Nation briefs 1/2/03

More military troops ordered to Persian Gulf

WASHINGTON -- An infantry division from Georgia has been ordered to the Persian Gulf region as a part of the military's preparations for war with Iraq, officials said Tuesday.

The troops, from the 3rd Infantry Division (Mechanized), received prepare-to-deploy orders earlier this week, Army officials said. A defense official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, confirmed they were going to the Persian Gulf region as part of the U.S. military's buildup of forces.

It is the largest single ground force sent to the region since the Bush administration indicated its willingness to go to war against the regime of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein more than a year ago.

The division's 2nd Brigade -- several thousand soldiers based at Fort Stewart, Ga. -- is already in Kuwait on a regular troop rotation, officials said.

Court rules charity's assets were legally frozenCHICAGO -- The government acted legally when it froze the assets of an Islamic charity being investigated for terrorist links, an appeals court said Tuesday.

In upholding a lower court, the three-judge panel of the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals did not examine if the Global Relief Foundation supported terrorism.

The panel ruled against the charity's position that the freezing of its assets last December violated the International Emergency Economic Powers Act and the Constitution.

The charity noted that the act, amended after the Sept. 11 terror attacks, gives the president authority to freeze assets in which "any foreign country or national" has an interest.

The charity contends the law does not apply because it is a U.S. corporation.

The court rejected that claim, noting if it were true, the al-Qaida terrorist network could get around the law by incorporating a U.S. subsidiary.

Comair pilot arrested for carrying knife in bag

HARRISBURG, Pa. -- A Comair pilot was charged with disorderly conduct after federal airport screeners found a knife in his carryon bag, police said.

Capt. Rickey L. Mayle initially denied he was carrying a knife, which was detected Sunday by an X-ray at Harrisburg International Airport before Mayle was to board a flight to Atlanta, police said.

A screener searched the bag and found the knife with a 3-inch serrated blade.

Mayle, 46, later said the knife had been in his bag since September, and he had forgotten about it, police said.

The FBI was investigating the incident, officials said.

Mayle was released without bail pending a preliminary hearing, police said. He did not return a telephone message left at his home Tuesday.

N.C. senator tells friends he'll seek presidency

RALEIGH, N.C. -- Democratic Sen. John Edwards will run for president in 2004, telling guests at a party at his home Wednesday he will form an exploratory committee.

The first-term senator from North Carolina told about 200 friends he will announce his plans publicly Thursday, said Walter Dellinger, a former U.S. solicitor general who attended the New Year's Day party.

Edwards' guests gathered in his back yard while the senator thanked them for their support during his time in the Senate and in "what I'm going to do next."

Vermont Gov. Howard Dean and Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry are already running, and associates expect Missouri Rep. Dick Gephardt to announce he's running within the next week.

-- From wire reports