AAP National News Wire Round-Up for Breakfast, Dec 16

AAP General News (Australia)
12-16-2003
AAP National News Wire Round-Up for Breakfast, Dec 16
Breakfast Round-Up: HIGHLIGHTS OF THE AAP RTV FILE AT 0430

Iraq Saddam Bush (WASHINGTON)

President GEORGE W BUSH says SADDAM HUSSEIN will be put on trial in a manner to be
determined in conjunction with Iraqis whom the former dictator brutalised over 30 years.

Speaking at a news conference, BUSH said they'll work with Iraqis to develop a way
to try SADDAM that will withstand international scrutiny.

Asked whether he favoured SADDAM'S execution, BUSH said his own personal views don't matter.

He says there needs to be a public trial and all the atrocities need to come out and
justice needs to be delivered.



Iraq Saddam (BAGHDAD)

Suicide car bombs killed nine Iraqis today, underlining US President GEORGE W BUSH'S
warning that SADDAM HUSSEIN'S capture will not end conflict in Iraq.

Despite jubilation on the streets, violence has again flared with a car bomb ripping
through a police station north of Baghdad, killing the bomber and seven victims and wounding
more than 20 people.

A second explosives-laden car blew up in Baghdad by another police station, killing
the driver-bomber and wounding eight police and four passers-by.

The ex-president's whereabouts remain a secret but his future became clearer as Iraqi
leaders insist he faces trial in the country -- with a possible death penalty looming.

Members of the US-backed Iraqi Governing Council say SADDAM is still in Iraq and has
not been taken to Qatar as earlier reported.

Council leader ABDELAZIZ AL-HAKIM says SADDAM will be put on trial in Baghdad and says
the death penalty could be considered at a trial.



Iraq Saddam Aust (CANBERRA)

Prime Minister JOHN HOWARD says the hunt for al-Qaeda leader OSAMA BIN LADEN is not lost.

Mr HOWARD's rejected the assessment that the hunt for BIN LADEN has been overshadowed
by the coalition's obsession with capturing former Iraqi president SADDAM HUSSEIN.

He's told the Nine Network the hunt for BIN LADEN's not been lost, but says the most
immediate threat for Australia and the region comes from terrorist group Jemaah Islamiah.

Mr HOWARD says Australia's 850 support troops and advisers will remain in Iraq for
as long as it takes to ensure order.

Both he and Opposition Leader MARK LATHAM say SADDAM should be brought to an open trial,
and they won't oppose his execution if he is given the death penalty.



Pakistan Blast (ISLAMABAD)

Pakistani security forces are on high alert today as they investigate a bid to assassinate
President PERVEZ MUSHARRAF hours after Indonesian President MEGAWATI SUKARNOPUTRI arrived
in the capital.

An explosion destroyed a bridge in Rawalpindi, near Islamabad, just seconds after Musharraf's
motorcade crossed over it yesterday, but no-one was injured.

Foreign ministry spokesman MASOOD KHAN says they are conducting a comprehensive inquiry
and try to determine who was responsible and what was the motivation.



Iraq Contracts (WASHINGTON)

The Pentagon says it's delayed until early next month a conference for companies wanting
to bid for $A25.3 billion in US-funded contracts to rebuild Iraq that was scheduled for
this week.

The Pentagon has also delayed several times the issue of tenders for the deals.

The tenders have been clouded with controversy after the US military limited competition
for prime contracts to nations that supported the US war effort.

ROBYN POWELL of the National Defence Industrial Association says the bidding conference,
which had been set for Friday near Washington DC, will now be held early next month.



Mideast (JERUSALEM)

A flurry of international diplomacy has yielded plans for US-brokered talks between
Israel and the Palestinians and a new round of negotiations to coax militants into a ceasefire.

The new initiatives move forward despite fresh violence in the Gaza Strip, where Israeli
forces raided a refugee camp and killed two unarmed Palestinians.

US State Department official DAVID SATTERFIELD has arranged the meeting between senior
Israeli and Palestinian officials.



Detention (CANBERRA)

The health of asylum seekers on Nauru is worsening as their hunger strike enters its
sixth day with seven now hospitalised.

The Immigration Department says five Afghani men on Nauru were taken to hospital yesterday
and Sunday night, joining two men already under medical care.

Refugee advocates say the health of those on the hunger strike is deteriorating rapidly,
with a number urinating blood.

Rural Australians for Refugees spokeswoman ELAINE SMITH says normal activities at the
immigration detention centre on Nauru have stopped in respect for 24 hunger strikers.



Indemnity (CANBERRA)

Cabinet meets today with the medical indemnity crisis on the agenda.

Health Minister TONY ABBOTT yesterday warned doctors they would still need to pay up
for past mistakes as cabinet considers the recommendations of a high-level medical indemnity
panel.

The panel handed a report to Prime Minister JOHN HOWARD last week, suggesting long-term
ways to solve the problems with doctors' negligence insurance.

Cabinet, which meets for a second day today, is debating how much the government can
spend to put the recommendations in place.

Any injection of funds will come on top of the $353 million the government is already
spending to prop up the medical indemnity system.



Foster (BRISBANE)

A Queensland cabinet committee will meet today to consider a response to a scathing
audit report which found allegations of physical and sexual abuse of 98 children in foster
care weren't properly investigated.

The coalition and child advocacy groups have responded to the audit findings by renewing
calls for a royal commission into child abuse.

The state government ordered the audit of the Families Department in June after reports
of abuse in a foster home north of Brisbane.



US Powell (WASHINGTON)

US Secretary of State COLIN POWELL has undergone surgery for prostate cancer.

State Department spokesman RICHARD BOUCHER says in a statement POWELL has undergone
surgery for prostate cancer at the Walter Reed army medical centre in Washington.

BOUCHER says POWELL will remain there for several days before returning home and will
be on a reduced schedule while he recovers from the operation.



Poll (SYDNEY)

The latest Newspoll shows voter support for Labor leader MARK LATHAM has grown rapidly
since he was elected to the party's top job.

The Australian newspaper reports Mr LATHAM'S rating, in the question of preferred prime
minister, has lifted from 26 per cent in the first week of December to 31 per cent.

Prime Minister JOHN HOWARD'S rating has dropped from 52 per cent to 46 per cent in the same time.

The paper says Mr LATHAM is now virtually equal to the best personal ratings former
Labor leader SIMON CREAN had in two years.

The paper says the surge in support appears to be coming from disaffected Labor voters
and people who had deserted the party.



JSF (CANBERRA)

Royal Australian Air Force chief Air Marshal ANGUS HOUSTON says the ageing F-111 bombers
are costing more each year to operate and there's a high risk they can't be sustained
beyond 2010.

Air Marshal HOUSTON says the F-111s are demonstrating all the symptoms of an ageing
aircraft including a wing breakage, fuel tank implosion and fuel leaks during the past
18 months.

The aircraft first entered service in 1973 and are set to be retired in 2010.



Medicare (CANBERRA)

Former Labor minister NEAL BLEWETT -- who implemented Medicare 20 years ago -- believes
it may be time to overhaul Australia's health-care system.

Both major parties are grappling to convince the public they have the answer for the
ailing system.

But Dr BLEWETT says it may be time to look at major changes, rather than just tinker
at its edges.



Preschool (SYDNEY)

Two young girls are fighting for their lives today after a car crashed into their north
Sydney pre-school and burst into flames.

Five other children and four adults were also injured in the incident that occurred
at the Roundhouse Childcare Centre on Balgowlah Road, Fairlight.

The accident happened when a white Holden Commodore sedan ploughed through the front
window of the pre-school about 1.20pm (AEDT) yesterday, catching fire as its fuel tank
ruptured.

A two-year-old girl is in a critical condition in the burns unit at Westmead Children's
Hospital and a three-year-old girl is in a serious condition.



BRIEFLY:



Indigenous Affairs Minister AMANDA VANSTONE hasn't yet decided on the fate of ATSIC's
suspended chairman GEOFF CLARK and is still waiting to receive a copy of the Aboriginal
leader's court judgement.




Fears of an influenza pandemic have increased after the federal government pulled out
of a tender scheme to supply next year's vaccine.



AND IN SPORTS:


CRICKET AUST (ADELAIDE)

India is poised for a rare victory on Australian soil when the second cricket Test
finishes at Adelaide Oval today.

Set 230 to win after bowling out Australia for 196 yesterday afternoon, India will
resume at 0-37 with another 193 runs needed.

A loss for Australia will mark the first time the world champions have fallen 1-0 behind
at home since the series against South Africa ten years ago.



CRICKET WINDIES (JOHANNESBURG, S Africa)

West Indies captain BRIAN LARA made 202 but his team was facing defeat at the end of
the fourth day of the first Test in Johannesburg.



SOCCER PLAYER (BASEL, Switzerland)

French midfielder ZINEDINE ZIDANE has been voted World Footballer of the year for the third time.

German World Cup winner BIRGIT PRINZ won the women's award and team of the year is Brazil.



ENDS BULLETIN

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