Kerry urges NATO to plan for Syria chemical weapon threat
Kerry urges NATO to plan for Syria chemical weapon threat
BRUSSELS — U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry urged NATO on Tuesday to prepare for the possible use of chemical weapons by Syria on the same day that a senior Israeli military intelligence official said Syrian President Bashar Assad had used such weapons last month in his battle against insurgents.
It was the first time Israel had accused the embattled Syrian leader of using his stockpile of nonconventional weapons.
The assessment, based on visual evidence, could raise pressure on the U.S. and other Western countries to intervene in Syria. Britain and France recently announced that they had evidence that Assad’s government had used chemical weapons.
President Barack Obama has warned that the use of chemical weapons by Assad would be a “game changer” and has hinted that it could draw intervention.
But White House spokesman Jay Carney said while the administration is continuing to monitor and investigate whether the Syrian regime has used chemical weapons, it has “not come to the conclusion that there has been that use.”
Charges dropped against Miss. man
in ricin letter case
TUPELO, Miss. — Charges of sending ricin-laced letters to President Barack Obama and others were dropped Tuesday against an Elvis impersonator from Mississippi who has said since his arrest last week that he had nothing to do with the case.
Meanwhile, in Tupelo, numerous law enforcement officers converged on the home of another Mississippi man, Everett Dutschke, including some in hazmat suits. No charges have been filed against him, and he hasn’t been arrested. Both men say they have no idea how to make the poisonous ricin and had nothing to do with sending letters to Obama, U.S. Sen. Roger Wicker of Mississippi and a state judge.
Referring to officials’ questions for him about the case, “I thought they said rice and I said I don’t even eat rice,” 45-year-old Paul Kevin Curtis said after he was released from custody Tuesday afternoon. “I respect President Obama. I love my country and would never do anything to pose a threat to him or any other U.S. official.”
A one-sentence document filed by federal prosecutors said charges against Curtis were dropped, but left open the possibility they could be reinstated if authorities found more to prove their case. Prosecutors were not immediately available for comment.
The dismissal is the latest twist in a case that rattled the country already on edge over last week’s bombing.
Man arrested in Canada denies terror plot
TORONTO — A man accused of plotting with al-Qaida members in Iran to derail a train in Canada rejected the charges and said Tuesday that authorities were basing their conclusions on appearances. Law enforcement officials in the U.S. said the target was a train that runs between New York City and Canada.
Canadian investigators say Raed Jaser, 35, and his suspected accomplice Chiheb Esseghaier, 30, received guidance — but no money — from members of al-Qaida in Iran. Iran released a statement saying it had nothing to do with the plot, even though there were no claims in Canada that the attacks were sponsored directly by Iran.
But the case raised questions about the extent of Shiite-led Iran’s relationship with the predominantly Sunni Arab terrorist network. It also renewed attention on Iran’s complicated history with the terror group, which ranges from outright hostility to alliances of convenience and even overtures by Tehran to assist Washington after Sept. 11, 2001.
“We oppose any terrorist and violent action that would jeopardize lives of innocent people,” Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast said Tuesday.
By wire sources