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Body
count may rise by 100 as more bodies discovered
NOBLE,
Ga. (AP) — Investigators on Wednesday worked to recover discarded
corpses in six newly discovered vaults on the grounds of a north
Georgia crematory and said the body count may rise by at least another
100.
Morning
rain that threatened search efforts at the Tri-State Crematory let
up, allowing workers to check the vaults, which were located in
a shed. Dr. Kris Sperry, the state’s chief medical examiner,
said as many as 20 corpses could be hidden in each one.
That
could bring the total body count to more than 300. Officials had
counted 191 by early Wednesday, with 29 of them positively identified.
Meanwhile,
families were turning over their loved ones’ medical records
and supposed ashes to help officials identify their relatives after
dozens of corpses were found discarded in woods near a crematorium.
Untold
numbers of partial skeletons also have been found, officials said,
but only complete corpses are being included in the count for now.
Ray
Brent Marsh, 28, is being held without bond on 16 counts of theft
by deception for allegedly taking payment for cremations he didn’t
intend to perform. A bond hearing has been postponed until Marsh
has an attorney.
It’s
not clear who besides Marsh may be responsible for dumping bodies
in the woods and stacking them in sheds and vaults on the property.
Milosevic
tribunal continues with small victory
THE
HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — In a first victory for Slobodan Milosevic,
the U.N. war crimes tribunal excluded testimony Wednesday from the
prosecution’s senior investigator,
saying it was based on inadmissible hearsay.
In
a personal setback, the former Yugoslav president complained the
Dutch government denied his wife a visa for a weekend visit, and
asked the three tribunal judges to intervene.
Kevin
Curtis, the prosecution’s chief war crimes investigator for
Kosovo, was due to testify about “the killing sites” where
thousands of Kosovo Albanians were allegedly murdered by Serb forces
during the 1999 war in the province.
The
judges ruled his testimony would be irrelevant, since he was repeating
stories he had heard from others.
Milosevic
chided the prosecution for preparing what he said were hundreds
more such statements.
The
first ethnic Albanian who was part of the flood of refugees is due
to testify in the court later Wednesday.
Milosevic,
the first former head of state to be charged with war crimes while
in office, is accused of crimes against humanity in Kosovo and Croatia,
and of genocide in Bosnia during the 1991-99 Balkan wars. He could
be sentenced to life imprisonment if convicted on any one of 66
counts.
U.S.
military deploys special forces to Philippine island
ZAMBOANGA,
Philippines (AP) — The U.S. military is wrapping up deployment
of 160 special forces troops to a southern Philippine island, where
they will train local soldiers fighting
a Muslim extremist group, a spokeswoman said Tuesday.
U.S.
Army Maj. Cynthia Teramae said that about 80 special forces soldiers
already are on Basilan, where the Abu Sayyaf group is holding missionaries
Martin and Gracia Burnham of Wichita, Kan., and Filipino nurse Deborah
Yap.
Teramae
said the rest of the special forces contingent is expected “in
a day or two.”
The
joint Philippine-U.S. exercise, called Balikatan, or “shoulder
to shoulder,” will involve 660 U.S. troops. Only the 160 from
the special forces — armed only for self-defense — will
be allowed to visit combat zones on Basilan to observe Filipino
soldiers pursuing the Abu Sayyaf.
Teramae
said U.S. trainers also will learn from Filipino soldiers, who have
long experience in guerrilla warfare.
Air
traffic control tapes for Flight 587 released
WASHINGTON
(AP) — Doomed American Airlines Flight 587 took off without
problems, though pilots were warned of turbulence from the plane
that preceded it in the air, newly released air traffic control
tapes show.
Tapes
of conversations between air traffic controllers and crew of the
American Airlines Airbus A300-600 showed no problems until a voice
is heard saying that the plane was descending.
The
tapes, released Wednesday by the Federal Aviation Administration,
do not indicate whether the voice was that of a controller or a
member of the flight crew. The National Transportation Safety Board
is investigating the Nov. 12 crash.
The
Airbus A300-600 crashed shortly after taking off. All 260 people
on board and five on the ground were killed. The plane hit wake
turbulence from a jumbo jet that took off before it, and its tail
fin and engines fell off before the crash.
The
cause of the accident is still under investigation.
Pentagon
campaign to influence global opinion
WASHINGTON
(AP) — Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said Wednesday
that a Pentagon campaign to influence global opinion will not include
lies to the public, but might employ “tactical” deception
to confuse an enemy for battlefield advantage.
“Government
officials, the Department of Defense, this secretary and the people
that work with me tell the American people and the people of the
world the truth,” Rumsfeld said while meeting with troops providing
security at the Salt Lake City Olympics.
Responding
to reports that the new Office of Strategic Influence has proposed
placing news items — false if necessary — with foreign
news organizations, Rumsfeld said the office will instead mostly
oversee longtime Pentagon activities like dropping leaflets and
broadcasting messages during wartime.
Rumsfeld
said the Pentagon also might engage in strategic or tactical deception,
as it has in the past.
However,
the defense secretary also made clear the new office’s mandate
is still under discussion.
Earlier
Wednesday, the senior Pentagon official who oversees the new office
also ruled out using the news media for deception efforts.
Gov.
Bush accused of campaign fund-raising
TALLAHASSEE,
Fla. (AP) — The Florida Democratic Party is accusing Gov. Jeb
Bush of breaking a promise not to raise campaign money during the
legislative session.
When
the session started Jan. 22, Bush said he would hold off campaign
fund-raising so he could focus on the issues. But this month, he
participated in a $25,000-per-person golf tournament and addressed
top Republican contributors.
Bush
said Tuesday that neither event was a fund-raiser for his own re-election
campaign.
“I’m
going to raise money any time I want for the Republican Party, just
as the Democrats do,” Bush said. “I’m not going to
raise money for my campaign, as I stated I wouldn’t, until
after the session.”
However,
Florida Democratic Party chairman Bob Poe said at least part of
the money raised for the Republican Party would eventually make
its way into Bush’s campaign.
State
law prohibits legislators from raising campaign funds during the
session as a way to prevent influence peddling. State Sen. Daryl
Jones, a Democrat running for the governor, said the same ethic
should apply to Bush because, as governor, he has a say on what
bills become law.
Two
of Bush’s four Democratic challengers are legislators: Jones
and House Minority Leader Lois Frankel. The others are attorney
Bill McBride and former Attorney General Janet Reno.
The
candidates’ latest campaign fund-raising reports, released
in January, show Bush had just over $1.8 million in the bank —
more than the combined totals of his potential Democratic challengers.
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