Joint statement released on killings
America’s two top officials in Iraq on Thursday sought to calm Iraqi anger over allegations that U.S. soldiers were involved in the rape and killing of a girl, promising an open investigation and calling such acts “absolutely inexcusable and unacceptable.”
The rare joint statement from U.S. Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad and Gen. George W. Casey, the senior U.S. commander in Iraq, came as military officers investigated the apparent failures of leadership to keep a close watch on American troops.
The joint statement underscored U.S. efforts to contain the political damage that the March 12 killing of a girl and three of her relatives has caused among an Iraqi public increasingly weary of foreign troops.
“The alleged events of that day are absolutely inexcusable and unacceptable behavior,” the statement said. “We will fully pursue all the facts in a vigorous and open process as we investigate this situation.”
Ex-soldier Steven Green has been charged with rape and four counts of murder in the March 12 incident.
Moscow
U.S.-funded broadcast censored
Russian regulators have forced more than 60 radio stations to stop broadcasting news reports produced by Voice of America and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, according to radio managers and Russian officials.
The regulators cited license violations and unauthorized changes in programming format. But senior executives at the U.S.-government-funded broadcast services and at the stations blame the Kremlin for the crackdown.
“We focus primarily on domestic developments, and those are exactly the things the Kremlin has problems with,” said Jeffrey Trimble, acting president of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty – commonly known as Radio Liberty.
San Francisco
Tongan royalty killed in accident
Two royal family members from the South Pacific island nation of Tonga were killed when a teenager racing her car crashed into their sport utility vehicle, authorities said Thursday.
Prince Tu’ipelehake, 56, and Princess Kaimana, 46, died Wednesday night, according to Senter Uhilamoelangi, a distant relative and longtime friend of the prince.
The driver of the red Ford Explorer carrying the two also was killed, the California Highway Patrol said.
Edith Delgado, 18, of Redwood City, allegedly was racing her car up to 100 mph on a highway in Menlo Park, about 30 miles south of San Francisco, when she tried to pass the SUV in which the royal couple was traveling, said Highway Patrol Officer Ricky Franklin.
Delgado’s car slammed into the driver’s side of the Explorer, causing it to swerve across several lanes before tumbling to a stop on its roof, Franklin said.
Delgado, who was not injured, was jailed on suspicion of vehicular manslaughter and engaging in a speed contest.
New Haven, Conn.
Ex-Taliban denied program entrance
A former ambassador for Afghanistan’s Taliban regime was denied admission to a degree-granting program at Yale University, but he can continue studying at the school, one of his financial supporters said.
Sayed Rahmatullah Hashemi, who had been studying at Yale in a special program that does not award degrees, became the topic of debate after a New York Times Magazine story in February described his life at the Ivy League school.
Supporters said the school was promoting understanding across cultures. But critics were aghast that Yale would open its gates to the 27-year-old who once represented a repressive regime that harbored al-Qaida.