Bush Apologizes for Poor Conditions at Walter Reed Army Medical Center

By Scott Stearns White House 30 March 2007

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President Bush has apologized for the poor living conditions for some wounded servicemen and women at a military hospital outside the capital. VOA White House Correspondent Scott Stearns has the story.

President Bush, right, shakes hands with the 1st Lt. Scott Quilty during a visit to Walter Reed Army Center in Washington, 30 Mar 2007

It was the president's first visit to the Walter Reed Army Medical Center since a newspaper last month reported recuperating soldiers living in a run-down building infested with mice, mold, and cockroaches.

Building 18 has since been closed and patients there moved elsewhere. But the ensuing scandal has claimed the general in charge of the hospital and the Secretary of the Army.

Speaking to medical staff at Walter Reed Friday, President Bush said he is deeply troubled by the incidents and has named a bipartisan commission to investigate what he calls administrative and bureaucratic failures.

"The system failed you and it failed our troops and we are going to fix it," he said. "I met some of the soldiers who had been housed in Building 18. I was disturbed by their accounts of what went wrong. It is not right to have someone volunteer to wear our uniform and not get the best possible care. I apologize for what they went through, and we are going to fix the problem."

It was the president's 12th trip to Walter Reed, visits that are almost always private with the White House occasionally releasing an official photograph.

Friday, Mr. Bush met with more than a dozen physical therapy patients under the glare of television lights, shaking hands and posing for photos with the two-month-old daughter of a man run over by a bulldozer under sniper fire.

White House spokeswoman Dana Perino says suggestions that this was a publicity trip for the president are "an unfortunate characterization." She says it took time to clear enough room on the president's schedule to visit Walter Reed six weeks after the problems were first reported.

Opposition Democrats in Congress want the Veteran's Administration to report back to them within 60 days about whether the agency has resolved complaints over living conditions and bureaucratic delays in providing follow-up care.

Washington Democratic Senator Patty Murray blames President Bush for veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan who she says have been lost in the system.

"We are now starting the fifth year of this war. And to date, this president has not planned and supported funding to make sure that those men and women, whether it is traumatic brain injury, whether they've lost a limb, whether it's post-traumatic-stress syndrome, or whether it's just coming home and being able to find another job, have been paid attention to," she said.

The president has told his bipartisan commission on veterans' health care to report back to him by the end of July. A Defense Department review is expected to release its findings in the next two weeks.

US Seeks Clarification of Reported Sudanese Concession on Darfur

By David Gollust State Department 30 March 2007

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The State Department says it is seeking clarification of reports Sudan has softened its opposition to new international peacekeepers for Darfur. The reported change of position by Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir came as the Bush administration prepared new sanctions against the Khartoum government. VOA's David Gollust reports from the State Department.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon (file photo)

Officials here say U.S. diplomats will confer with U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon on talks he had at the Arab League Summit in Riyadh, in which Sudan is said to have eased its stand against allowing a new peacekeeping force in Darfur.

Sudan has long resisted deployment of a proposed "hybrid" force of United Nations and African Union troops in Darfur to replace a hard-pressed AU observer mission there.

But Saudi Arabian Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal said at a summit news conference Thursday that Sudan had given the go-ahead for U.N. logistical support for African peacekeepers.

Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir (file photo)

The development, which Prince Saud termed a breakthrough, came after the Sudanese president held a meeting on the sidelines of the Arab summit with the U.N. Secretary-General, Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa and Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki.

In a talk with reporters here, State Department Spokesman Sean McCormack said reports from Riyadh are unclear about whether Sudan is ready to accept the hybrid force without conditions.

He also said the Bush administration wants to hear directly from the U.N. chief before deciding how to proceed.

"It is fair to say that we want to understand from the Secretary-General what he heard," he said. "Is there a change in view from the Sudanese? Is there something in their comments with which the international system can work? Now, I have to caution you that to this point the Sudanese have not given any indication, or any real public indication that they're dropping any preconditions, or that they're are ready to follow-up on the Addis Ababa agreement."

The Sudanese agreed in principle at an international conference in Addis Ababa last November to accept the hybrid force, mandated earlier by the U.N. Security Council.

But Khartoum has since blocked the admission of U.N. logistics teams, frustrating the United States and other supporters of expanded peacekeeping in Darfur.

The reported Sudanese concession came amid reports the Bush administration is only a few days away from announcing a package of new financial sanctions against the Khartoum government.

Spokesman McCormack said whether the sanctions go forward depends on an administration assessment of what he termed "the whole landscape," including the latest Sudanese comments, and whether they actually reflect a change in policy.

McCormack said in diplomatic contacts, the United States assured Sudanese officials the hybrid force would focus its activities in Darfur, and not function as what he termed a "posse," trying to round up alleged war criminals in Khartoum.

A month ago, the International Criminal Court at The Hague designated two men, a Sudanese deputy cabinet minister and a leader of the government-backed Janjaweed militia, as suspects in crimes against humanity in Darfur.

The announcement came after a 20-month investigation by the court. The Darfur conflict, which erupted in 2003 is believed to have led to the deaths of over 200,000 people and driven more than 2 million others from their homes.

Much of the violence has been attributed to the Arab militiamen, who the Khartoum authorities enlisted to put down an uprising by local Darfur rebels.

Second British Sailor Shown on Iranian TV as Impasse Continues

By Tom Rivers London 30 March 2007

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A second member of the British crew captured last week in the Gulf has been shown on Iranian television making an apology for illegally entering Iranian waters. The British government has denounced the video as propaganda.

Crewman Nathan Thomas Summers, one the 15 British Naval personnel being held by Iran, apologized for the latest incident as well as one that occurred three years earlier.

Iranian state-run Al-Alam television image showing British sailor Nathan Thomas Summers, 30 Mar. 2007

"I would like to apologize for entering your waters without any permission," he said. "I know it happened back in 2004 and our government promised that it would not happen again. And again, I deeply apologize for entering your waters."

Summers was shown sitting with the female detainee and another serviceman. The TV channel previously showed a similar taped confession from the woman.

Britain maintains its naval personnel were in Iraqi waters when their vessel was seized by Iran.

Reacting to the video clip, British leader Tony Blair says parading and manipulating captured personnel disgusts people and, he says, it does not fool anyone.

British Prime Minister Tony Blair comments on standoff with Iran, 30 Mar. 2007

"What the Iranians have to realize is that if they continue in this way they will face increasing isolation," said Mr. Blair, " the United Nations yesterday, the European Union today, we will be talking to other key allies over the weekend and we have just got to pursue this with the necessary firmness and determination, but also patience, because there is only one possible conclusion to this and that is that our personnel are released safe and sound."

The area near the mouth of the Shatt al-Arab waterway where the British patrol was picked up has for decades been claimed by both Iran and Iraq and its ownership has been hotly disputed.

Mr. Blair says that, based on satellite data from global positioning system technology, the naval and marine party was in Iraqi waters, not Iranian.

"The sooner the Iranian regime realize that they are not gaining anything from this, they cannot gain anything from this, it is perfectly obvious that these people were in Iraqi waters under a United Nations mandate, there is absolutely no question about the unlawful nature of their capture and therefore they have got to be released," he added.

Meanwhile, for the first time in the weeklong standoff, the Iranian foreign ministry has sent a letter to the British embassy in Tehran.

British Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett says London is carefully studying the wording of the document, and Britain will respond formally, but she says she is not very optimistic it represents a key potential breakthrough.

Margaret Beckett talks to reporters, 30 Mar. 2007

"There is nothing in the letter that suggests that the Iranians are looking for a way out of this difficult situation," she said. "We have been looking for a way out of it, for them for us and particularly for our service personnel from the beginning. I wish I saw any sign that this is what Iran is trying to do."

An Iranian news agency reports the message contains a call for Britain to avoid violating Iranian territorial waters in the future.

While the dispute continues, the price of oil keeps climbing on the worldwide markets to above the $68 mark.

VOASE0330_In the News

30 March 2007

Arab Leaders Urge Israel to Accept 2002 Plan for Peace and a Palestinian State
Summit in Riyadh ends with a push to renew Middle East peace efforts launched five years ago. Earlier, a statement by the Saudi king about Iraq caught American officials by surprise.

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This is IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English.

Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah speaks at the opening of the Arab summit in Riyadh

Arab leaders met this week in Riyadh. The Arab League Summit in the Saudi capital ended with calls for Israel to accept an Arab peace plan from two thousand two.

That plan offers Israel normal relations with the Arab world if it withdraws from land captured during the nineteen sixty-seven Arab-Israeli war. The plan also calls for Israel to reach a settlement with the Palestinians on the creation of a Palestinian state next to Israel.

Israel rejected the peace plan in two thousand two. But more recently, Israeli officials have said the plan could be a starting point for negotiations. As the Arab League meetings closed, Israel's Foreign Ministry said it would be willing to hold talks with some Arab nations. However, Israel objects to a demand that Palestinian refugees have a right to return to their homes in what is now Israel.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said the Palestinian people were truly extending the hand of peace toward Israel. The Palestinians have a new unity government. Israel says it will not deal with that government unless it agrees to reject violence, recognize Israel and respect existing peace agreements.

But earlier in the week, Israeli and Palestinian leaders agreed to begin meeting every two weeks. That agreement came as American Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice completed a three-day trip to the Middle East. She said the talks should lead to discussions on a political settlement. But top Israeli officials say that for now, any talks between Israeli and Palestinian leaders will involve humanitarian issues.

The two-day summit in Riyadh opened with a speech by King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia. He said Arab League states are more divided now than they have ever been. He also described Iraq as being under an illegal foreign occupation.

That comment caught the State Department in Washington by surprise. A spokesman said the United States was operating in Iraq under United Nations resolutions and with the invitation of the Iraqi government. The United States looks to Saudi Arabia as an important ally in the Middle East. American officials said they would seek to better understand what exactly King Abdullah meant by his statement.

State Department officials, however, welcomed the Arab League's decision to renew its two thousand two Middle East peace plan.

On Thursday, in their final declaration, the Arab leaders warned of the dangers of a nuclear arms race in the Middle East. But they also said that all countries have the right to peaceful nuclear energy programs.

Gulf Arab nations generally share American and European concerns about the Iranian nuclear program. Iran is led by Shiite Muslims; the Gulf Arab nations bordering Iran are mostly led by Sunnis.

And that's IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English, written by Brianna Blake. Transcripts and audio archives of our reports can be found at voaspecialenglish.com. I'm Steve Ember.