theSun | TUESDAY DECEMBER 16 2008  13

news without borders

Obama’s chief of staff

linked to governor
WASHINGTON: President-elect Barack
Obama’s incoming chief of staff faced
questions on Sunday over reported contacts
with Illinois’s corruption-tainted governor,
who faces impeachment proceedings this
week.
Rahm Emanuel, a combative
congressman from Illinois who will serve
as Obama’s political gatekeeper in the
White House, was reported to have been in
touch with Governor Rod Blagojevich about
Obama’s Senate seat.
The Chicago Tribune and New York
Times did not suggest any wrongdoing
by Emanuel, citing sources as saying the
Obama aide had presented suggested names
to take over the seat without offering any
inducements to Blagojevich.
But the reports could present a distraction
to the president-elect, as the Republican
Party released a new advertisement
declaring that “questions remain” over
Obama’s links to the disgraced governor.
The web ad by the Republican National
Committee highlighted Obama’s past
support for Blagojevich and showed
commentators questioning why the
president-elect had not been more forthright
in denouncing the governor.
Blagojevich has refused to resign after his
arrest in an FBI investigation that accuses
him of staggering corruption, including an
attempt to sell Obama’s vacated Senate seat
to the highest bidder.
Illinois lawmakers are expected to begin
impeachment proceedings in a hastily called
special session, while state Attorney-General
Lisa Madigan wants the state supreme court
to strip Blagojevich of the bulk of his powers.
Madigan noted speculation, reported by
the Chicago Sun-Times, that Blagojevich
may now be set to resign or temporarily step
aside to fight the corruption allegations.
Commenting on the reports about
Emanuel, she told NBC television on Sunday
that it “doesn’t appear from what I’ve heard
so far that there is anything improper that
has occurred.”
Madigan was among the names
suggested by Emanuel for the governor to
appoint as Obama’s senatorial replacement.
– AFP

Bush on farewell visit to

Iraq dodges flying shoes
BAGHDAD: A journalist hurled Baghdad in April 2003, many Muntazer’s colleagues said he
two shoes at President George onlookers beat the statue’s “detested America” and had long
W. Bush on his farewell visit face with their soles. been planning to throw shoes at
to Iraq on Sunday, highlight- Bush laughed off the inci- Bush if ever he got the chance.
ing hostility still felt toward dent, saying: “It doesn’t bother The Iraqi government
the outgoing US leader who me. If you want the facts, it was branded Muntazer’s actions
acknowledged that the war is a size 10 shoe that he threw”. as “shameful” and demanded
still not won. He later played down the an apology from his employer,
Muntazer al-Zaidi jumped incident. “I don’t know what the which in turn called for his im-
up as Bush held a press confer- guy’s cause is ... I didn’t feel the mediate release from custody.
ence with Iraqi Prime Minister least bit threatened by it.” Saddam Hussein’s former
Nuri al-Maliki, shouted “It is Bush, on his fourth and final lawyer Khalil al-Dulaimi said he
the farewell kiss, you dog” and official trip to Iraq since he or- was forming a team to defend
threw his footwear. dered the March 2003 invasion Muntazer and that around
The president lowered his that toppled Saddam, admitted: 200 lawyers had offered their
head and the first shoe hit the “There is still more work to be services for free. – AFP
American and Iraqi flags behind done. The war is not over.”
the two leaders. The second
was off target.
Zaidi, a reporter
with the Al Baghdadia
channel which broad-
casts from Cairo, was
immediately wrestled to
the ground by security
guards and frogmarched
from the room.
He is currently
being held by the Iraqi
authorities, a source in
Maliki’s office said.
Soles of shoes are Security personnel
considered the ultimate tackle the man who
insult in Arab culture. threw a shoe at
After Saddam Hussein’s Bush during a joint
statue was toppled in statement with
al-Maliki on Sunday.
REUTERSPIX

Crews struggle to restore

power after ice storm slams US
NEW YORK: Emergency
crews struggled on
Sunday to restore power
to hundreds of thousands
of homes across the
northeastern United States
after a major ice storm
caked in a rock-hard glaze
and frigid temperatures sent
thousands to shelters.
Some 650,000 customers
in five states – Maine,
Massachusetts, New
Hampshire, New York and
Vermont – were without
electricity, US media
reported, after states of
emergency were declared
across much of the region
known as New England.
US President George
W. Bush declared
Massachusetts a disaster
area late on Saturday,
unlocking federal aid to
supplement local response
efforts to the storm.
Officials warned that it
could take days to restore
electricity as utility crews
laboured to repair power
lines downed by ice-coated
tree branches.
Relief groups such as the
Red Cross sought assistance
from outside New England,
including from Canada.
“We are used to cold, and
we are used to snow and
ice, but this is a storm that is
very unique,” Lisa Michaud,
executive director of the
Greater Manchester (New
Hampshire) Red Cross, said
on the Fox network. – AFP