GUANTANAMO BAY NAVAL BASE, Cuba – The U.S. government plans to file charges against more detainees at Guantanamo Bay and will seek the death penalty in some cases, the top military prosecutor at the military base said Monday.
Air Force Col. Morris Davis, chief prosecutor for the tribunals, declined to disclose details about plans to charge about two dozen detainees in addition to the 10 already charged.
The U.S. holds about 490 detainees at Guantanamo Bay for alleged links to al-Qaida or the Taliban. The military said it plans to transfer or release about 140 detainees, but gave no time frame.
Afghanistan: Deadly plane crash
A plane carrying U.S. drug enforcement officials slammed into tents and mud brick houses Monday while trying to avoid a truck on a runway, killing two people on board, said to be Ukrainians, and two young girls on the ground. At least 13 of the 16 people aboard were injured, including several Americans, after the twin-engine An-32 aircraft plowed into a nomad settlement on landing at an airport in Lashkar Gah.
Iran: Considering treaty withdrawal
Iran’s hard-line president said Monday he is thinking about withdrawing from the nuclear nonproliferation treaty if the U.N. atomic energy agency tries to prevent his country from enriching uranium. President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad also predicted the U.N. Security Council will not impose sanctions on Iran, which is facing a Friday deadline to halt enrichment because of suspicions it is trying to develop atomic weapons.
Israel: Abbas threat angers Hamas
Hamas angrily rejected a warning by the moderate Palestinian president Monday that he could dismiss its government, threatening to scrap a truce with Israel if he does. President Mahmoud Abbas said Hamas must recognize Israel and talk peace to avert an economic catastrophe because of Western sanctions. Abbas heads the Fatah Party, which was defeated by Hamas in January parliamentary elections.
Aruba: Holloway suspect released
A 19-year-old man arrested in the disappearance of a young Alabama woman was released from jail Monday, but prosecutors in Oranjestad said he remained a suspect. Geoffrey van Cromvoirt was arrested on April 15 in the disappearance of Natalee Holloway, 18, of Mountain Brook, Ala., who vanished May 30.
Nepal: King offers protesters peace
Nepal’s King Gyanendra appeared to defuse weeks of mass protests that have pushed this Himalayan country near the brink of anarchy, reinstating the lower house of parliament on Monday as his opponents had demanded. Gyanendra’s announcement cleared the way for the creation of a new constitution that could leave him largely powerless, or even eliminate the monarchy.
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