Gingrich joins call for Gonzales to step down

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The former speaker is the latest Republican to break ranks with the administration, which still stands behind the attorney general.

WASHINGTON — Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich on Sunday urged Atty. Gen. Alberto R. Gonzales to resign, saying the "self-created mess" over the firings of eight U.S. attorneys last year had hampered his ability to do his job.

"I cannot imagine how he is going to be effective for the rest of this administration," Gingrich said on "Fox News Sunday." "They're going to be involved in endless hearings, which is going to take up an immense amount of time and effort.

"I think the country, in fact, would be much better served to have a new team at the Justice Department, across the board," he said.

Gingrich, who is believed to be considering a run for the 2008 GOP presidential nomination, is the latest prominent Republican to speak out against the attorney general, and Democrats said the remarks were evidence of waning support within Gonzales' party.

"This is another important voice who believes that the attorney general should step down for the good of the country and the good of the department," Sen. Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.), a Judiciary Committee member who has led the investigation of the dismissals, said in a statement. "We hope both the attorney general and the president heed Speaker Gingrich's message."

Gingrich, who served 11 terms in Congress and is now a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute in Washington, defended Bush's right to replace the federal prosecutors, who are presidential appointees. But he said the administration and Gonzales had bungled the explanation of the moves and should be held accountable.

"This is the most mishandled, artificial, self-created mess that I can remember in the years I've been active in public life. And it has to — you know, the buck has to stop somewhere, and I'm assuming it's the attorney general and his immediate team," Gingrich said.

"How could you have so totally mishandled what was a slam-dunk?" he said.

The ouster of the eight prosecutors has touched off a political firestorm and become a test of Gonzales' ability to manage the sprawling Justice Department and its 110,000 employees.

Democrats are concerned that the department, in concert with the White House, may have targeted individual prosecutors for dismissal with an eye toward affecting corruption cases in a way that would benefit Republicans.

Gonzales has said he was not involved in the details of deciding which prosecutors were to be replaced. His statements have been contradicted in sworn testimony by his former chief of staff, D. Kyle Sampson.

The thousands of pages of e-mails and other documents that the Justice Department has released on the firings do not establish any improper motives. But they have generated questions about a process that often appeared haphazard and that involved a team of decision-makers with little or no prosecutorial experience.

Since the disclosures, three top Justice Department aides have resigned, including Sampson and, on Friday, Monica M. Goodling, Gonzales' senior counsel and the department's liaison with the White House. She has refused to cooperate with congressional investigators, citing her 5th Amendment right against self-incrimination.

Gonzales is scheduled to appear next week before the Senate Judiciary Committee in what many view as a make-or-break opportunity to defend his handling of the controversy and try to save his job. The White House has said that Bush still supports Gonzales, who has been a close advisor since the president's years as governor of Texas, but that the president believes Gonzales has to repair his relations with Congress.

Gingrich's decision to openly break ranks with the administration comes as many other Republicans are raising concerns about Gonzales, and as a growing number seem lukewarm about his tenure.

Sen. Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.) said Sunday that Democrats had failed to make a case that the firings were improper, but he urged Gonzales to defuse the situation.

"I think that the confusion and the ham-handed way that these firings was done certainly undermines the confidence of the Justice Department," Kyl told ABC's "This Week." "And part of his effort to come up and testify before the Hill will be to restore some of that confidence."

Kyl, a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said Gonzales had to "clear up the conflicts and apparent conflicts in testimony between his chief of staff and some public comments that he's made in the past."

In addition, while "it ought to be the burden of those congressmen who disagree with the president to prove that there was nothing in the firings involving political corruption cases," Kyl said, "it would be nice if [Gonzales] could somehow try to deal with that issue."

Gonzales' judgment was further questioned in a Washington Post article Sunday about the 2004 abortive selection of former New York City Police Commissioner Bernard Kerik to be secretary of the Department of Homeland Security. Gonzales, then White House counsel, was responsible for vetting the nomination, which was withdrawn after Kerik said he discovered that he had hired an illegal immigrant as a nanny. The Post said White House aides tried to raise red flags but the administration went forward with the nomination anyway.

Federal prosecutors recently told Kerik's attorneys they were preparing to charge Kerik with violating federal tax laws as well as with filing false information with the government when Bush nominated him to the Cabinet, the Post reported.

Appearing with Gingrich on "Fox News Sunday," Schumer said the report "is another reason that this attorney general should go."

Outrage as Iran captives cash in

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Captured sailor Faye Turney and her fellow hostages were accused of 'behaving like reality TV stars' after being given permission to cash in on their ordeal.

The 15 sailors and Marines have been told they can sell their stories to the media by the Ministry of Defence, which bracketed the "exceptional circumstances" surrounding their 13-day ordeal with winners of the Victoria Cross.

Mrs Turney has told The Sun how she feared she would be raped by her Iranian captors. The 26-year-old mother said she was separated from the other sailors and Marines, and stripped to her underwear. She said she "felt like a traitor" when ordered to write "confession" letters on Iranian TV.



Iranian television has now released fresh footage of the sailors and Marines aimed at refuting claims they they were mistreated.

The video clips showed several of the sailors and marines dressed in track suits playing chess and table tennis.

The newscaster, who spoke over the beginning of the footage, said the video proved "the sailors had complete liberty during their detention, which contradicts what the sailors declared after they arrived in Britain."


New footage: The sailors and marines 'relax' with a meal and games while in captivity


News that Mrs Turney alone is likely to make at least £100,000 was condemned by former Defence Ministers, ex-soldiers - and families who have lost loved ones in Iraq and Afghanistan.

At Westminster, even some Labour MPs suspected a Government spin operation designed to distract attention away from embarrassing questions over the capture itself. PR expert Max Clifford said he had been approached by the fathers of two of the hostages for advice on how to do a deal with the media.

He described the decision as a "propaganda exercise" because it "suited" the MoD for the stories to be told.

"They were very encouraging, they were very happy about them doing this, that's the way they (the fathers) were putting it to me," said Mr Clifford.

Mike Aston, whose 30-year-old son Russell was one of six Redcaps killed by an Iraqi mob, said he was "absolutely amazed" by the "tacky and sordid" decision.

He said: "Regarding my son's death, I can put my hand on my heart and say that I've never sought or made a penny out of it. I think to actually sell my story would besmirch my son's memory."

Mrs Turney, 26 - who did not appear alongside some of her colleagues at Friday's press conference - is expected to tell her story to a tabloid newspaper and has given an interview to be broadcast this evening on ITV's Tonight with Trevor McDonald.

Royal Marine Dean Harris told one Sunday newspaper he wanted £70,000 for his story and the father of Marine Joe Tindell claimed some of the hostages were planning to sell on eBay the vases given to them in farewell "goody bags" by the Iranians. John Tindell said the MoD told them: "Go out there, tell the truth and make the money."

Defence Secretary Des Browne approved the decision and Downing Street confirmed it had

been made aware of the controversial move, but a Number 10 spokesman insisted: "We did not have any involvement in it.

On the unofficial website the Army Rumour Service, some contributors suggested the hostages who decide to sell should leave the Armed Forces - and all proceeds should be donated to families of those killed in Iraq.

One wrote: 'Bloody ridiculous! Two sodding weeks, not a scratch, fed and watered, cigs, new suits. Heroes my a***!'

Lieutenant Felix Carman, one of the two officers captured by Iran's Revolutionary Guards, said if he made any cash from his story it would go to charity.

"I am not interested in making money out of this,' the 26-year- old from Swansea told the BBC. "My main aim is to tell the story. There's some people who might be making money, but that's an individual's decision.

"I think every one of us has had offers. I think the MoD has played this quite well. Somebody, somewhere is going to make money out of this story, and they've said we're happy for you guys, the people who've been involved, to actually be the ones that do that."

The parents of Marine Captain Chris Air said he would not be selling his story. "He's not comfortable with the idea," said his father Robin.

"If others want to sell their story then fair play to them. Some aren't on great salaries so this could change their lives.

"He may have done something with the rest of the men and pooled the money. But now he's decided he doesn't want to keep bringing it up again and again."

Serving military personnel are permitted to speak to the media, but only with the permission of their senior officers.

Sadr stokes anti-U.S. fervor

Tribune news services
BAGHDAD -- Calling the United States the "great evil," powerful Shiite cleric Moqtada Sadr on Sunday ordered his militiamen to redouble their effort to oppose American troops and argued that Iraq's army and police force should join him in defeating "your archenemy."

The cleric's verbal assault came as the U.S. military announced that 10 American soldiers were killed over the weekend, including six Sunday in attacks north and south of Baghdad. At least 69 Iraqis also were killed or found dead across Iraq.

Sadr's statement did not explicitly call for an armed struggle against the Americans, but it represented his most forceful condemnation of the U.S.-led occupation since he went underground after the start of an intensified security crackdown in Baghdad nearly two months ago.

"You, the Iraqi army and police forces, don't walk alongside the occupiers, because they are your archenemy," his statement said.

Sadr urged his followers not to attack fellow Iraqis but to turn their efforts on American forces.

"God has ordered you to be patient in front of your enemy, and unify your efforts against them -- not against the sons of Iraq," the statement said.

Thousands of Iraqis flowed to the southern holy city of Najaf, heeding Sadr's command to stage a massive anti-U.S. protest Monday, the fourth anniversary of the fall of former dictator Saddam Hussein. Hundreds of buses and cars clogged the road to Najaf on Sunday, as thousands of his supporters waved Iraqi flags and shouted religious and anti-American slogans.

"No, no, no, to America ... Moqtada, yes, yes, yes," they chanted as Iraqi television crews followed them.

Sheik Abdul Razaq al-Nadawi, a Sadr spokesman in Najaf, said clashes erupted in Simawa province, south of Baghdad, between Mahdi Army militiamen and police, who apparently were trying to stop them from heading to Najaf. He said five militiamen were killed after protesters attacked the police with bricks and stones. The report could not be verified.

The tensions followed two days of fierce battles pitting U.S. and Iraqi forces against al-Mahdi Army militiamen in Diwaniyah. As U.S. combat aircraft launched air strikes, house-to-house clashes erupted. A curfew was still being enforced Sunday in the city and U.S. forces patrolled the streets, said Hamid Jiati, a Diwaniyah health department official.

Sadr is engaged in an uneasy cooperation with U.S. and Iraqi forces in Baghdad, particularly in his stronghold of Sadr City. He has ordered his fighters to stand down as U.S. troops patrol and conduct security sweeps and to avoid being provoked into battle.

It is unclear whether Sadr ordered the Diwaniyah clashes, rogue elements of the Mahdi Army rose up or individual militiamen were defending their homes.

"Up until now, we have not made any decision to clash against the American or the Iraqi forces," Sheik Salah al-Ubaidi, a close aide to Sadr, said from Najaf.

Sadr's aides say the cleric is in Iraq, and al-Ubaidi added, "There is a 65 percent possibility that Moqtada Sadr will come to the demonstration." U.S. military officials have said Sadr is in Iran.

Regardless of whether Sadr attends Monday's protests, "the demonstrators will burn the American flag and then will rise up the Iraqi flag as part of the ceremony," al-Ubaidi said.

Among the six U.S. casualties Sunday, three soldiers were killed in a roadside bomb attack during a patrol south of Baghdad, one was killed in a separate attack south of the capital and two died of wounds from combat operations in Diyala province and Salahaddin province, the military said.

An explosion near a military vehicle Saturday in Diyala province killed four soldiers, the military said.

Also Sunday, in the southern city of Mahmoudiya, a car bombing killed 17 Iraqis and wounded 26 others. The U.S. military has acknowledged that the security crackdown in Baghdad might increase attacks outside the capital.

"You have the enemy trying to show it is still strong and able to move and stir fear in the population," military spokesman Lt. Col. Christopher Garver said.