Former governor Spitzer escapes criminal charges

Former governor Spitzer escapes criminal charges

NEW YORK — Federal prosecutors said Thursday that they will not bring criminal charges against Eliot Spitzer for his role in a prostitution scandal, removing a legal cloud that has surrounded the former governor since his epic downfall eight months ago.

U.S. Attorney Michael Garcia said investigators found no evidence that Spitzer or his office misused public or campaign funds for prostitution. Federal prosecutors typically do not prosecute clients of prostitution rings.

“In light of the policy of the Department of Justice with respect to prostitution offenses and the longstanding practice of this Office, as well as Mr. Spitzer’s acceptance of responsibility for his conduct, we have concluded that the public interest would not be further advanced by filing criminal charges in this matter,” Garcia said in a statement.

hCongo civilians killed

KIWANJA, Congo — Portegee, carrying her sibling on her back, cries as she looks for her parents through a village. Villagers who fled fighting in this rebel-held town trickled home Thursday to find the bodies of more than a dozen men in civilian clothes in and around mud huts — and accused rebel leader Laurent Nkunda’s forces of the slayings.

But New York-based Human Rights Watch accused a pro-government militia called the Mai Mai as well as the rebels of deliberately killing civilians in Kiwanja and said U.N. peacekeepers nearby had been unable to protect them.

U.S. to Iraq: Security pact draft for 3-year stay is final

BAGHDAD — The U.S. officially responded Thursday to Iraqi proposals for changes in the draft security pact that would keep American troops here for three more years. The U.S. described the text as final and said it was up to the Iraqis to push the process further.

The draft agreement has drawn strong opposition inside Iraq, but government officials are hopeful that parliament can approve the pact in time for the deadline. Without an agreement or a new mandate, the U.S. would have to suspend all military operations in Iraq.

Suicide bombers kill 19

KHAR, Pakistan — Two suicide bombers attacked pro-government tribesmen and security forces Thursday in Pakistan’s volatile northwest, killing at least 19 people and wounding dozens, officials said.

The separate attacks came in a region where the Pakistani military has clashed for months with Islamic insurgents allied with Taliban and al-Qaida militants who are involved in attacks on American and NATO troops in neighboring Afghanistan.

U.S. officials have praised Pakistan for getting tougher on militants, but the offensives have escalated extremist bloodshed in the Muslim nation where anti-American sentiment runs deep.

Pope urges understanding between religions

VATICAN CITY — Christians and Muslims must overcome their misunderstandings, Pope Benedict XVI told Muslim clergy and scholars Thursday as he pressed for greater freedom of worship for non-Muslims in the Islamic world.

His meeting in the Apostolic Palace with a delegation of scholars and other Muslim representatives capped a three-day conference in Rome involving Catholic clergy and professors and Islamic experts. Benedict told participants he had followed the “progress” of the talks closely.

The pope’s baptism of a prominent Egyptian-born Muslim last Easter in St. Peter’s Basilica upset some in the Muslim world. Benedict also angered Muslims with comments linking Islam to violence in a speech in 2006.

“Dear friends, let us unite our efforts, animated by good will, in order to overcome all misunderstanding and disagreements,” the pope said in a speech to the delegates.

Associated Press