A package of news briefs from the Caribbean

GUANTANAMO: Judge postpones trial decision for Canadian detainee

GUANTANAMO BAY NAVAL BASE, Cuba (AP) — A U.S. government official's eyewitness account of a firefight that killed a U.S. soldier in Afghanistan could derail the Bush administration's plans to put a former child soldier on military trial, defense attorneys said Thursday.

Omar Khadr's lead attorney, Navy Lt. Cmdr. William Kuebler, said the evidence could prove the Guantanamo detainee does not merit a designation as an "unlawful enemy combatant," which is required for him to face trial on this U.S. Navy base.

The evidence was revealed by U.S. military prosecutors to defense attorneys on Tuesday — five years after the Canadian teenager was detained. The attorneys couldn't discuss the classified evidence or identify the witness, but Kuebler was clearly angry over the limited disclosure to defense attorneys.

The witness described a 2002 firefight in Afghanistan in which Khadr, then 15, allegedly threw a grenade that killed Sgt. 1st Class Christopher Speer, a Delta Force commando, at an al-Qaida compound, the defense attorneys said.

The presiding judge, Army Col. Peter Brownback, postponed a decision Thursday on whether Khadr can be tried by the military as an "unlawful enemy combatant."

Khadr, the Toronto-born son of an alleged al-Qaida financier, answered the judge's questions politely, saying "Yes, sir" and "Yeah," and did not enter a plea to charges including murder, conspiracy and spying.

Kuebler said the prosecutors were legally obligated to share the new evidence and criticized the government for not making the information available sooner as defense attorneys prepare for the first U.S. war-crime trials since the World War II era.

The lead prosecutor, Marine Corps. Maj. Jeffrey Groharing pleaded for an opportunity to present evidence against Khadr. He said the government had flown in witnesses and has a videotape that shows Khadr planting land mines. But Brownback stood by his postponement.

HAITI: UN defends its conduct at storm shelter; Haitian police investigate

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) — The U.N. on Thursday defended its conduct at a storm shelter from public accusations it abandoned evacuees to roving gangsters, while Haitian police said they have opened investigation.

Displaced Haitians staying at a school under U.N. protection said peacekeepers fled with the facility's lone generator after sundown on Nov. 2, days after Tropical Storm Noel forced thousands to seek refuge in Port-au-Prince's seaside Cite Soleil slum. Evacuees said gangsters then streamed into the shelter, beating them with sticks and stealing blankets and food.

U.N. military commander Maj. Gen. Carlos Alberto Dos Santos Cruz on Thursday denied that gangs invaded the overcrowded shelter after his Brazilian and Paraguayan soldiers left, and indicated the disturbance was a fight over food by evacuees.

At a news conference, Santos Cruz said that storm evacuees, who had not yet been fed that day, began fighting when food was finally brought in around 6 p.m. local time. Shortly after regaining control, commanders decided it was secure enough to hand over to Haitian police.

"At that moment we had complete, absolute control," Santos Cruz said.

Haitian police spokesman Frantz Lerebours, citing an investigation into the incident opened by Haitian authorities, declined to comment on evacuees' reports of gangs rushing into the shelter after U.N. troops left.

Lerebours said police reports indicated that after U.N. troops left, the fight over food continued and gunshots were fired into the air by unknown people.

The 7,000-member U.N. peacekeeping force was installed to break gangs and stabilize the country after a 2004 rebellion ousted President Jean-Bertrand Aristide. But after the deadly Tropical Storm Noel, the force found itself doing disaster relief instead — filling in for a year-and-a-half-old government neither equipped nor organized to handle the crisis.

US VIRGIN ISLANDS: Federal jury indicts 2 former territory officials in bribery scheme

CHARLOTTE AMALIE, U.S. Virgin Islands (AP) — A federal grand jury indicted two former U.S. Virgin Island officials and a local businessman on charges of conspiring to defraud the islands' government of US$1.4 million (euro950,000) in federal and local funds, officials said Thursday.

The indictment charges Dean Plaskett, a former planning and natural resources commissioner, and Marc Biggs, former chief of the department of property and procurement, with demanding and accepting bribes and kickbacks in exchange for awarding government contracts, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.

Plaskett and Biggs, both 42, are charged with mail fraud and multiple counts of bribery. The two men, along with local businessman Leroy Marchena, are also charged with multiple counts of obstructing justice.

The bribery and kickback scheme in the U.S. Caribbean territory involved a fictitious company, Elite Technical Services. Little or no actual work was performed on contracts but payments were still made to Elite and the other entities, according to prosecutors.

Three other former U.S. Virgin Islands officials have pleaded guilty to felony charges as a result of the investigation, including Hollis L. Griffin, a former chief of environmental protection who was sentenced to four years for his role in the scheme earlier this year.

All the convicted or indicted officials served in the administration of former Gov. Charles Turnbull.

HAITI: AP Interview: New UN envoy says peacekeepers must remain in Caribbean nation for years

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) — U.N. peacekeepers will likely remain in Haiti for several more years because the troubled Caribbean country is not close to managing its own security, the mission's new chief envoy said Thursday.

Hedi Annabi, in his first interview since assuming control of a 7,000-member U.N. force and thousands of international staff in Haiti, told The Associated Press that the U.N. mission has made great strides, but will not seek to leave the volatile country anytime soon.

"The security situation is extremely fragile. And if we were to downsize dramatically there would be a vacuum that would be immediately backfilled by the same people that were there when we got started," said Annabi, sitting in his office in the hills above Port-au-Prince.

When asked how long that might take, Annabi said: "You don't create a security force, a police force, in two or three years ... It takes 10, 15, 20 years."

Haiti's capital fell into chaos after a 2004 revolt toppled former President Jean-Bertrand Aristide. Since the uprising, the U.N. peacekeeping force has provided the only real security in Haiti, which has roughly 4,000 police for a population of about 8 million.

A U.N.-led crackdown against gangs in the city's violent slums has reduced shootings, but rampant poverty and unemployment threatens to break the peace. The U.N. Security Council recently renewed the U.N. mission through October 2008.

Many Haitians have been calling on the U.N. force to foster development in the country, but Annabi said Thursday that is not the role of U.N. troops.

"What we do is we create the environment in which job creation, investment and economic reconstruction can take place. We don't do it ourselves," Annabi said.

JAMAICA: Specialist maintains deceased World Cup cricket coach was poisoned

KINGSTON, Jamaica (AP) — A Jamaican specialist who analyzed stomach samples from Pakistan cricket coach Bob Woolmer said Thursday that lethal amounts of a pesticide were revealed in tests he administered.

Woolmer, 58, was found sprawled dead on the floor of his room on March 18, after his team was eliminated from the Cricket World Cup.

Days later, Jamaica's government pathologist ruled he had been strangled, setting off a globe-spanning homicide investigation. Several foreign doctors, however, have concluded Woolmer died from natural causes, most likely heart disease.

Fitzmore Coates, senior officer at the Forensics Science Laboratory in Kingston, said he had detected lethal amounts of cypermethrin in Woolmer's stomach, and also found the potentially deadly chemical in urine and blood samples taken from the late coach.

His testimony supports statements made by Jamaica's government pathologist, Dr. Ere Sheshiah, who said a toxicology report in June revealed fatal levels of the pesticide in Woolmer's system.

A British expert recently testified at the inquest into Woolmer's death that no trace of a potentially deadly pesticide was found in the samples — contradicting Coates and Sheshiah, who has insisted the coach was poisoned by the pesticide cypermethrin and strangled.

Coroner Patrick Murphy, who is presiding over the inquest, said toxicology samples from the coach's stomach will be re-examined because experts disagree on whether poisoning was a factor in his death.

CUBA: Cuba says weeks of flooding exacerbated by Noel killed 1, destroyed nearly 22,000 homes

HAVANA (AP) — Cuba said Thursday that weeks of downpours and flooding exacerbated by Tropical Storm Noel killed one man, damaged nearly 22,000 homes and caused losses worth almost US$500 million (euro342 million) in the island's eastern provinces.

A brief government announcement published on the front page of state-run newspapers provided what was described as a preliminary analysis of the damage caused by rains that pounded central and eastern areas of the country between Oct. 11 and Nov. 5.

It said Yusmani Tames, a resident of Granma province, died while trying to cross a flood-swollen river. The date of his death was not given and it was unclear if it was a direct result of flooding associated with Noel.

The tropical storm moved into Cuba on Oct. 31, causing dams to overflow and forcing more than 100,000 Cubans to evacuate homes in low-lying and mountainous areas. The storm sparked flooding and mudslides in other countries that killed 148 people across the Caribbean.

State radio reported Thursday that 29,000 people in Granma province alone were still living with neighbors, relatives or in government shelters. Figures on remaining evacuees elsewhere were not released, though residents in many areas said flood waters were beginning to recede.

SOCCER: Jamaica fire coach Milutinovic, ending 4-year contract after 1 year

KINGSTON, Jamaica (AP) — Bora Milutinovic, who coached five teams to the World Cup finals, was fired as coach and technical director by the Jamaica Football Federation.

The JFF informed Serbian-born Milutinovic on Wednesday that it was sacking him for breach of contract.

A statement from the JFF on Thursday didn't elaborate on the breach, and calls to president Captain Horace Burrell and his executive were not returned.

Milutinovic took over as coach and technical director of Jamaica's soccer program last November, and led the team to the Lunar Cup title earlier this year. But Jamaica hasn't played since July and fallen in the FIFA world rankings to 103.

Milutinovic received a four-year contract, partially funded by the government.

"The federation has arranged to pay within what it believes to be a reasonable period of time from the date of the notice, the amount due to the technical director in accordance with the nature of his termination," the statement said.