Iraq -- the Spanish intelligence chief and a Western official intimately involved in counterterrorism measures in Spain told The Associated Press.
Senate panel approvesscaled-back budget
WASHINGTON -- A Senate panel approved a scaled-back version of President Bush's budget Thursday, shorn of signature initiatives such as tax relief and cuts to federal benefit programs such as Medicare. With Republicans nervous about cutting popular programs in an election year and still nursing wounds from a bruising round of benefit cuts last year, the Budget Committee gave party-line 11-10 approval to a budget that takes few risks but also makes little progress in addressing the long-term fiscal problems facing the government. Driven by political concerns, Budget Committee Chairman Judd Gregg, R-N.H., dropped Bush's proposals for expanding tax-free medical accounts and restraining Medicare spending. He also seeks to shift about $5 billion from the Pentagon and foreign aid budgets to cash-strapped domestic programs such as education and homeland security. The measure heads to the Senate floor Monday.
Associated Press