Now some fresh pickings from the Political Grapevine:
No Cooperation Problem?
Last week, New York Times executive editor Bill Keller dismissed the administration’s argument that exposing a secret program tracking terrorist financing might lead European nations to withdraw their cooperation. He called that argument “puzzling.”
Now, Belgium’s prime minister has ordered an investigation into Swift — the banking industry partner that turned over those financial records to U.S. terror investigators. Swift’s cooperation with the U.S. government was also the subject of a public debate yesterday in the European Parliament.
Sold Out By Al Qaeda?
Abu Musab al-Zarqawi’s first wife is blaming Al Qaeda for her husband’s death last month, accusing terrorist leaders of selling Zarqawi to the U.S. in exchange for a promise to let up in the hunt for Usama bin Laden.
The woman tells an Italian paper that Zarqawi had become “too powerful [and] too troublesome” for Al Qaeda. Meanwhile, Zarqawi’s brother says he does not believe reports that Iraqi officials buried Zarqawi in a secret location in Baghdad, saying, “Bush took his body to the United States.”
Starving for Withdrawal
Anti-war protesters including Cindy Sheehan have begun a hunger strike to demand the immediate withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq, and they’re getting some help from some of the usual Hollywood suspects.
Actors Sean Penn, Danny Glover and Susan Sarandon will join a “rolling fast” in which nearly 3,000 activists pledge not to eat for 24 hours, and then enlist a friend to do the same. Sheehan says she will continue her fast throughout the summer, which she plans to spend outside the president’s ranch in Crawford, Texas.
Jailed Jackal
Remember Carlos the Jackal? The Cold-War era Venezuelan terrorist is now serving a lifetime sentence in a French jail for the 1975 murders of two secret agents. He recently sued the French government, complaining that he’s not being treated as well as the new breed of terrorists being held at Guantanamo Bay.
“The Jackal” says isolation, a dilapidated cell, and constant interruptions to his sleep, amount to inhumane treatment. The European Court of Human Rights disagrees. Carlos, they point out, has a window, bed, and toilet facilities, along with access to the exercise yard and very frequent visits from one or more of his 58 lawyers.
—FOX News Channel’s Aaron Bruns contributed to this report.
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