US Army Chief Quits Over Enron Scandal

 Fourteen people killed in ammunition depot destruction in Baghdad

BAGHDAD, April 26-- Fourteen people were killed and a number of others were injured when US troops destroyed an ammunition depot in southern Baghdad on Saturday morning, eyewitnesses said. They said the US troops destroyed the depot in Zaafarania area, some 20 kilometers south of the Iraqi capital, without previous warning to people living nearby. Six explosions were heard in the area, presumably caused by the destruction of the ammunition depot, they said.

Four explosions were reported in Palestinian refugee camp of Ein el-Hilweh in southern port city of Sidon on Saturday, according to Lebanese security sources. The sources said three hand grenades and a small bomb exploded Saturday morning in the refugee camp, however, no injuries were yetreported during the explosion.

The bomb went off early Saturday outside the house of an official of Palestine National Liberation Movement (Fatah). The three hand grenade exploded in a street in the camp. The sources attributed the explosions to power struggle between Fatah and some radical small groups in the camp.

Following the incident, Lebanese soldiers launch checkpoints at the entrance of the camp. However, Lebanese police and military forces can not enter into the camp to seize suspects as Palestinians maintain security of the camp by themselves. -keralamonitor.com

US Army Chief Quits Over Enron Scandal

WASHINGTON, April 25 -- US Army Secretary Thomas White, who has been under political pressure for his ties with the failed Enron Corp. and has been at odds with Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld over the military reform, resigned Friday.
In a brief statement, Rumsfeld expressed his appreciation to White for his service. The statement did not give a reason for White's resignation, saying that the effective date of the resignation had not been determined.

Before being named by President George W. Bush as the 18th Army Secretary in May 2001, White was vice chairman of Enron Energy Services, a division of the scandal-ridden energy giant of Enron, which filed for bankruptcy in December 2001.
He was engaged in a public dispute with Rumsfeld last year over the defense secretary's proposal to cancel the 11-billion-dollar Crusader artillery project.

Rumsfeld wanted to cancel the project as part of his wider battle to remove outdated programs in an effort to transform the US military to meet new challenges. But White said the project wasvital to the Army's strategy for modernizing and transforming US land forces and to a lighter, more mobile forces.

The project was eventually canceled. But while the discussion was still going on, the Pentagon launched a probe into whether Army officials went behind the back of Rumsfeld to rally congressional support to save the project. -keralamonitor.com