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61、Miss America 2006 has surgery in N.C. Tue Nov 28, 11:04 PM ET



OKLAHOMA CITY -     Miss America 2006 Jennifer Berry underwent surgery for undisclosed reasons and spent the night in a North Carolina hospital, a pageant official confirmed Tuesday.

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Berry, a Tulsa native and former student at the University of Oklahoma, was visiting family and friends in North Carolina on Saturday when she was admitted for surgery at Rex Hospital in Raleigh, N.C., and released the next day, said Sharon Pearce, a spokeswoman for the Miss America Organization in Atlantic City, N.J.

"I spoke to her today, and she's in wonderful spirits," Pearce said Tuesday.

"Although it was necessary to cancel some of her appearances this week, we are hopeful that she will return to work to fulfill her responsibilities as Miss America 2006 and continue the wonderful work that has marked her year of service."

Pearce didn't disclose the reason for the surgery and said Berry wasn't available for comment.

Berry, 22, an aspiring teacher, was crowned Miss America in January, winning the title in the first year the pageant was held outside Atlantic City.

___

On the Net:

Miss America Pageant: http://www.missamerica.org/

62、 Pfizer to slash U.S. sales force 20 pct. By THERESA AGOVINO, AP Business Writer
Wed Nov 29, 9:06 AM ET



NEW YORK - Pfizer Inc. said Tuesday it will cut its U.S. sales force by 20 percent, or 2,200 people, as part of a cost-cutting program to transform the company into a more nimble organization as it struggles with sluggish sales.

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The drug company has 11,000 sales representatives, and the cuts will be made by the end of the year, according to company spokesman Paul Fitzhenry. He couldn't say how much the cuts would save the company or if it would take any kind of an earnings charge because of the move.

In October, Pfizer said it would slash costs beyond the program announced last year, designed to cut $4 billion in expenses by 2008.

At the time, Chief Jeff Kindler said there would be no sacred cows in the reorganization. But Pfizer's sales force was always considered one of its greatest strengths, so some observers didn't think it would be on the chopping block.

Pfizer has lost patents on numerous drugs recently, including blockbuster antidepressant Zoloft. Other drugs, like blood pressure medicine Norvasc, are slated for generic competition in 2007. Pfizer said in October that sales would be flat for the next two years after previously predicting moderate growth.

With this background, some analysts insisted cutting the sales force makes sense.

"This is something Pfizer should have done a long time ago," said Jason Napodano, an analyst at Zacks Independent Research. "It is a good thing. It shows Kindler is doing something."

Kindler became CEO over the summer, replacing Hank McKinnell who remains chairman. Pfizer said there will be additional announcements about its long-term outlook and actions for revitalizing the company in January.

Pfizer said its sales force cuts won't effect its ability to market its major products including cholesterol-lowering drug     Lipitor as well as new drugs such as cancer treatment Sutent. Fitzhenry said the cuts would affect sales representatives as well as management and support staff.

On Thursday, Pfizer is hosting an analyst meeting to highlight its pipeline of new drugs. The star is Torcetrapib, a cholesterol treatment. But a recent study showed it raises patients' blood pressure, raising fears about its future and leaving analysts wondering what other products Pfizer has to bolster future sales.

"What are they (Pfizer) going to do about research and development and improving productivity? That is what I want to know," said Barbara Ryan, an analyst at Deutsche Bank.

Shares of Pfizer rose 8 cents to close at $27.05 on the     New York Stock Exchange. In after-hours trading it rose 14 cents to $27.19.

63、Yankees win rights to Japan's Igawa By RONALD BLUM, AP Baseball Writer
Wed Nov 29, 1:00 AM ET



NEW YORK - The     New York Yankees got a chance to sign a Japanese pitcher on their second try this offseason, winning the rights Tuesday to Kei Igawa after losing out to the     Boston Red Sox two weeks ago for Daisuke Matsuzaka.

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New York's offer of $26,000,194 ― the last three digits matching his strikeout total this year ― was the highest bid among major league teams for Igawa, and it was accepted Tuesday by his Japanese team, the Hanshin Tigers.

"The Yankees are a team with a lot of tradition," Igawa said at a news conference in Osaka. "They get a lot of media attention, like the Tigers do. I was surprised to hear the team bid that much for me, and I feel like today I've taken another step toward realizing my dream."

Boston bid $51.1 million earlier this month to win the right to negotiate with the Seibu Lions' Matsuzaka, the MVP of the World Baseball Classic and a possible No. 1 starter.

A 27-year-old left-hander, Igawa could compete for a spot at the back of New York's rotation next season behind Chien-Ming Wang, Mike Mussina and Randy Johnson. Carl Pavano, coming off 1 1/2 seasons of injuries, also would be in the rotation if healthy, and the Yankees have expressed possible interest in signing Ted Lilly or Gil Meche.

New York has until midnight at the end of Dec. 28 to work out a contract with Igawa's agent, Arn Tellem ― who also represents Yankees left fielder Hideki Matsui.

"Throughout the years, I have enjoyed an excellent working relationship with the Yankees and look forward to completing successful negotiations on behalf of Igawa," Tellem said in a statement. "It will be an honor for me to help put him in pinstripes for the 2007 season."

Igawa allowed a home run to the     New York Mets' David Wright this month during an exhibition game between Japanese and major league stars.

"We have been following Kei Igawa's very successful and accomplished career in Japan, and we are excited about the opportunity to begin the negotiating process with him," Yankees general manager Brian Cashman said in a statement.

The Yankees pay Hanshin only if they reach an agreement with Igawa.

"I am very pleased to have the rights to sign him for the Yankees," owner George Steinbrenner said in a statement issued by spokesman Howard Rubenstein.

The Yankees bid between $32 million and $33 million for Matsuzaka. The Red Sox have until midnight at the end of Dec. 14 to agree to a deal with Matsuzaka and his agent, Scott Boras.

"I'm looking forward to having a pitching duel with Matsuzaka," Igawa said. "I know the fans there have very high expectations and I'll do my best to live up to them."

After the bidding on Igawa closed Monday, the Tigers were informed of the amount of the high bid, but not which team made it. The Mets bid between $15 million and $16 million for Igawa, a baseball official said on condition of anonymity because the amounts of losing bids are not disclosed.

Igawa went 14-9 last season with a 2.97 ERA. He tied for the Central League lead in strikeouts ― he won strikeout titles in 2002 and 2004.

Igawa, the Central League's 2003 MVP, has an 86-60 record with a 3.15 ERA. He would have to play in Japan for three more seasons before he could become a free agent.

Also this month, the     Tampa Bay Devil Rays won the rights to Japanese infielder Akinori Iwamura of the Yakult Swallows with a bid of about $4.5 million.

___

AP Sports Writer Jim Armstrong in Tokyo contributed to this report.

64、Sharpton's stature rises amid shooting By NAHAL TOOSI, Associated Press Writer
Tue Nov 28, 11:13 PM ET



NEW YORK - The morning 23-year-old Sean Bell was shot to death by police, his grieving relatives did something that has become almost routine in such cases: They called the Rev.     Al Sharpton. Within hours, the longtime civil rights activist had consoled relatives, held two news conferences, and begun organizing a community rally for the next day.

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Sharpton has long been a fixture on New York's left-wing scene, and has been especially vocal in his crusade against police brutality since the 1990s. But the Saturday shooting, which left Bell dead on his wedding day and wounded two other black men, is proving again how far Sharpton has come since the days he was routinely derided as a race-baiting, publicity-hungry opportunist.

His rhetoric this week has been decidedly less harsh than in previous episodes, and he has been given unprecedented access to City Hall thanks to a mayor who is intent on not making the same mistakes of past administrations in dealing with racially divisive situations.

All the while, he keeps asking a question that many ― including Mayor Michael Bloomberg ― are asking: "Why did officers fire 50 rounds at three unarmed men?"

At least one of his former detractors has been impressed with the way Sharpton has handled the situation.

"His rhetoric is totally acceptable in my judgment," said former Mayor Ed Koch, who once called Sharpton "Al Charlatan" and has had him arrested. "I haven't read a single statement on his part that is demagogic. I think he's conducted himself in a statesman-like manner."

Born in Brooklyn in 1954, Alfred Sharpton Jr. was preaching by the time he was a preschooler and was ordained a Pentecostal minister by age 9. His father deserted the family after impregnating and later marrying his stepdaughter. Sharpton and the rest of his immediate family fell into poverty. But activism kept him focused while other children got into crime and drugs.

In the 1980s, he earned national prominence after ugly racial episodes in Howard Beach and Bensonhurst involving white gangs attacking and killing black males. Sharpton toured the press circuit, led large demonstrations and, in the Howard Beach case, helped force the appointment of a special prosecutor.

Over the years, Sharpton, who used to don velvet jumpsuits and gold medallions, has been accused of financial irregularities and blamed for inciting racial unrest. In what was perhaps his biggest blunder, he wrongly accused a prosecutor of rape in the 1980s case of Tawana Brawley, a teen whose claims of kidnapping and abuse were determined to be a hoax by authorities. The prosecutor later won a $65,000 defamation judgment against Sharpton.

In 1991, while leading a demonstration, Sharpton was stabbed in the chest by a white man. He said the incident moved him to be more careful with his rhetoric. His appeal has broadened since, enough for him to run for president, but he has remained unequivocal in demanding proper justice for minority communities.

Sharpton led protests against police after the 1997 torture of Haitian immigrant Abner Louima and the 1999 fatal shooting of African immigrant Amadou Diallo. On Saturday, after meeting with Bell's distraught relatives, Sharpton again demanded answers from the police over the shooting, carried out by five officers who were white, Hispanic and black.

He insisted, however, "We're not anti-police ... we're anti-police brutality." And at the Sunday rally, he framed the shooting as part of a larger struggle, declaring, "We've got to understand that all of us were in that car."

Once elected officials avoided him. But on Monday, Sharpton was among key figures who joined Bloomberg at news conference to address the shootings.

65、 Pelosi passes Hastings for Intel chair By KATHERINE SHRADER, Associated Press Writer
Wed Nov 29, 9:07 AM ET



WASHINGTON - In a decision that could roil Democratic unity in the new House, Speaker-to-be Nancy Pelosi passed over Rep. Alcee Hastings (news, bio, voting record) Tuesday for the chairmanship of the Intelligence Committee.

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Hastings, currently the No. 2 Democrat on the panel, had been aggressively making a case for the top position, supported by members of the     Congressional Black Caucus.

Critics pointed out that he had been impeached when he was a federal judge and said naming him to such a sensitive post would be a mistake just as the Democrats take over House control pledging reforms.

"I am obviously disappointed with this decision," Hastings, D-Fla., said in a statement thanking his supporters and promising to work with the panel's still-unnamed chairman. "I will be seeking better and bigger opportunities in a Democratic Congress. There is much to be accomplished and little time to reset this nation's economic and spiritual compass."

He learned his bid for the chairmanship was unsuccessful during a closed-door meeting with Pelosi on Tuesday.

In a statement, Pelosi, D-Calif., said Hastings has made national security his highest priority. "He has served our country well, and I have full confidence that he will continue to do so," she said.

In a sign of the bitterness that has surrounded the debate, Hastings closed his statement by saying: "Sorry, haters, God is not finished with me yet."

The chairman of the Black Caucus, Rep. Melvin Watt (news, bio, voting record) of North Carolina, said Hastings' statement showed "an unequivocal commitment to our nation's security, selflessness and true statesmanship. He would have made an outstanding intelligence chairman, and we still hope he will at some point in our nation's future."

A Democratic congressional aide, who spoke on condition of anonymity about internal party deliberations, said Pelosi has not yet decided who will get the position when the new Congress convenes in January.

Rep. Silvestre Reyes (news, bio, voting record), D-Texas, is next in line in seniority and is considered a strong contender for the job. Still, naming him would be a snub to the current senior Democrat on the panel, Jane Harman of California. Her committee leadership term expires at year's end, and she could be reappointed by Pelosi. Yet the two are believed to have deep differences.

Hastings, who came to Congress in 1992, was charged in an     FBI bribery sting but acquitted by a federal jury in 1983. Some judicial colleagues said Hastings fabricated his defense, and their allegations led to his impeachment by the U.S. House in 1988. He was removed from the bench by the Senate the following year.

In 1997, the Justice Department found an agent had falsely testified against Hastings, but no action was taken to reopen his case.

In 2000, Democrats passed over another member of the Congressional Black Caucus ― Rep. Sanford Bishop (news, bio, voting record) of Georgia ― for the senior Democratic spot on the intelligence panel. Party leaders had agreed to give the position to Harman when she ran for Congress after an unsuccessful bid to be California governor.

66、California sea lions attack humans By MARCUS WOHLSEN, Associated Press Writer
Tue Nov 28, 9:29 PM ET



SAN FRANCISCO - Tourists flock to Fisherman's Wharf for the seafood and the stunning views of San Francisco Bay, but for many visitors, the real stars are the dozens of playful, whiskered sea lions that lounge by the water's edge, gulping down fish.

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Now a series of sea-lion attacks on people in recent months has led experts to warn that the animals are not as cute and cuddly as they appear.

"People should understand these animals are out there not to attack people or humans. But they're out there to survive for themselves," said Jim Oswald, a spokesman for the Marine Mammal Center across the Golden Gate Bridge from San Francisco.

In the most frightening of the recent episodes, a rogue sea lion bit 14 swimmers this month and chased 10 more out of the water at San Francisco's Aquatic Park, a sheltered lagoon near the bay. At least one victim suffered puncture wounds.

Some scientists speculate that the animals' aggressive behavior is being caused by eating fish contaminated by toxic algae, or by a shortage of food off the coast. But wildlife experts say even healthy sea lions are best left alone.

In Southern California in June, a sea lion charged several people on Manhattan Beach and bit a man before waddling into the water and swimming away. In Berkeley, a woman was hospitalized last spring after a sea lion took a chunk out of her leg.

Last year, a group of sea lions took over a Newport Beach marina and caused a vintage 50-foot yacht to capsize when they boarded it. And a lifeguard in Santa Barbara was bitten three times while swimming off El Capitan State Beach.

In Alaska, a huge sea lion jumped onto a fisherman's boat in 2004, knocked him overboard and pulled him underwater; he escaped without serious injury.

Sea lions, which can reach 1,000 pounds, typically bite only if they feel threatened or cornered. And they are more likely to flee than fight if they can escape. Researchers have described the most recent attacks, in which some swimmers were chased through open water, as abnormal behavior.

Still, with a population numbering about 200,000 and growing, these playful, social creatures are increasingly likely to cross paths with humans.

Sea lions accustomed to the easy pickings of seafood scraps in popular fishing areas can become aggressive toward people if they fear their food is about to be taken away, Oswald said.

The Berkeley attack, for example, was at a marina where fishermen dock their boats and feed fish scraps to sea lions. After they ran out of scraps, the sea lion turned aggressive and bit a crew member.

At the same time, a drop in fish stocks off the Southern California coast due to El Nino-like conditions could be driving more hungry sea lions than usual to San Francisco Bay, said Lynn Cullivan, a spokesman for San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park.

Humans could also be contributing to aggression in sea lions in another way: Toxic algae blooms fed by agricultural runoff and other pollution can lead to the poisoning of marine mammals by a chemical called domoic acid, which can cause brain damage. The Marine Mammal Center treated more than 200 sea lions for domoic acid poisoning last year.

Veterinarians at the center believe the brain damage caused by the poison could have led to the marauding animal's erratic behavior in Aquatic Park, Oswald said, though they cannot be sure without actually examining the sea lion.

So far park rangers have not been able to track the attacker down. Nevertheless, the lagoon where the attacks occurred has been reopened to swimmers, though with new signs warning people to stay away from sea lions.

"People who swim with the lions ― though I'm sure that's nice ― it's probably not the best thing to do," Oswald said. "It's a wild animal. And you want to keep them wild."

67、Michael Richards: Jewish by association? By SOLVEJ SCHOU, Associated Press Writer
Tue Nov 28, 8:50 PM ET



LOS ANGELES - Just when it seemed     Michael Richards was about to leave the most troubling incident of his career behind, his publicist is having to explain how the comic could consider himself to be Jewish.

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Last week, crisis-management expert Howard Rubenstein acknowledged that Richards had shouted anti-Semitic remarks in an April standup comedy routine ― well before his appearance earlier this month in which he harangued hecklers with the n-word. But he defended Richards' language about Jews, saying that the comic "is Jewish. He's not anti-Semitic at all. He was role-playing."

As Rubenstein's assertion circulated, Jewish organizations and commentators pointed out that the man who played Cosmo Kramer on "Seinfeld" has not converted to Judaism and neither of his parents are Jewish.

Which makes him ...

"Technically, not having been born by blood as Jewish and not formally going into a conversion, it was purely his interpretation of having adopted Judaism as his religion," Rubenstein told The Associated Press on Tuesday. "He told me, `I'm Jewish,' when I asked him.

"He said there were two mentors who raised him and who had a big influence on his life, and they were Jewish. He said, `I agree with the concepts and the religious beliefs of Judaism and I've adopted Judaism as my religion,'" Rubenstein said. "He really thinks of himself as Jewish."

What do some Jews think?

"You can't feel Jewish. It's not a matter of feeling. You can convert to Judaism. You can't not convert to Judaism and then be Jewish," said Rabbi Marvin Hier, founder and dean of the Simon Wiesenthal Center in Los Angeles.

Hier defined being Jewish from two perspectives, if someone hasn't gone through the process of formal conversion.

"From the Orthodox point of view, if that person has a Jewish mother, he would be considered Jewish," Hier said. "In the Reform tradition, there's also a patrilineage. Under those categories, he would not fit."

Rabbi Mark S. Diamond of the 280-member Board of Rabbis of Southern California agreed.

"There are many people who appreciate Jewish customs, who may embrace aspects of Jewish culture and practice, but that does not make them Jewish," he said.

After his tirade came to light, Richards apologized on David Letterman's "Late Show" on CBS, saying his remarks were sparked by anger at being heckled, not bigotry. He also apologized to the Rev.     Al Sharpton, and apologized Sunday on the Rev.     Jesse Jackson's syndicated radio program.

Rubenstein said Richards wasn't available for an interview Tuesday.

"He wants to rest," the publicist said. "He's been talking to his psychiatrist."

68、 Bernanke: Interest rate cuts unlikely By JEANNINE AVERSA, AP Economics Writer
Tue Nov 28, 8:44 PM ET



WASHINGTON - Even with the economy in a slowdown mode,     Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke made clear Tuesday that policymakers want to see inflation continue to recede, suggesting the Fed probably won't be cutting interest rates any time soon.

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In his most extensive comments on the economy since summer, Bernanke struck a largely positive tone that the economy should be able to weather the strains coming from the housing slump and the struggling auto industry.

The slowdown "appears to be taking place roughly along the lines envisioned," Bernanke observed in remarks to the National Italian American Foundation in New York.

Outside housing and autos, economic activity remains solid, he said. "Overall, the economy is likely to expand at a moderate pace going forward," Bernanke said.

The Fed chief also was hopeful that more moderate economic growth would continue to gradually ease inflation pressures over the next year or so.

Yet, risks from inflation or a worse-than-expected housing slump could throw a wrench in the outlook, Bernanke said.

The slump in the once sizzling housing market could turn out to be deeper than expected, putting an even greater drag on overall economic activity. Or, Bernanke surmised, economic growth could rebound more strongly than expected, which could lead to a flare-up in inflation.

"A failure of inflation to moderate as expected would be especially troublesome," he said.

Overall inflation has showed signs of improving in recent months as once surging energy prices have calmed down. However, "core" prices ― which exclude energy and food and are closely watched by the Fed ― still remain "uncomfortably high," Bernanke said. Looking ahead, Bernanke said he expects those core prices to moderate gradually over the next year or so.

But he made clear the Fed will be keep a close eye on the matter, especially on labor costs, which can spark inflation if they grow rapidly.

Although the Federal Reserve has left interest rates alone since August, Bernanke repeated the central bank's interest in keeping open the possibility of a rate increase down the road, if such action would be needed to fend off inflation.

To thwart inflation, the Fed had hoisted interest rates 17 times since June 2004, its longest string of increases in its history. With the economy slowing, the Fed has stayed on the sidelines since August. Many economists believe the Fed will keep its finger on the interest rate pause button when it meets next on Dec. 12, the last such session this year.

Economists said Bernanke's comments dashed hopes_ held by some in financial markets ― that the Fed would soon cut interest rates. "His speech pours water on any notion of a rate cut around the corner," said Richard Yamarone, economist at Argus Research.

Stuart Hoffman, chief economist at PNC Financial Services Group, agreed, adding: "I think he offered a message of some optimism on the U.S. economy but acknowledged the wide uncertainty that exists in things that could go wrong for the economy."

Bernanke's remarks followed a batch of mostly downbeat economic reports issued Tuesday.

Orders placed to U.S. factories for manufactured goods plunged in October by the largest amount in more than six years. The median price of existing home sales last month dropped to $221,000, a decline of 3.5 percent from a year ago. That was the biggest year-over-year price decline on record. Consumer confidence, meanwhile, sank in November.

On Wall Street, investors took the trio of reports and Bernanke's assessment of risks to the economy in stride. The Dow Jones industrials gained 14.74 points to close at 12,136.45.

Economic growth during the July-to-September quarter slowed to a pace of just 1.6 percent, the most sluggish in more than three years. That mostly reflected the housing slump. Investment in home building was cut by the largest amount in 15 years.

"The slowing pace of residential construction is likely to be a drag on economic growth into next year," Bernanke predicted. Even though there are signs that the demand for homes is stabilizing, builders still need to work off a bloated inventory of unsold homes and that will take time and further adjustments, he said.

The Fed chief added that the jobs climate is still fairly healthy.

The nation's unemployment rate sank to a five-year low of 4.4 percent in October and workers' wages grew solidly. Those factors should help cushion the hit to the economy from the slumping housing and auto sectors, Bernanke said.

___

On the Net:

Federal Reserve: http://www.federalreserve.gov/

69、Witnesses detail Iraq burning deaths By STEVEN R. HURST, Associated Press Writer
Tue Nov 28, 8:54 PM ET



BAGHDAD, Iraq - The attack on the small Mustafa Sunni mosque began as worshippers were finishing Friday midday prayers. About 50 unarmed men, many in black uniforms and some wearing ski masks, walked through the district chanting "We are the Mahdi Army, shield of the Shiites."

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Fifteen minutes later, two white pickup trucks, a black BMW and a black Opel drove up to the marchers. The suspected Shiite militiamen took automatic rifles and rocket-propelled grenade launchers from the vehicles. They then blasted open the front of the mosque, dragged six worshippers outside, doused them with kerosene and set them on fire.

This account of one of the most horrific alleged attacks of     Iraq's sectarian war emerged Tuesday in separate interviews with residents of a Sunni enclave in the largely Shiite Hurriyah district of Baghdad.

The Associated Press first reported on Friday's incident that evening, based on the account of police Capt. Jamil Hussein and Imad al-Hashimi, a Sunni elder in Hurriyah, who told Al-Arabiya television he saw people who were soaked in kerosene, then set afire, burning before his eyes.

AP Television News also took video of the Mustafa mosque showing a large portion of the front wall around the door blown away. The interior of the mosque appeared to be badly damaged and there were signs of fire.

However, the U.S. military said in a letter to the AP late Monday, three days after the incident, that it had checked with the Iraqi Interior Ministry and was told that no one by the name of Jamil Hussein works for the ministry or as a Baghdad police officer. Lt. Michael B. Dean, a public affairs officer of the     U.S. Navy Multi-National Corps-Iraq Joint Operations Center, signed the letter, a text of which was published subsequently on several Internet blogs. The letter also reiterated an earlier statement from the U.S. military that it had been unable to confirm the report of immolation.

The AP received no comment Friday when it first asked the U.S. military for information. It then carried portions of a U.S. military statement Saturday that said the U.S. had been unable to confirm media reports that six Sunni civilians were allegedly dragged out of Friday prayers and burned to death. The U.S. military said that neither police nor coalition forces had reports of such an incident.

The Iraqi Defense Ministry later said that al-Hashimi, the Sunni elder in Hurriyah, had recanted his account of the attack after being visited by a representative of the defense minister.

The dispute comes at a time when the military is taking a more active role in dealing with the media.

The AP reported on Sept. 26 that a Washington-based firm, the Lincoln Group, had won a two-year contract to monitor reporting on the Iraq conflict in English-language and Arabic media outlets.

That contract succeeded one held by another Washington firm, The Rendon Group. Controversy had arisen around the Lincoln Group in 2005 when it was disclosed that it was part of a U.S. military operation to pay Iraqi newspapers to run positive stories about U.S. military activities.

Seeking further information about Friday's attack, an AP reporter contacted Hussein for a third time about the incident to confirm there was no error. The captain has been a regular source of police information for two years and had been visited by the AP reporter in his office at the police station on several occasions. The captain, who gave his full name as Jamil Gholaiem Hussein, said six people were indeed set on fire.

On Tuesday, two AP reporters also went back to the Hurriyah neighborhood around the Mustafa mosque and found three witnesses who independently gave accounts of the attack. Others in the neighborhood said they were afraid to talk about what happened.

Those who would talk said the assault began about 2:15 p.m., and they believed the attackers were from the Mahdi Army militia loyal to radical anti-American cleric Muqtada al-Sadr. He and the Shiite militia are deeply rooted in and control the Sadr City enclave in northeastern Baghdad where suspected Sunni insurgents attacked with a series of car bombs and mortar shells, killing at least 215 people a day before.

The witnesses refused to allow the use of their names because they feared retribution either from the original attackers or the police, whose ranks are infiltrated by Mahdi Army members or its associated death squads.

Two of the witnesses ― a 45-year-old bookshop owner and a 48-year-old neighborhood grocery owner ― gave nearly identical accounts of what happened. A third, a physician, said he saw the attack on the mosque from his home, saw it burning and heard people in the streets screaming that people had been set on fire. All three men are Sunni Muslims.

The two other witnesses said the mosque assault began in earnest about 2:30 p.m. after the arrival of the four vehicles filled with arms. They said the attackers fired into the mosque, then entered and set it on fire.

Then, the witnesses said, the attackers brought out six men, blindfolded and handcuffed, and lined them up on the street at the gate of the mosque. The witnesses said the six were doused with kerosene from a 1.3-gallon canister and set on fire at intervals, one after the other, with a torch made of rags. The fifth and sixth men in the line were set afire at the same time.

The witnesses said the burning victims rolled on the ground in agony until apparently dead, then the gunmen fired a single bullet into each of their heads.

The witnesses said residents, in the meantime, had taken up arms and began a gunbattle with the suspected militiamen that raged in the neighborhood until 4 p.m. They said eight to 10 gunmen were killed and left in the streets. Iraqi law allows each household to own an AK-47 assault rife for protection.

One witness said he and other people from the neighborhood took the six immolation victims to the Sunni cemetery near Baghdad's     Abu Ghraib suburb and buried them after the gunbattle. That witness said one of the victims was the Mustafa mosque muezzin or prayer caller, Ahmed al-Mashadani. He did not know the names of the five others, but said they were all members of the al-Mashadani tribe.

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Pope urges religious tolerance in Turkey By BRIAN MURPHY, AP Religion Writer
Wed Nov 29, 2:52 PM ET



ISTANBUL, Turkey -     Pope Benedict XVI began his pilgrimage among Turkey's tiny Christian communities Wednesday by paying homage to an Italian priest slain during Islamic protests and expressing sympathy for the pressures facing religious minorities in the Muslim world.

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The messages ― made at one of the holiest Christian sites in Turkey ― could set the tone for the remainder of Benedict's first papal trip to a Muslim nation as he tries to strengthen bonds with the spiritual leader of the world's Orthodox Christians.

The pope is expected to sharpen his calls for what the     Vatican calls "reciprocity" ― that Muslim demands for greater respect in the West must be matched by increased tolerance and freedom for Christians in Islamic nations.

But too much pressure by the Roman Catholic pontiff could risk new friction with Muslims after broad gestures of goodwill in the opening hours of the trip Tuesday that sought to ease simmering Muslim anger over the pope's remarks on violence and the Prophet Muhammad.

A statement claiming to be from al-Qaida in     Iraq denounced the pope's visit as part of a "crusader campaign" against Islam and an attempt to "extinguish the burning ember of Islam" in Turkey. Vatican spokesman the Rev. Federico Lombardi said the declaration ― posted on several Islamic militant Web sites ― shows the need for faiths to fight "violence in the name of God."

He said "neither the pope nor his entourage are worried."

Still Turkish authorities took massive security precautions for the Istanbul stop, with thousands of police on the street and roads cleared of all traffic for the papal motorcade.

The pope's deepening ties with Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I ― called the "first among equals" of the Orthodox leaders ― also is watched with suspicion in Turkey as a possible challenge to state-imposed limits on Christian minorities and others. Benedict has declared a "fundamental" commitment to try to heal rifts between the two ancient branches of Christianity, which split nearly 1,000 years ago over disputes including papal authority.

At Bartholemew's walled compound in Istanbul, the pope stood amid black-robbed Orthodox clerics and urged both sides "to work for full unity of Catholics and Orthodox."

The pope began the day at the ruins of a small stone home at the end of a dirt road near the Aegean Sea ― the site where the Virgin Mary is thought to have spent her last years.

At an outdoor Mass attended by 250 invited guests, the pope noted the challenges facing the "little flock" of Christians in Turkey.

"I have wanted to convey my personal love and spiritual closeness, together with that of the universal church, to the Christian community here in Turkey, a small minority which faces many challenges and difficulties daily," the pope said.

At times, he smiled and showed flashes of the pastoral flair of his predecessor, John Paul II, in one of the most intimate papal gatherings since John Paul's trip to remote Mount Sinai during a trip to Egypt in 2000.

Benedict went on to honor the memory of a Catholic priest who was slain in Turkey amid Muslim anger over the publication in European newspapers of caricatures of Muhammad.

"Let us sing joyfully, even when we're tested by difficulties and dangers as we have learned from the fine witness given by the Rev. Andrea Santoro, whom I am pleased to recall in this celebration," said Benedict, who later walked amid the crowd as they reached to touch his gold-and-white robes and cried "Viva il Papa" and "Benedetto," his name in Italian.

In February, a Turkish teenager shot the Italian priest as he knelt in prayer in his church in the Black Sea port of Trabzon. The attack was believed to have been linked to outrage over the cartoons. Two other Catholic priests were attacked this year in Turkey, where Christians have often complained of discrimination and persecution.

On Tuesday, the pope urged religious leaders of all faiths to "utterly refuse" to support any form of violence in the name of faith. He also said religious freedom was an essential element of democratic values.

He sought a careful balance as he held out a hand of friendship and brotherhood to Muslims, and expressed support for measures that Turkey has taken in its campaign to join the     European Union.

But winning over Turkish sentiments may be easy compared with the complexities ahead.

The legacy of Christianity in Turkey is a tangle of historical and religious sensitivities.

Turkish armies captured the Byzantine capital Constantinople ― now Istanbul ― in 1453 to begin a steady decline for Christians, who had maintained communities in Asia Minor since the time of the Apostles.

As the Ottoman Empire collapsed in the early 20th century, large numbers of Armenian Christians perished in mass expulsions and fighting. Turkey vehemently denies that it committed genocide against Armenians, though many nations have classified the World War I-era killings as such.

Later, in the 1920s, Turkey and Greece carried out a massive population exchange under the treaty that established modern Turkey, with hundreds of thousands of Greek Orthodox sent to Greece and smaller numbers of Muslims going the other way.

Bartholomew heads the remnants of the Greek community in Istanbul that now number no more than 2,000 among about 90,000 Christians in Turkey.

But they still represent a powerful symbolic presence for the world's more than 250 million Orthodox, which often denounce Turkey for placing obstacles in the way of Bartholomew and his clerics.

Turkey refuses to acknowledge the "ecumenical," or universal, title of the patriarch and instead considers him only the head of the local Greek Orthodox community. The Turkish worry is that granting wider status to the patriarch could undermine the idea of a single Turkish nationality ― a pillar of the nation's secular system ― and inspire demands for special recognition by minorities including Kurds and Muslim groups such as Sufis and Alevis, considered a branch of Shiite Islam.

Now, Turkish officials are concerned the papal visit and support for Christian minorities could embolden Bartholomew to press Turkey for concessions, including return of confiscated property and the reopening of a Greek Orthodox seminary that closed more than two decades ago after authorities blocked new students. The EU has also pushed Turkey for greater religious openness to help its faltering bid for membership.

"Against the backdrop of universal peace, the yearning for full communion and concord between all Christians becomes even more profound and intense," he said at the ancient Christian site.

Nestling on a mountain in woods between the ancient city of Ephesus and the town of Selcuk, near the Aegean coast, St. John the Apostle is believed to have brought the Virgin Mary to the house to care for her after Jesus' death. Another belief maintains that the Virgin Mary died in Jerusalem.

The ruins of the house, whose earliest foundations date to the first century, have become a popular place of pilgrimage for both Muslims and Christians since the 1950s.

A chapel was built over the ruins, and some believe in the healing powers of both the chapel and waters flowing from a nearby spring.

Of Turkey's 70 million people, some 65,000 are Armenian Orthodox Christians, 20,000 are Roman Catholic and 3,500 are Protestant, mostly converts from Islam. Another 23,000 are Jewish.

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AP writer Victor L. Simpson contributed to this report.