A package of news briefs from the Caribbean

GUANTANAMO: Pentagon appeals dismissal of case against detainee accused of killing US soldier

WASHINGTON (AP) _ The U.S. Defense Department on Friday appealed a decision by a military tribunal to dismiss the case of a Guantanamo Bay detainee accused of murdering an American soldier in Afghanistan.

Omar Ahmed Khadr, a Canadian citizen, is one of two detainees whose military trials fell apart because they were not identified as "unlawful" enemy combatants.

The other is Yemeni detainee Salim Ahmed Hamdan, a former driver for Osama bin Laden.

Prosecutors filed an appeal in Khadr's case with the Court of Military Commission Review on July 4, said Navy Lt. Cmdr. Chito Peppler, a Pentagon spokesman.

Peppler said both sides will be given an opportunity to file written briefs.

It is the first time that the appeals process has been used since it was created by Congress in late 2006 to handle cases involving Guantanamo detainees.

Khadr and Hamdan are the only ones currently in the roughly 375-prisoner population at Guantanamo who have been charged with crimes under a reconstituted military trial system. The judge who threw out the charges against Hamdan has not yet ruled on prosecutors' motion to reconsider. Hamdan is accused of conspiracy and providing support for terrorism.

Khadr has been in custody since he was 15 years old. He is charged with tossing a grenade that killed one U.S. soldier and injured another in Afghanistan in 2002.

GUYANA: Gov't proposes regulations for healers peddling alternative cures for cancer, AIDS

GEORGETOWN, Guyana (AP) _ Guyana announced Friday it was drafting regulations for alternative healers who promise cures for cancer, AIDS and other diseases with potions and herbs found in the Amazon.

The growing ranks of herbalists peddling their cures nightly on TV have raised safety concerns for the South American country's government, which said it was seeking to demand a minimum of training for practitioners.

"It is a wild, wild west out there that must be regulated," said Health Minister Leslie Ramsammy, who noted that some claim a "divine right" to heal as their only medical qualification.

Herbs from the rainforest near the English-speaking country's borders with Venezuela and Brazil have been used to treat ailments ranging from snakebites to arthritis. Some specialists market their concoctions by claiming the ingredients are popular among the Amerindian communities in the interior.

Harold Peters, the chief executive of Guyana Rainforest Herbs, said he believes oversight will validate alternative practices and lead to integration with conventional medicine. He dismissed fears elsewhere that the government aims to squash the industry.

"It's a step in the right direction," said Peters, whose company develops and sells herbal treatments for prostate ailments, infertility and sexual dysfunction to Guyanese here and abroad.

HAITI: Hollywood, Bollywood, Haitiwood? Nation's movie industry blossoms despite hard times

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) _ Even in hard times, Haitians go to the movies. Now they're also making them in record numbers _ about 10 feature films a year _ rivaling Cuba as the Caribbean's biggest movie producer and often outselling better-financed imports.

The ultimate dream? To transform the impoverished, politically volatile country of 8 million into a cinema powerhouse _ Haitiwood _ following the lead of India and Nigeria.

While most Haitian industries are stagnant, show business is booming, driven by plunging production costs and an appetite among Haitians at home and abroad for movies shot in their native Haitian Creole.

"Movies are becoming Haiti's most popular art form after music," said Arnold Antonin, a director and president of the Haitian Filmmakers Association.

He estimates Haitian film production has risen 300 percent in the last five years, including an explosion in straight-to-DVD releases shot in Haitian immigrant communities in the U.S.

The country's first Creole-language film was released in 1980 _ Rassoul Labuchin's "Anita," about a peasant girl who becomes a servant for a wealthy family.

Haiti still does not have a national film commission to finance local production. But cameras have continued to roll, even after a bloody 2004 revolt that toppled President Jean-Bertrand Aristide and plunged the country into tumult.

BERMUDA: Judge sentences cruise ship janitor to 18 years in prison for drug smuggling

HAMILTON, Bermuda (AP) _ A Jamaican cruise ship janitor was sentenced Friday to 18 years in prison for smuggling US$300,000 (euro220,653) worth of heroin and marijuana from New York into Bermuda.

Andrew Laing, a 33-year-old worker for the Miami-based Norwegian Cruise Line, was convicted in Bermuda of conspiring to smuggle drugs and assaulting a customs officer as he left a docked vessel in the mid-Atlantic British territory on Oct. 6.

Laing, who is from Jamaica's resort town of Ocho Rios, was arrested by Bermuda police in the central parish of Southampton after about a monthlong manhunt.

His girlfriend, Teeteta Iereria, another ship employee from the Pacific island of Kiribati, testified against Laing during a Supreme Court trial last month. Iereria, who was sentenced to five years, said they obtained the drugs during ports of call in New York.

SOCCER: Milutinovic to end 'experimentation' with Jamaica's lineup, soccer official says

KINGSTON, Jamaica (AP) _ The president of Jamaica's soccer federation said Friday that the national team's ill-fated tour of Asia marked the end of "experimentation" by coach Bora Milutinovic.

"He's been experimenting, so you've got to understand that you're going to lose some and you're gonna win some," said Crenston Boxhill. "That experimentation period has come to an end and he's identified the players who can take the process forward."

Boxhill did not disclose further details of how Milutinovic plans to freshen up the lineup.

The Reggae Boyz have lost three of their four matches on the two-week tour.

Milutinovic was hired in November. He is the only coach to lead five nations at the World Cup: Mexico in 1996, Costa Rica in 1990, the United States in 1994, Nigeria in 1998 and China in 2002.

BASEBALL: Tigers INF Perez suspended for 25 games

DETROIT (AP) _ Detroit Tigers infielder Neifi Perez was suspended 25 games on Friday, the first player penalized for testing positive for a stimulant under Major League Baseball's drug program.

The Dominican, a seldom-used utility player, is hitting .172 with one home run and six RBIs in 64 at-bats in the team's first 83 games. He is a former Gold Glove shortstop, in 2000 with the Colorado Rockies. He also has played for Kansas City, San Francisco and the Chicago Cubs.

"I say to my fans that I am not stupid. I know the difference between good and bad and there are things that are going to be known going forward, but my lawyer has advised me not to talk for now," Perez told the Dominican radio program Impacto Deportivo in his homeland.

The suspension takes effect immediately. The 34-year-old Perez would be eligible to return Aug. 4 against the White Sox. Depending on off days, Perez will lose about US$400,000 of his US$2.5 million salary.