Saudis take mountain from Yemen rebels

SAN'A, Yemen — Saudi Arabian forces seized a strategic mountain straddling the border with Yemen and cleared it of Shiite rebels after five days of fighting that have left three Saudi soldiers dead, a Saudi defense official said Sunday.

Meanwhile, rebels said they shot down a Yemeni fighter jet. While Yemen acknowledged the crash, it attributed it to a "technical error."

Saudi forces began shelling and bombing rebel positions last week, dramatically escalating a five-year conflict between Yemen's weak central government and rebels in the north of the impoverished country.

The Saudi government cooperates with Yemen to fight the Shiite rebels, known as Hawthis, out of fears that extremism and instability in Yemen could spill into its country, the world's largest oil exporter.

Assistant Saudi Defense Minister Khaled Bin Sultan said Sunday's advance was a step toward sealing the Saudi border against the rebels.

"All the mountain slopes inside the Saudi border have been cleared," he said, according to the official Saudi Press Agency.

Saudi forces were still trying to stop rebel infiltrators elsewhere, he said.

Saudi-owned Al-Arabiya TV aired footage of Saudi soldiers capturing and blindfolding men in traditional Arab robes whom the station identified as Hawthi fighters.

Among the areas Bin Sultan said Saudi forces seized was Dokhan mountain, a strategic high point in the rugged border region, where rebels seized a Yemeni army base last month. The mountaintop gives commanding views of Saudi border installations and other military sites in the kingdom.

Saudi officials say their military has fought only in its own territory, focusing on rebel infiltrators, but Yemeni rebels, military officials and Arab diplomats say Saudi strikes have hit deep inside northern Yemen.

Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh vowed on Saturday to quash the rebels.

Rebel spokesman Mohammed Abdel-Salam denied that rebels had crossed the Saudi border, saying those detained were Yemeni migrants hoping to work in the much richer country.

He said the "lies" about rebel infiltrators "reveal the failure of Yemeni government in confronting our forces, and that has pushed the Yemeni regime to seek help from the Saudis."

Abdel-Salam also said rebel fighters shot down a Yemeni fighter jet on Sunday, and that both Yemeni and Saudi jets have carried out continuous strikes in the region, "damaging many villages and killing civilians."

A Yemeni defense official said one of its Sukhoi jets crashed on Sunday near the Saudi border due to a technical error.

He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the press.

The rebels also sent footage to the Associated Press showing fighters dancing on an army truck carrying a heavy machine gun that appeared to have belonged to Saudi border guards.

The Shiite rebels claim the needs of their communities are ignored by a Yemeni government that is increasingly allied with hard-line Sunni fundamentalists, who consider Shiites heretics.

Besides the northern rebels, Yemen's government is also confronting a separatist movement in the south and a lingering threat from al-Qaida militants.

Yemen, the ancestral homeland of Osama bin Laden, has cooperated with the U.S. in fighting terrorism but has struggled to confront Islamic extremists.

US 'deplores' Fiji's expulsion of NZealand, Australian envoys

WASHINGTON — The United States said Wednesday it "deplores" Fiji's decision to expel diplomats from New Zealand and Australia, saying the moves were "unjust."

"The United States deplores the decision by Fiji's de facto government to expel New Zealand's acting head of mission as well as Australia's high commissioner," State Department spokesman Ian Kelly told reporters.

"This latter act is unprecedented in that Australia now holds the chairmanship of the Pacific Islands Forum," he said.

On Wednesday Australia and New Zealand announced tit-for-tat expulsions of Fiji's top envoys, a day after the Pacific island state ordered their own envoys out, claiming interference in its judicial affairs.

It is the third time Fiji has thrown out a New Zealand envoy since its latest coup in 2006, but the first expulsion of a diplomat from Australia, current chair of the Pacific Islands Forum.

"These actions have undermined any opportunity for progress toward re-engagement and constructive dialogue with its neighbors," Kelly said.

"The United States calls for the restoration of Fiji's independent judiciary and the rights to free speech and assembly that are essential to the country's return to democracy.

"We consider it to be an unjust act to expel them out of the country," Kelly added.

Climate delegates call on US for robust policy

BARCELONA, Spain — As China's actions to curb gas emissions garnered praise at U.N. climate talks, the United States came under renewed pressure to come up with a plan to cut pollution blamed for hastening global warming.

Delegates at the weeklong talks in Barcelona pressed Monday for Washington to make specific commitments on reducing carbon emissions and contributing to a global climate fund to help poor countries cope with damage caused by climate change.

"We expect the United States to be able to deliver on one of the major challenges of our century," Denmark's Minister for Climate and Energy Connie Hedegaard said.

Delegates expressed frustration Monday that, after two years of talks on drafting a new pact, the U.S. has been unable to make firm commitments because it is waiting for Congress to enact legislation.

World nations hope to finalize a new global warming pact in time for it to be adopted at a major U.N. conference next month in Copenhagen. The deal would replace the 1997 Kyoto Protocol, but require both industrial countries and developing countries to rein in emissions of carbon and other heat-raising greenhouse gases. Kyoto applied only to industrialized nations, and was rejected by the United States.

Hedegaard noted that President Barack Obama, cited for raising hopes of a more peaceful and climate friendly world, will receive the Nobel Peace Prize in nearby Norway on Dec. 10 — just after the decisive climate conference gets under way.

"It's very hard to imagine how the American president can receive the Nobel Prize ... and at the same time has sent an empty-handed delegation to Copenhagen," said the Danish minister, who will chair the Dec. 7-18 talks in Copenhagen.

U.S. chief delegate Jonathan Pershing said the U.S. intended to be part of a deal, but would ensure that any deal it signed would be accepted by Congress. "We don't want to be outside an agreement," he said.

He said the U.S. would avoid the mistake of 1997 when its delegation signed onto the Kyoto Protocol, but found unanimous opposition in Congress and was not submitted for ratification.

In Stockholm, Swedish Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt said EU leaders wanted Obama to clarify the U.S. position on climate change this week as they meet in Washington. Reinfeldt — whose country holds the rotating EU presidency — was traveling to Washington along with European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso and EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana.

In an indirect slap at Washington, Yvo de Boer, head of the U.N. climate secretariat, said countries like China, India, Mexico, Brazil and South Korea were moving faster on climate change than the wealthy industrial countries.

"China is probably the world leader in limiting greenhouse gas emissions," de Boer said.

China has tried to shift to low-carbon development, but it's growth rate is so fast — more than 8 percent a year — that it's carbon emissions will continue to climb for decades. Between them, the U.S. and China emit 40 percent of the world's man-produced carbon.

But while the U.S. lagged in developing alternatives to fossil fuels, China became a world leader in the use of wind energy, and President Hu Jintao has said China would generate 15 percent of its energy from renewable sources within a decade. He promised in a speech at the U.N. General Assembly in September that China also would make "substantial" reductions in its carbon emissions per unit of economic output.

Pershing acknowledged that China "has a list of impressive activities" to curb its emissions, but said it still needs to define what it intends to do to fulfill Hu's pledge of substantial reductions.

Earlier, de Boer warned that the Copenhagen agreement must have legal force because developing countries do not trust promises from the wealthy nations.

The legal status of the agreement and whether nations will face consequences for failing to meet their commitments are contentious issues in the talks.

"We live in a world of broken promises," de Boer told The Associated Press. Developing countries are concerned the rich countries "will commit to targets and not deliver."

Pershing, in a separate AP interview, said compliance with the agreement in Copenhagen should rest with the domestic laws of each country, which can be very strong.

Countries should register the actions they intend to take to lower the growth rate of carbon emissions, which would then face international inspection. But they would not face punishment for failing to meet their promises, he said.

"I don't think people here are talking about sanctions at all. That's not the discussion," he said.

But many countries want tough compliance measures to be part of any agreement.

Slain mosque leader's followers deny FBI claims

DETROIT — A mosque on Friday dismissed as "utterly preposterous" the FBI's allegations that its slain leader was part of a radical Islamic group.

Luqman Ameen Abdullah, the imam or prayer leader of Masjid Al-Haqq in Detroit, was a "recognized and respected member of numerous mainstream Muslim organizations and leadership bodies," the mosque said.

Abdullah, 53, was fatally shot Wednesday as FBI agents tried to arrest him on several charges, including conspiracy to sell stolen goods. The FBI says he resisted arrest inside a warehouse and fired a gun.

A criminal complaint filed by the government describes Abdullah as a leader of a national radical Sunni group that wants to create an Islamic state within the U.S. The FBI says he had extreme anti-government views and encouraged followers to commit violence.

No terrorism-related charges were brought against any of the 11 people charged in the complaint, including Abdullah.

"The slanderous allegations of his being a national leader of a radical Islamic sect is utterly preposterous. ... These allegations are contrary to what we as a community stand for," the mosque said.

The statement was read by an assistant prayer leader, Mikail Stewart Sandiq, as many members milled outside the mosque after Friday prayers. He declined to answer questions.

Abdullah's son, Omar Regan, 34, of Los Angeles said he helped prepare the body for a funeral Saturday. He said his father was shot multiple times, and called the killing "barbaric."

"What's done is done," Regan said, standing across the street from the mosque. "He knew he was wronged. If God calls you home, you can't help but answer."

As for the government's allegations, Regan said "they can hold up a piece of paper but show me you have proof. Where is it?"

FBI spokeswoman Sandra Berchtold declined to comment on how many times Abdullah was shot. She referred questions to police in Dearborn, the Detroit suburb where the shooting took place. A city spokeswoman did not immediately respond to an e-mailed message seeking comment, and the Wayne County medical examiner's office did not immediately respond to phone messages.

Another of Abdullah's sons, Mujahid Carswell, was granted release on bond Friday. U.S. District Court Magistrate Judge Donald Scheer granted the release of Carswell, 30, on $100,000 bond and tether. He was arrested Thursday in Windsor, Ontario, and is charged with conspiracy to commit federal crimes.

Two of the 11 people named in the criminal complaint were still at large Friday. At least four men have been ordered held without bond; another is in a Michigan prison.

In Washington, a group called the American Muslim Taskforce on Civil Rights and Elections called for an independent investigation of Abdullah's death.

The group is an umbrella organization whose members include the American Muslim Alliance, American Muslims for Palestine and Council on American-Islamic Relations.

Surrey homicide victim identified

Police released the name of the man found dead in a car in Surrey, B.C., Monday afternoon, saying he was the victim of a homicide and was known to police.

The body of Gurpreet Singh Bassi, 23, was found dead inside a 1992 Honda Accord in the parking lot at Surrey Lake Park by an officer on patrol Monday afternoon.

Police wouldn't say how Bassi was killed or if he was slain in the place where he was found, but they do believe the car had been there for a number of days.

"We want the community to know we do believe this was a targeted incident. It was not a random attack," RCMP Cpl. Lee-Anne Dunlop told CBC News.

Dunlop asked that anyone who noticed the car or anything suspicious about it call the RCMP or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477.

Nigeria's MEND rebels declare 'indefinite ceasefire'

LAGOS — Nigeria's main armed group in the oil-rich Niger Delta declared Sunday an "indefinite ceasefire" to encourage dialogue with the government, but the Abuja authorities rejected the fighters' mediation team.

The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) said in a statement it made its decision after the government "expressed its readiness to engage in serious and meaningful dialogue with every group or individual towards achieving a lasting peace in the Niger Delta."

MEND's attacks on Nigeria's oil industry have helped play havoc with oil prices on the world market and brought down the country's oil production by a third since 2006. Nigeria is the world's eighth-largest oil producer.

The group said it has put together a team to discuss its demands with the government, including Nigerian Nobel literature laureate Wole Soyinka.

The Abuja government welcomed the development, but said it would not talk with the MEND-appointed team.

"The people selected are not militants. We are talking with the militants who are directly involved in the issue," Defence Minister Godwin Abbe told reporters in Lagos.

General Abbe who heads the government implementation team advised MEND and other militants to support the government's programme of fast-tracking the development of the oil-rich but impoverished region.

A key demand from MEND is that local communities must benefit from the region's oil wealth.

The ceasefire announcement came six days after President Umaru Yar'Adua met for the first time with MEND leader Henry Okah.

The presidency described last Monday's talks as "fruitful", and it emerged on the day of the meeting that the government plans to plough an extra 10 percent of the money it makes from Niger Delta oil back into the region.

Okah on Friday urged the rebels, who have shunned a recent government amnesty, to give dialogue a chance.

In a bid to halt the violence in this OPEC member, the administration in Abuja offered unconditional pardon to armed activists who laid down their arms and said it was open to dialogue.

General Abbe told reporters in Lagos that over 15,000 militants had laid down their arms so far, but the number could rise at the end of documentation.

"Although our projection based on initial assessment estimated the figures of all true militants as 17,000, the number we have now is 15,260," General Abbe said.

The administration in Abuja also freed Okah in July after two years in jail for high treason and arms trafficking.

In response to the amnesty offer, which ended earlier this month, MEND had declared a truce which lasted four months and expired last week.

Currently the nine oil-producing states in southern Nigeria get 13 percent of the oil revenue.

The most sophisticated and daring of the militants operating in the region, MEND fighters had refused to lay down arms, calling the government's recent amnesty deal a "charade" which failed to address the key issues of under-development and injustice in the delta.

In the volatile Delta region, hundreds of oil workers, including dozens of foreigners, have been targets of kidnapping by MEND and other groups. They have attacked pipelines and offshore facilities and even Lagos harbour.

Although there is no precise death toll, several hundred fighters and civilians have been killed in the region since 2006.

In the past three years Nigeria's oil output has been cut from 2.6 million barrels a day to around 1.7 million currently. It has now been equalled by Angola as Africa's top exporter.

And in the last year, Nigeria has also seen its foreign exchange reserves drop from more than 67 billion dollars to 40 billion.

Witnesses testify that man accused in fatal RCMP shooting showed off gun

YELLOWKNIFE — The recorded voice of an RCMP constable before he was killed has helped explain how the officer crossed paths with the drug dealer who has confessed to shooting him.

Conversations between Const. Chris Worden and RCMP dispatch were played for the jury Friday at the first-degree murder trial of Emrah Bulatci, 25.

Worden had already gone home after his shift in the early morning of Oct. 6, 2007, in Hay River, N.W.T., when dispatch called him about a suicidal man. A caller told the RCMP that his younger brother, who had been drinking, had threatened to kill himself and had wandered off into the dark.

"I'll suit up and I'll let you know when I'm on the road," Worden told the dispatcher.

The caller had told the dispatcher that his brother had just come from a house at 55 Woodland Dr. Court has heard from a string of witnesses who say that address was the scene of heavy drinking as well as a place where crack cocaine was routinely used and sold.

Darren Martel, 18, testified Friday that he saw several people selling crack cocaine in different parts of the house, where he lived with his mother and three siblings.

"Emrah Bulatci was doing the selling every once in a while during the day," he said.

It was also a familiar address for Steve Mitro, 22.

"I went there quite a few times that day," he said. "I was going there to purchase crack cocaine for my addiction and other people."

As Worden searched for the suicidal young man, another call came in to dispatch about an out-of-control party at another address in town. At 5:30 a.m., Worden promised to look into it, but said he was still looking for the suicidal man.

"I'm going to be 10-7 at 55 Woodland trying to locate that first individual," he said. "I'll just get to it when I can."

RCMP dispatch never heard from Worden again.

Prosecutors in the case have said they will introduce evidence showing that when Worden arrived at the house, he saw a taxi with two passengers in the back seat. As Worden spoke with the passengers, he saw Bulatci leave the house.

Worden and Bulatci spoke briefly by the back of the cab, then Bulatci fled across the street, prosecutors say. Worden followed and the two disappeared into some trees along a fence by an apartment building.

There was a struggle and four shots were fired. Worden was found dead with his pistol still in its holster.

Several witnesses have testified they saw Bulatci carrying a black-handled, silver-barrelled handgun, which he apparently didn't mind showing off to anyone who asked about it.

Jody Lilley, 19, described how Bulatci even took the clip out of the gun and handed him a bullet to examine. Lilley described it as a copper-topped, hollow-point round. Other witnesses have described being given the unloaded weapon to heft and examine.

Bulatci has already tried to plead guilty to manslaughter. His lawyer, Laura Stevens, has acknowledged her client was "a bad man" who was in Hay River to sell drugs.

But Stevens said Bulatci only intended to wound Worden when he fired the first two shots. The second two, which killed the young police officer, were accidental.

Worden's death left his community shocked and deeply saddened. About 1,400 people attended a memorial service in Hay River, on the south shore of Great Slave Lake, and a head-and-shoulders statue of him will stand permanently as a memorial in the town's recreation centre.

Worden, who was 30, left a wife and young daughter.

The trial is scheduled for seven weeks.

Taser tells police to avoid shooting at chest

PHOENIX — Stun-gun maker Taser International has started telling police agencies to avoid firing the devices at suspects' chests, explaining that there's an "extremely low" risk of ill effects on the heart and that doing so will make defending lawsuits easier.

The Scottsdale, Ariz.-based company made the recommendation in an Oct. 12 revised training manual, saying it "has less to do with safety and more to do with effective risk management for law enforcement agencies."

The manual also includes a lengthy explanation about deaths caused by sudden cardiac arrest.

"Should sudden cardiac arrest occur in a scenario involving a Taser discharge to the chest area, it would place the law enforcement agency, the officer, and Taser International in the difficult situation of trying to ascertain what role, if any, (the device) could have played," according to the manual.

The manual includes a graphic displaying the human body and "preferred target areas." The company recommends firing Tasers anywhere but at the head, neck and chest. The manual says to avoid chest shots "when possible" and "unless legally justified."

Taser critics call the company's new recommendation an admission that the devices can cause heart attacks.

"It's a sea change, a passive acknowledgment that Taser has indeed been overconfident about its claims of safety," said Mark Silverstein, legal director of the ACLU of Colorado. "It underscores the question marks that have been adding up along with hundreds of bodies."

Amnesty International says more than 350 people in the U.S. died after they were shocked with Tasers, and that in 50 of those cases, medical examiners cited a link between Taser shocks and death.

Taser officials say the new recommendation is designed only to "avoid any potential controversy on this topic."

"There is no significant shift," Taser spokesman Steve Tuttle said in an e-mail. "Just a slight change by literally a few inches when intentionally targeting the preferred target zone ... Medical and field studies continue to demonstrate that the Taser carries a lower risk of injury than traditional force options, leading to lower officer injury rates and safer communities."

Tasers are used by 14,200 law enforcement agencies throughout the United States. Human rights groups have long said that Tasers cause heart attacks, but Tuttle said there have been 96 lawsuits that the company won or judges dismissed.

He said Taser has lost just one case, which is under appeal.

Phoenix police Sgt. Trent Crump said his agency is now in the beginning stages of teaching officers to avoid aiming Tasers at the chest when possible.

"Our primary target still continues to be and has always been the back," he said. "You're talking about adjusting your front shot, lowering the shot when possible."

Court orders chastened CSIS to hand over secret file

OTTAWA — A federal judge says Canada's spy service "has seriously damaged confidence" in the court process and must help restore trust by handing over a secret file in the case of terror suspect Mohamed Harkat.

In a decision made public Tuesday, Federal Court Justice Simon Noel ordered the Canadian Security Intelligence Service to give him details of a confidential source the spy agency is using to support allegations against Harkat.

The government is trying to deport the Algerian-born Harkat using a national security certificate, a rarely employed immigration provision.

CSIS alleges Harkat, arrested almost seven years ago, has ties to the al-Qaida extremist network. The former gas station attendant and pizza delivery man denies involvement with terrorism. He lives in Ottawa with his wife under strict bail conditions and wears an electronic ankle bracelet so federal officials can track his movements.

In his ruling, Noel said CSIS "undermined the integrity" of the court's work by failing to disclose relevant details of a polygraph examination of another source in the Harkat affair. CSIS neglected to tell him a secret informant failed portions of the lie-detector test - a lapse the service itself has called "inexcusable."

Further, Noel said he was unimpressed with evidence about the polygraph matter - which first made headlines last spring - from three CSIS witnesses, whose names are confidential.

On the contrary, the CSIS explanations led Noel to conclude information the government filed in support of the certificate against Harkat was "filtered" and that promises to the court had been broken.

"Filtering evidence, even with the best of intentions, is unacceptable," Noel wrote.

The judge said one CSIS witness provided answers to the court that were "incomplete and inaccurate" and another did not fulfil undertakings he made in February to provide information about the polygraph matter.

The judge said while it doesn't appear the three witnesses deliberately tried to mislead him, CSIS failed to give them "proper advice or support," amounting to an institutional failure.

"The rule of law cannot be set aside because of a lack of time, resources or institutional resistance to the evolving context of security certificate proceedings."

Noel gave CSIS five days to turn over copies of the file on the second covert source to the court and to two special advocates, appointees with clearance to see secret evidence who serve as watchdogs for Harkat.

Neither Harkat, his counsel, nor the public will be allowed to see the classified source file.

Norm Boxall, one of Harkat's lawyers, said it's "deeply disturbing" that CSIS filtered evidence it provided to the court.

Boxall said that raises fears the spy agency does similar kinds of filtering - possibly erasing salient bits from the record - when it gathers information from confidential sources in the first place. And that's worrisome because even the judge and the special advocates have no way of knowing CSIS has done that, he said.

In addition, the advocates cannot independently test the credibility of CSIS's sources because doing so, for instance by interviewing a source's associates, would violate strict court secrecy in security certificate cases, Boxall said.

"I have confidence in the ability and integrity of the special advocates and I have confidence in the court doing its absolute best," he said. "But where I lack confidence is with the regime that handcuffs the special advocate and limits the court."

In a statement Tuesday, CSIS stressed that the court found the shortcoming in disclosure was not an intentional effort to hide information.

"The service reacted promptly to this incident by informing the court, and quickly implemented new processes, including enhanced training, to improve the accuracy and completeness of information that CSIS provides to the court relating to the reliability of human sources," the intelligence service added.

Boxall said Noel has also asked counsel to make submissions concerning a trailblazing case before the courts in England, which also has a system of special advocates. The British are grappling with similar issues related to fair disclosure of evidence in security cases.

Bomb kills 5 near Baghdad cafe, say police

BAGHDAD — A bomb attached to a motorcycle exploded on Sunday near a popular cafe in a largely Sunni district of Baghdad killing five people, Iraqi police said.

The blast in Baghdad's Azamiyah district also injured 16 civilians, an officer at the al-Risafa police station said. Officials at two hospitals that received the wounded said most of the injured were young men.

The policeman and hospital officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the media.

Baghdad's northern Azamiyah district was a Sunni stronghold during sectarian violence in the Iraqi capital in 2006 and 2007. But as in other parts of the city, violence has eased considerably since then and residents have resumed going to sidewalks cafes and dining in riverside restaurants.

Attacks have not halted entirely, however, and militants still strike mosques, markets and symbols of state authority with deadly force.

In August, two truck bombs were detonated at ministry buildings in Baghdad, killing more than 100 people and wounding hundreds. The attacks sharply undermined Iraqis' confidence into the prime minister's Nouri al-Maliki's security policy ahead of parliamentary elections in January.

The summer's deadly bombings in the capital also heightened fears about the abilities of Iraqi security forces to protect the people in the aftermath of U.S. troops' pull out from the country's urban centers, with plans to fully withdraw from Iraq by the end of 2011.

Scattered violence has continued around the country.

On Saturday, a suicide bomber driving a dynamite-laden truck destroyed a key bridge near the city of Ramadi, and an attack on an Iraqi army convoy just outside of the city of Fallujah killed four Iraqi soldiers.

The recent violence is sure to be on the agenda when Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki meets with President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden next week. Al-Maliki's trip to the United States was designed to coincide with an investor conference in Washington D.C. that aims to drum up interest in Iraq's still fragile economy.