The Star Online: World Updates
The Star Online: World Updates |
- Former prosecutors weigh in on Strauss-Kahn case
- Libyan rebels say commander killed by allied militia
- Around 100 feared dead in DR Congo boat collision
| Former prosecutors weigh in on Strauss-Kahn case Posted: 29 Jul 2011 08:48 PM PDT NEW YORK (Reuters) - Even by the standards of a salacious and unpredictable international scandal, it was a whirlwind week in the Dominique Strauss-Kahn sexual assault case.
On Sunday, Strauss-Kahn's accuser, Nafissatou Diallo, 32, broke her silence and anonymity, telling the world in televised and print interviews her version of the incident with the former International Monetary Fund chief. Diallo, a hotel maid, alleges Strauss-Kahn forced her to perform oral sex on him and attempted to rape her at an upscale Manhattan hotel on May 14. Strauss-Kahn, 62, who had been seen as a possible French president, has denied any wrongdoing. On Tuesday, prosecutors requested and received a second postponement of the next court date in the case, originally scheduled for July 16. It is now scheduled for Aug. 23. On Wednesday, Diallo met with prosecutors behind closed doors for more than eight hours. The next day, a tearful Diallo appeared before a sea of cameras in a Brooklyn church, as her attorney accused prosecutors of abandoning her. Yet through all the dizzying developments, the case remains in limbo. Despite speculation the prosecution would collapse after significant doubts arose regarding Diallo's credibility, a spokesperson for Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. insisted the office was still investigating. Interviews with eight former Manhattan prosecutors found agreement the case was an uphill climb, but no clear consensus on whether Vance should -- or would -- continue to prosecute Strauss-Kahn. "Every juror has to be convinced beyond a reasonable doubt that she's telling the truth," said Bennett Gershman, a former Manhattan prosecutor and a law professor at Pace University. "The burden is enormous on the prosecutor. Do they want to go ahead with a case that seems so difficult?" 'TREASURE TROVE' FOR DEFENSE Several former prosecutors said the decision to allow Diallo to speak publicly about the incident could create inconsistencies the defense would try to exploit at trial. Her credibility is already under siege after prosecutors said she lied about her past and about the immediate aftermath of the alleged attack. "You're creating a treasure trove of material for the defense to dig into," said Jeremy Saland, a defense lawyer who worked as a prosecutor under Vance's predecessor, Robert Morgenthau. Others have suggested that the media appearances show that Diallo's attorney, Kenneth Thompson, no longer believes the criminal case will hold up. Thompson argued on Thursday that she was forced to come forward to counter "lies" about her, including a report in the New York Post claiming she worked as a prostitute. Diallo has sued the Post for libel over that report. The publicity could also backfire if it appears to be an effort to extract money from Strauss-Kahn to settle a potential civil lawsuit. Thompson has said she will file a civil claim soon. Thompson's comments seemed to reflect his own uncertainty over whether the criminal case will proceed. On Wednesday, following Diallo's meeting with prosecutors, Thompson said the discussion "went well." When questioned on Thursday about that assessment, he appeared to backtrack. "You know, yesterday when I said it went well, I think that you read too much into that," he said in response to a reporter's question. "It was a meeting, I got out of it, I came outside. I don't know what the district attorney will do." 'PRETTY IMPRESSIVE SHOW' But some observers say the media blitz could succeed in bringing pressure to bear on Vance's office. "My sense is that they want to be done with it and they want to dismiss it," said one former city prosecutor who did not want to be named. "But, having said that, the victim has put on a pretty impressive show this past week." John Moscow, the former deputy chief of the district attorney's investigations division, said the physical evidence was strongly suggestive of a forced encounter. That could be enough to overcome doubts about her credibility, Moscow said. "Here's how I look at it: if she were run over by a car, would you still have a case?" he said. "Yes, you would. I just don't see any reason at all not to go forward." Matthew Galluzzo, a former Manhattan sex-crimes prosecutor, said Diallo's story about being gang-raped in her home country of Guinea, which she later admitted was inaccurate, could be devastating to the case. But Daniel Bibb, another former prosecutor, said jurors could forgive her, since she apparently told it to gain political asylum and entry into the United States. "In the average rape case, I would say that discovery of a prior false allegation of rape is fatal to the prosecution," he said. "In this case, I'm not so sure, simply because her motives in claiming rape were not malicious." Even if Vance goes ahead with the prosecution, former prosecutors say a conviction of Strauss-Kahn will be hard to secure. "If what I've read and seen is accurate, it appears to me that this case will ultimately be dismissed," Saland said. But like most of the prosecutors interviewed, Bibb warned it was impossible to assess from the outside whether the case will continue. "I don't know what the right decision is," he said. "I don't have all the facts." (Reporting by Joseph Ax and Noeleen Walder; Editing by Jesse Wegman and Peter Cooney) Copyright © 2011 Reuters Full Feed Generated by Get Full RSS, sponsored by Used Car Search. | ||
| Libyan rebels say commander killed by allied militia Posted: 29 Jul 2011 08:48 PM PDT BENGHAZI, Libya (Reuters) - Libyan rebels said on Friday the gunmen who shot dead the rebel military chief were fighters of an allied militia, in apparent confirmation of deep rifts among the forces struggling to overthrow Muammar Gaddafi.
The reports follow 24 hours of confusion over the killing of Abdel Fattah Younes, a defector from Gaddafi's inner circle, whose death deals a blow both to the rebels and their Western backers. There had been widespread speculation as to whether Younes had been killed in an internal rebel feud or by Gaddafi forces which had penetrated the Benghazi-based movement. The killing of such a senior figure was a setback for the rebels as they were winning broader international recognition and launching an offensive in the west, and has deepened fears that divisions within the rebel camp will prolong the conflict. Rebel minister Ali Tarhouni told reporters in Benghazi that an allied militia leader who had gone to fetch Younes from the front line had been arrested and had confessed that his subordinates had carried out the killing. "It was not him. His lieutenants did it," Tarhouni said, without giving details about the militia. He added that the killers were still at large. Rebel leader Mustafa Abdel Jalil said on Thursday Younes had been recalled for questioning to Benghazi but was killed before he arrived. Relatives said they retrieved a burned and bullet-riddled body. CALLS FOR UNITY The rebels have seized swathes of the country, but five months into the rebellion still appear far from ousting Gaddafi and remain poorly equipped. Speculation about the assassination of Younes ranged widely. There were reports that he had been suspected of feeding the Gaddafi camp with information. One rebel commander said Islamists whom Younes had targeted in his job as interior minister may have been to blame. The United States, which like some 30 other nations has formally recognised the opposition, said Younes's death was a blow but called for solidarity among the rebels. "What's important is that they work both diligently and transparently to ensure the unity of the Libyan opposition," State Department spokesman Mark Toner said in Washington. On Friday, weeping relatives and supporters brought Younes's coffin into the main square of Benghazi to mourn him, as fighters fired guns in the air. Some family members vowed allegiance to the rebels' political leader. "A message to Mustafa Abdel Jalil: We will walk with you all the way," nephew Mohammed Younes told hundreds of mourners in the main square. RUMOURS OF SECRET TALKS Younes, from eastern Libya where the rebels are strongest, had been Gaddafi's interior minister but switched sides to become the military chief in the rebel Transitional National Council. Rebel defence minister Omar Hariri, visiting the west, said Younes's death would have an impact on rebel fighters. "But they will recover, and there will be other leaders," he said. Rebels took swathes of Libya soon after launching their uprising in February against Gaddafi's 41 years of domination of the oil-producing North African state, but have made few recent advances despite the support of NATO air strikes. They said they had seized several towns in the Western Mountains on Thursday but are yet to make a major breakthrough. A rebel commander near Ghezaia told Reuters on Friday that around 100 insurgents had taken control of the town, from which Gaddafi forces had dominated plains below the mountains. Reuters could not go there to confirm the report as rebels said the area could be mined. But through binoculars from a rebel-held ridge near Nalut, reporters could see no sign of Gaddafi's forces in Ghezaia. Fighters on the front line near the town of Misrata said they viewed Younes as a martyr and would avenge his death. "It will be an extra motive for us in the fight against the tyrant," said Khaled al-Uwayyib. With prospects fading for a negotiated settlement, the five-month-old civil war will grind on into the Muslim holy month of Ramadan in August. Nick Witney, analyst at the European Council on Foreign Relations in Paris, said the West had hoped for a "nice simple conflict" with right prevailing, but this had ignored the nuanced, tribal nature of Libyan politics. "It was a brave and right thing to do," he said. "But I feel we've lost the moral high ground a bit and wandered into something that will be prolonged and messy, but we're not in a position to sort out." (Additional reporting by Michael Georgy near Ghezaia; Mussab Al-Khairalla in Misrata; Alexandria Sage in Paris; Samia Nakhoul, Avril Ormsby and Clare Kane in London and Missy Ryan in Tripoli; Joseph Nasr in Berlin; Hamid Ould Ahmed in Algiers; writing by David Lewis and Richard Meares; editing by Andrew Roche) Copyright © 2011 Reuters Full Feed Generated by Get Full RSS, sponsored by Used Car Search. | ||
| Around 100 feared dead in DR Congo boat collision Posted: 29 Jul 2011 08:18 PM PDT KINSHASA (Reuters) - Around 100 people were feared dead in the Democratic Republic of Congo on Friday after the latest in a string of boat accidents in the central African country, officials said. "We've counted 110 survivors out of over 200 that were on the canoe," said Rebecca Ebale, local communications minister for the northern Equateur province where the collision with a second boat took place on the Ruki river late on Tuesday. Ebale told Reuters by telephone that around 50 bodies had already been recovered. Alfred Lompaka, a survivor, said the damaged boat was a local construction made of three large motorised canoes and designed to maximise capacity for passengers and produce. It was sailing in the dark without lights, as was the second boat, which was able to continue its journey. Boat accidents are common in Congo, often caused by poor maintenance and overcrowding. Rivers and lakes are vital transport routes for people and produce in the heavily forested nation, which has virtually no road network. In May, President Joseph Kabila sacked his transport minister after a series of boat accidents killed more than 100 people. (Reporting by Bienvenu-Marie Bakumanya; Writing by Bate Felix; editing by Myra MacDonald) Copyright © 2011 Reuters Full Feed Generated by Get Full RSS, sponsored by Used Car Search. |
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