DeKalb Superior Court Judge Daniel Coursey issued a temporary order restraining the Georgia Bureau of Investigation from releasing "any and all photographs, visual images or depictions of Meredith Emerson which show Emerson in an unclothed or dismembered state. Emerson's family sought the order after learning of the request for copies of crime scene photos of the 24-year-old, attorney Lindsay Haigh said. Emerson's admitted killer, Gary Michael Hilton, received a life sentence in exchange for leading investigators to her body in the north Georgia mountains on January 7, 2008, six days after Emerson disappeared. The judge's order came on the same day the Georgia House Governmental Affairs Committee unanimously passed "The Meredith Emerson Memorial Privacy Act," which would prevent gruesome crime scene photos from being publicly released or disseminated, according to Rep. Jill Chambers, the bill's principal sponsor. House Bill 1322 would prevent the release of photographs of the bodies of crime victims that are "nude, bruised, bloodied or in a broken state with open wounds, a state of dismemberment or decapitation," said Chambers. "We have to walk the line between open record laws and the constitutional provisions that allow women to be able to be photographed nude or in pornography when they knowingly and willingly offer their bodies for dissemination," she said. "Meredith isn't in a position to give that kind of permission to have her exploited in that kind of venue," Chambers said. "We're not only protecting future victims of crime, we're protecting the integrity of what happened to Meredith." The bill allows credentialed journalists, lawyers and law enforcement to view such photographs at the Georgia Bureau of Investigation's headquarters, Chambers said, but not make copies of them. Hustler did not respond to a request for comment on the judge's ruling except to say that it is exploring its legal options. "Hustler is aware of the GBI's refusal to honor its reporter's request for copies of the Emerson crime scenes photos, which were to be used in a news story about this crime. Hustler and Mr. Flynt disagree with the GBI's position, and are currently exploring all legal options available to them should the decision be made to go forward with the story," the company said in an e-mail. Members of the state Legislature were quick to condemn the request. "I think that the request is sickening, disgusting, vile and I think it's very, very hurtful for this family," House Speaker David Ralston said in a Monday press conference. Current statute prevents the release of autopsy photos without the permission of next of kin, but a "gray area" in the law left open the question of whether crime scene photos could be released, Ralston said. "I am a big proponent of open government. This goes against the grain for me. But in this case, when you have these kind of photographs that depict victims of crime where there may have been sexual assault or mutilation of the body, I just think it goes beyond the pale," he said. "We're going to narrow it to those situations so we don't have this kind of situation again where we pause and wonder is this something we have to release or not." "Meredith was a daughter, a friend and a mentor to many. She lived life to its fullest and was taken from us deliberately and maliciously," her family said on www.righttohikeinc.com, the charity Web site established in Emerson's memory. "Her family and friends live everyday with this tragedy and to know that the possibility of any images, other than those that portray the beautiful, young woman we knew, could be disclosed to the public or may be published would bring further stress and unnecessarily added grief over what is already too much sadness to bear." The Georgia Bureau of Investigation promptly denied Hustler's request, agency spokesman John Bankhead said. "There's no public interest served by these photographs being publicly displayed," he said. "The negative impact on surviving friends and family would be horrific. They had to go through this with the death so to have to go through it again with the pictures ending up on Internet would be incredible." First Amendment lawyers are watching the outcome of this lawsuit and the bill. "The photos are awful, but it's also awful to see pictures of people in wars, soldiers fighting or the victims of wars," said New York attorney Martin Garbus. "I don't think there should be any kind of censorship because of awfulness." Garbus surmised that privacy laws could be applied in this instance but cautioned that even such laws could be considered limitation of free speech. "I don't think you can make it into a narrow context. If you look at a picture of a Sudanese kid starving to death, or people dying in Haiti, those are invasions of privacy. Pictures of people alive in tortuous situations in some other country are just as bad as pictures of disfigured corpses in the United States."Georgia judge bars release of photos of hiker's nude, decapitated body
The decision came as state lawmakers considered legislation that would ban public release of graphic photos of crime victims. First Amendment lawyers say the legislation could have a chilling effect on open records requests.Atlanta, Georgia (CNN) -- Photos of the nude and decapitated body of a murdered hiker, sought by a writer on assignment for Hustler magazine, will not be released, a judge in Georgia ordered Wednesday.
NEW YORK — After years of fighting in court, lawyers representing the city, construction companies and more than 10,000 ground zero rescue and recovery workers have agreed to a settlement that could pay up to $657.5 million to responders sickened by dust from the destroyed World Trade Center. The settlement was announced Thursday evening by the WTC Captive Insurance Co., a special entity established to indemnify the city and its contractors against potential legal action as they moved to clean up the site after the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks. The deal, which still must be approved by a judge and the workers themselves, would make the city and other companies represented by the insurer liable for a minimum of $575 million, with more money available to the sick if certain conditions are met. Most if not all of the money would come out of a $1 billion grant from the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Mayor Michael Bloomberg called the settlement "a fair and reasonable resolution to a complex set of circumstances." "The resolution of the World Trade Center litigation will allow the first responders and workers to be compensated for injuries suffered following their work at Ground Zero," he said in a statement. Marc Bern, a senior partner with the law firm Worby, Groner, Edelman & Napoli, Bern LLP, which negotiated the deal, said it was "a good settlement." "We are gratified that these heroic men and women who performed their duties without consideration of the health implications will finally receive just compensation for their pain and suffering, lost wages, medical and other expenses, as the U.S. Congress intended when it appropriated this money," he said in a statement. Workers who wish to participate in the settlement would need to prove they had been at the World Trade Center site or other facilities that handled debris. They also would have to turn over medical records and provide other information aimed at weeding out fraudulent or dubious claims. For the settlement to be enforced, 95 percent of the workers would need to agree to be bound by its terms. The agreement comes with just two months to go until the first trials are to begin in the case. Thousands of police officers, firefighters and construction workers who put in time at the 16-acre site in lower Manhattan had filed lawsuits against the city, claiming it sent them to ground zero without proper protective equipment. Many of those workers now claim to have fallen ill. A majority complained of a respiratory problem similar to asthma, but the suits also sought damages for hundreds of other types of ailments, including cancer. Carpenter James Nolan, of Yonkers, said he helped recover bodies and build ramps for firehoses at the site and then developed lung and leg problems, for which he takes six medications. He said the city knew the air was dirty so he sued six years ago and now he's happy the case is ending. "We've had to fight for what we deserve," said Nolan, 45. "I'm glad it's coming to an end where I can feel a little comfortable if I pass away my wife and kids can get something." Lawyers for the city claimed it did its best to get respiratory equipment to everyone who needed it. They also had challenged some of the claims as based on the thinnest of medical evidence, noting that thousands of the people suing suffered from conditions common in the general population or from no illness at all. Under the settlement, the task of deciding what each worker will be paid will fall to a neutral third party, to be picked by the two sides. Lawyers for the plaintiffs have previously said they favor Kenneth Feinberg, the special master who determined payouts from the federal fund set up to compensate victims of the terror attacks. Payments will be based on a system that ranks each illness by severity and factors in potential exposure to the dust. Some workers are likely to receive payments of only a few thousand dollars. Others could be in line to get more than $1 million, depending on their injuries. A special insurance fund will be set up to cover workers who develop cancer in the future. Lawyer Andrew Carboy, who represented a group of firefighters in the case, said he would urge them to accept the deal. "The proposed settlement demonstrates that the justice system can tackle such a factually complicated and emotionally charged situation," he said. "The settlement, most importantly, will treat each worker as an individual. And their settlement will be based on the merits of their case." Both sides were scheduled to appear Friday afternoon before the federal judge handling the litigation, U.S. District Judge Alvin Hellerstein, who previously had said he favored a settlement but planned to analyze it carefully to make sure it was fair. The settlement would mean a postponement or cancellation of the trials tentatively scheduled to begin in May. Some of the cases scheduled to be heard first included that of a firefighter who died of throat cancer and another who needed a lung transplant, as well as workers with less serious ailments, including a Consolidated Edison utility company employee with limited exposure to the debris pile and no current serious illness. The $1 billion fund created by Congress to help insure the city has been depleted somewhat by the long legal battle in the case, with the bill so far running to more than $200 million. The Worby, Groner, Edelman & Napoli, Bern law partnership, which represents 9,000 of the plaintiffs, is expected to take as much as a third or more of the total settlement in legal fees, based on contingency agreements it signed with each client.
Israel has ordered its security forces to close parts of the West Bank in the occupied Palestinian territory for 48 hours. Ehud Barak, the defence minister, made the move on Friday amid reports about the possibility of fresh protests by Palestinians around the Al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem after Friday prayers. The closures of Judea and Samaria regions of the occupied West Bank are to be lifted at midnight on Saturday. Authorities in Jerusalem are expected to deploy additional forces at the al-Aqsa mosque in view of the anticipated protests. The compound, which is known to Jews as the Temple Mount and to Muslims as the Noble Sanctuary, has been the site of a number of violent incidents. Controversial decision Clashes erupted last week after Binyamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, announced plans to include two sites in the occupied West Bank on a list of Israeli heritage sites. Skirmishes also broke out after Friday prayers in the West Bank city of Hebron, but no serious injuries were reported. Israel annexed east Jerusalem after the 1967 Middle East war and built new quarters to house more than 200,000 Israelis. The annexation has never been recognised by the international community. Palestinians denounce settlements in east Jerusalem, which they want to make the capital of their future state. In early February, the daily Haaretz revealed Israeli authorities had given the green light to a project to build 600 homes in an area set aside for settlement in the eastern sector.Israel seals off occupied West Bank Israel is expected to deploy additional troops at the al-Aqsa mosque [File: AFP]
"Litigants have the right to expect a judge hearing their case will be fair and impartial, and avoid even the appearance of impropriety. Regrettably, no one can have that expectation in Judge Porteous' courtroom."Washington (CNN) -- The House of Representatives voted unanimously Thursday to impeach Judge G. Thomas Porteous Jr. of U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana, making him the nation's 15th federal judge ever impeached. "Our investigation found that Judge Porteous participated in a pattern of corrupt conduct for years," said U.S. Rep. Adam Schiff, D-California, chairman of the House Judiciary Committee Task Force on Judicial Impeachment. After the impeachment vote, Schiff and Rep. Bob Goodlatte, R-Virginia, were named the lead impeachment managers for the Senate trial, which will decide whether to remove Porteous from the bench. "Today's vote marks only the second time in over 20 years that this has occurred," Goodlatte said in a House news release. "However, when evidence emerges that an individual is abusing his judicial office for his own advantage, the integrity of the entire judicial system becomes compromised." In a statement, Porteous' lawyer Richard W. Westling said the Justice Department had decided not to prosecute because it did not have credible evidence. "Unfortunately, the House has decided to disregard the Justice Department's decision and to move forward with impeachment. As a result, we will now turn to the Senate to seek a full and fair hearing of all of the evidence." In a telephone interview, Westling said he did not know when the Senate trial would be held. "There are no clear rules that dictate timing," he said. Last year, the Task Force on Judicial Impeachment held evidentiary hearings that led to unanimous approval of the four articles of impeachment, citing evidence that Porteous "intentionally made material false statements and representations under penalty of perjury, engaged in a corrupt kickback scheme, solicited and accepted unlawful gifts, and intentionally misled the Senate during his confirmation proceedings," the House release said. Porteous was appointed to the federal bench in 1994. In 2007, after an FBI and federal grand jury investigation, the Justice Department alleged "pervasive misconduct" by Porteous and evidence "that Judge Porteous may have violated federal and state criminal laws, controlling canons of judicial conduct, rules of professional responsibility, and conducted himself in a manner antithetical to the constitutional standard of good behavior required of all federal judges." The complaint said the department opted not to seek criminal charges for reasons that included issues of statute of limitations and other factors. But Westling said the statute of limitations was not applicable. An Impeachment Task Force held four hearings late last year that focused on allegations of misconduct by Porteous, including: -- Involvement in a corrupt kickback scheme -- Failure to recuse himself from a case he was involved in -- Allegations that Porteous made false and misleading statements, including concealing debts and gambling losses -- Allegations that Porteous asked for and accepted "numerous things of value, including meals, trips, home and car repairs, for his personal use and benefit" while taking official actions on behalf of his benefactors -- Allegations that Porteous lied about his past to the U.S. Senate and to the FBI about his nomination to the federal bench "in order to conceal corrupt relationships," Schiff said in his floor statement as prepared for delivery Porteous was invited to testify, but he declined to do so, Schiff said. "His long-standing pattern of corrupt activity, so utterly lacking in honesty and integrity, demonstrates his unfitness to serve as a United States District Court judge," he said. Porteous, 63, has not worked as a judge since he was suspended with pay in the fall of 2008, Westling said. The last federal judge impeachment occurred last year, when Judge Samuel B. Kent of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas resigned after being impeached on charges of sexual assault, obstructing and impeding an official proceeding, and making false and misleading statements, according to the Web site of the Federal Judicial Center. The Senate, sitting as a court of impeachment, dismissed the articles. Before then, Judge Walter L. Nixon of U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi was impeached in 1989 on charges of perjury before a federal grand jury. The Senate convicted him and removed him from office that year.House votes to impeach federal judge from Louisiana
"This is another milestone in the inevitable march towards personalized genetic health," said Dr. Robert Marion, chief of genetics and development medicine and director of the Center for Congenital Disorders at Children's Hospital at Montefiore Medical Center in New York City. "Medicine is going to change from waiting for symptoms to develop to knowing what this person is at risk for and being able to stop that from happening. Eventually, we're talking about prevention." One day in the future, Marion predicted, doctors will be able to look at all 20,000 or 25,000 genes in a newborn baby and be able to say whether the child has specific genetic disorders, or a twofold increased risk of developing colon cancer or a higher chance of developing childhood asthma. And the cost to perform such feats has come way down, with experts at one company predicting that genomes could one day be sequenced for as low as $5,000. Right now, the cost hovers closer to $50,000. "When it gets to the point where it would cost less to sequence the genome using these techniques than it does to send off a sample to test for a few genes, then you can start moving medicine from just seeing people who are sick to trying to prevent people from getting sick," said Dr. Jeffery Vance, director of the Center for Genomic Medicine at the Hussman Institute for Human Genomics, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine. "You can see where things are going. This is showing that it's practical, it can be done and that medicine will start slowly to move toward using this technique as a diagnostic technique for all these individuals and families who have what looks like an inherited disease but not a big family history." And, Vance pointed out, genes don't change like cholesterol and blood pressure do. These tests would only have to be performed once. The predictions are based on breakthroughs reported this week in two journals, the New England Journal of Medicine and Science. Dr. James Lupski, vice chair of molecular and human genetics at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, was both the lead author and the subject of the NEJM study. Lupski suffers from a genetic disorder, Charcot-Marie-Tooth syndrome, which affects nerve function. By sequencing his genome, the NEJM authors were able to trace the disorder to mutations in copies of the SH3TC2 gene he and three siblings inherited from healthy parents. For Lupski, who already knew he had this disease, the findings probably don't come as much of a shock. But suppose people don't know they have this or another single-gene conditon? In the old days -- meaning last week -- experts would have had to suspect which disease the patient had, then hone in on the area of the genome thought to be associated with the disorder. Even then, the results could be far from certain. "The breakthrough is that now we would be able to make this diagnosis without having any preconceived idea that the patient had Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease," Marion said. The second team of researchers sequenced the genomes of two parents and two children from the same family with single-gene diseases. They reported that only 60 of the three billion base pairs in the human genome mutate randomly each generation. That's about half the rate of mutation that was thought to be passed generation to generation. How were scientists able to make these leaps? One big factor has been the advent of new technology with the ability to sequence large amounts of DNA very quickly, explained Marion. Previous technology could only analyze bits of material at a time. For now, the technology is likely to be helpful only with single-gene disorders which, when it comes to genetics, are relatively easy targets. "It becomes more difficult with complex disorders because these disorders are not due to one single gene but a combination of genetic factors in multiple genes, as well as environmental factors," said Marion, author of Genetic Rounds: A Doctor's Encounters in the Field that Revolutionized Medicine. "For single-gene disorders, this technology is a breakthrough," he continued. "But for the more complicated polygenomic or multifactorial conditions, which is every condition that affects humans -- diabetes, blood pressure, coronary artery disease and cancer -- there's a complex interplay between multiple genes and the environment. And sorting that out using the technology we have available now is still not possible." "Right now, it has its biggest effect where one of the 25,000 or so genes we have by itself doesn't work right," Vance agreed. "It won't have much effect on common diseases like cancer and Alzheimer's." Another expert agreed that the breakthrough could have its limits. "This showed that there's tremendous variability between individuals, and if you're a cup-is-half-full kind of guy, this creates wonderful possibilities for the concept of personalized medicine," said Richard H. Finnell, professor of environmental and genetic medicine at Texas A&M Health Science Center Institute of Biosciences and Technology in Houston. "But if you're a cup-is-half-empty kind of guy, we've been treating a lot of disorders with aspirin for a heck of a long time without differentiating individuals or even necessarily knowing what the mechanism of action of a drug is and [still] gotten some benefit," he noted. But, for many patients, an accurate diagnosis will at least be a move in the right direction. "If you were the parent of a child with a disorder and you had taken your child to doctor after doctor after doctor and were given either no diagnosis or a vague diagnosis, to even have a clear-cut diagnosis that doesn't come with an intervention, that's a huge step forward and a great relief," Finnell said. In the meantime, traditional genome-wide association studies, which compared the genomes of people who had a disease with people who didn't have the disease, are going to be "left in the dust," Marion said.Medicine's Future Could Lie in Each Patient's Genome
Two separate scientific teams announced this week that they had successfully sequenced individual genomes to pinpoint precise genetic causes of illness -- breakthroughs that open the door to a future of individualized, genomics-based medicine.
Washington (CNN) – Sarah Palin and Tim Pawlenty, two potential rivals for the 2012 Republican presidential nomination, will meet in Minneapolis next month to help raise money for Rep. Michele Bachmann, an outspoken conservative and popular figure among Tea Party activists. Palin had previously announced that she would campaign for Bachmann this spring, and Bachmann's campaign followed up Thursday with the announcement that the former Alaska governor will host an April 7 fundraiser for the Bachmann's re-election campaign. But Bachmann's campaign also announced that Pawlenty, the Minnesota governor, will be one of several "Honorary Hosts" for the fundraiser - adding an extra layer of 2012 intrigue to the event. The other "Honorary Hosts" are also Minnesota Republicans: former Sen. Norm Coleman, Rep. John Kline and Rep. Erik Paulsen. Bachmann's campaign said a rally with Palin is still being planned.
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An activist from New Zealand has been arrested by Japan's coastguard after he boarded a Japanese whaling ship in the Southern Ocean last month. Peter Bethune said he had boarded the ship intending to make a citizen's arrest of the Japanese crew. Instead, the Shonan Maru 2 immediately set sail for Japan with him on board. He is a member of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, which has been trying to disrupt the annual hunt of the Japanese whaling fleet. Scores of camera crews and photographers waited on the quayside as the whaling ship sailed into Tokyo bay with the anti-whaling activist on board. 'Eco-terrorist' Nationalist protestors were carrying Rising Sun flags and placards branding Peter Bethune an "eco-terrorist". After the Shonan Maru 2 docked, Japanese coastguard officials went on board and arrested him. He had been detained on the ship as it sailed back to Japan after he boarded it from a jet-ski in the Southern Ocean last month. His intention was to perform a citizen's arrest on the Shonan Maru 2's captain for what he said was the attempted murder of his crew, and demand compensation. Mr Bethune was in command of a Sea Shepherd hi-tech stealth boat when it was sliced in two in a collision with the ship as anti-whaling activists clashed with the fleet. He could now be charged with trespassing on a vessel, and if convicted, face a fine or prison.Japan arrests activist who boarded whaling ship
An Iraqi journalist spoke on a cellphone on Thursday as incomplete election results were posted in Baghdad. Iraq’s major coalitions were locked in a surprisingly close race on Thursday, in initial results from elections that deepened divisions across a fractured landscape. Candidates were quick to charge fraud, heightening concerns whether Iraq’s fledgling institutions were strong enough to support a peaceful transfer of power. The day was the most tumultuous since Sunday’s vote for Parliament, with Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki’s office saying he underwent surgery, officials with his chief rival complaining that their ballots were dumped in the garbage, and a leading Shiite coalition claiming that it had challenged the popular mandate that Mr. Maliki needed to return to power. The turmoil deepened both anticipation and uncertainty over an election to choose a government that will rule Iraq as the United States begins its military withdrawal in earnest next month. “It is a very close race,” said a Western official, who viewed the early results but spoke on condition of anonymity since Iraqi officials were designated to release them. “Whatever the end results, we know it will be a fierce struggle to form a government.” The initial returns, according to officials who have seen tallies from across the country, suggested a very tight race among Mr. Maliki’s coalition; Ayad Allawi, a secular Shiite and the leader of the Iraqiya coalition; and a Shiite coalition known as the Iraqi National Alliance. The Kurds, though divided, appeared poised to finish strongly as well, they said, leaving Iraq’s political map far more ambiguous than just weeks ago. Although officials said Mr. Maliki appeared to have a plurality in returns so far, his rivals in the Shiite coalition and Mr. Allawi’s alliance trumpeted their gains — Mr. Allawi in Sunni regions and the Shiite coalition in rural southern provinces. And the early indications suggested that Mr. Maliki fell short of the mandate he might have needed to guide negotiations over a coalition government that he could lead. At the very least, the showing could weaken his caretaker government during the months of negotiations that will follow the final results, which electoral officials expect by the end of March. Mr. Maliki has not appeared in public since the election. He entered the hospital on Wednesday for an operation to remove a cyst in his stomach, officials said. The government confirmed the operation on Thursday, saying that he had returned to work. After the last parliamentary election in December 2005, political leaders clashed for more than five months in an effort to form a new government, a period of indecision and confusion that allowed insurgents to gain strength and religious tension to worsen. Tens of thousands were killed in the sectarian fighting that followed, and many have worried that while Iraq is more peaceful, any transition will prove fraught with danger. “We may witness long months of problems and bargaining,” said Hazim al-Nuaimi, a political analyst. “This is the bad face of liberalism.” Nearly everyone had expected jockeying after Sunday’s vote, Iraq’s second parliamentary election, but the frenetic feel to the deliberations was striking. Vice President Tariq al-Hashemi, an ally of Mr. Allawi’s, held meetings with rivals, with or without Mr. Allawi’s blessing. Shiite politicians said that the followers of a radical cleric, Moktada al-Sadr, had performed surprisingly well, giving them a greater voice. Already, party leaders were suggesting alternatives to Mr. Maliki if his alliance entered a coalition. In past days, Iraqi newspapers have speculated about every possible combination, and the muddled atmosphere has exacerbated divisions that have plagued Iraq since the American-led invasion. Some Sunni politicians have insisted that a Sunni Arab succeed President Jalal Talabani, a Kurd. Kurdish officials themselves have worried that the entry of a dissident movement into national politics might weaken their hand in negotiations. “Any government, to be successful, should consider the Kurds and include them in a coalition,” said Mahmoud Othman, a Kurdish lawmaker. “That would be the logical thing, I think.” But he added, “We look to be weaker in this Parliament, this time.” Coalitions already seemed to be fraying, with several politicians claiming that talks had begun this week to persuade candidates to leave their alliances. “Many small blocs and figures will split,” said Safaauddin al-Safi, a minister and candidate with Mr. Maliki in Basra. “We are in dialogue with several of them.” The United Nations had hoped preliminary results would be released Thursday morning, but by nightfall, only partial results from 5 of Iraq’s 19 provinces were made public. Electoral officials blamed the logistics of the process, saying computers were overloaded Wednesday and crashed for several hours. By early next week, electoral officials said they hoped to have 80 percent of the returns tallied. A Western official said there were no reports of significant fraud, though some reports were being investigated. In fact, the official said, there were fewer complaints than in the provincial elections in January 2009, despite the far larger number of votes. Several parties have complained of vote tampering, with the Shiite coalition going as far as saying it might question the legitimacy of preliminary returns if its demands for more transparency were not met. But the charges by Mr. Allawi’s officials were the most extensive and almost sure to aggravate suspicions by Sunni Arabs, who have long accused religious Shiite parties of monopolizing power. At a news conference, his representatives came armed with visual aids, including pictures and ballots, some of which they said were abandoned in a schoolyard in Kirkuk. “Votes for the Iraqiya list are in the garbage,” said Adnan al-Janabi, a candidate from Baghdad with Mr. Allawi’s coalition. He said he did not know the extent of the alleged fraud. “One or one million, we don’t know,” he added. In addition to claiming to have found abandoned ballots in the garbage, and boxes in some homes, the representatives also struck at the heart of Iraq’s election process, claiming that workers at the election commission, who had been entering data in the computer systems, were caught fiddling with the tally for Mr. Allawi’s coalition. The questions over the vote’s legitimacy, along with the uncertainty over the negotiations for a new government, have given rise to unease that violence could grow. In Anbar Province, once the cradle of the insurgency, a candidate, Sheik Aiffan Saadoun al-Aiffan, said that three of his men were killed by insurgents posing as policemen on Wednesday. One of them, Mr. Aiffan said, was beheaded. “The violence is going to escalate against us,” he said. “But we’ll face them.”
Sameera Reddy Hot Scenes
Sameera Reddy Hot Scenes
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