Friday Truthout roundup

Former US Secretaries of State Kissenger, Baker, Christopher, Albright and Powell urge closing of Guantanamo; former Alabama Gov. Don Siegelman released from prison on appeal; Iraq extends deadline for militiamen as fighting continues; legal challenges regarding destruction of CIA tapes filed in at least 13 lawsuits; a day in the life of a Guantanamo detainee; accusations of legal apartheid as Israeli Supreme Court approves separate roads for Palestinians; Paul Krugman on the candidates' policy proposals for the mortgage crisis; and more ... Browse our continually updating front page at http://www.truthout.orgt r u t h o u t 03.28

Shut Guantanamo
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/032808J.shtml
The Associated Press reports: "Five former US secretaries of State on Thursday urged the next presidential administration to close the Guantanamo Bay prison camp and open a dialogue with Iran.... Powell was joined by Henry A. Kissinger, James A. Baker III, Warren Christopher and Madeleine K. Albright, who sat in a round-table discussion sponsored by the University of Georgia at a sold-out conference center in downtown Athens.

"Siegelman to Be Freed on Appeal
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/032808K.shtml
The Associated Press reports: "Former Alabama Gov. Don Siegelman is not just getting to go home after spending nine months in federal prison. He's also getting a chance to testify before Congress about possible political influence over his prosecution.

"Iraq Extends Militiamen Deadline
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/032808L.shtml
BBC News reports: "Iraq's government has extended by 10 days a deadline for Shia militiamen fighting troops in the southern city of Basra to hand over their weapons. More than 130 people have been killed and 350 injured since a clampdown on militias began in Basra on Tuesday.... Iraq's parliament is to hold emergency talks on the crisis, which has also brought a three-day curfew in Baghdad.

"Tapes' Destruction Hovers Over Detainee Cases
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/032808M.shtml
Mark Mazzetti and Scott Shane report for The New York Times: "When officers from the Central Intelligence Agency destroyed hundreds of hours of videotapes documenting harsh interrogations in 2005, they may have believed they were freeing the government and themselves from potentially serious legal trouble. But nearly four months after the disclosure that the tapes were destroyed, the list of legal entanglements for the CIA, the Defense Department and other agencies is only growing longer.

"A Day in a Guantanamo Detainee's Life
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/032808N.shtml
Carol J. Williams reports for The Los Angeles Times: "Under gray skies all but obscured by an opaque canopy and high concrete walls topped with razor wire, two bearded young men in tan tunics are having 'rec time' inside separate chain-link pens. One jogs frenziedly back and forth in the 30-foot enclosure; the other is curled like a fetus at the base of a cement block.

"Barred From Main Road, Palestinians Fear Two-Tiered System
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/032808O.shtml
Ethan Bronner reports for The New York Times: "The object of Mr. Abu Safia's contempt - Highway 443, a major access road to Jerusalem - has taken on special significance in the grinding Israeli-Palestinian conflict. For the first time, the Supreme Court, albeit in an interim decision, has accepted the idea of separate roads for Palestinians in the occupied areas. The Association for Civil Rights in Israel told the Supreme Court that what was happening on the highway could be the onset of legal apartheid in the West Bank - a charge that makes many Israelis recoil