Teacher wants acid thrown on attackers
KANDAHAR, Afghanistan : A 23-year-old teacher burned in an acid attack on 15 schoolgirls and instructors wants the Afghan government to throw acid on her attackers and then hang them. Kandahar's governor said yesterday that authorities had arrested 10 alleged Taliban militants in the Nov. 12 attack and that several had confessed to taking part. Gov. Rahmatullah Raufi said the men would be tried in open court, a pledge that pleased Nuskaal, a first-year math teacher who suffered acid burns on her shoulders. "Those girls were simply going to school to get an education," said Nuskaal, who goes by one name. Men riding motorbikes squirted acid from water bottles onto three groups of students and teachers walking to school. Several girls suffered burned faces and were hospitalized. Taliban spokesman Qari Yousef Ahmadi denied yesterday that any of the group's members were involved.
Bin Laden's driver is returned to Yemen
MIAMI: The Pentagon sent Osama bin Laden's driver home to Yemen yesterday, a month before the first Guantanamo captive convicted of war crimes by a military jury completed his 66-month prison sentence. Salim Hamdan, 40, had been held prisoner by U.S. forces for seven years. He was being returned to his homeland under a diplomatic deal that will have him finish his sentence in detention in his homeland, according to military sources familiar with the arrangement. It was unclear whether the transfer represented a breakthrough in long-stalled U.S. efforts to get Yemen to establish a program for returning jihadists now held at Guantanamo.
Lieberman praises moves by Obama
HARTFORD, Conn.: Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman took another step yesterday toward mending his relationship with Democrats, saying that Barack Obama's actions since winning the presidency have been "just about perfect." In a visit to his home state, Lieberman said, "Everything that President-elect Obama has done since election night has been just about perfect, both in terms of a tone and also in terms of the strength of the names that have either been announced or are being discussed to fill his administration." Lieberman, the Democratic nominee for vice president in 2000, was re-elected to the Senate in 2006 as an independent but continues to caucus with Democrats. He supported Republican John McCain's presidential campaign, going as far as to criticize Obama and make a speech at the Republican National Convention.
