Agence-France Presse reports that U.S. troops opened fire on a group of protesters in Mosul, Iraq, killing ten:

At least 10 people were killed and scores wounded in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul when US troops fired on a crowd angered by a speech by the new US-backed governor, witnesses reported. The charges were denied by a US military spokesman in the city Tuesday, who said troops had first come under fire from at least two gunmen and fired back, without aiming at the crowd.

Witnesses provide this account:

But witnesses charged that US troops fired into the crowd after it became increasingly hostile towards the new governor, Mashaan al-Juburi.

"They (the soldiers) climbed on top of the building and first fired at a building near the crowd, with the glass falling on the civilians. People started to throw stones, then the Americans fired at them," said Ayad Hassun, 37.

"Dozens of people fell," he said, his own shirt stained with blood.

"The people moved toward the government building, the children threw stones, the Americans started firing," another witness, Marwan Mohammed, 50, told AFP.

According to a third witness, Abdulrahman Ali, 49, the US soldiers opened fire when they saw the crowd running at the government building.

Meanwhile, as the process of determining future Iraqi leadership got underway in Nasiriyah in Southern Iraq, 20,000 marched in protest chanting, "Yes to freedom... Yes to Islam... No to America, No to Saddam." U.S. media censorship has emerged.

And US forces tried for the first time Tuesday to prevent the media from covering a third day of anti-US protests outside the hotel housing a US operations base in central Baghdad.

Update: Additional news sources on the incident:

New York Times

The Independent

Arab News

A class action has been filed against the city of Chicago by suspects who were held more than 48 hours before being brought before a judge or charged with a crime. The primary plaintiff in the civil rights case is Joseph Lopez who was held for five days, handcuffed to a wall in a police interview room, without mattress, blanket or pillows, so he could be interrogated about a murder. It later turned out someone else committed the crime. He filed suit after he was released. Subsequently, the Judge allowed to case to be brought as a class action and it is expected that hundreds, maybe thousands, of individuals kept more than 48 hours will be joining the case.

In the 1991 case of Riverside v. McLaughlin,

the Supreme Court said holding suspects longer than two days without judicial review is unconstitutional. Justice Sandra Day O'Connor wrote ... in a 5-4 ruling, that a 48-hour rule would permit "a reasonable postponement of a probable-cause determination while the police cope with the everyday problems of processing suspects through an overburdened criminal justice system."

Chicago police are now considering implementing a 48 hour rule, but say the decision places them "between a rock and a hard place." Suffice it to say we are not sympathetic to the police.

"After nearly 18 months of deliberation, Pentagon officials are laying the final groundwork to hold military commissions for suspected al-Qaida members captured on the battlefield in Afghanistan and elsewhere....behind the scenes, Department of Defense officials are mobilizing legal teams to prosecute and defend the cases. "

Reports are that "the Defense Department is strongly considering Army Col. Frederic Borch III for chief prosecutor and Air Force Col. Willie Gunn for chief defense counsel. Active duty and reserve judge advocates with all branches of the military have been identified to serve as assistant prosecutors and defense counsel."

A lot of questions remain unanswered, particularly concerning protections afforded to those on trial and their ability to have civilian defense counsel.

According to DOD regulations, defendants brought before military commissions are entitled to free military counsel and can request civilian defense counsel if it can be arranged at no expense to the government. Civilian lawyers must be U.S. citizens and obtain high-level security clearances.

Private defense lawyers say they are concerned that the Pentagon will bar them from contacting detainees or traveling to Guantanamo Bay. "The Pentagon has made it virtually impossible for any civilian attorney to take one of these cases," says Donald Rehkopf, co-chair of the military law committee of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers.

"Any of us would take a case. It's very important to the system," says George Washington University Law Professor Jonathan Turley, who represented acquitted Navy officer Daniel King on espionage charges. "The problem is, the rules say defendants are entitled to civilian counsel, but the administration has barred attorneys' access to the detainees."

We're with Turley--let the private bar in.

If Saddam is in Syria, where might he be? On April 5, Debkafiles posted this report:

Exclusive Middle East sources have tracked down the top Iraqi leadership’s bolt-hole. It is a large 1,600-room luxury resort with 600 meters of private sandy beach in the Mediterranean coastal town of Latakiya called Cote d’Azur De Cham Resort, prepaid and chartered in toto by Baghdad. The group may include Saddam Hussein or his sons, but this is not confirmed. The hotel is located close to the Assad family villa. Top Iraqi officials are reported hiding there since March 23, four days after the US-led coalition invaded Iraq. They are guarded by a Syrian commando unit armed with anti-air missiles while Syrian naval missile boats secure the port.

Today Debka reports that Al Qaeda is poised for a comeback with a planned attack in Turkey over Passover:

Osama bin Laden’s organization is reported preparing to stage a comeback by a fresh terrorist assault in Turkey against American or Israel/Jewish targets over Passover this week or Easter, next.

Michael McAlister is serving a 35 year prison sentence in Virginia for attempted rape. He says he is innocent. The prosecutor and detective in his case agree. But he can't get a hearing. Why? Because Virginia doesn't allow claims of innocence based on new evidence to be made more than 21 days after sentencing unless the claim is based on DNA. There is no DNA in McAlister's case.

"Ninety percent of convictions don't involve biological evidence, but the same mistakes happen," said McAlister's attorney, Christopher Amolsch. "Mr. McAlister is a prime example of why we need to go back in front of a judge to prove claims of actual innocence."

McAlister's case and recent DNA exonerations have cast a spotlight on an emerging criminal justice issue: questionable or even faulty eyewitness identifications. In the 17 years McAlister has been in prison, DNA testing has cleared 127 people nationwide and seven in Virginia. Mistaken eyewitness testimony was to blame for most of the errors.

Julius Ruffin spent 21 years in a Virginia prison in a rape cape. Marvin Anderson served 15 years in another Virginia rape case. Bernard Webster was behind bars in Maryland for 20 years. In each case, DNA set the wrongly convicted men free; mistaken eyewitness testimony was what got them convicted.

This month, a Massachusetts man who spent 19 years in prison in a series of sexual assaults was cleared by DNA. Three women had identified him as their attacker.

Unless the Governor grants McAllister's petition for clemency, he will stay in jail.

In a pleading filed with the Court Monday, the Government indicated that it will not be moving the trial of Zacarias Moussaoui to a military tribunal after all. You can read the pleading here.

Anyone ever hear of Marks, Mississippi? Marks is a town in Quitman County, in the Mississippi Delta, about 60 miles south of Memphis. Quitman County is poor. Very poor. Too Poor to Defend the Poor. It has no money to provide the poor with lawyers. Here is an example of the kind of justice it provides:

Diana Brown met her court-appointed lawyer for the first time on the day she pleaded guilty to several serious crimes five years ago. They spent five minutes together and have not spoken since.

"You are guilty, lady," the lawyer, Thomas Pearson, told Ms. Brown, according to her sworn statement, as he met with her and nine other defendants as a group, rattling off the charges against them.

He told her she was facing 60 years in prison for assault, drunken driving and leaving the scene of an accident, and should accept a deal for 10 years, court papers say. He gave her five minutes to decide. Offered no other defense, she took the deal.

But three cheers for Quitman County--it is suing the state of Mississippi.

The Guardian reports that Bush has vetoed preliminary planning for a war against Syria--plans Rumsfeld wanted to begin making.

In the past few weeks, the US defence secretary, Donald Rumsfeld, ordered contingency plans for a war on Syria to be reviewed following the fall of Baghdad.

Meanwhile, his undersecretary for policy, Doug Feith, and William Luti, the head of the Pentagon's office of special plans, were asked to put together a briefing paper on the case for war against Syria, outlining its role in supplying weapons to Saddam Hussein, its links with Middle East terrorist groups and its allegedly advanced chemical weapons programme. Mr Feith and Mr Luti were both instrumental in persuading the White House to go to war in Iraq.

....However, President George Bush, who faces re-election next year with two perilous nation-building projects, in Afghanistan and Iraq, on his hands, is said to have cut off discussion among his advisers about the possibility of taking the "war on terror" to Syria.

"The talk about Syria didn't go anywhere. Basically, the White House shut down the discussion," an intelligence source in Washington told the Guardian.

James Ujaama, arrested in Denver as a material witness, transported to Virginia, and then charged in Seattle with providing material aid to terrorists, has reached a plea bargain with the Government.

Ujaama pleaded guilty Monday to providing cash, computers and fighters to the Taliban. In exchange, he has agreed to cooperate against radical London cleric Abu Hamza al-Masri. He will receive a two year jail sentence. With credit for the time he has has spent in jail since July 22, he will serve about one more year after being sentenced.

Ujaama did not plead guilty to a terrorist offense. The Government can hardly call this a win. Ujaama was scheduled for trial in June. Even if convicted, the earliest he would have been sentenced would have been September or October--by which time he would have spent over a year in jail. All charges but one were dismissed against Ujaama--including the charge that he intended to set up a terrorist training camp near Bly, Ore. in 1999.

Ashcroft's reaction:

"An important part of our war against terrorism is to obtain the cooperation of insiders who have direct knowledge of the activities of dangerous terrorists," Attorney General John Ashcroft said. "We are pleased that Mr. Ujaama has agreed to plead guilty, accept responsibility for his criminal conduct, and cooperate fully regarding others engaged in criminal and terrorist activity both here and abroad," he said. "We expect his cooperation to lead to the arrest of additional terrorists and the disruption of future terrorist activity."

For our prior coverage on Ujaama, go here.

Update: The Seattle Times provides details of Ujaama's plea and cooperation, and says Ashcroft has given the "go ahead" to indict Abu Hamza al-Masri. Here's what Ujaama agreed he did:

DynCorp is advertising for employees, specifically, Rent-a-Cops to send to Iraq to police the country.

"When the area is safe, we will go in. Watch CNN. In the meantime fax us a resume if you want a job," Homer Newman, a Dyncorp recruiter told Corpwatch. But Chuck Wilkins, a company spokesman in Virginia, said: "The contract hasn't yet been awarded."

Yet a website has been offering DynCcrp jobs to "individuals with appropriate experience and expertise to participate in an international effort to re-establish police, justice and prison functions in post-conflict Iraq." The company is looking for active duty or recently retired cops and prison guards and "experienced judicial experts." Applicants must be US citizens with ten years of sworn civilian domestic law enforcement. The site even has a toll free number and a "cops.recruiting@dyncorp.com" email address for applicants.

The website explains that recruits will help "establish police stations and monitor activities determining the selection, screening and training processes for police officers, demonstrating police practices and techniques used by democratic societies advising local police on criminal investigation methods and monitoring their progress working side-by-side with police officers from around the world reporting humanitarian violation."

DynCorp has a questionable history with respect to policing in other parts of the world.

Here is this morning's wrap-up of expert opinion on Where Is Saddam?

Martin Sieff, UPI Senior News Analyst, makes the case for believing Saddam is dead.

We'll throw in our two cents. We think he and one son are alive, enjoying safe haven in Syria. Over a week ago, Jim Capozzola of Rittenhouse speculated Saddam was alive, had left Iraq and that the U.S. knew where he was. That got us thinking about it.

After the second bombing targeting Saddam, we began leaning towards believing Saddam escaped both bombings.

Here's our current theory: One of Saddam's sons was killed in the first "decapitation" attack. Saddam was slightly wounded. He was at the location of the second attack and survived. He used a cell phone to put into effect pre-arranged plans to transfer $1 billion to Syria in exchange for safe haven. He and his second son are in Syria.

We believe the U.S. knew right away he went to Syria. We think they knew from interception of communications concerning the funds transfer.

We listened to Rumsfeld say he doesn't know where Saddam is. Technically, one could say Rumsfeld was telling the truth if what he meant by that is he doesn't know which town Saddam is in, or which house or palace. He didn't say he didn't know what country Saddam is in.

Anyway, this is just all speculation, but given Bush's harsh words for Syria Sunday, it seems plausible enough to mention it.

Questions are being raised about the U.S. purchase of data collected on hundreds of millions of Latin American citizens:

During the past 18 months, the U.S. government has bought access to data on hundreds of millions of residents of 10 Latin American countries --apparently without their consent or knowledge --allowing myriad federal agencies to track foreigners entering and living in the United States.

A suburban Atlanta company, ChoicePoint Inc., collects the information abroad and sells it to U.S. government officials in three dozen agencies, including immigration investigators who've used it to arrest illegal immigrants.

U.S. officials consider the foreign data a thread in a security blanket that lets law enforcers and the travel industry peer into the backgrounds of people flowing into the United States. The information can also be used with other data-mining tools to identify potential terrorists or simply unmask fake identity documents, company and government officials say.

The Justice Department has a $67 million, four-year contract with Choice Point. The Bureau of Customs and Border Protection have refused to provide information about how the Border Patrol uses the data. In 2002, INS paid $1 million for unlimited access to the company's foreign databases.

The U.S. also uses Choice Point's databases to track fugitives.