News, Prophecy and other

[Shammu]

Aide to Zarqawi's replacement killed by own bomb

 Wednesday, June 21, 2006

BAGHDAD — The assistant to Al Qaida's new network chief has been killed in a foiled insurgency strike.

Iraqi security sources said a lieutenant of Al Qaida network chief Abu Ayoub Al Masri was found killed in a car on its way to an insurgency strike. The sources said a bomb inside the car blew up prematurely and killed the lieutenant and three other Al Qaida operatives.

Officials identified the Al Masri aide as Mansour Sulayman Mansour Khalifi Al Mashhadani. The U.S. military confirmed the killing, reported to have taken place in Yusufiyah, west of Baghdad on June 19.

U.S.-led coalition spokesman Maj. Gen. William Caldwell said Al Mashhadani was one of the five leading members of the Al Qaida organization. Caldwell said Al Mashhadani was Al Qaida's spiritual leader and a close associate of Al Zarqawi. The spokesman said an Al Qaida cell leader was also killed.

Al Mashhadani was captured in 2004 by the U.S. military, Caldwell said. But he said the sheik was released because he was not deemed a high-value insurgent.

The United States has determined that Al Masri was appointed the successor to Abu Mussib Al Zarqawi in wake of his death in a U.S. air strike on June 7 near Baqubah. Al Masri was described as an Egyptian bomb expert trained in Afghanistan and close to Al Qaida's No. 2, Ayman Zawahiri.

Iraqi state television reported that the U.S. military penetrated Al Zarqawi's cell through the recruitment of an aide. The television said the unidentified aide provided information that led to the location of Al Zarqawi's safe house.

Al Qaida in Iraq has been part of a five-member coalition termed the Mujahedeen Shura Council. The council, led by an Iraqi identified as Abdullah Rashid Al Baghdadi, has claimed responsibility for several suicide strikes as well as the abduction of two U.S. soldiers and four Russian diplomats. The two soldiers were found dead on Tuesday.

"The fact that we took out Zarqawi and decapitated the outfit doesn't mean that it will not have the ability to regenerate," Caldwell said.

Aide to Zarqawi's replacement killed by own bomb

[Shammu]

Taleban use children as shields to fight British
From Tim Albone at Camp Bastion
   
TALEBAN fighters used women and children as human shields as they tried to escape into the mountains of Afghanistan, British troops claimed yesterday.

The tactics were revealed in the first account by those who fought in one of the main battles faced by the men of 3 Para and the Royal Gurkha Rifles in Helmand province, where 3,300 British troops are stationed.

The Taleban’s use of human shields happened during a six-hour battle that began when British troops arrived in a remote area to flush out a suspected Taleban hideout.

They came under attack seven times and fired 2,000 rounds as the rebels set ambushes and opened fire with rocket-propelled grenades. About 21 Taleban were killed.

“It happened twice where they pushed women and children in front of them. The first time they ran into a compound and pushed them out the front to stop the assault,” said Corporal Quintin Poll, 29, from Norfolk.

“The second time they were firing through a building with women and children inside. My guys had to go around the left and right to get them.”

Details of the battle, which happened to the west of the town of Nauzad on June 4, were given by troops at the British base of Camp Bastion.

It took place in the run-up to Operation Mountain Thrust, in which 11,000 troops from Britain, US, Canada and Afghanistan are co-operating to clear Taleban strongholds in the province.

The fighting began after British troops were sent to the area to search compounds suspected of housing Taleban militants. A 12-vehicle convoy that had snaked its way through the mountains from Camp Bastion came under attack after leaving a police compound in the town.

At the same time a Chinook helicopter bringing in reinforcements was fired upon as paratroops got out. There were about 100 militants split into cells of 7 or 8 fighters.

The fighting was so intense that rounds set fire to nearby wheat fields. At one stage Private Bash Ali, 20, from London, was hit by a bullet from a Kalashnikov assault rifle. It lodged in the spare magazine of his SA80 rifle, around his waist, setting fire to a tracer round.

“I was going around a corner hearing fire and didn’t know where it was coming from. The next thing I knew I fell to the ground. I thought I’d been hit by an RPG. I was dazed and was pulled into cover by a comrade,” he said.

Apache helicopters and A-10 tankbusters were called in to provide air support and at one stage raked a compound housing militants with their 30-millimetre canons.

“The guys were superb. I left the day with a huge amount of pride,” said Major Will Pike, 36, who has been in the Army for 14 years and said that this was the fiercest day of fighting he had ever seen.

But as Operation Mountain Thrust continues to push into former Taleban strongholds, violence remains high.

Taleban use children as shields to fight British

[Shammu]

Japan Dispatches Ships to Monitor N. Korea
   

TOKYO (AP) -- Japan has dispatched ships and planes to monitor North Korea amid regional jitters about a possible long-range missile launch, but it played down the communist nation's capacity to load a nuclear warhead atop its rockets.

Fukushiro Nukaga, the head of Japan's Defense Agency, told a parliamentary committee that Japan had deployed naval ships and patrol planes to monitor developments in North Korea as the country apparently prepares to test a long-range missile believed capable of reaching the United States.

Senior Vice Foreign Minister Yasuhisa Shiozaki said, however, that Japan had "encountered no information" indicating North Korea had the technology to put a nuclear warhead on a missile.

"It requires tremendous technology to miniaturize an atomic weapon in order to load into a missile warhead," he said.

[Shammu]

Presbyterians Back Off from Divestment
18:40 Jun 22, '06 / 26 Sivan 5766

(IsraelNN.com) American Presbyterian church leaders, meeting in Chicago, have decided to back off from a threat to divest from companies whose products Israel uses in Judea and Samaria. Motorola and Caterpillar were two companies on the investment chopping block because of their operations in Israel.

"Presbyterians ... were uncomfortable with the punitive meaning of the word divestment," said Rev. John Buchanan, a leader of the organization. Instead of targeting Israel, the church decided to concentrate investments in pursuit of peace around the world, without any specific designation against Israel.

[Shammu]

Red Cross votes to admit Israel

Red Crystal flag for use by emergency workers
The Red Cross humanitarian movement has voted by a large majority to admit Israel, ending decades of isolation.

The Magen David Adom (Red Star of David) has sought membership since the 1930s, but it objected to using the traditional cross or crescent symbols.

The breakthrough came with approval of a third emblem, the Red Crystal, to identify relief and emergency workers.

A vote was held after Muslim states opposed Israel's membership over the status of land it occupied in 1967.

The same meeting of the international Red Cross and Red Crescent movement in Geneva approved membership for the Palestinian Red Crescent (PRC).

It had been excluded because the statutes only allow relief societies from sovereign states to join, but the rule was specifically modified to include the PRC.

It is hoped that the move to upgrade both societies from observer status will help engender better co-operation, say Red Cross officials.

It comes amid a worsening of the situation in the Israeli-occupied territories, with three botched Israeli missile strikes in Gaza killing 13 Palestinian civilians in the last 10 days.

Two-thirds majority

The Red Cross and Red Crescent conference in Geneva had hoped for a universal consensus on Israel's admission, but the agreement almost collapsed when Syria raised objections over Israel's role in the occupied Golan Heights.

 The issue was then put to a vote, in which 237 states and societies voted for the changes, with 54 voting against and 18 abstaining.

This gave the necessary two-thirds majority to modify the movement's statute and allow the change of emergency relief symbols.

An amendment demanding that the movement's rules apply to all the occupied territories - putting them under Palestinian, Lebanese and Syrian responsibility - was also rejected.

Correspondents say the Red Cross traditionally tries to work by consensus and to avoid potentially bruising ballot box confrontations among members.

The chair of the American Red Cross, Bonni McElveen-Hunter, said it would now pay about $45m in dues it has withheld since 2000 because of Israel's exclusion.

'Crusader symbol'

The Red Cross symbol - the reversal of the colours on the Swiss national flag - was adopted in 1863 when the organisation was set up to care for wounded soldiers.

Muslim countries objected to the use of the cross symbol, which is redolent of the Crusades in medieval times, and have used a crescent instead since the 19th Century.

But until now, members have baulked at introducing a third symbol - a situation exacerbated by international opposition to Israel and its post-1967 occupation of Arab lands.

The new symbol, a red square at an angle on a white background, can be used by any relief teams in areas where there is sensitivity about Christian or Muslim symbols.

Israelis, including military medics, will be able to use the crystal by itself on a white flag. On their own territory - or with the agreement other states participating in UN operations abroad - they will be able to combine it with the star of David.

Under the Geneva conventions relief workers and ambulances bearing Red Cross-authorised symbols are protected under international law and must be granted free access to people in need of help.

In the past, RC officials have argued that having too many emblems could compromise their protection.

Red Cross votes to admit Israel

[Shammu]

Israel, Jordan boost economic cooperation plans
By Yoav Stern

Vice Premier Shimon Peres and Jordan's King Abdullah agreed in a meeting in Petra yesterday that the two countries will accelerate economic cooperation through the launching of joint ventures starting next week.

Israeli diplomatic sources told Haaretz yesterday that the king gave the green light to the projects. A highly-influential associate of the king and former minister, head of the royal court Basem Awadallah, will be in charge of the ventures from the Jordanian side.

Abdullah met with Peres before attending a meeting of Nobel laureates in Petra. Prime Minister Ehud Olmert is scheduled to attend the conference today, and also is scheduled to meet the king.

   Advertisement

Peres met Palestinian Authority chair Mahmoud Abbas at the conference, although the two did not hold political discussions. Olmert and Abbas also may meet today in Petra.

Jordan prefers to dedicate its efforts to certain projects, such as expanding the Aqaba Airport so it can also serve Eilat. Peres and Transportation Minister Shaul Mofaz will meet with their Jordanian counterparts and other officials in Amman next week.

Peres and Abdullah also discussed the Red-Dead Sea Canal, which could be used to produce electricity as well as save the dwindling Dead Sea, but the project could encounter serious bureaucratic obstacles in Israel.

Israel, Jordan boost economic cooperation plans

[Soldier4Christ]

After an operation that started about four months ago, the FBI has arrested several suspects of domestic terrorism in a Miami low-income housing project.

The arrests took place Thursday afternoon at the Scott Housing Projects in the area of NW 68th street and 15th Avenue. Miami Police officers were seen in the area securing a perimeter for the FBI to carry out their arrests.

Sources tell CBS4 News it is unclear whether weapons or bomb-making materials were found, but those detained are suspected of being involved in planning terrorist activity.

Neighbors say suspicious activity had been observed at the home recently.

This is a developing story and agents have flooded the area.

_____________________

Yep ....  there ain't no terrorists in the U.S. and we got nothin to worry bout ....   yep yep.

 

[Shammu]

Yep ....  there ain't no terrorists in the U.S. and we got nothin to worry bout ....   yep yep.

 

Yup   

[Shammu]

Pope Will Not Attend Religious Summit — Russian Church

Created: 22.06.2006 13:45 MSK (GMT +3), Updated: 15:40 MSK, 15 hours 24 minutes ago

MosNews

Pope Benedict XVI will not attend the international 3-day summit of religious leaders that opens in Moscow in early July, the head of the Russian Orthodox Church’s foreign relations department, Metropolitan Kirill, was quoted by the Russian news agency RIA Novosti on Thursday.

The reason he has not been invited, ROC official explained, is that the Russian Church does not want to hold two landmark events — the summit and the long-expected meeting between the heads of the two churches — simultaneously. He added that he had met Benedict XVI earlier, and the Pope expressed his support for the summit. “The Pope is sending his delegation to the summit, which speaks for his support for the event,” Metropolitan Kirill said.

Earlier the ROC invited top Vatican officials to attend the summit to be held at the initiative of the Moscow Patriarchy, which seeks to bring together top religious leaders from a variety of spiritual traditions to discuss how world religions could help give a moral response to the challenges the world is facing.

Russian Orthodox Patriarch Alexy II of Moscow invited Cardinal Paul Poupard, head of the pontifical councils for Culture and for Interreligious Dialogue; Cardinal Walter Kasper, head of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity; and Bishop Joseph Werth of Russia’s Novosibirsk-based Transfiguration Diocese.

The Russian Orthodox Church had criticized the Vatican in February 2002 after Pope John Paul II transformed four Russian church regions into dioceses, one of which was the former Apostolic Administration of Western Siberia, which became the Diocese of the Transfiguration in Novosibirsk, headed by Bishop Werth.

The Orthodox Church had accused the Vatican of a modern Catholic invasion of Russia while the Vatican said it was merely restoring church structures that existed before Soviet communism. The move put further strain on an already tense ecumenical climate between the two churches.

The religious leaders representing Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Buddhism, Taoism and Hinduism are expected to draw up a final statement to present to heads of state from the Group of Eight industrialized countries, scheduled to meet July 15-17 in St. Petersburg, Russia.

Pope Will Not Attend Religious Summit — Russian Church

[Shammu]

Russia summons N. Korean envoy in Moscow

By BURT HERMAN, Associated Press Writer 1 hour, 31 minutes ago

SEOUL, South Korea - China said publicly Thursday it was deeply concerned over a possible long-range missile launch by North Korea, while Russia summoned Pyongyang's ambassador in Moscow to express its alarm.

The moves by the communist state's last two major allies followed similar actions by the United States and Japan. A Pentagon official reiterated Thursday the North risked unspecified retaliation if it went ahead with the launch.

China is "very concerned about the current situation," the Foreign Ministry in Beijing said.

The Russian Foreign Ministry said it warned Ambassador Pak Ui Chun against anything that could destabilize the region or "complicate the search for a settlement to the Korean Peninsula's nuclear problem."

Worries have grown in recent weeks after reports of activity at the North's launch site on its northeastern coast, where U.S. officials say a Taepodong-2 missile — believed capable of reaching the United States — is possibly being fueled. Pyongyang also asserted this week its right to launch a satellite, which it claimed to have done after its last long-range missile launch in August 1998.

"If such a launch takes place, we would seek to impose some cost on North Korea," Peter Rodman, an U.S. assistant secretary of defense, said Thursday.

Vice President Dick Cheney said North Korea's missile capabilities "are fairly rudimentary" and expressed skepticism the missile could reach U.S. territory. He rebuffed suggestions that Washington launch a pre-emptive strike.

"I think that at this stage we are addressing the issue in a proper fashion," Cheney told CNN. "And I think, obviously, if you're going to launch strikes at another nation, you'd better be prepared to not just fire one shot."

South Korea's Defense Minister Yoon Kwang-ung said Thursday "it is our judgment that a launch is not imminent."

Seoul — wary of tensions that could roil its economy — has sought to downplay concerns over a possible launch. South Korea has sat in the crosshairs of hundreds of North Korean missiles and artillery for years, remaining technically at war with Pyongyang.

If the North fires a missile toward the South, combined U.S. and South Korean forces will be "ready to intercept it immediately," Yoon told a parliamentary meeting.

But U.S. National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley, briefing reporters during a visit by President Bush to Hungary, expressed reservations that the United States could intercept and destroy such a missile, saying the U.S. missile defense system was still in a developmental stage.

Hadley also said Pyongyang's "preparations are very far along" for a launch. "What we hope they will do is give it up and not launch."

Foreign policy analyst John Swenson-Wright, in an e-mail to The Associated Press, said the likely inability of the United States to intercept a missile launch was the reason Washington wants to see the crisis defused through diplomacy — "while at the same time maintaining a tough, uncompromising position in public."

Swenson-Wright, of the British think tank Chatham House, also said the danger was that Pyongyang might underestimate Washington's intentions, based on inconsistent past signals from the White House.

"Pyongyang may judge that it can get away with a launch without experiencing immediate and costly retaliation — whether economic, political or military — and it may believe that the legal ambiguity surrounding its missile program gives it a legitimate basis to launch," he said.

A North Korean diplomat reportedly said Wednesday that his country wants talks with Washington over the issue, but John Bolton, U.S. envoy to the United Nations, repeated the U.S. rejection of that idea Thursday.

"You don't initiate talks by threatening to launch an ICBM," or intercontinental ballistic missile, Bolton said.

Instead, Washington wants Pyongyang to resume six-nation nuclear talks, which also include China, Japan, Russia and South Korea. The North has boycotted talks since November, angered by a U.S. crackdown on its alleged illicit financial activity.

China also urged a return to talks.

Bolton said the United States is "very encouraged" at China and Russia's strong concern over a possible missile test.

"I think we have again shown there is complete international unanimity that the North Koreans should not undertake this launch," Bolton said. "We'll keep working on it, but I think we've shown there's simply no support for this threatening gesture the North has made."

The North agreed at the round of talks in September to abandon its nuclear program in exchange for security guarantees and aid, but no progress has been made on implementing the accord.

Pyongyang has complained in recent weeks about alleged American spy flights, including over the missile test site. On Thursday, the North admonished Washington again.

"The U.S. imperialist warmongers have been intensifying military provocations against" the North, the official Korean Central News Agency said. "The ceaseless illegal intrusion of the planes has created a grave danger of military conflict in the air above the region."

Washington has sent ships near the Korean coast capable of detecting and tracking a missile launch, a Pentagon official said Wednesday.

Also, South Korean aircraft have been flying reconnaissance over waters between the Korean Peninsula and Japan, the official said on condition of anonymity because he was unauthorized to speak on the subject. Tokyo, too, has sent ships and planes to monitor North Korea, officials said.

The North claims to have a nuclear weapon but is not thought to have an advanced design that could be placed on a warhead.

Russia summons N. Korean envoy in Moscow

[Shammu]

Waters calls on Israel to remove wall

06/22/2006 6:45 PM, AP


Veteran British rocker Roger Waters — co-creator of the legendary Pink Floyd album "The Wall" — performed before tens of thousands of Israeli fans on Thursday, after calling on Israel to tear down massive concrete blocks walling off parts of the West Bank.

An estimated 50,000 gathered in a hastily prepared outdoor venue for the concert next to the Jewish-Arab village of Neveh Shalom in central Israel. Israeli performers warmed up the crowd before Waters began his performance about half an hour behind schedule.

Just before the end of the concert, Waters addressed his audience. "I believe we need this generation of Israelis to tear down the walls and make peace with their neighbors," he said, setting off a round of cheers.

In the hours before the performance, cars were backed up for many miles in all directions in one of Israel's biggest-ever traffic jams.

Waters refused to appear in the usual sites for outdoor concerts in Tel Aviv, citing his opposition to Israel's policies toward the Palestinians, agreeing in the end to the field about halfway between Jerusalem and Tel Aviv.

One of the concert site staff, identified only as Amit, told Israel Radio that monks at a nearby Trappist monastery had given their blessing to the concert and its powerfully amplified message of coexistence, but as members of a silent order, "It's not likely that they'll sing along."

On Wednesday, after arriving in Israel, Waters visited a walled section of Israel's West Bank separation barrier running through the Palestinian town of Bethlehem and spray-painted a line from the album, reading, "No thought control" on the towering concrete blocks.

"It fills me with horror," Waters told reporters at the site. "You can see photographs of something like this, but until you've seen the actual edifice itself and seen what it's doing to these communities...It's hard to comprehend that they could be doing this."

In 1990 he performed music from the album at a site where the Berlin Wall once ran, to celebrate the reunification of East and West Germany.

Israel says it is building the wall to keep out Palestinian attackers. Suicide bombers have killed more than 500 Israelis and maimed many more since the September 2000 outbreak of fighting between the sides.

But because the barrier dips into the West Bank at several points, incorporating West Bank land on the "Israeli" side, Palestinians denounce the obstacle as a front for grabbing territory they claim for a future state.

Waters, 62, said he hoped that like the Berlin Wall, the Israeli barrier would fall.

"It may be a lot harder to get this one down, but eventually it has to happen, otherwise there's no point being human beings," he said.

Israel says the half-finished, 470-mile barrier will be 95 percent electronic fence and only 5 percent wall when complete.

Sorry no link because it sells music.

[Shammu]

Report: North Korean Leader Kim Jong Il in Russia
Thursday, June 22, 2006

SEOUL, South Korea — A leading South Korean newspaper reported Friday on the possibility North Korean leader Kim Jong Il has traveled to Russia via train, citing eyewitness reports.

The eyewitnesses told a person they had seen a VIP train, the form of transport preferred by Kim, crossing the border bound for Russia, the Chosun Ilbo daily reported.

CountryWatch: North Korea

The South Korean Foreign Ministry said it had no information and was checking into the report of a possible trip.

Kim shuns travel by air and has headed before to Russia via train, the last time in August 2002. The North Korean leader rarely leaves his home country, and was last abroad during a trip to China in January.

North Korean Leader Kim Jong Il in Russia

[Shammu]

Group to picket at soldier's funeral
By Nikki Davis Maute

An anti-gay Kansas church group plans to picket Saturday at a memorial service in Laurel for a Meridian soldier killed in Iraq.

And the church's plans have attracted the attention of a national group that advocates for soldiers' rights, which will be on hand to keep protesters from disrupting the family.

A Saturday service is planned for Army Sgt. 1st Class Clarence D. McSwain, 31 - who died in Baghdad on June 8 when a roadside bomb exploded near his convoy. McSwain has a number of relatives who live in Laurel, including an aunt and uncle.

The service has attracted the attention of Westboro Baptist Church and Rolling Thunder Inc.

A news release reportedly from the Topeka, Kan.-based Westboro Baptist Church said church members plan to picket the memorial service for McSwain.

Westboro, a group known for its anti-gay rhetoric, was not accepting calls Wednesday, according to a message on the church telephone. Group members believe that American soldiers are dying because of the nation's tolerance of gay people, according to the news release.

McSwain's cousin, Mae Jordan of Laurel, had not heard about the group of protesters.

"This boy's father is a minister," she said. "If they come, it's going to be some mess. This has nothing to do with Clarence dying."

Laurel Assistant Police Chief Walter Martin said Wednesday that Rolling Thunder, a national group that advocates for soldiers, alerted the department it would attend McSwain's service.

"They said they are coming en masse to surround the family and protect them from any protests," Martin said.

Rolling Thunder is a national group formed in 1995 to advocate for U.S. troops, veterans and POW/MIAs. Many members ride motorcycles.

Martin said no one from Westboro Baptist Church has contacted the police department about picketing in Laurel.

About seven members from the church picketed the March funeral of a Pennsylvania soldier with signs that read: "Thank God for dead soldiers," "You're going to hell" and anti-gay epithets.

President Bush signed a federal law on Memorial Day, prohibiting protests at national cemeteries, and at least 11 states have passed laws shielding families from the protesters.

Mississippi legislators earlier this year passed a bill that will make it a misdemeanor offense if anyone protests or pickets within 1,000 feet of a funeral service with the intent to disrupt the service. Anyone convicted could receive up to a $500 fine and six months in jail. The law takes effect July 1.

In all, 30 states have or are considering such legislation.

The Rev. Larry Breland, pastor of United Missionary Baptist Church, where McSwain's service will be held, could not be reached for comment.

Group to picket at soldier's funeral

[Shammu]

Presbyterian Church lets locals decide on gay clergy
By Richard N. Ostling
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published June 21, 2006
Advertisement
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- A Presbyterian Church (USA) national assembly voted yesterday to let local bodies that wish to have homosexuals serve as clergy and lay officers do so, despite a denominational ban on homosexual ministers.
    A measure approved 298-221 by a Presbyterian national assembly keeps in place a 1997 church law that says clergy and lay elders and deacons must limit sexual relations to marriage.
    But the new legislation says local congregations and regional presbyteries can exercise some flexibility when choosing clergy and lay officers of local congregations if sexual orientation or other issues arise.
    The decision concluded a hard-fought struggle lasting years between liberals and conservatives in the 2.3-million-member denomination. Ten conservative caucuses allied to fight any change but lost two last-ditch efforts to kill or delay the measure.
    Thirteen evangelical caucuses issued a joint statement that the assembly's actions "throw our denomination into crisis." They said this "marks a profound deviation from biblical requirements, and we cannot accept, support, or tolerate it. We will take the steps necessary to be faithful to God," the groups said.
    The Presbyterian establishment, including all seminary presidents and many officials, promoted the local autonomy plan, which was devised by a special task force. The idea is to grant modest change to liberals but mollify conservatives by keeping the sexual law on the books.
    It's not clear whether that will work.
    "We have been painfully aware that in some ways our greatest challenge was not preparing for this assembly but preparing for what happens after this assembly," the Rev. Clifton Kirkpatrick, chief executive at denominational headquarters, told delegates after the votes.
    The Rev. Blair Monie of Dallas, who chaired the committee dealing with the issue, said, "This is not an 'anything goes' proposal. In fact, it will make the examination of officers more rigorous."
    But a series of conservative delegates disputed that.
    "When the constitution is set aside and something mandatory is reduced to something optional, it destroys the constitution," said Robert Gagnon, a New Testament professor at Pittsburgh Theological Seminary and author of a book opposing homosexual relationships.
    Mr. Gagnon said the denomination had reached "a transition point" that broke from Jesus' teaching on man-woman monogamy.
    Pro-homosexual youth delegate Jamie Moon of Oregon said she found the assembly debate disheartening. She said she became Presbyterian because "Jesus Christ was love. Jesus Christ was acceptance. He said come to me and be my disciple.
    "He wants us to love everybody. Raise your hand if you're not a sinner," she told the assembly.
    In 1997, the Presbyterian Church (USA) passed a measure that said ministers must practice fidelity if married and chastity if single, which was supposed to exclude active homosexuals from the ministry. But the measure divided the church and several congregations have defied it, usually resulting in formal complaints to regional bodies that sometimes lead to discipline.
    For example, Raymond Bagnuolo was ordained in November at South Presbyterian Church in Dobbs Ferry, N.Y., and is serving as pastor of the Palisades Presbyterian Church. But when Mr. Bagnuolo, an open homosexual, was asked during his ordination ceremony whether he would abide by church laws, he said yes, except for the fidelity and chastity measure.

Presbyterian Church lets locals decide on gay clergy

[Shammu]

Media Refuses to Hold Surveillance Story
By JUSTIN BACHMAN
ASSOCIATED PRESS

NEW YORK (AP) - The Bush administration and The New York Times are again at odds over national security, this time with new reports of a broad government effort to track global financial transfers.

The newspaper, which in December broke news of an effort by the National Security Agency to monitor Americans' telephone calls and e-mails, declined a White House request not to publish a story about the government's inspection of monies flowing in and out of the country.

The Los Angeles Times also reported on the issue Thursday night on its Web site, against the Bush administration's wishes. The Wall Street Journal said it received no request to hold its report of the surveillance.

Administration officials were concerned that news reports of the program would diminish its effectiveness and could harm overall national security.

"It's a tough call; it was not a decision made lightly," said Doyle McManus, the Los Angeles Times' Washington bureau chief. "The key issue here is whether the government has shown that there are adequate safeguards in these programs to give American citizens confidence that information that should remain private is being protected."

Treasury Department officials spent 90 minutes Thursday meeting with the newspaper's reporters, stressing the legality of the program and urging the paper to not publish a story on the program, McManus said in a telephone interview.

"They were quite vigorous, they were quite energetic. They made a very strong case," he said.

In its story, The New York Times said it carefully weighed the administration's arguments for withholding the information and gave them "the most serious and respectful consideration."

"We remain convinced that the administration's extraordinary access to this vast repository of international financial data, however carefully targeted use it may be, is a matter of public interest," said Bill Keller, the Times' executive editor.

In December, Bush used part of his weekly radio address to criticize The New York Times' initial eavesdropping story as helping to inform enemies, saying "the unauthorized disclosure of this effort damages our national security and puts our citizens at risk."

McManus said the other factor that tipped the paper's decision to publish was the novel approach government was using to gather data in another realm without warrant or subpoena.

"Police agencies and prosecutors get warrants all the time to search suspects' houses, and we don't write stories about that," he said. "This is different. This is new. And this is a process that has been developed that does not involve getting a specific warrant. It's a new and unfamiliar process."

Media Refuses to Hold Surveillance Story