ST. GEORGE, Utah

Polygamist leader faces life in prison after conviction

The leader of a polygamous Mormon splinter group was convicted yesterday of being an accomplice to rape for performing a wedding between a 19-year-old man and a 14-year-old girl.

Warren Jeffs, 51, could get life in prison after a trial that threw a spotlight on a renegade community along the Arizona-Utah line where as many as 10,000 of Jeffs' followers practice plural marriage and revere him as a mighty prophet with dominion over their salvation.

Jeffs stood and, like his 15 followers in the courtroom, wore a stoic look as the verdict was read.

"Everyone should now know that no one is above the law, religion is not an excuse for abuse and every victim has a right to be heard," said Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff, who had endorsed the prosecution in Washington County.

UNITED NATIONS

Ahmadinejad: 'Nuclear issue of Iran now closed'

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad announced yesterday that "the nuclear issue of Iran is now closed," and indicated that Tehran will disregard U.N. Security Council resolutions imposed by "arrogant powers" and demanding suspension of its uranium enrichment.

Instead, he said, Iran has decided to pursue the monitoring of its nuclear program "through its appropriate legal path," the International Atomic Energy Agency which is the U.N.'s nuclear watchdog.

The U.S. delegation was absent during the speech except for a note taker.

The Iranian leader spoke hours after French President Nicolas Sarkozy warned the assembly that allowing Iran to arm itself with nuclear weapons would be an "unacceptable risk to stability in the region and in the world."

WASHINGTON

Spy chief: Al-Qaida training Europeans to attack U.S.

Al-Qaida continues to recruit Europeans for explosives training in Pakistan because Europeans can more easily enter the United States without a visa, the nation's top intelligence officer said yesterday.

Director of National Intelligence Mike McConnell said European al-Qaida recruits in the border region of Pakistan are being trained to use commercially available substances to make explosives, and they may be able to carry out an attack on U.S. territory.

McConnell also said he worried that Osama bin Laden's recent video and audio releases may be a signal to terrorist cells to carry out operations, he told the Senate Judiciary Committee.

NEW YORK

Bush and Maliki talk reconciliation, civilian deaths

President Bush pressed Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki yesterday to move on stalled measures deemed critical to political reconciliation, while al-Maliki made clear his unhappiness about the killing of Iraqi civilians by private U.S. security contractors.

Meeting face to face for the second time this month, the two leaders used polite diplomatic language to talk publicly about tense issues.

It was a sign of how little room each has to maneuver: The Iraqi prime minister owes his still-tenuous political survival in large part to staunch White House support, and Bush, even if dissatisfied with al-Maliki's leadership in some areas, recognizes there is virtually no alternative to replace him.

Bush is under tremendous pressure from congressional Democrats and Republicans alike to show that his loyalty to al-Maliki is justified.