Peacekeeping civilians kidnapped in Darfur

KHARTOUM (Reuters) – Armed men seized two foreign civilians working for Darfur's peacekeeping force on Saturday, the fourth kidnapping in the remote Sudanese region since March.

"They were abducted by armed men from their residence in Zalingei. The incident took place in the early hours of this morning," UNAMID spokesman Noureddine Mezni told Reuters.

It was the first time international staff from the joint United Nations/African Union force had been abducted, he said.

The kidnappers made contact with the peacekeepers soon after the abduction. "They told us of their willingness to talk to UNAMID," Mezni said, without giving details of their demands.

Sudan's State Minister for Humanitarian Affairs Abdel Baqi al-Jailani told Reuters the kidnap victims were a Nigerian man and a Tanzanian woman, saying the kidnappers were bandits.

"They have asked for a ransom. They never claimed to be some sort of rebels," Jailani said.

The kidnapping, in Zalingei in the western part of Darfur, happened two days after the departing commander of the force, Martin Luther Agwai, told reporters that Darfur suffered from banditry but was no longer in a state of war.

Aid workers say they have experienced increased hostility in the region since the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for Sudan's President Omar Hassan al-Bashir on war crimes charges.

Khartoum ordered out 13 foreign groups and shut down three local ones after the ICC issued its warrant in March, accusing them of passing information to the court, which they deny.

Two women from Irish charity GOAL remain in captivity after being snatched in early July. Another aid worker is missing after a raid just over Darfur's border in neighboring Chad this month.

Zalingei, around 100 km (60 miles) from the Chadian border, is the birthplace of some of Darfur's best-known rebels, including Sudan Liberation Army founder Abdel Wahed Mohamed Ahmed al-Nur, and is a hotbed of anti-government sentiment.

Al-Nur, who is now based in Paris, denied that any of his rebel fighters were responsible for the kidnap, and pointed the finger at government-allied militias.

"This is not our behavior. We are a responsible movement. We fight against terrorists and this kidnapping is a terrorist act," he said.

"This is the continuation of the government's campaign to terrorize people on the ground. They want to complicate the mission of anyone helping the people of Darfur."

Jailani denied government-backed militias were involved.

Al-Nur said the kidnap showed the weakness of UNAMID's mandate.

"UNAMID's first job is to protect civilians but they are not able to protect themselves because of the mandate. We need a mandate for peacemakers, not peacekeepers.

Sen. Edward Kennedy, 77, dies after cancer battle

HYANNIS PORT, Mass. – Sen. Edward M. Kennedy of Massachusetts, the last surviving brother in an enduring political dynasty and one of the most influential senators in history, died Tuesday night at his home on Cape Cod after a yearlong struggle with brain cancer. He was 77.

In nearly 50 years in the Senate, Kennedy, a liberal Democrat, served alongside 10 presidents — his brother John Fitzgerald Kennedy among them — compiling an impressive list of legislative achievements on health care, civil rights, education, immigration and more.

In a brief statement to reporters at his rented vacation home on Martha's Vineyard, Mass., President Barack Obama eulogized Kennedy as one of the "most accomplished Americans" in history — and a man whose work in Congress helped give millions new opportunities.

"Including myself," added the nation's first black president.

Kennedy's only run for the White House ended in defeat in 1980, when President Jimmy Carter turned back his challenge for the party's nomination. More than a quarter-century later, Kennedy handed then-Sen. Barack Obama an endorsement at a critical point in the campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination, explicitly likening the young contender to President Kennedy.

To the American public, Kennedy was best known as the last surviving son of America's most glamorous political family, father figure and, memorably, eulogist of an Irish-American clan plagued again and again by tragedy. But his career was forever marred by an accident at Chappaquiddick in 1969, when a car he was driving plunged off a bridge, killing a young woman.

Kennedy's death triggered an outpouring of superlatives from Democrats and Republicans as well as foreign leaders.

Sen. Orrin Hatch, the conservative Republican from Utah who was alternately a political partner and opponent of the unapologetic liberal for three decades, said "Ted Kennedy was an iconic, larger than life United States Senator whose influence cannot be overstated." He listed of nearly a dozen bipartisan bills they worked on jointly, including a federally funded program for victims of HIV/AIDS, health insurance for lower-income children and tax breaks to encourage the development of medicine for rare diseases.

Kennedy's family announced his death in a brief statement released early Wednesday.

"We've lost the irreplaceable center of our family and joyous light in our lives, but the inspiration of his faith, optimism, and perseverance will live on in our hearts forever," it said. "We thank everyone who gave him care and support over this last year, and everyone who stood with him for so many years in his tireless march for progress toward justice, fairness and opportunity for all."

A few hours later, two vans left the famed Kennedy compound at Hyannis Port in pre-dawn darkness. Both bore hearse license plates — with the word "hearse" blacked out.

Several hundred miles away, flags few at half-staff at the U.S. Capitol, and Obama ordered the same at the White House and all federal buildings.

There was no immediate word on funeral arrangements. Two of Kennedy's brothers, John and Robert, are buried at Arlington National Cemetery across the Potomac River from Washington.

In his later years, Kennedy cut a barrel-chested figure, with a swath of white hair, a booming voice and a thick, widely imitated Boston accent. He coupled fist-pumping floor speeches with his well-honed Irish charm and formidable negotiating skills. He was both a passionate liberal and a clear-eyed pragmatist, willing to reach across the aisle.

He was first elected to the Senate in 1962, taking the seat that his brother John had occupied before winning the White House, and served longer than all but two senators in history.

His own hopes of reaching the White House were damaged — perhaps doomed — in 1969 by the scandal that came to be known as Chappaquiddick. He sought the White House more than a decade later, lost the Democratic nomination to President Jimmy Carter, and bowed out with a stirring valedictory that echoed across the decades: "For all those whose cares have been our concern, the work goes on, the cause endures, the hope still lives and the dream shall never die."

Kennedy was diagnosed with a cancerous brain tumor in May 2008 and underwent surgery and a grueling regimen of radiation and chemotherapy.

He made a surprise return to the Capitol last summer to cast the decisive vote for the Democrats on Medicare. He made sure he was there again last January to see his former Senate colleague Barack Obama sworn in as the nation's first black president, but suffered a seizure at a celebratory luncheon afterward.

He also made a surprise and forceful appearance at last summer's Democratic National Convention, where he spoke of his own illness and said health care was the cause of his life. His death occurred precisely one year later, almost to the hour.

He was away from the Senate for much of this year, leaving Republicans and Democrats to speculate about the impact what his absence meant for the fate of Obama's health care proposals.

Under state law, Kennedy's successor will be chosen by special election. In his last known public act, the senator urged Massachusetts state legislators to give Democratic Gov. Deval Patrick the power to name an interim replacement. But that appears unlikely, leaving Democrats in Washington with one less vote for at least the next several months as they struggle to pass Obama's health care legislation.

His death came less than two weeks after that of his sister Eunice Kennedy Shriver on Aug. 11. Kennedy was not present for the funeral, an indication of the precariousness of his own health. Of nine children born to Joseph and Rose Kennedy, only one — Jean Kennedy Smith, survives.

In a recent interview with The Associated Press, Kennedy's son Rep. Patrick Kennedy, D-R.I., said his father had defied the predictions of doctors by surviving more than a year with his fight against brain cancer.

The younger Kennedy said that gave family members a surprise blessing, as they were able to spend more time with the senator and to tell him how much he had meant to their lives.

Kennedy arrived at his place in the Senate after a string of family tragedies. He was the only one of the four Kennedy brothers to die of natural causes.

Kennedy's eldest brother, Joseph, was killed in a plane crash in World War II. President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas in 1963. Sen. Robert F. Kennedy was gunned down in Los Angeles as he campaigned for the 1968 Democratic presidential nomination.

Years later, in 1999, John F. Kennedy Jr. was killed in a plane crash at age 38. His wife died with him.

It fell to Ted Kennedy to deliver the eulogies, to comfort his brothers' widows, to mentor fatherless nieces and nephews. It was Ted Kennedy who walked JFK's daughter, Caroline, down the aisle at her wedding.

Tragedy had a way of bringing out his eloquence.

Kennedy sketched a dream of a better future as he laid to rest his brother Robert in 1968: "My brother need not be idealized, or enlarged in death beyond what he was in life; to be remembered simply as a good and decent man, who saw wrong and tried to right it, saw suffering and tried to heal it, saw war and tried to stop it."

After John Jr.'s death, the senator said: "We dared to think, in that other Irish phrase, that this John Kennedy would live to comb gray hair, with his beloved Carolyn by his side. But like his father, he had every gift but length of years."

His own legacy was blighted on the night of July 18, 1969, when Kennedy drove his car off a bridge and into a pond on Chappaquiddick Island, on Martha's Vineyard. Mary Jo Kopechne, a 28-year-old worker with RFK's campaign, was found dead in the submerged car's back seat 10 hours later.

Kennedy, then 37, pleaded guilty to leaving the scene of an accident and received a two-month suspended sentence and a year's probation. A judge eventually determined there was "probable cause to believe that Kennedy operated his motor vehicle negligently ... and that such operation appears to have contributed to the death of Mary Jo Kopechne."

At the height of the scandal, Kennedy went on national television to explain himself in an extraordinary 13-minute address in which he denied driving drunk and rejected rumors of "immoral conduct" with Ms. Kopechne. He said he was haunted by "irrational" thoughts immediately after the accident, and wondered "whether some awful curse did actually hang over all the Kennedys." He said his failure to report the accident right away was "indefensible."

After Chappaquiddick especially, Kennedy gained a reputation as a heavy drinker and a womanizer, a tragically flawed figure haunted by the fear that he did not quite measure up to his brothers. As his weight ballooned, he was lampooned by comics and cartoonists in the 1980s and '90s as the very embodiment of government waste, bloat and decadence.

In 1991, Kennedy roused his nephew William Kennedy Smith and his son Patrick from bed to go out for drinks while staying at the family's Palm Beach, Fla., estate. Later that night, a woman Smith met at a bar accused him of raping her at the home.

Smith was acquitted, but the senator's carousing — and testimony about him wandering about the house in his shirttails and no pants — further damaged his reputation.

Kennedy offered a mea culpa in a speech at Harvard that October, recognizing "my own shortcomings, the faults in the conduct of my private life."

Politically, his concession speech at the Democratic convention in 1980 turned out to be a defining moment. At 48, he seemed liberated from the towering expectations and high hopes invested in him after the death of his brothers, and he plunged into his work in the Senate. In his later years, after he had divorced and remarried, he came to be regarded as a statesman on Capitol Hill, with a growing reputation as an effective, hard-working lawmaker.

His legislative achievements included bills to provide health insurance for children of the working poor, the landmark 1990 Americans with Disabilities Act, Meals on Wheels for the elderly, abortion clinic access, family leave, and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.

He was also a key negotiator on legislation creating a Medicare prescription drug benefit for senior citizens, was a driving force for peace in Ireland and a persistent critic of the war in Iraq.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada issued a statement that said: "Ted Kennedy's dream was the one for which the Founding Fathers fought and for which his brothers sought to realize. The liberal lion's mighty roar may now fall silent, but his dream shall never die."

Former first Lady Nancy Reagan said that her husband and Kennedy "could always find common ground, and they had great respect for one another."

"Even facing illness and death he never stopped fighting for the causes which were his life's work. I am proud to have counted him as a friend and proud that the United Kingdom recognized his service earlier this year with the award of an honorary knighthood." — British Prime Minister Gordon Brown.

Whatever his national standing, Kennedy was unbeatable in Massachusetts. He won his first election in 1962, filling out the unexpired portion of his brother's term. He won an eighth term in 2006. Kennedy served close to 47 years, longer than all but two senators in history: Robert Byrd of West Virginia (50 years and counting) and the late Strom Thurmond of South Carolina, who died after a tenure of nearly 47 1/2 years.

Born in 1932, the youngest of Joseph and Rose Kennedy's nine children, Edward Moore Kennedy was part of a family bristling with political ambition, beginning with maternal grandfather John F. "Honey Fitz" Fitzgerald, a congressman and mayor of Boston.

Round-cheeked Teddy was thrown out of Harvard in 1951 for cheating, after arranging for a classmate to take a freshman Spanish exam for him. He eventually returned, earning his degree in 1956.

He went on to the University of Virginia Law School, and in 1962, while his brother John was president, announced plans to run for the Senate seat JFK had vacated in 1960. A family friend had held the seat in the interim because Kennedy was not yet 30, the minimum age for a senator.

Kennedy was immediately involved in a bruising primary campaign against state Attorney General Edward J. McCormack, a nephew of U.S. House Speaker John W. McCormack.

"If your name was simply Edward Moore, your candidacy would be a joke," chided McCormack.

Kennedy won the primary by 300,000 votes and went on to overwhelmingly defeat Republican George Cabot Lodge, son of the late Ambassador Henry Cabot Lodge, in the general election.

Devastated by his brothers' assassinations and injured in a 1964 plane crash that left him with back pain that would plague him for decades, Kennedy temporarily withdrew from public life in 1968. But he re-emerged in 1969 to be elected majority whip of the Senate.

Then came Chappaquiddick.

Kennedy still handily won re-election in 1970, but he lost his leadership job. He remained outspoken in his opposition to the Vietnam War and support of social programs but ruled out a 1976 presidential bid.

In the summer of 1978, a Gallup Poll showed that Democrats preferred Kennedy over President Carter 54 percent to 32 percent. A year later, Kennedy decided to run for the White House with a campaign that accused Carter of turning his back on the Democratic agenda.

The difficult task of dislodging a sitting president was compounded by Kennedy's fumbling answer to a question posed by CBS' Roger Mudd: Why do you want to be president?

"Well, it's um, you know you have to come to grips with the different issues that, ah, we're facing," Kennedy said. "I mean, we can, we have to deal with each of the various questions of the economy, whether it's in the area of energy ..."

Long afterward, he said, "Well, I learned to lose, and for a Kennedy that's hard." Kennedy married Virginia Joan Bennett, known as Joan, in 1958. They divorced in 1982. In 1992, he married Washington lawyer Victoria Reggie. His survivors include a daughter, Kara Kennedy Allen; two sons, Edward Jr. and Patrick, a congressman from Rhode Island; and two stepchildren, Caroline and Curran Raclin.

Edward Jr. lost a leg to bone cancer in 1973 at age 12. Kara had a cancerous tumor removed from her lung in 2003. In 1988, Patrick had a noncancerous tumor pressing on his spine removed. He has also struggled with depression and addiction and announced in June that he was re-entering rehab.

Kennedy's memoir, "True Compass," is set to be published in the fall.

___

On the Net:

Kennedy's office: http://kennedy.senate.gov

Miss Universe 2009

Miss Venezuela Stefania Fernandez, winner of the Miss Universe 2009 annual pagean

Scotland defends Lockerbie bomber release

LONDON (AFP) – Scotland's first minister on Sunday defended his government's decision to free the Lockerbie bomber after a blistering attack from the FBI chief and insisted that US-Scottish ties would remain strong.

Robert Mueller, the director of the US Federal Bureau of Investigation, said in a strongly worded letter to the Scottish justice minister that releasing Abdelbaset Ali Mohmet al-Megrahi "gave comfort to terrorists around the world."

Mueller said the decision to free Megrahi, who has terminal cancer, on compassionate grounds made a "mockery of justice."

But Scotland's First Minister Alex Salmond said he "clearly disagreed" with the FBI director.

"It is difficult for people sometimes in the United States to recognise that it is a different legal system, but it is a different legal system, it is a Scottish legal system and therefore we have to follow the tenets of Scottish justice," Salmond told Sky News.

He also dismissed a website calling for a boycott of his nation and its products over the Megrahi case.

"Many, many things appear in the blogosphere, but what we're talking about is the real world and in the real world the relationship between Scotland and the United States is strong and enduring," he said.

A government spokesman said the decision to release Megrahi had been reached on the basis of Scotland's "due process, clear evidence, and the recommendations from the parole board and prison governor."

"Compassionate release is not part of the US justice system but it is part of Scotland's," the spokesman said.

The Lockerbie case strikes a personal chord for Mueller, a former prosecutor who played a major role in investigating the 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over the Scottish town. The majority of the 270 victims were American.

Criticism of the decision also came from Scotland's former first minister Jack McConnell, who said it was a "grave error of judgement."

"The way in which the decision has been made and the decision itself have damaged the reputation of the Scottish justice system," McConnell told the BBC.

"It's damaged that reputation, but much more significantly it's also damaged the reputation of Scotland internationally."

McConnell is a member of the Labour party, whose administration preceded the current one formed by the pro-independence Scottish National Party.

The semi-autonomous Scottish government, based in Edinburgh, can take decisions independently of London on justice matters but not foreign affairs.

In its reply to Mueller's criticism, the Scottish government said that before taking the decision, Scottish Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill "could not have consulted more widely -- he spoke with the US families, the US attorney general, Secretary of State (Hillary) Clinton and many others."

The son of Libyan leader Moamer Kadhafi, Seif al-Islam, claimed following the release that the issue of Megrahi "was always on the negotiating table" in talks with Britain over Libya's huge reserves of oil and gas.

But Seif al-Islam's Kadhafi Foundation, which financed Megrahi's legal defence, played down the comments.

Its director Yussef Sawan said on Saturday the decision to free Megrahi was taken "solely on humanitarian grounds."

"We do not think there is any way of concluding that the decision by the Scottish authorities was taken for any other reason than a humanitarian one," he told AFP.

Britain's Business Secretary Peter Mandelson -- Prime Minister Gordon Brown's de facto deputy -- said suggestions that a deal had been struck on Megrahi were "offensive."

The British government is under pressure to explain its role in Megrahi's release, but it says the decision was a matter solely for Scotland.

The United States and Britain have condemned the joyous scenes when Megrahi returned to Tripoli on Thursday. Megrahi has also been shown on Libyan TV meeting and embracing Kadhafi.

Outbursts disrupt Baghdad bank robbery trial

BAGHDAD – Five members of Iraq's security forces charged in a deadly bank robbery went on trial Sunday, as relatives of those killed in the heist beat and spat on the defendants. One relative was dragged away from the courtroom, screaming obscenities.

The case of the robbery has threatened to become a political maelstrom in Baghdad, after at least one of the suspects was linked to a senior official in a major Shiite party.

Gunmen broke into the state-run Rafidain Bank at about 4 a.m. on July 28, killing three on-duty guards and five others on the premises who were either on a break or asleep, according to police investigators. The bank's chief testified Sunday that 5.6 billion Iraqi dinars — or about $4.8 million — was stolen.

Most of the money was later recovered in the office of a newspaper owned by Iraqi Vice President Adel Abdul-Mahdi, a senior member of Iraq's largest Shiite party, investigators said.

Abdul-Mahdi has denied any involvement but said one of those charged in the robbery worked as part of his security detail. He has said any suggestion of wrongdoing on his part was a politically motivated attempt to tarnish his chances in the upcoming national elections.

All five defendants were identified Sunday as members of Iraq's security forces — four police officers and one soldier. The men, who were dressed in brown jumpsuits, denied any involvement in the robbery.

It was not immediately clear whether the soldier in custody was a member of Abdul-Mahdi's detail, or whether it was one of the three suspects who police have said remain at large.

As Sunday's hearing opened, two of the defendants yelled at the judge: "We have nothing to do with the robbery."

The judge ordered them to "be silent" and minutes later, a relative of a slain bank guard attacked one of the defendants, beating him and cursing, while another man was forced from the courtroom after screaming obscenities at the men on trial.

A woman, who later identified herself as the mother of one of the slain guards, spat on the defendants as they left the court. She fainted outside the courtroom and was carried away by police.

Relatives were also angry at the chief judge for adjourning the trial at Baghdad's criminal court until Thursday to give the three-judge panel more time to investigate.

The chief judge ordered the five suspects held without bail. The judges were not identified, according to the rules of the court. Judges in Iraq are often targeted for assassination.

Maan Hussein, the head of the bank, told the judges Sunday that about 5.6 billion Iraqi dinars was stolen. Initially, police had said the gunmen made off with 8 billion Iraqi dinars ($6.9 million). Hussein said 263 million dinars (about $223,000) has still not been recovered.

Abbas Hussein, whose brother was killed during the robbery, said outside the courtroom that he wanted swift justice.

"Today's trial should not make us forget the others who are still at large," he said.

Armed robberies targeting banks and jewelry stores have been on the rise, even as Iraqi security forces continue to fight a waning insurgency that remains capable of pulling off attacks.

An American soldier died of injuries sustained during an attack Sunday on a U.S. patrol in Baghdad, the U.S. military said in a statement. It did not identify the Multi-National Division-Baghdad soldier pending notification of next of kin.

The U.S. military did not release any details about the attack, though an Iraqi army official said a roadside bomb struck the patrol just north of Baghdad. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to release the information.

The death raises to at least 4,335 members of the U.S. military who have died in the Iraq war since it began in March 2003, according to an Associated Press count.

In northern Iraq, gunmen on Sunday attacked a police checkpoint in Mosul, killing one police officer, a police official said. In Baghdad, the Iraqi army rounded up dozens for questioning over Saturday's attack on a police checkpoint in the Azamiyah district that left two officers dead, said another official.

Both officials spoke on condition of anonymity for the same reason as the army official.

The recent violence, including Wednesday's attacks that targeted government buildings in Baghdad, has cast a long shadow for some over Ramadan, the Islamic holy month of fasting.

Ahlam Hussein, 42, who lives in eastern Baghdad, said the attacks tarnished the celebration for her family.

"The tragic situation we live in takes us away from the spiritual and moral significance of Ramadan, especially since this year it came after a bloodbath," she said.

But Hussar Sale, 35, who lives in Baghdad's primarily Sunni neighborhood of Azamiyah, said the fear of more bombings was not keeping him from his Ramadan traditions. "It is an issue every person faces as we challenge terrorism," he said.

Meanwhile, one of Iraq's most powerful Shiite leaders has been hospitalized in Iran after suffering a setback while being treated for lung cancer.

Abdul-Aziz al-Hakim was admitted to the hospital on Saturday after his health deteriorated, according to a statement by his party, the Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council.

Al-Hakim has wielded enormous influence since the 2003 U.S. invasion as head of the biggest Shiite party, maintaining close ties to both the Americans and his Iranian backers.

___

Associated Press Writer Bushra Juhi and Chelsea J. Carter contributed to this report.

Mullen: Afghan fight 'serious and deteriorating'

WASHINGTON – The top U.S. military officer described the situation in Afghanistan as "serious and deteriorating," but refused to say Sunday whether defeating a resilient enemy would require more than the 68,000 American troops already committed.

Adm. Mike Mullen also expressed concern about eroding public support as the U.S. and NATO enter their ninth year of combat and reconstruction operations.

The comments from the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff underscore the challenges that the U.S. and its allies face against a resurgent Taliban and al-Qaida fighters who use safe havens in neighboring Pakistan to hide and launch attacks.

In broadcast interviews, Mullen and U.S. Ambassador Karl Eikenberry said that last week's presidential election in Afghanistan was historic, given the threats of intimidation voters faced as they headed to polling stations. It could be several weeks before it's known whether incumbent Hamid Karzai or one of his challengers won.

"We're not sure exactly what the level of voter turnout was," said Eikenberry, a retired three-star Army general. "Taliban intimidation, especially in southern Afghanistan, certainly limited those numbers."

President Barack Obama's strategy for defeating the Taliban and al-Qaida is a work in progress as more U.S. troops are put in place, Mullen said.

The situation in Afghanistan needs to be reversed in the next 12 month to 18 months, he said. But Mullen wouldn't say whether more American forces troops would be needed.

A large number of civilian experts is also required to help bring stability to Afghanistan's government and develop the economy, he said.

"I think it is serious and it is deteriorating, and I've said that over the last couple of years, that the Taliban insurgency has gotten better, more sophisticated," Mullen said.

Three years ago, the U.S. had about 20,000 forces in the country. Today, it has triple that, on the way to 68,000 by year's end when all the extra 17,000 troops that Obama announced in March are to be in place. An additional 4,000 troops are arriving to help train Afghan forces.

"I recognize that we've been there over eight years," he said. "But this is the first time we've really resourced a strategy on both the civilian and military sides. So in certain ways, we're starting anew."

"We're just getting the pieces in place from the president's new strategy on the ground now," he said. "I don't see this a mission of endless drift. I think we know what to do."

The Obama administration is awaiting an assessment about the situation from the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan, Army Gen. Stanley McChrystal. That report is expected in about two weeks and will lead to decisions about whether more troops are necessary.

"His guidance from me and from the secretary of defense was to go out, assess where you are, and then tell us what you need," Mullen said. "And we'll get to that point. And I want to, I guess, assure you or reassure you that he hasn't asked for any additional troops up until this point in time."

Just over 50 percent of respondents to a Washington Post-ABC News poll released this past week said the war in Afghanistan is not worth fighting.

Mullen, a Vietnam veteran, said he's aware that public support for the war is critical. "Certainly the numbers are of concern," he said. But, he added, "this is the war we're in."

Arizona Sen. John McCain, the top Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee, said he wants the military leadership in Afghanistan to use the same aggressive approach that Gen. David Petraeus used successfully in Iraq.

McChrystal should say exactly how many troops he needs in Afghanistan, let the Congress debate it and Obama would make the ultimate decision, McCain said.

Troops in Afghanistan should "clear and hold" an environment for people so that economic and political progress can be made, he said. McCain said he worries McChrystal will be pressured to ask for lower troop totals than he needs.

"I don't think it's necessarily from the president," he said. "I think it's from the people around him and others and that I think don't want to see a significant increase in our troops' presence there."

On the question of what it will take to turn the tide in Afghanistan, McCain echoed Mullen's projection: "I think within a year to 18 months you could start to see progress."

McCain acknowledged that public opinion on Afghanistan is slipping. But he said that opinion could be reversed.

"I think you need to see a reversal of these very alarming and disturbing trends on attacks, casualties, areas of the country that the Taliban has increased control of."

Sen. Richard Lugar of Indiana, the top Republican on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said Obama's leadership on Afghanistan to bolstering public support.

"He really can't just leave this to the Congress, to General McChrystal, and say, folks, sort of, discuss this, after the report comes in," Lugar said.

Mullen and Eikenberry appeared on NBC's "Meet the Press" and CNN's "State of the Union." Lugar was on CNN. McCain's interview Friday with ABC's "This Week" was aired Sunday.

___

On the Net:

Defense Department: http://www.defenselink.mil/

Millions face shrinking Social Security payment

WASHINGTON – Millions of older people face shrinking Social Security checks next year, the first time in a generation that payments would not rise.

The trustees who oversee Social Security are projecting there won't be a cost of living adjustment (COLA) for the next two years. That hasn't happened since automatic increases were adopted in 1975.

By law, Social Security benefits cannot go down. Nevertheless, monthly payments would drop for millions of people in the Medicare prescription drug program because the premiums, which often are deducted from Social Security payments, are scheduled to go up slightly.

"I will promise you, they count on that COLA," said Barbara Kennelly, a former Democratic congresswoman from Connecticut who now heads the National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare. "To some people, it might not be a big deal. But to seniors, especially with their health care costs, it is a big deal."

Cost of living adjustments are pegged to inflation, which has been negative this year, largely because energy prices are below 2008 levels.

Advocates say older people still face higher prices because they spend a disproportionate amount of their income on health care, where costs rise faster than inflation. Many also have suffered from declining home values and shrinking stock portfolios just as they are relying on those assets for income.

"For many elderly, they don't feel that inflation is low because their expenses are still going up," said David Certner, legislative policy director for AARP. "Anyone who has savings and investments has seen some serious losses."

About 50 million retired and disabled Americans receive Social Security benefits. The average monthly benefit for retirees is $1,153 this year. All beneficiaries received a 5.8 percent increase in January, the largest since 1982.

More than 32 million people are in the Medicare prescription drug program. Average monthly premiums are set to go from $28 this year to $30 next year, though they vary by plan. About 6 million people in the program have premiums deducted from their monthly Social Security payments, according to the Social Security Administration.

Millions of people with Medicare Part B coverage for doctors' visits also have their premiums deducted from Social Security payments. Part B premiums are expected to rise as well. But under the law, the increase cannot be larger than the increase in Social Security benefits for most recipients.

There is no such hold-harmless provision for drug premiums.

Kennelly's group wants Congress to increase Social Security benefits next year, even though the formula doesn't call for it. She would like to see either a 1 percent increase in monthly payments or a one-time payment of $150.

The cost of a one-time payment, a little less than $8 billion, could be covered by increasing the amount of income subjected to Social Security taxes, Kennelly said. Workers only pay Social Security taxes on the first $106,800 of income, a limit that rises each year with the average national wage.

But the limit only increases if monthly benefits increase.

Critics argue that Social Security recipients shouldn't get an increase when inflation is negative. They note that recipients got a big increase in January — after energy prices had started to fall. They also note that Social Security recipients received one-time $250 payments in the spring as part of the government's economic stimulus package.

"Seniors may perceive that they are being hurt because there is no COLA, but they are in fact not getting hurt," said Andrew G. Biggs, a resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute, a Washington think tank. "Congress has to be able to tell people they are not getting everything they want."

Social Security is also facing long-term financial problems. The retirement program is projected to start paying out more money than it receives in 2016. Without changes, the retirement fund will be depleted in 2037, according to the Social Security trustees' annual report this year.

President Barack Obama has said he would like tackle Social Security next year, after Congress finishes work on health care, climate change and new financial regulations.

Lawmakers are preoccupied by health care, making it difficult to address other tough issues. Advocates for older people hope their efforts will get a boost in October, when the Social Security Administration officially announces that there will not be an increase in benefits next year.

"I think a lot of seniors do not know what's coming down the pike, and I believe that when they hear that, they're going to be upset," said Sen. Bernie Sanders, an independent from Vermont who is working on a proposal for one-time payments for Social Security recipients.

"It is my view that seniors are going to need help this year, and it would not be acceptable for Congress to simply turn its back," he said.

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On the Net:

Social Security Administration: http://www.ssa.gov/

National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare: http://www.ncpssm.org

Thousands evacuated as fires reach Athens suburbs

ATHENS, Greece – A raging fire bore down on Athens' northern suburbs Sunday, prompting panicked residents to battle the flames with tree limbs and buckets, and police to order 10,000 people to evacuate one town immediately.

Frightened inhabitants of Agios Stefanos gathered in the town's main square in early afternoon as flames closed in on the town center and police with loudspeakers directed everyone to leave immediately on the main highway to Athens, 14 miles (23 kilometers) to the southwest.

Other residents tried desperately to save their homes with hoses, buckets and branches. Planes swooped low over the town to pour water on the flaming houses.

"I call on all residents to follow the instructions of the police as to where they will go," an emotional Agios Stefanos deputy mayor Panayiotis Bitakos told Skai TV. "We had been begging the authorities since early in the morning to send forces ... It is too late now. Too late."

By mid-afternoon, the town was empty save for a few volunteers who were aiding firefighters. Houses smoldered and burned-out cars littered the streets.

Planes and helicopters, which had suspended operations overnight, attacked the blaze again at dawn. But with gale-force winds propelling the flames, the fire spread unchecked. TV showed airplanes and helicopters dumping water on a forest outside Agios Stefanos — and the fire re-igniting moments after they left.

The forests around Athens' northern suburbs have helped the fire leap to new areas.

"The pine cones are like projectiles — they cover long distances, too, and spread the fire around," said Avraam Pasipoularidis, mayor of the northern suburb of Drossia. "Everything around me is burning."

The fires ignited late Friday; by Sunday they were reported across an area more than 25 miles (40 kilometers) wide. They started in the mountains near the town of Marathon, from which the modern long-distance foot race takes its name. The army removed anti-aircraft missiles from a nearby military base as the flames approached.

Municipal officials said the fire was threatening the archaeological site of Rhamnus, home to two 2,500-year-old temples.

A state of emergency was declared Saturday in greater Athens: These are the most destructive fires in Greece since blazes killed more than 70 people in 2007.

Residents fled on foot, by motorbike and in cars, amid blackouts and cuts in the water supply. No casualties had been reported as of early Sunday afternoon.

TV stations broadcast frantic calls for help from people of different areas, with many complaining that no firefighting equipment had reached them.

A resident of Drossia pleaded with TV station Mega for help, saying far was within 45 yards (40 meters) of his home and he had no water with which to fight it.

Authorities evacuated two large children's hospitals, as well as campsites and homes in villages and outlying suburbs threatened by blazes that scattered ash across Athens. The flames also approached a large monastery on Mt. Penteli.

Officials said help was on the way.

"There are 14 planes — with two of these coming from Italy — and nine helicopters fighting the fire, alongside hundreds of firefighters, volunteers and soldiers," fire brigade spokesman Yiannis Kapakis told reporters.

"These will soon be joined by two planes from France and a helicopter from Cyprus. Cyprus will also send four fire engines and 60 firefighters," he added.

Elsewhere in Greece, serious fires were reported on the islands of Evia and Skyros in the Aegean Sea and Zakynthos in the west. Another large fire that started Saturday in the town of Plataea, 63 kilometers (40 miles) northwest of Athens, was spreading unchecked in western Attica.

A total of 83 fires have broken out across Greece since 6 a.m. Saturday, fire brigade spokesman Kapakis said.

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Associated Press Writer Derek Gatopoulos contributed to this report.

Afghan vote not all free: EU

KABUL (AFP) – EU observers on Saturday welcomed Afghanistan's elections as generally fair, but not universally free as speculation mounted over claims about who won the presidency and the possibility of a run-off.

The top contenders in the race both claim they were heading for victory after the second ever presidential election, which was acclaimed by the West but undermined by growing complaints of ballot-stuffing and low turnout.

But definitive results are not due until next month, leading Afghan and Western officials to call for calm as President Hamid Karzai declared a win and his main rival, ex-foreign minister Abdullah Abdullah, insisted he was ahead.

The election may have been hailed a success in foreign capitals, which have pumped billions into Afghanistan since the 2001 US-led invasion and deployed 100,000 troops to contain a Taliban insurgency but concerns have mounted.

"Free was not the case in some parts of the territory due to terror installed," the head of the EU election observation mission, Philippe Morillon, told a Kabul news conference.

"Generally what we have observed was considered by our observers with our methodology good and fair," he added, but reserved judgment on whether the polls were credible, saying "a lot of complaints" would take time to evaluate.

Other independent observers warned that turnout in Taliban strongholds in the south may have been as low as 10 and 25-30 percent for the hotspots of Kandahar and Helmand respectively.

A foreign official said that the Election Complaints Commission had so far received 100 formal complaints about irregularities, including "allegations of ballot-stuffing in Kandahar".

US President Barack Obama hailed the elections as an "important step forward" for the war-torn nation and his special representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan, Richard Holbrooke, was conducting a series of meetings.

Holbrooke, who arrived on Wednesday for one his longest visits since taking office, held meetings with diplomats and officials, and Friday met Karzai, Abdullah and runner-up Ashraf Ghani, said a US embassy spokeswoman.

An energetic campaign by Abdullah and his claims of success, coupled with poor turnout in Karzai's powerbase in the south, have boosted prospects of a run-off, which would take place in early October.

"The question now is whether Karzai, who controls the electoral commission, will be willing to accept a second round. That was one of the issues of his meeting with Holbrooke," said one diplomat on condition of anonymity.

Western backers of Karzai's government have urged presidential candidates to refrain from premature announcements, respect the electoral process and for their supporters to keep calm.

The Independent Election Commission (IEC) said partial results would be released from Tuesday, but that the victor will not be announced until September.

Other observers have raised concern about the length of time before the results are announced, warning this might stoke tensions.

"One way to release that kind of political tension is to provide the public with information about election returns," said Glenn Cowan from US-based election monitors Democracy International.

The EU observers also raised concerns about the IEC's independence, quoting reports that the commission exerted pressure on its staff in a manner which raised questions about its impartiality.

But Karzai's campaign chief said early results gave the incumbent more than 50 percent -- a big enough lead to avert a run-off vote.

Abdullah followed comments by his campaign office that he had 63 percent compared with 31 percent for Karzai, saying: "The country would like to see a change, this is an opportunity for it."

Abdullah has a powerbase in the north and Karzai in the south, divided among the Tajiks and the Pashtuns -- the two largest ethnic groups in Afghanistan, which is still suffering from decades of war and devastating civil conflict.

Abdullah's office has lodged 40 complaints so far, mostly alleging local officials commanded people to vote for Karzai.

Iraqi FM: Baghdad bombings possible inside job

BAGHDAD – Iraq's foreign minister said Saturday that those who carried out bombings that targeted government buildings in the Iraqi capital received help to pull off the attacks, possibly from Iraqi security forces.

The comments comes as anger mounts over the bombings that have lead lawmakers to scrutinize the readiness of Iraqi security forces and raised questions about the loosening of security measures in Baghdad.

Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has ordered security tightened and concrete blast walls to remain around potential targets, reversing an order earlier this month to remove the walls in Baghdad by mid-September.

"Regrettably, we accepted the order to remove concrete walls and removal of a joint checkpoint near the ministry," Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari told reporters during a press conference in Baghdad.

The blasts Wednesday primarily targeted government buildings, including the foreign and finance ministries, killing at least 101 people and wounding more than 500.

Zebari said attacks were so well planned and executed that he would not rule out the possible collaboration of members of Iraq's security forces with attackers.

"We will investigate that," he said.

The Iraqi military announced it arrested members of the insurgent cell responsible for the attacks but gave no details about the suspects. Maj. Gen. Qassim al-Moussawi, the chief military spokesman in Baghdad, said on Iraqi state television only that both attacks were carried out by suicide bombers.

Zebari said the ministry was investigating how the trucks carrying the bombs were allowed to pass into areas where they are banned from traveling.

He said the prime minister ordered the arrest of officers from several branches of Iraq's security forces as part of an investigation into security lapses that allowed the trucks to park near the ministries.

"What has happened, the number of victims and the destruction of government institutions, is a real national disaster," he said.

Zebari said better, stronger security procedures need to be put in place.

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Associated Press Writers Bushra Juhi and Hamid Ahmed contributed to this report.