U.S. has secret info on Iraqi nuclear weapons

WASHINGTON

The Bush administration has secret information supporting its claims that Saddam Hussein poses an unacceptable threat to the world and is close to developing nuclear weapons, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld said yesterday.

President Bush could disclose the information through upcoming congressional hearings on Iraq, Rumsfeld hinted at a Pentagon press conference.

Democrats on Capitol Hill urged Bush to be more forthcoming.

"I think most Democrats believe the president has yet to make the case for taking action in Iraq," Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle, told reporters.

Bush plans to discuss Iraq in a White House meeting today with top Republican and Democratic leaders from both houses of Congress. Rumsfeld is also scheduled to discuss Iraq and the war on terrorism in separate closed-door sessions with members of the House and Senate.

Both Rumsfeld and Secretary of State Colin Powell dismissed Iraq's latest offer - relayed by Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Tariq Aziz - to let U.N. weapons inspections resume, suggesting it was just a ploy.

"It's the con that the Iraqi regime - and especially Mr. Tariq Aziz - have been pulling on the international community for years," Powell said.

Blair supports plans to remove Hussein

LONDON

Saddam Hussein poses a grave threat to the world and must be stopped, Prime Minister Tony Blair said yesterday, bucking the tide of public sentiment and trying to rally international support for U.S.-led action against Iraq.

Russia, however, insisted it would veto any measure for military action against Baghdad that is put before the U.N. Security Council. It urged Saddam to readmit U.N. weapons inspectors to avert the threat of war.

Iraq said yesterday it is ready to discuss the return of inspectors, but only in the context of ending sanctions and restoring Iraqi sovereignty over all its territory, in defiance of U.N. demands that any return of inspectors be "unconditional."

Blair signaled his strong support for Washington's stance on Iraq, and risked mounting criticism from the British public and from within the ranks of his governing Labor Party.

The Bush administration has said it wants to overthrow Saddam, but hasn't decided what action to take.

Court permits Israel to expel terrorists

JERUSALEM

Israel's Supreme Court gave the army a new tool in its two-year struggle against Palestinian violence yesterday, allowing it to expel Palestinians from the West Bank to Gaza for aiding terrorist suspects.

In the first case of its kind, the court upheld the expulsion of two relatives of a terror suspect, but overturned an order against a third person, ruling that expulsion must be limited only to relatives directly involved in terror attacks.

Palestinians called for foreign intervention to stop the Israeli practice, while human rights groups said it violates international law, particularly the Geneva Conventions.

Israel said the two, a brother and sister of a suspected terrorist, would be taken to Palestinian Authority territory on the edge of the Gaza Strip today. Palestinian officials said they would stay in a hotel and then move to a housing project in Gaza City.

Hatll red from research position

WASHINGTON

Dr. Steven Hatfill, who says the federal government has ruined his life by linking him to the anthrax investigation, was fired yesterday from his job as a researcher at Louisiana State University.

Hatfill was hired by LSU's National Center for Biomedical Research and Training in July and put on administrative leave with pay on Aug. 2.

"The university is making no judgment as to Dr. Hatfill's guilt or innocence regarding the FBI investigation," said Chancellor Mark Emmert in a brief statement released by the university yesterday.

"Our ultimate concerns are the ability of the university to fulfill its role and mission as a land-grant university," he said.

"In considering all of these objectives, I have concluded that it is clearly in the best interest of LSU to terminate this relationship."

WorldCom scandal not secret to CEO

WASHINGTON

Two top WorldCom officials apparently were told of potential accounting problems in March, according to an e-mail released yesterday by a House committee investigating multibillion-dollar errors in the telecom giant's books.

The March 18 message to WorldCom founder and former CEO Bernard Ebbers and ex-chief financial officer Scott Sullivan from another official cites "questions" about accounting issues related to preparation of the company's annual financial report.

WorldCom, which owns the nation's No. 2 long-distance telephone company, MCI, became the biggest corporate bankruptcy in U.S.