Meeting concerns Iraq

Meeting concerns Iraq

BAGHDAD — Iraq said Friday it was investigating reports that U.S. delegates and Sunni insurgents held reconciliation talks in Turkey this year, alleging the meetings violated Iraqi sovereignty and showed tolerance for terrorists.

In Washington, the State Department acknowledged that unspecified meetings took place but said Iraq knew about them at the time. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said she had assured visiting Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki that the Iraqi government would be informed of any such meetings.

The prime minister said he was satisfied with the assurance.

Still, the matter raised sensitive questions about Iraqis’ newfound authority as the United States hands over responsibility to Iraqi forces, which have taken charge of security in cities since June 30.

Zelaya takes symbolic step

EL PARAISO, Honduras — Ousted President Manuel Zelaya took a symbolic step into his homeland Friday, vowing to reclaim his post a month after soldiers flew him into exile.

But he stayed less than 30 minutes before returning to Nicaragua, saying the risk of bloodshed was too great. He said he would give talks with the coup-installed government another try.

“I am not afraid, but I’m not crazy either,” Zelaya told the Venezuela-based television network Telesur. “There could be violence, and I don’t want to be the cause.”

Shortly before Zelaya’s crossing, his supporters clashed with soldiers and police nearby after the government ordered everyone off the streets along the 600-mile border with Nicaragua in a noon-to-dawn curfew. Police said one demonstrator was slightly injured.

40-year-old cake ‘good’

WASHINGTON — Forty years later, Henry A. Moak, Jr., still loves his pound cake.

The Army colonel popped open a military C-ration can of pound cake from 1969 at his retirement ceremony, and dug in.

Moak got the drab-olive can as a Marine helicopter pilot off the Vietnamese coast in 1973. He vowed to hang on to it until the day he retired, storing it in a box with other mementos.

After a formal retirement ceremony, dozens of friends and relatives joined Moak in the Pentagon’s Hall of Heroes as he opened the can to cheers. Moak joked earlier this week that he hoped the can wouldn’t explode. It let off a whooshing sound as the pressure seal broke.

“It smells good,” Moak said as he put a handful in his mouth. He jokingly staggered back a few feet and loudly cleared his throat, while one person yelled out, “Eeww, gross!”

Moak pronounced the cake “good.”

“It’s even a little moist,” he said, wiping his mouth.

Bush library suit settled

DALLAS — The dispute between Southern Methodist University and condominium owners over land for the George W. Bush presidential library is over.

SMU reached an agreement Friday with Gary Vodicka, who alleged that the university forced him out of his condominium to make way for the project and lied about its intentions. A settlement reached a day earlier with fellow condo owner Robert Tafel also was announced Friday. Terms were not released.

Fla. governor: Letter was ‘inexcusable mistake’

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Despite the content of a letter bearing his signature, Gov. Charlie Crist does not want to share an anti-Semitic movie with all Floridians.

Crist’s office sent a letter thanking John Ubele for providing the governor with a copy of the film “Jud Suss.” The film is recognized as one of history’s most incendiary.

The brief thank-you note was dated June 30 and bore the governor’s automated signature. It praised the Pasco County resident’s thoughtfulness and generosity and said Crist would be delighted to share the DVD with the people of Florida.

“I was surprised considering the stigma that has been associated with the film,” Ubele said Friday in an exchange of e-mails with The Associated Press. “I was even more surprised when I looked at the signature because from what I can tell it looks real.”

The signature, however, was made by a machine, and Crist never saw the letter.

Crist later called it “an inexcusable mistake by staff in my office,” in a letter released just before 9 p.m. that was addressed to Ubele’s work address in St. Petersburg.

“Neither I nor anyone in this administration agree with or condone the anti-Semitic content of this DVD,” Crist wrote in a second letter that also carried his automated signature.

Associated Press