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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

World in brief: Somali sent to Guantanamo Bay

The Spokesman-Review

A Somali man who U.S. authorities allege has close ties to al-Qaida operations in Africa was transferred to the U.S. detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, this week, Defense Department officials announced Wednesday, the third detainee to arrive at the prison in recent weeks.

Defense officials identified the man as Abdullahi Sudi Arale but provided scant information about him. They described him as a courier between al-Qaida operatives in East Africa and Pakistan and said he “assisted extremists in acquiring weapons and explosives,” as well as facilitating travel by providing false documents for al-Qaida operatives and foreign fighters.

In bringing three detainees to Guantanamo since March, the Defense Department has signaled a willingness to keep approximately 385 detainees there in indefinite custody despite bipartisan sentiment in favor of closing the facility.

A group of human rights organizations plans to release a report today naming as many as 39 people believed to have been taken into secret CIA custody and who have since disappeared. The report decries the Bush administration’s secret imprisonment of those people and calls on the United States to end the program, acknowledge who is in secret custody and provide the International Committee of the Red Cross access to them.

Vatican City

German man leaps on popemobile

A German man jumped a security barrier and grabbed the back of Pope Benedict XVI’s open popemobile before being swarmed by security guards Wednesday – reviving a debate over whether the pontiff needs stronger protection during his public audiences.

Benedict was not harmed and appeared not to even notice, never looking back as he waved to the crowd in St. Peter’s Square. But security analysts said he exposes himself to undue risk by appearing at the same place and time each week in an open jeep.

The man vaulted onto a wooden barrier and then over in an apparent attempt to get into the white popemobile. One guard grabbed him as he leaped, but the man managed to grab hold of the vehicle before security men trailing the car pinned him to the ground.

The Vatican spokesman, the Rev. Federico Lombardi, said the man was a 27-year-old German who showed signs of “mental imbalance.” He declined to identify him.

The man was interrogated by Vatican police and then taken to a hospital for psychiatric treatment, he said.