Iraq political blocs boycott reconciliation conference

Iraq political blocs boycott reconciliation conference

BAGHDAD, Iraq — Major Sunni and Shiite political blocs Tuesday boycotted a national conference aimed at reconciling Iraq’s rival communities — underscoring the deep divisions tearing at the country despite a decline in violence.

Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, a Shiite, opened the two-day conference, pledging that no religious or ethnic group would suffer as Iraq tries to heal its internal rifts.

But the two major Sunni blocs — the Iraqi Accordance Front and the Front for National Dialogue — refused to attend, saying the Shiite-dominated government had failed to meet Sunni demands.

Members of the Shiite bloc loyal to anti-American cleric Muqtada al-Sadr walked out after the opening ceremonies, which took place in the U.S.-protected Green Zone.

Sunni leaders have complained The conference, which opened two days before the fifth anniversary of the war, followed visits by Vice President Dick Cheney and Sen. John McCain, who touted security gains and stressed Washington’s commitment to fighting insurgents in Iraq.

Cheney spoke of the “remarkable turnaround” in describing the drop in violence in Iraq and hailed recently passed legislation aimed at keeping Iraq on a democratic path.

McCain, the likely Republican presidential nominee, told reporters Tuesday in Amman, Jordan, that a quick U.S. withdrawal from Iraq would be a “mistake” that would boost Iran and al-Qaida while damaging America’s credibility worldwide.

In New York, thousands of people carried signs and chanted in the streets of Manhattan on Tuesday, calling for an end to the war in Iraq, which began five years ago today.

Demonstrators also converged in San Francisco, Portland, Ore., and elsewhere to call on President Bush to heed what they said was the will of the people.

Supreme Court targets Washington’s ban on guns

WASHINGTON — Americans have a right to own guns, Supreme Court justices declared Tuesday in a historic and lively debate that could lead to the most significant interpretation of the Second Amendment since its ratification two centuries ago.

Governments have a right to regulate those firearms, a majority of justices seemed to agree. But there was less apparent agreement on the case they were arguing: whether Washington’s ban on handguns goes too far.

The justices dug deeply into arguments on one of the Constitution’s most hotly debated provisions as demonstrators shouted slogans outside. Guns are an American right, argued one side. “Guns kill,” responded the other.

Inside the court, at the end of a session extended long past the normal one hour, a majority of justices appeared ready to say that Americans have a “right to keep and bear arms” that goes beyond the amendment’s reference to service in a militia.

Several justices were openly skeptical that the District of Columbia’s 32-year-old handgun ban, perhaps the strictest in the nation, could survive under that reading of the Constitution.

Vicki Van Meter, 26, made history as young pilot

PITTSBURGH — Vicki Van Meter, who made headlines in the 1990s for piloting a plane across the country at age 11 and from the U.S. to Europe at age 12, has died, an apparent suicide. She was 26.

Van Meter died Saturday of an apparently self-inflicted gunshot wound, the Crawford County coroner said. Her body was found in her Meadville home on Sunday.

Her brother said she battled depression, but her family thought she had been dealing with her problems.

Van Meter was celebrated in 1993 and 1994 when she made her cross-country and trans-Atlantic flights accompanied only by a flight instructor.

Her instructors said she was at the controls during the entirety of both trips.

Governor admits affairs

ALBANY, N.Y. — The state’s new governor revealed Tuesday that he had affairs with several women, including a state employee. The confession came a day after he took over from former Gov. Eliot Spitzer, who was driven from office amid a prostitution scandal.

Gov. David Paterson said the affairs happened during a rough patch in his marriage, and that the employee did not work for him. He insisted he did not advance her career, and that no campaign or state money was spent on the affairs.

Paterson spoke at a news conference with his wife, Michelle Paige Paterson.

He is not having an affair now, he said.

Associated Press