Professional Documents
Culture Documents
New York Times 02 11 2011
New York Times 02 11 2011
And now there is Ms. Martin's the police. The coca ne an oxye ugus u c ove
"You know, I'm this notorious driver's identity, the police infa- Busch was a student in Tucson,
Ntachelor who always wanted mously bent down to change Mr. he flipped his Corvette after leav- death on Dec. 19. According to codone were in containers bear- 10 years."
sat
zi
An ExCLA. Agent, State Secrets, and a Family Sickened at a Covert Facility
Suspicious of a cover-up, Mr. C.I.A. into mediation. Mr. Shipp's Washington, who has representgas shell:'
By CHARLIE SAVAGE
The Shipps soon began to get Shipp said he sent samples from memoir includes a December ed many intelligence officials in
ay WASHINGTON In many 'One time me and my
sick. First, they got nosebleeds, the house to a scientist at Texas 2003 settlement agreement lawsuits against the government,
ways, the personal injury lawsuit
then developed symptoms that Tech University. His manuscript signed by a government counsel and Jonathan Turley, a George
iboked routine: In late 2001, a ii
little brother dug up a doctors
said resembled H.I.V. in- includes a Texas Tech report under which the family would Washington University law pro-government employee and his
fection or exposure to radiation, showing that the samples tested be bpaid $400,000 and would have fessor who has filed several lawTamily sued the agency he mustard gas shell:
suits challenging claims of executo stay silent about the matter.
family members said. Eventually, positive for toxic mold.
, worked for, saying it had placed
But two days later, he said, one tive secrecy.
Kevin Shipp said, he discovered
Eventually, the Shipps sued the
them in a mold-contaminated
Mr. Blackmun and Mr. Zaid
that the house was full of a C.I.A. using pseudonyms. Mean- of his attorneys, Clint Blackmun,
r tome that made them sick and bleeds, strange rashes, vomiting, spreading black substance.
while, Mr. Shipp was transferred called him to say that the govern- confirmed that Mr. Shipp had
required nearly all their posses- severe asthma and memory loss.
Camp Stanley has a troubled to the agency's headquarters, ment had withdrawn the settle- been a client, but they declined to
-sions to be destroyed.
Citing a confidentiality agree- environmental record. In August
ment. The case would be fought discuss any sealed lawsuit. Mr.
IA, But this was no ordinary case. ment he signed with the govern- 2001, according to local news re- where he became a polygraph out in court.
Turley confirmed that he had
-The employee, Kevin M. Shipp, ment, Mr. Shipp would not dis- ports, military officials began dis- tester. But his relationship with
The case was already sealed, been asked to consult on the case,
,was a veteran Central Intelli- cuss where the secret facility was tributing bottled water to resi- the agency was deteriorating,
and the Justice Department in- but said he was never given dea
tgence Agency officer. His home located, what its purpose was, dents nearby after it was discov- and the family began to suspect, yoked the State Secrets Privilege tails about it.
was at Camp Stanley, an Army which agency he worked for or ered that toxins from the camp that they had been placed under a judicially created doctrine
Mr. Shipp has moved to Florida
weapons depot just north of San what his duties were.
that the government has increas- and tried to rebuild his life. But
had polluted an aquifer in the surveillance.
Mr.
Shipp
said
he
quit
in
2002
which
A10
REGION IN REVOLT
11
6."
s" re
Associated Press
Panetta, the C.I.A.
director, appearing at issues a news alert
that Mr. Mubarak
a Congressional
panel, says there was will give a speech
a "strong likeli- hood" to the nation in the
evening, heightenthat Mr. Mubarak
ing speculation.
would step down.
DYLAN MARTINEZ/REUTERS
ASMAA WAGUIH/REUTERS
ABOUT 8 P.M. In
another news
alert: Anas
El-Fekky,, the
iinformat ion
minister, denies
that Mr. Mubarak
will step down.
President
Obama, speaking
at an event in
Michigan, says
"we are watching
history unfold."
ABOUT 10 RM.
Mohamed
El-Baradei,
an opposition
leader, says
in a tweet,
"We are
almost there."
Mr. Mubarak
delivers a
17-minute
address in which
he says he will
not resign.
Protesters in Tahrir
Square who are
listening to Mr.
Mubarak's speech
shout in defiance
and hold up shoes,
an Arab insult.
G.O.P. Leaders
Yield to a Push
For More Cuts
By CARL HULSE
Hospitals Shift
Smoking Bans
To Smoker Ban
By A. G. SULZBERGER
Smokers now face another risk
from their habit: it could cost
them a shot at a job.
More hospitals and medical
businesses in many states are
adopting strict policies that make
smoking a reason to turn away
job applicants, saying they want
to increase worker productivity,
reduce health care costs and encourage healthier living.
The policies reflect a frustration that softer efforts like banning smoking on company N
grounds, offering cessation programs and increasing health care
premiums for smokers have
not been powerful-enough incentives to quit.
The new rules essentially treat
cigarettes like an illegal narcotic.
Applications now explicitly warn
of "tobacco-free hiring," job seekers must submit to urine tests for hc
nicotine and new employees he
caught smoking face termination. YE
This shift from smoke-free dr
to smoker-free workplaces has th
prompted sharp debate, even fu
among anti-tobacco groups, over sli
whether the policies establish a ea
troubling precedent of employers On
intruding into private lives to ban hu
a habit that is legal.
CO
"If enough of these companies
adopt theses policies and it really en
Continued on Page A3
ha
Mandy Carroll, a student at the University of Kansas School of Nursing, just outside the campus.
lumbia passed laws, with the smoking?' said Lewis Maltby, otherwise qualified essentially
strong backing of the tobacco lob- president of the Workrights Insti- punishes an addiction that is far
by and the American Civil Liber- tute, who has lobbied vigorously more likely to afflict a janitor
ties Union, that prohibit discrimi- against the practice. "The num- than a surgeon. (Indeed, of the
nation against smokers or those ber of things that we all do pri- first 14 applicants rejected since
who use "lawful products." Some vately that have negative impact the policy went into effect in Ocof those states, like Missouri, on our health is endless. If it's not tober at the University Medical
make an exception for health smoking, it's beer. If it's not beer, Center in El Paso, Tex., one was
care organizations.
it's cheeseburgers. And what applying to be a nurse and the
A spokesman for Philip Morris about your sex life?"
rest for support positions.)
said the company was no longer
Many companies add their own
"We want to be very supportactively working on the issue, wrinkle to the smoking ban. ive of smokers, and the best thing
though it remained strongly op- Some even prohibit nicotine we can do is help them quit, not
posed to the policies.
patches. Some companies test condition employment on whethMeghan Finegan, a spokes- urine for traces of nicotine, while er they quit?' said Ellen Vargyas,
woman for the Service Employ- others operate on the honor sys- chief counsel for the American
tem.
Legacy Foundation. "Smokers
While most of the companies are not the enemy?'
applied their rules only to new
Taking a drag of her cigarette
Health hazards, and
employees, a few eventually outside the University of Kansas
,
mandated that existing employ- School of Nursin g, just beyond
now a potential risk to ees
must quit smoking or lose the sign warning that smoking is
their jobs. There is also disagree- prohibited on campus, Mandy
employment.
ment over whether to fire em- Carroll explained that she was
ployees who are caught smoking well aware of the potential conseafter they are hired. The Truman
quences of her pack-a-day habit:
Mecaenters,
di
l
C
here
in
Kansas
K
ees International Union, which
both her parents died of smokingCity,for
example,
will
investigate
represents 1.2 million health care
related illnesses. But Ms. Carroll,
workers, said the issue was "not accusations of tobacco use bya 26-year-old nursing student,
employees. In one recent case a
on our radar yet?'
said she opposed any effort by
One concern voiced by groups new
returned
a hospitals
smoke
to
"discriminate"
lunchemployee
break smelling
of from
like the National Workrights In- and, when confronted by his su- against her and other smokers.
stitute is that such policies are a pe .sor, admitted that he had
"OtAiously we know the efslippery slope S that if they been smoking, said Marcos fects of smoking, we see it every
prove successful in driving down DeLeon, head of human re- daY m the hnsPital: Ms- Carroll
health care costs, employers sources for the hospint The eimE aid. "It's a stupid choice, but it's
might be emboldened to crack pkuee was fneds
choice."
..-,
Even nansinis
down on other behavior by their
. do not mind the stria
*._
workers, like drinking alcohol. ban Irma et
i Sasaa,a, said be
_
-,
eating fast food and participial's magius
, slagkir sae than
I
I
YANNIS BEHRAKIS/REUTERS
it
t,
ts
less expensive than taking out a loan in An exchange in Hong Kong. China's currency is used in some international deals.
China or raising the money in dollars and
then converting those dollars into renminbi. The bonds were issued to help finance land, some cross-border trades with China ment has permitted an overseas branch of
Caterpillar's equipment leasing business in can now be settled in renminbi, so that Bank of China to accept deposits in renminChina.
trading partners do not have to convert in bi. That enables depositors outside China
"This was a successful issue," Mr. Lavin and out of dollars. One pilot program lets to bet on a currency that is widely expected
said. "Before, we were funding our opera- Russian companies like Sportmaster, a re- to appreciate against the dollar over the
tions by bringing in dollars and changing tail chain based in Moscow, buy or sell next few years.
them to RMB."
goods using Chinese currency.
"This is all encouraging the internationMeanwhile, in Russia, Vietnam and ThaiAnd in New York, the Chinese governContinued on Page 4
:1111/0
4cwg,
.ttatt,
By DAVID BARBOZA
M/
A4
International
Ole eNettl Rork alto
India and Pakistan Agree to Resume Talks Derailed by 2008 Terrorist Attacks
By LYDIA POLGREEN
Investigations
Of Trafficking
Put Surgeon
In Spotlight
By DOREEN CARVAJAL
ISTANBUL For a surgeon wanted
by Interpol and suspected of harvesting
human organs for an international
black-market trafficking ring, Dr. Yusuf
Sonmez was remarkably relaxed as he
sipped Turkish red wine in a bustling
kebab restaurant facing the windwhipped Sea of Marmara.
Dr. Sonmez, refreshed from a ski trip
to Austria, spoke last month while on a
break from business trips to Israel and
operations on cancer patients here.
He boasts about the results of his kidney transplant operations, more than
2,400 by his count. He keeps friends
(and, incidentally, investigators) up to
date on his life via a blog and Web site.
And in his seaside villa on the Asian,:,side of Istanbul, he treasures a framed
copy of a signed letter in 2003 from the
Ministry of Health in Israel commending him for his life-saving aid to "hundreds of Israeli patients who are suffering from kidney diseases and awaiting transplants!'
Yet Interpol is circulating an international red-alert notice for the Turkish
surgeon's arrest, with a mug shot of him
in a surgical scrub cap. The Turkish authorities have shut down his private
09i ,
hospital. And an expert who monitors
CAROLYN DRAKE FOR THE INTERNATIONAL HERALD TRIBUNE
the lurid and lucrative global trade in
human organs says Dr. Sonmez has
"Up to now, I didn't kill anybody. I didn't harm anybody, counting donors or recipients. This is the main thing that I am proud of.""
been arrested at least six times in Turkey.
DR. YUSUF SONMEZ
"There are two Yusufs: one my famA Turkish doctor under investigation in organ-trafficking cases
ily and friends know, and the one created in the press who is a monster this
prominent local doctors, have been
organs were transplanted into wealthy
donor and recipient side by side for 48
had not performed a kidney transplant
is a drama, a tragedy," said Dr. Sonmez,
charged with illegal kidney transplants
patients from Canada, Germany, Poland
hours.
in two months, since an operation in a
53, a trim, angular man with intense
in a private clinic. Dr. Sonmez has not
and Israel who paid up to $122,000. '
"This is amazing," Dr. Sonmez said of
country he declined to identify.
gray-green eyes and a graying goatee.
been charged in Kosovo, but the prosDr. Sonmez has been detained and rethe transplant process. "I love it to
The surgeon's travails in Kosovo be"Up to now, I didn't kill anybody. I
ecution
contends
that
he
played
a
cenleased repeatedly in Istanbul during inwatch the changes with the new organ,
gan after Yilman Altun, 23, a Turkish
didn't harm anybody, counting donors
tral role in the ring.
vestigations of illegal transplants and
the changes in the body, to move with
man, collapsed while waiting for a flight
or recipients. This is the main thing that
That case has become intertwined money exchanges between donors and the changes, to make changes in the out of Kosovo in November 2008. CusI am proud of!"
with a volatile two-year Council of Eurecipients.
medication."
toms officials found a fresh scar in an
Of his surgical skills, he added, wryly,
rope inquiry that made links between
The son of an English teacher and a
arc across his abdomen, and both Mr.
Typically, he said, he requires donors
"I am the best in the world as long as
Kosovo's prime minister, Hashim Thaci,
dentist, he said he trained at an Istanbul
and recipients to submit signed, nota- Altun and a 74-year-old Israeli, Bezalel
my fingers aren't broken."
and a criminal enterprise of some formedical school and studied transplant
Shafron who paid $122,000 for a kidThe illicit trade in human organs is a
rized statements to declare that money
mer Kosovo Liberation Army fighters
ney transplant identified Dr. Sonmez
surgery in Paris. He said the five-year
has not been exchanged.
multimillion-dollar business built on
accused of executing Serbian prisoners
as taking part in the surgery.
survival rate for his kidney transplant
paying desperately poor people to exHow does he know that desperately
in 1999 and 2000 for their organs.
patients was 84.7 percent, above WestUnable to operate his own hospital
tract their organs mostly kidneys.
poor kidney donors are not being exDr. Sonmez has denied wrongdoing in em standards, though it was not clear ploited by a murky world of brokers and
shut after the Turkish authorities acThese organs are then sold and transeither situation. Investigators have focused it of illegal transplant operations
planted to wealthier people facing long
how many of the donors he had seen
wealthy donors with lavish insurance?
cused on his role in 2008 as a surgeon
in 2007, an action he is appealing Dr.
waits on government-approved lists for
again.
"I don't need to ask these questions,"
legal transplants.
Sonmez said he was invited by a Kosovo
for the Medicus private clinic in a runBy his estimate, most of the thouhe said, "because I do believe that peourology professor to work at Medicus. A
down neighborhood in Pristina, KosoDr. Sonmez is wanted in regard to one
sands of transplants he has performed
ple have their own authority over their
document from the Kosovo Ministry of
of the most troubling prosecutions to
vo's capital, where they said kidneys
since 1992 involved live, unrelated doown body. They are not stealing, they
emerge recently: a European Union in- were removed from impoverished im- nors. He said his survival rate was high
are not cheating. So this is the shame of Health gave him a temporary appointment in 2008 as a general surgeon, with
vestigation into organ-trafficking in
migrants recruited on false promises of
because he presided over the removal
the system. Not their shame."
Kosovo in which seven people, mostly payment that they never received. The and transplant of kidneys, monitoring
Given his legal problems, he said he
Continued on Page A9
Iran Presses
Opposition
To Refrain
From Rally
By WILLIAM YONG
ES
e
g
n
e
y
a
it
Fears of Violence
in Standoff
By ANTHONY SHADID
and DAVID D. KIRKPATRICK
CAIRO President Hosni Mubarak
told the Egyptian people on Thursday
that he would delegate authority to Vice
President Omar Suleiman but that he
would not resign, enraging hundreds of
thousands gathered to hail his departure and setting in motion a volatile new
stage in the three-week uprising.
The declaration by Mr. Mubarak that
he would remain president appeared to
signal a dangerous
escalation in one of
the largest popular
revolts in Egypt's
history, and some
protesters warned
that weeks of peaceful rallies might give
way to violence as
early as Friday.
17-minute
The
speech itself underlined a seemingly unbridgeable gap between ruler and ruled
in Egypt: Mr. Mubarak, in paternalistic
tones, talked in great detail about
changes he planned to make to Egypt's
autocratic Constitution, while crowds in
Tahrir Square, with bewilderment and
anger, demanded that he step down.
Mr. Mubarak seemed oblivious. "It's
not about me," he said in his address.
When he was done, crowds in Cairo
waved the bottoms of their shoes in the
air, a gesture intended to convey disgust, and shouted, "Leave! Leave!"
The reaction abroad to Mr. Mubarak's address was more measured, but
also critical. President. Obama issued a
statement on Thursday night saying
that "too many Egyptians remain unconvinced that the government is serious about a genuine transition to democracy?' European leaders also called
for more fundamental change and
urged that it happen faster.
The speech came after a tumultuous
day of dramatic gestures and fevered
speculation in which the newly appointed leader of Mr. Mubarak's party said
the president had agreed to step down,
and the military issued a communiqu
in which it declared it was intervening
to safeguard the country, language
some opposition leaders read as signaling a possible coup d'etat.
Earlier in the day, even Mr. Obama
Continued on Page AIO
THOMAS L. FRIEDMAN
Nigel
tl n
TT
As an Ally Clings to Office, U.S. Faces Stark Choke of Whether to Break With Him
desire to fulfill the reform pro- compared the difficulty of makThe chaotic events on Thurs- transition," said Martin S. Indyk,
From Page Al
cess and continue the dialogue ing intelligence judgments to
A
day called much of the adminis- the director of foreign policy at
forecasting earthquakes: even
Square. The director of the Cen- tration's strategy in dealing with the Brookings Institution.
"But An 'orderly transition' with the opposition."
.
Mr. Panetta's rather firm dec- mapping the fault lines cannot
i tral Intelligence Agency, Leon E. the Egyptian crisis into question. this week, he raised doubts about may no longer be
laration to Congress about Mr. give you precise information
Panetta, testified before the For days, the administration has whether he had made the conMubarak's exit came at an awk- about the next earthquake.
House of Representatives on pinned its hopes on a transition version to a democrat. And now possible.
Still, Mr. Panetta said that his
ward moment, since top intelliThursday morning that there process managed by the Egyp- Mubarak has dragged Suleiman
gence officials had already come agency needed to better underk r was a "strong likelihood" that tian vice president, Omar Sulei- down with him, in the eyes of the
under fire for assessments about stand the "triggers" that can set
Mr. Mubarak would step down by man. But Mr. Suleiman followed protesters."
was hardly clear in a lengthy ad- the turmoil in the Middle East.
off events like the protests in
For the administration, as for
Mr. Mubarak on television, alignthe end of the day.
American officials said Mr. Egypt. He said that he had asked
American officials said Mr. Pa- ing himself squarely with his the crowds, it was a day of keen dress that focused more on his refusal
to
be
ousted.
) netta was basing his statement boss, urging the protesters to de- anticipation, followed by intense
Obama was unhappy about some C.I.A. station chiefs for "better
"He now has all the authorities
' not on secret intelligence but on camp, go back to work and stop confusion. CNN was on in offices bestowed on the president by the of the recent judgments of Ameri- collection on issues like popular
c media broadcasts, which began watching foreign satellite TV across Washington, with Secrecan spy agencies, in particular sentiments, issues like the
Constitution,"
Mr.
Shoukry
said
the conclusion that President strength of the opposition, issues
circulating before he sat down channels. That extravagant show tary of State Hillary Rodham
before the House Intelligence of loyalty may doom any chances Clinton and other officials wait- of Mr. Suleiman in an interview, Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali of Tunisia like what is the role of the InCommittee. But Mr. Obama, too, for Mr. Suleiman to function as ing for a speech that they be- including command of the mil- would remain in power and that ternet in that particular country"
seemed to believe Egypt was on an honest broker in the transition lieved would be a major step for- itary. Mr. Mubarak, the ambassa- Tunisian security forces would and similar topics.
dor said, retains the power to come to his defense.
Speaking to the same House
i the cusp of dramatic change. something on which the ad- ward in the crisis.
Shortly after the speech, amend the Constitution, dissolve
Defending the C.I.A.'s work on panel, the director of national inSpeaking at Northern Michigan ministration had been counting,
University in Marquette, he said, in part because it has good rela- Egypt's ambassador to Washing- Parliament and dismiss the cabi- Thursday, Mr. Panetta said that telligence, James R. Clapper,
"We are witnessing history un- tions with Mr. Suleiman, a former ton, Sameh Shoukry, said he net. And Mr. Mubarak could al- the agency last year issued near- gave spy agencies a grade of
ly 400 reports about simmering "B-plus, if not A-minus" for their
called the White House after the ways take power back.
fold," adding, "America will do head of Egyptian intelligence.
Defending Mr. Suleiman, Mr. tensions in the Middle East, and recent Middle East forecasting.
"The administration had been speech to say that Mr. Mubarak
everything we can to support an
orderly and genuine transition to looking toward Suleiman to han- had in fact delegated his powers Shoukry said, "The vice presi- the "potential for disruption?' A But, he cautioned, "We are not
die the orderly part of the orderly to Mr. Suleiman a move that dent's statements indicated his native Californian, Mr. Panetta clairvoyant:'
democracy."
f,
1V
iv a a .v,
U.S. Says Lebanese Bank Laundered Money for Drug Smugglers Tied to Hezbollah
Shiites.
institutions like exchange houses West Africa or other overseas destinaanon, a Middle East banking hub, is
struggling to overcome one of its worst around the world to help launder money tions to be sold, the complaint said.
Political observers were not sure
WASHINGTON The United States
Mr. Levey said that the bank also what impact the complaint would have
political crises in recent history, and for Ayman Joumaa, whom the Treasury
accused one of Lebanon's largest banks
helped Mr. Joumaa wire money' to colon relations between the United States
could exacerbate tensions between the
Department has declared a drug kingon Thursday of laundering hundreds of
and Lebanon. It comes one month after
United States and Hezbollah, a powerful pin. Mr. Levey said Mr. Joumaa, whose laborators in Asia, who would buy conmillions of dollars a month for a multiShiite Muslim movement.
Lebanon's government collapsed when
assets in the United States were frozen sumer goods that were shipped for sale
national drug trafficking organization
Hezbollah and its allies withdrew 11
to countries in Latin America.
Drug Enforcement Administration oflast month by the department's Office of
with ties to Hezbollah.
ministers from the cabinet. The move
ficials said the complaint culminated a
It is unclear, treasury officials said,
The complaint against the Beirut- five-year investigation involving agents
was part of a protest against an inhow much of the profits from those
based Lebanese Canadian Bank was
vestigation by an international tribun I
in Colombia, West Africa, Europe, the
sales was used to support Hezbollah,
which the United States formally desig- which is expected to indict sev j
filed under a rarely used provision of Middle East and the United States. The
A
case
could
worsen
the
the Patriot Act that allows the Treasury
members of the movement in cone'
nated as a terrorist organization in 1997.
officials said it shed light on the ways
Department to publicly identify finanthat terrorist organizations increasingly
Mr. Levey said several bank officials tion with the assassination of for
United States tensions
cial institutions considered "primary
Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.
relied on the illegal drug trade to help fiwere linked to Hezbollah officials outmoney laundering concerns" and then nance their activities.
with a militant group.
The walkout toppled Mr. Hariri's
side of Lebanon, including in Iran and
move to restrict their business dealings
Saad Hariri, from the prime minist
Gambia.
"As the number of state sponsors of
in the United States.
office. His successor, Najib Mikati, J o
terror go down, and other financing
Lebanese officials close to their counThe bank denied knowledge of any
was hastily installed with Hezboll
streams dry up, drug trafficking is filltry's robust banking sector said that
Foreign Assets Control, moved shipwrongdoing, saying in a statement that
support, has yet to appoint a new c
ing the void," said Derek Maltz, the
though the bank was owned by a Maroments
of
cocaine
from
Colombia
it would "fully cooperate and coordinate
net.
D.E.A. special agent in charge of the innite Christian, several members of its
. it
through West Africa to buyers in Euwith the relevant regulatory authorities
The observers said that the American
vestigation.
board including Nabih Berri, the
in an effort to demonstrate the integrity
leader of Parliament and more than complaint against Lebanese Canad*
During a news conference on Thurs- rope. .
The bulk cash from those sales was
and transparency of its operations."
Bank was likely to be viewed as die
half its employees were Shiites either
day morning, Stuart A. Levey, a treasdeposited into accounts at the Lebanese
The move comes at a time when Lebsympathetic to, or supportive of, Hezmore attempt by the United States `to
ury under secretary, described an elabCanadian Bank, and then wired to used
cast a harsh light on Hezbollah, which
bollah. They said the bank's main cliorate global clunkers-for-cash kind of
Hwaida Saad and Nada Bakri contribut- scheme in which senior managers at the car dealers in the United States, who ents were Lebanese businessmen who the Obama administration considers to
be a militant group propped up by Iran.
worked in Africa, a majority of them
bank used its connections to financial would buy vehicles and ship them to
ed reporting from Beirut.
By GINGER THOMPSON