World briefs 11/14/05

French police chief thinks rioting is nearing end

PARIS -- France's worst rioting since the 1960s seems to be nearing an end, the national police chief said Sunday as fewer cars were torched nationwide and Paris remained calm despite Internet and cell phone messages urging violence in the capital's streets. In scattered attacks, youths rammed a burning car into a center for retirees in Provence and pelted police with stones in the historic heart of Lyon, the country's third biggest city. The nationwide storm of arson attacks, rioting and other violence, often by young people from impoverished minorities, has lost steam since the government declared a state of emergency Wednesday.

Security adviser: Bush didn't mislead on war

WASHINGTON -- While admitting "we were wrong" about Iraq's weapons of mass destruction, President Bush's national security adviser on Sunday rejected assertions that the president manipulated intelligence and misled the American people. Bush relied on the collective judgment of the intelligence community when he determined that Iraq's Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction, national security adviser Stephen Hadley said. Bush said Democrats in Congress had the same intelligence about Iraq. Appearing on NBC's "Meet the Press" on Sunday, Democratic Party chairman Howard Dean disputed Bush's claim that Congress had the same information -- the president withheld some intelligence and some caveats about it, Dean said -- and that two commissions had found no evidence of pressure being placed on those within the intelligence community.

Saddam trial will go on in Iraq despite protests

BAGHDAD, Iraq -- Saddam Hussein's trial will resume on schedule despite the slaying of two defense lawyers and the threat by others to boycott the proceedings over an alleged lack of security, a senior Iraqi judicial official said Sunday. Saddam's team said in a statement earlier in the day that about 1,100 Iraqi lawyers had withdrawn from the defense, arguing that inadequate protection was evident after the killings of two attorneys who were defending co-defendants of the ousted leader.

Sen. McCain pushing anti-torture measure

WASHINGTON -- Sen. John McCain fears the United States' image could be ruined if lawmakers don't ban the torture of prisoners in military custody. "If we are viewed as a country that engages in torture ... any possible information we might be able to gain is far counterbalanced by [the negative] effect of public opinion," McCain, R-Ariz., said on CBS' "Face the Nation." McCain was tortured in Vietnam. However, the White House has threatened a veto of any bill that would restrict how the military handles detainees.

Iraqi minister slams Syria for exporting terror

AMMAN, Jordan -- Iraq's defense minister criticized Syria for letting militants train on Syrian soil and warned Sunday that an escalation of violence in Iraq will spill over into neighboring countries. Saadoun al-Dulaimi's visit to Jordan follows Wednesday's triple hotel suicide bombings in the Jordanian capital Amman. "Let me tell the Syrians that if the Iraqi volcano explodes, no neighboring capital will be saved," al-Dulaimi said.

--From wire reports

Rice rebukes Iranian leader over Israel remarks

JERUSALEM -- Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice gave her strongest rebuke yet on Sunday to the renewed hardline Islamic leadership of Iran, saying that "no civilized nation" can call for the annihilation of another. Rice was referring to Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's remark last month that Israel is a "disgraceful blot" that should be "wiped off the map." Her words drew applause from politicians, diplomats and others gathered for a U.S.-Israeli symposium. "No civilized nation should have a leader who wishes or hopes or desires or considers it a matter of policy to express that ... another country should be pushed into the sea," Rice said, speaking slowly and sternly. "It is unacceptable in the international system."

-- From wire reports