Terror investigations

Terror investigations

MADRID, Spain — A Spanish judge has indicted 22 people suspected of links to a recruitment network sending fighters to Iraq, a court said Tuesday. National Court Judge Baltasar Garzon charged 18 of the suspects with belonging to a terrorist organization, and the other four were accused of collaborating with it, the statement said. The cell’s mission was to send potential fighters to Iraq “so they might join in terrorist activity sponsored and directed by al-Qaida,” Garzon said. Moroccan Omar Nakhcha, 24, was also charged with helping some of those involved in the 2004 Madrid train bombings to escape from justice. The bombings killed 191 people and wounded 1,800. In France, police detained six men suspected of being connected to a group that recruited Islamic fighters to send to Iraq, officials said.

Israel kills Gaza militant

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — Israel killed a top Gaza militant with a missile strike on his car Tuesday, prompting threats of more rocket attacks from Gaza on Israeli border towns. Earlier in the day, a Palestinian prisoner died of injuries sustained during a riot Monday at an Israeli desert prison. Israeli forces also killed two members of the Islamic Jihad group in a West Bank raid. Mubarak al-Hassanat, 37, was driving in a black jeep on Gaza’s coastal road when the vehicle was struck by missiles. Al-Hassanat was the most prominent militant to be killed in an airstrike in more than a year.

Lead tests questioned

WASHINGTON — Parents afraid of lead lurking on the surface of every Dora, Elmo or Curious George now have something else to worry about: whether their lead-testing kits even work. The Consumer Product Safety Commission said Tuesday that such tests were unreliable, while Consumer Reports declared some lead-testing kits a “useful, though limited, screening tool.” The CPSC said commonly available test kits that rely on chemical reactions involving rhodizonate ion or sulfide ion didn’t detect lead when it was present or did when it wasn’t. None of the kits detected lead when it was covered with a nonlead coating.

Official faults Iran

WASHINGTON — A senior U.S. State Department official, toughening the administration’s line on Iran, said Tuesday there was no doubt that the top leaders in Tehran were directing Iranian forces that the administration is holding responsible for the deaths of hundreds of U.S. troops in Iraq. Senior Iraq adviser David Satterfield said “there is no question in our minds whatsoever” that Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps troops “are very much under the direction and command of the most senior levels of the Iranian government. Full stop.”

Flood fight successful

NEW ORLEANS — On Monday, bands of heavy rain dumped about 7 inches of rain on New Orleans and its suburbs, leaving many streets impassable and flooding some businesses and homes. The city’s system of pumps and drainage canals, while nearly back to its capacity before Hurricane Katrina hit Aug. 29, 2005, couldn’t keep up. Mayor Ray Nagin shut city hall early and schools were closed across the city. Waist-high water in parts of eastern New Orleans soaked businesses, some of which had only recently reopened. The Army Corps of Engineers had to close a floodgate on the Harvey Canal because of flooding fears. By Tuesday, most of the city was dry but a few spots were still flooded. Officials declared the city’s efforts to fight the flood a success.

Two strike plea deal

LAS VEGAS — Two co-defendants pleaded guilty to reduced charges Tuesday in the O.J. Simpson armed robbery case, agreeing to testify against Simpson and three others in the alleged hotel room theft of sports collectibles from two memorabilia dealers. Clark County District Attorney David Roger agreed to drop charges including kidnapping, armed robbery, assault with a deadly weapon and conspiracy against Walter Alexander, Simpson’s golfing buddy, and Charles Cashmore, at times a day laborer, disc jockey and bartender. With testimony from the two men secured, prosecutors moved quickly to prepare revised charges against Simpson, Clarence “C.J.” Stewart, Michael McClinton and Charles Ehrlich.

Combined dispatches