Official: Prosecutors disclose credibility issue to Strauss-Kahn team

 Former IMF chief in court

New York (CNN) -- Prosecutors have discovered troubling believability issues with the woman once called extremely credible in her sexual assault allegations against former International Monetary Fund Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn, an official familiar with the case told CNN late Thursday.
 

Based on these concerns, prosecutors called a meeting Thursday with Strauss-Kahn's defense team to disclose the issues discovered with the hotel housekeeper's allegations, the official said.

The acknowledgment came shortly after an official close to the defense team told CNN there were "serious issues regarding the credibility" of a hotel maid who has accused Strauss-Kahn of sexual assault.
Strauss-Kahn's defense team will ask a judge for bail modifications at a court hearing slated for Friday morning, the official said.

"Prosecutors will not object and, in fact, will ask for a bail reduction," said the official familiar with the case.
NYPD Deputy Police Commissioner Paul Browne told CNN he had "no comment" on the alleged credibility issue with the witness.

The New York Times, citing unnamed law enforcement officials, reported Thursday on its web site that the case against Strauss-Kahn was on the "verge of collapse as investigators have uncovered major holes in the credibility of the housekeeper."

Strauss-Kahn pleaded not guilty June 6 to seven charges involving a May 14 incident in which a housekeeping employee at New York's Sofitel hotel accused him of sexual assault.

In previous court appearances, the judge said that if Strauss-Kahn wanted to leave the city, he would require the court's permission. Strauss-Kahn, who says he is innocent, was previously required to turn over his French passport and United Nations travel credentials to authorities.

Strauss-Kahn was released from jail on bail but is under house arrest in a luxury townhouse in New York's Tribeca neighborhood.

He is under court-ordered watch as part of the terms of his $6 million bail agreement and must pay for 24-hour armed guards posted at the door, as well as electronic surveillance.

Strauss-Kahn, who was considered a front-runner in France's presidential race before his arrest, faces charges that include criminal sexual acts and sexual abuse.

ISAF: Haqqani network leader suspected in Kabul hotel attack killed

Kabul, Afghanistan (CNN) -- A top Haqqani network leader suspected of providing support for Tuesday's deadly attack at a Kabul hotel was killed in an airstrike in southeast Afghanistan, the International Security Assistance Force said Thursday.

Ismail Jan, who is the deputy to the senior Haqqani commander, and several fighters were killed in a precision airstrike Wednesday in Paktiya province. Jan was an insurgent leader in the Khost-Gardez Pass area, along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border, the international coalition said.

Afghan government officials blamed the al Qaeda-linked militant group for the siege on the Kabul Hotel Inter-Continental that left 12 victims and all nine attackers dead.

The level of violence in the country was signficantly higher in the past three months than it was in the same period last year, the United Nations said Thursday.
There were 17 suicide attacks in April 2011, more than in any single month last year, the world body said.
Kandahar suffered the most, with most of the incidents in the quarter taking place in the city or nearby.

Nearly 3,000 Afghan civilians were killed or wounded, 80% of them as a result of "anti-government elements." The attackers who struck the Hotel Inter-Contintental were with the Haqqani network, said the Afghan interior ministry. The group of terrorists loyal to the warlord Siraq Haqqani is based in Pakistan.
They entered the hotel late Tuesday night by avoiding the main entrance and attacking a smaller one on the other side of the hotel that was guarded by two Afghan police, said Falak Merzahi, a spokesman for the interior ministry. The attackers killed the two officers and stormed the hotel, Merzahi said.
Six of the attackers ended up detonating their explosives; three were shot and killed on the roof of the hotel, Afghan officials said.

Although a NATO helicopter carrying International Security Assistance Force snipers flew to the scene and fired at the attackers, Merzahi said it was Afghan army soldiers who ultimately killed the three gunmen on the roof.

ISAF said its forces stopped firing on the roof when Afghan soldiers arrived. The 12 others killed are two police officers, nine Afghans and one foreigner, Merzahi said. Afghan President Hamid Karzai said the attack will not interrupt the planned handover of power from international forces to Afghan troops.

President Barack Obama has said U.S. troops will start withdrawing from Afghanistan in July, and that a military handover should be completed in 2014.

New explosions rock Libyan capital, other areas

Tripoli, Libya (CNN) -- Several explosions rattled Tripoli Thursday morning as Libyan state television reported bombardments in Sirte, east of Tripoli, and other areas.
A Russian envoy due to arrive in Libya Thursday raised the possibility of leader Moammar Gadhafi giving up power but remaining in the country.

"There is a possible option where Gadhafi continues living in Libya as a private individual with his people and his tribe but relinquishes power and his family stays away from taking economic decisions," Mikhail Margelov said, according to the country's Itar-Tass news agency.

Margelov said last week that the rebel Transitional National Council did not need "Gadhafi's head, and no one is going to scalp him and nail it to the wall in his office," the agency reported.
Margelov is due to meet top Libyan officials, he said before leaving Moscow, but it is not clear that Gadhafi will be among them.

He has already talked to the opposition in Benghazi, the de facto rebel capital, and consulted with Ahmed Gaddafi al-Dam, a cousin of Gadhafi's, in Cairo, he said.

His mission to Tripoli comes as critics have questioned NATO's involvement in the civil war.
U.S. lawmakers filed a suit Wednesday that challenges the nation's participation in the Libya mission.
The lawmakers have accused President Barack Obama of failing to consult with Congress over the military effort in the North African country.

The White House denied that accusation, saying Obama has not violated the War Powers Resolution by intervening militarily for more than 60 days without seeking approval from Congress.
South African President Jacob Zuma on Tuesday slammed the international coalition's operation in the battle.
NATO started airstrikes in Libya in March to enforce a U.N. resolution to protect civilians from forces loyal to ruler Moammar Gadhafi.

But Zuma said actions by the international coalition have exceeded the authority that the resolution granted.
"We strongly believe that the resolution is being abused for regime change, political assassinations and foreign military occupation," Zuma said at a budget vote debate before the National Assembly in Cape Town on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, rebel forces said they have made progress in recent days in the fight against Ghadafi forces.
Rebels have taken control of the mountainous Jebel Nafusa region, which is southwest of Tripoli, said Ahmed Bani, an officer with the rebel forces.

Rebels have also made gains in the western city of Zlitan, Bani said.

White House defends to Congress the U.S. military mission in Libya

Washington (CNN) -- The White House defended to Congress on Wednesday the legality, the costs and accomplishments of the U.S. military mission in Libya.

In a 32-page report titled "United States Activities in Libya," the administration says the cost of military and humanitarian operations through June 3 was about $800 million. It estimates the total cost through September 30 will be $1.1 billion.

The report was drawn up in response to a House resolution that accused President Barack Obama of failing to consult with Congress over the military effort in the North African country. It denies the accusation by some members of Congress that Obama has violated the War Powers Resolution by intervening militarily for more than 60 days without seeking approval from Congress.

"Given the important U.S. interests served by U.S. military operations in Libya and the limited nature, scope and duration of the anticipated actions, the president had constitutional authority, as commander-in-chief and chief executive and pursuant to his foreign affairs powers, to address such limited military operations abroad," it says.

"The president is of the view that the current U.S. military operations in Libya are consistent with the War Powers Resolution and do not under that law require further congressional authorization, because U.S. military operations are distinct from the kind of 'hostilities' contemplated by the resolution's 60-day termination provision."

The report was accompanied by a two-page letter jointly signed by legislative affairs officials with the departments of Defense and State and directed to House Speaker John Boehner.

"Taken in response to direct appeals from the Libyan people, and acting with a mandate from the United Nations, the United States mobilized a broad coalition, stopped an advancing army, prevented a massacre, established a no-fly zone, and limited the spread of violence and instability in a region pivotal to U.S. security interests," it says.

In response, Boehner spokesman Brendan Buck said, "The creative arguments made by the White House raise a number of questions that must be further explored. Regardless, the commander-in-chief has a responsibility to articulate how U.S. military action is vital to our national security and consistent with American policy goals. With Libya, the president has fallen short on this obligation. We will review the information that was provided today but hope and expect that this will serve as the beginning, not the end, of the president's explanation for continued American operations in Libya."

The exchange of documents came after a bipartisan group of House members filed a lawsuit Wednesday that challenges U.S. participation in the Libya military mission.
Boehner, R-Ohio, said in a letter to Obama on Tuesday that the administration could be in violation of the War Powers Resolution, if it fails to get congressional authorization by Sunday, the 90th day since the mission began and a deadline that some legal experts cite as the deadline set by the resolution.

The lawsuit addresses a long-standing dispute between the executive and legislative branches -- meaning the White House and Congress -- over the powers of the president to send forces to war.
"We are intending through our presence and through this lawsuit to correct an imbalance which exists today, to correct a deficiency in the separation of powers, to correct ... and to firmly establish that Congress is a co-equal branch of government and that the founders made it unmistakably clear they did not intend for the war power to be placed in the hands of an executive," said Rep. Dennis Kucinich, D-Ohio, an anti-war liberal and one of the 10 legislators filing the lawsuit.

Rep. Tim Johnson, R-Illinois, said the legal issue was whether Obama exceeded his authority in committing U.S. forces to the Libya mission.
"Did he act illegally? The answer is yes," Johnson said.
But Wednesday's report from the White House say that U.S. operations are limited to a supporting role in a coalition whose operations are authorized by the U.N. Security Council resolution. They "do not involve sustained fighting or active exchanges of fire with hostile forces, nor do they involve the presence of U.S. ground troops, U.S. casualties or a serious threat thereof, or any significant chance of escalation into a conflict characterized by those factors." it says.

In a letter to Boehner and to the president pro tempore of the Senate, Daniel Inouye of Hawaii, Obama called U.S. support for the NATO-based coalition "crucial to assuring the success of international efforts to protect civilians and civilian-populated areas from the actions of the Gadhafi regime, and to address the threat to international peace and security posed by the crisis in Libya."

He noted that no U.S. ground forces have been deployed, except for operations to rescue the crew of a U.S. aircraft on March 21. But Kucinich said earlier in the day that the Obama administration must make its case in court. "They can tell it to the judge now," Kucinich said. "They can't claim this isn't a war."
The lawsuit asks the court to "declare that the war in Libya is illegal and order the White House to stop."
The goal of the administration and legislators who support the Libya mission is approval of a new resolution that backs U.S. participation, which would serve as an equivalent to congressional authorization.
The White House has said it was complying with the War Powers Resolution through frequent briefings on the Libya mission, and Wednesday's report cited dozens of them.
Boehner's letter contested that assertion.

"Since the mission began, the administration has provided tactical operational briefings to the House of Representatives, but the White House has systematically avoided requesting a formal authorization for its action," Boehner's letter said. "It has simultaneously sought, however, to portray that its actions are consistent with the War Powers Resolution. The combination of these actions has left many members of Congress, as well as the American people, frustrated by the lack of clarity over the administration's strategic policies, by a refusal to acknowledge and respect the role of the Congress, and by a refusal to comply with the basic tenets of the War Powers Resolution."

Such political wrangling over war powers is common in Washington, with presidents frequently seeking to expand their freedom to commit U.S. forces and Congress battling to exert influence on the process.
Congressional opponents of the mission say that its objective of civilian protection fails to match the stated U.S. goal of Moammar Gadhafi's resignation or ouster and that the Libya situation could become a stalemate.
The White House says incremental progress is occurring through increasing diplomatic, political and military pressure on Gadhafi to step down.

In a coincidence of scheduling, Obama and Boehner are set to play golf together for the first time Saturday, a day after Boehner's deadline for information from the administration and the day before he says it could be in violation of the War Powers Resolution.

NATO: Time to plan for post-Gadhafi Libya

(CNN) -- It is time to start planning for what to do in Libya after leader Moammar Gadhafi's departure "because Gadhafi's reign of terror is coming to an end," NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said Wednesday.

Rasmussen, talking with reporters in Brussels, insisted that NATO bombing had saved lives in Libya.
Pressed by reporters on why airstrikes will be able to dislodge Gadhafi when "the history of the last 30 years" shows that air attacks alone do not win wars, Rasmussen offered no clear answer, saying only, "We have no intentions to put troops on the ground."

He said the alliance had agreed to extend its military mission for another 90 days past the end of June and had the resources it needed to keep up the campaign for that long.

But he refused to predict how long it would take, saying: "We will keep up the pressure for as long as it takes to bring this crisis to an early conclusion."
Gadhafi vowed Tuesday that "we will not surrender," even as NATO airstrikes bombarded his compound in Tripoli.
"I am now speaking as planes and bombs fall around me," Gadhafi said in a live audio broadcast on state television. "But my soul is in God's hand. We will not think about death or life. We will think about the call of duty."

At least three explosions rocked Tripoli late Tuesday night; it was not immediately clear what they hit.
Earlier in the day, NATO targeted a military base and Gadhafi's compound, state television reported. A spokesman for the Libyan government said that at least 31 people were killed, including a number of civilians, and dozens more were wounded after 60 missiles struck the capital city.

Rasmussen reiterated Wednesday that the alliance was doing all it could to avoid civilian casualties.
The Gadhafi compound was under "intensive continuous bombardment," according to state TV, which reported buildings and infrastructure were destroyed.

The blasts Tuesday, and others Monday that Libyan officials said hit state television buildings, elicited heated responses from the government spokesman.
"We believe NATO understands that its military campaign is failing miserably," said spokesman Musa Ibrahim. "No one has the right to shape Libya's future except for Libyans."
Ibrahim said Tuesday's morning blasts hit the popular guard compound and revolution compound, which are military barracks near Gadhafi's Bab al-Aziziya compound.

The spokesman said the attack on the television network killed two people and wounded 16.
NATO disputed the account.

"We did not target or hit the Libyan broadcast facilities. What we did target was the military intelligence headquarters in downtown Tripoli," the alliance said. "The story coming from Libyan officials that we targeted and hit the state broadcaster's building is bogus."
The back and forth between Libyan officials and NATO continues a public relations war between the two sides. Libyan officials have continually charged that NATO airstrikes have damaged civilian facilities and killed hundreds of civilians.

This week, the Libyan government said it had evidence that alliance airstrikes were harming civilians.
Officials took journalists to Tajura, a city east of Tripoli, to show them a small crater that held what appeared to be the remains of a rocket.

The reporters were also taken to nearby homes that the government said had been damaged by airstrikes.
NATO said it had been active in the area hitting military sites but could not say whether the attacks had caused the damage in the residential area.

Reporters were also taken to a nearby hospital to see Nasib, a comatose baby who was a victim of the airstrikes, the government said.

A woman, who the government said was Nasib's mother, cried over the child's listless body.
Journalists were not allowed to talk to the woman or to the doctors. But one doctor quietly slipped a note to one of the journalists that said the girl was injured in a car accident, not a bomb attack.

British Foreign Secretary William Hague, speaking Tuesday to British lawmakers, said the European Union has added six additional ports controlled by pro-Gadhafi forces to its sanctions list in an effort to starve Gadhafi's troops of military supplies.

He said the United Kingdom intends to push for additional sanctions against Gadhafi's regime.

"Any political settlement in Libya requires an end to violence and Gadhafi's departure," Hague said.

Fierce clashes in Yemen; fate of Saleh uncertain

(CNN) -- The fiercest clashes since anti-government demonstrations began in Taiz four months ago erupted overnight Monday between anti-government gunmen and members of government security forces, witnesses said.

They cited heavy gunfire near the Republican Palace, which is less than two miles from the city's Freedom Square, where tens of thousands of anti-government protesters had taken to the streets. The witnesses did not want to be identified, citing fear for their safety.

The goal of the anti-government gunmen was to protect the anti-government demonstrators, who have repeatedly come under fire from security forces during the past two months. Last week, Yemen's government faced condemnation from the United Nations and others for the killing of as many as 50 anti-government demonstrators in Taiz.

The unrest came shortly after Saudi state-run Ekhbariya television reported Monday that Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh had undergone two operations in Saudi Arabia and would return to Yemen after he recovers. Saleh is in Saudi Arabia for treatment following a rocket attack on his presidential compound on Friday.

There were conflicting reports about his health, with Western diplomatic sources saying Sunday that Saleh was undergoing brain surgery, while a spokesman for his party described the procedures as "simple checkups."

A senior U.S. official said Saleh had suffered shrapnel wounds and severe burns to his face and chest, adding that the severity of the wounds was not clear. The official declined to be named due to the sensitivity of the situation.

Another U.S. official told CNN Monday afternoon that Saleh had suffered serious injuries. "It's not an insignificant wound; he is severely hurt," the official said.

The official did not have an update on Saleh's prognosis, but did say it was "unclear if and when" he would be able to return to Yemen. He's "under a lot of political pressure," the official said.

The official added that Acting President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi is "probably not a long-term player, but (is) a caretaker for the regime," although he could become a post-Saleh candidate in any future elections.
The official pointed out that some tribes have honored Hadi's call for a cease-fire. "He carries some weight" in running the government, the official said of Hadi.

The official said the Yemeni military was behind the government, but the source would not predict if that would last.

The official acknowledged that al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, also known as AQAP, had enjoyed free rein in certain parts of Yemen even before the current unrest. They probably have "slightly more free rein now," the official said.

According to the official, AQAP was trying to take advantage of the current situation. The organization has said it opposes the Saleh government and would like to see it collapse. AQAP will try to establish a foothold in other areas of Yemen -- either alone or allied with others, the official said.

The group has a significant presence in the southern province of Abyan, also home to an Islamic militant movement that has targeted government troops for the past three days. The militants killed four soldiers and five civilians Monday in the city of Zinjibar, the scene of several recent battles with Yemeni forces, according to a security source in Abyan, who has asked not to be named as he is not authorized to speak to the media.
Another 17 people, most of them civilians, were wounded in the clashes, the security official said. And a total of 10 government troops died in Saturday and Sunday ambushes in Abyan, a senior Interior Ministry official told CNN.

The U.S. official called AQAP "a small group," although "a potent force". "There are not thousands of them," the official said, referring to the situation with AQAP as "a scale factor." It's questionable whether they can mount a sizable opposition, but they could influence the political and military situation in Yemen, the official said.

The official said the unrest makes it "more difficult" for U.S. counterterrorism efforts in Yemen. "We rely on the Yemeni government as partners. The more the government is distracted by the political unrest, the more difficult it is for us."

The Yemeni government has had a "big impact on acquiring information on AQAP," said the official, adding, "if that information flow slows or stops, it inhibits our ability to gather information." The official would not comment on whether the instability is an opportunity for the United States to take more aggressive actions in Yemen.

White House press secretary Jay Carney said Monday that one of President Barack Obama's top security advisers, John Brennan, has spoken to the acting president in Yemen. No details of the discussion were provided.

Two opposition leaders in Yemen expressed support Monday for Hadi, the vice president who
assumed temporary power when Saleh flew to Saudi Arabia. "We do not have any problem if Hadi takes control of the government. He is respected by the people," said Tawakkul Karman, adding that Hadi "must use this historic moment to enter Yemen's history as a leader and revolutionary."

But she warned that if he does not "conduct immediate reforms, the youth protesters will go against him the same way they did against Saleh. It's Hadi's choice to decide which door of history he wants to go through."
Ahmed Bahri, a senior official of the opposition Joint Meeting Parties, said that if Hadi can lead peaceful change, "we welcome it. If not, he should step aside and not stall the revolution."

"Hadi has been respected by all the political factions for decades, but Saleh did not give him a chance to lead positive change," Bahri said. "Today is his opportunity to repay the Yemeni people for their patience and work for the sake of the people and not for Saleh."

In other violence Monday, three Hashed tribesmen were killed by Yemeni government snipers despite a cease-fire between the sides, a spokesman for the tribe's leader said. The cease-fire was agreed upon late Sunday between Hashed leader Sadeq Al-Ahmar -- who opposes the Yemeni government -- and Vice President Hadi, said Abdulqawi Al-Qaisi, spokesman for the Hashed leader.

He blamed Yemen's Republican Guard for the tribesmen's deaths in the Yemeni capital of Sanaa.
"The tribes are insistent that the cease-fire continues, but the Republican Guard wants chaos as usual to show the people that, without Saleh, clashing will take place everywhere," Al-Qaisi said.

But the government denied being behind the deaths.
"The government does not attack people who are not going against the law," government spokesman Abdu Ganadi said. "These are claims from the tribes in order to cause more crimes in Sanaa."

Supporters of Al-Ahmar are suspected in the Friday attack on the Yemeni presidential compound. Yemen's state-run news agency SABA, citing a source in Saleh's office, reported last week that three guards and an imam were killed.

Yemeni security forces shelled Al-Ahmar's home on Friday in response to the attack, leaving 10 people dead and 35 others wounded, according to Fawzi Al-Jaradi, an official with the Hashed tribal confederation.
The cease-fire deal followed two weeks of clashes between government and tribal forces in Yemen, where thousands of protesters have been pressuring Saleh to give up power since January.
The fighting erupted when Saleh balked at a deal with the opposition that would have eased him out of office in 30 days.

Yemen's largest opposition bloc had vowed to prevent Saleh from returning.

"The Yemeni people will do all in their power to not allow Saleh to re-enter the country," JMP spokesman Mohammed Qahtan said Sunday.