| Gates calls for Guantanamo closure
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The U.S. Congress and the administration of President George W. Bush should work together to allow the U.S. to permanently imprison some of the more dangerous Guantanamo Bay detainees elsewhere so the facility can be closed, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Thursday. Gates said the challenge is figuring out what to do with hard-core detainees who have "made very clear they will come back and attack this country." He said it may require a new law to "address the concerns about some of these people who really need to be incarcerated forever, but that doesn't get them involved in a judicial system where there is the potential of them being released," Gates told the House Defense Appropriations subcommittee. Gates comments came as the Pentagon released the transcript from a Guantanamo hearing involving a Saudi linked to the September 11 attacks.
Peace group becomes a house divided
CRAWFORD, Texas (AP) -- A group that has sponsored highly visible war protests in President Bush's adopted hometown has been anything but peaceful, with accusations of money mismanagement, threats of court action and defections by some members. A former member who has rights to the group's name is threatening legal action because the Crawford Peace House continues to operate. Sara L. Oliver and others also want a state investigation as to why only $14,700 is now in the group's bank account, saying tens of thousands of dollars donated during Cindy Sheehan's high-profile 2005 war protest are unaccounted for. "There are people who have said, 'Don't say anything because you'll hurt the peace movement,"' Oliver said. "But if the peace movement isn't pure and transparent and holy as it can be at its heart, then it's just like George Bush: lying, thieving, conniving, backstabbing bastards." John Wolf, who co-founded the Crawford Peace House in 2003 in a house near downtown, denied allegations of wrongdoing.
Central Bank ups one-week certificate of deposit rate to 4.85 pc ...
DUBAI The UAE central bank raised key interest rates by five basis points today, a day after cutting them by that amount to deter speculators betting on an appreciation of the dollar-pegged dirham currency. The bank raised the one-week certificate of deposit rate to 4.85 per cent and the one-month certificate of deposit rate to 5.05 per cent. There was no immediate comment from the central bank, which usually shadows policy moves by the US Federal Reserve. Analysts said yesterdays surprise cuts had been meant as a signal to speculators rather than a shift in policy. This is a just a first warning. If they continue the central bank could cut further next time and for longer, said Faud Zeidan, head of treasury and investment at Union National Bank in Abu Dhabi. The cuts were a short-term measure to curb large inflows of funds that were putting pressure on the dirham to appreciate and policy would revert to tracking the Fed once the pressure eased, a central bank official said yesterday.
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