Hydrablog: Ex-Detainees Demand Payment From U.S.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/01/26/AR2008012602252.html
WORLD IN BRIEF
Sunday, January 27, 2008; A16
sudan
Ex-Detainees Demand Payment From U.S.
[bush white house] [nsc principals and beyond] doj whose boss is AG Mukasey and who controls FBI] [congress] [110th congress, 2nd session] [recent disclosure that CIA destroyed interrogation tapes] [congress] [potential pow abuse] [former guest of gitmo attempts to leverage his experience] [interrogation mess with CIA destroying evidence?] [**********]
A group of Sudanese released from the U.S. prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, demanded cash and an apology from the United States on Saturday for mental and physical torture suffered during their years in detention.
"We have asked for compensation and an apology," aid worker Adil Hassan Hamad said at a conference in Khartoum organized by local rights groups to demand the release of seven Sudanese still held at Guantanamo Bay.
Hamad, freed last month, was working with refugees when he was arrested in Pakistan in 2002 and taken to Guantanamo.
PAKISTAN
Official Affirms Safety Of Nuclear Facilities
Pakistan's nuclear weapons are safe from Taliban and al-Qaeda insurgents because of the military's stringent security system and a political climate that precludes a takeover by religious extremists, a top official said Saturday.
Seeking to dispel international concerns amid increased violence, Lt. Gen. Khalid Kidwai said Pakistan uses 10,000 soldiers to keep the weapons safe and has received as much as $10 million in U.S. assistance to that end. Kidwai heads the Strategic Planning and Development Cell, which oversees Pakistan's nuclear arsenal.
RUSSIA
Police, Protesters Clash In Troubled Ingushetia
Anti-government protesters in the largely Muslim republic of Ingushetia clashed with riot police Saturday, throwing rocks and firebombs a day after the government started a major security operation in the troubled southern Russian region.
Police responded by firing live rounds over the heads of some of the 300 protesters who tried to gather in Ingushetia's main city, Nazran. Heavily armed riot police blocked side streets and beat protesters with rubber truncheons. At least one person was injured.
IRAN
U.S. Urged to Expedite Shift of Power to Iraq
Iran's foreign minister had qualified praise Saturday for Washington's planned troop drawdown in Iraq, but he urged the United States to expedite the transfer of full control of all affairs -- including security -- to the Baghdad government.
It was a rare moment of restraint on the part of Manouchehr Mottaki, who made his remarks at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
Meanwhile, Iran's top military commander said his forces would retaliate against U.S. military bases in the Persian Gulf if they were involved in any attack on Iran.
Gen. Mohammad Ali Jafari, commander of Iran's Revolutionary Guards, told the al-Jazeera satellite television network that Iran had a "natural right to respond" if attacked by land or air.
mexico
Alleged Cartel Hit Man Arrested in Tijuana
An alleged key hit man for Mexico's Arellano Felix drug cartel was arrested Saturday in the border city of Tijuana, marking another coup for President Felipe CalderÂ¿n's clampdown on traffickers.
After an anonymous tip, soldiers stormed a house and arrested Alfredo Araujo Â¿vila, Tijuana's military chief said.
VENEZUELA
Chewing Coca Leaves Beneficial, ChÂ¿vez Says
Venezuelan President Hugo ChÂ¿vez accepted a handful of coca leaves from Bolivian ally Evo Morales and chewed them during a summit meeting on Saturday, saying, "Coca isn't cocaine."
"You know the strength that coca gives," ChÂ¿vez said in Caracas, the Venezuelan capital. "I've really grown used to it every day in the morning."
The socialist leader joined the Bolivian president in defending the leaf, chewed by Andean Indians for centuries, while condemning its use in the making of cocaine.
ChÂ¿vez accused Washington of trying to use the issue of drug trafficking to discredit his government, noting that John P. Walters, director of the White House drug policy office, has accused him of facilitating the flow of Colombian cocaine through Venezuela.
* * *
Suharto's Condition Worsens
The health of former Indonesian ruler Suharto took a sudden downturn Sunday, and his doctors said he was unconscious, breathing through a ventilator and in "very critical" condition. Suharto, 86, was admitted to a hospital on Jan. 4 and has been in intensive care with lung, heart and kidney failure.
From News Services
© 2008 The Washington Post Company