Fears of backlash in Afghanistan rise after 7 Royal Marines arrested on suspicion of murder

LONDON - Seven British Royal Marines have been arrested on suspicion of murder — an unusual case that could cause a backlash from Afghans and further erode efforts to provide political stability to Afghanistan.

The arrests relate to an incident in Afghanistan last year, and the Defence Ministry said it involved an insurgent rather than a civilian. It comes at a time when relations between NATO forces and the Afghan government are at a low ebb as they to quash the resilient Taliban insurgency after more than a dozen years of war.

Military experts said Friday the case is rare, as the Royal Marines are known for having a high level of training that would include instruction on acting with restraint.

Michael Clarke of the Royal United Services Institute says the spirit of the unit usually prevents misbehaviour, and that having seven people involved in a single case will heighten the political embarrassment.

"This is a politically charged issue," he said. "It destroys so much work that has been done in the last months."

Though international officials are already starting to transfer full control of security to the Afghans, ethnic tensions still simmer and the government still does not have authority in all parts of the nation. Political leaders worry that the country could even fracture along ethnic lines once the foreign troops leave by the end of 2014, as it did after the Soviet exit from Afghanistan in February 1989.

The suggestion of murder is particularly unfortunate news at the moment — though no one has yet been charged. The incident is believed to be the first of this magnitude involving British Marines and an insurgent during the Afghan conflict, and the ministry said the arrests announced Thursday night underlined its commitment to making sure that British soldiers act in accordance with the rules of engagement.

Afghan Defence Ministry spokesman Gen. Zahir Azimi said the Afghan government welcomed the arrests because it means that the law is being implemented.

The incident took place in Helmand province, which was the centerpiece of the U.S. surge that sent tens of thousands of U.S. Marines to join British Royal Marines there in 2010. They fought pitched battles against entrenched Taliban insurgents in the central Helmand River Valley before the pace of combat eased in 2011.

The brigade believed to be involved in the incident, 3 Commando, was in the thick of the fighting — which would have heightened tensions already soaring amid heat, fear and other strains of combat. The rules of engagement in general would allow them to fire on someone that is a threat or someone involved in a hostile act, like planting a bomb, Clarke said.

Eric Grove, director of Center for International Security and War Studies at the University of Salford, said the rules of engagement would spell out at what point the enemy is no longer a threat and when the Geneva Conventions on the treatment of prisoners takes effect.

"They are very much an elite force," he said of the British Marines. "They would normally be very good at showing restraint in action."

He said that the arrested Marines have "very much let the side down."

Past incidents involving abuses by coalition soldiers have sparked protests and riots in Afghanistan, damaging relations with the government of Hamid Karzai. Also eroding the relations have been a rising tide of attacks in which Afghan soldiers or police assault their international allies — endangering the partnership that is critical to training Afghan security forces and withdrawing international troops.

But while there have been some allegations of abuse against civilians, the case revealed Thursday is unusual in that it involves an insurgent.

However, allegations of British misconduct in general have been rare in Afghanistan, with some of the experts noting that Britain had learned its lessons from several appalling incidents in Iraq.

Britain's six-year military presence in southern Iraq spawned multiple allegations of torture and abuse. The most notorious case involved a hotel receptionist, Baha Mousa, who died while in custody at a British base after being detained in a raid in Basra in September 2003. Britain's defence authorities later apologized for the mistreatment of Mousa and nine other Iraqis and paid a $4.8 million (3 million pound) settlement. Six soldiers were cleared of wrongdoing at a court martial, while another pleaded guilty and served a year in jail.

The government says abuse was committed by only a few soldiers, but lawyers for the alleged victims say it was systemic.

The Defence Ministry's terse statement Thursday suggested that the military was moving to control the incident, and trying to make certain the potentially lurid details were kept under wraps. The statement said the seven were arrested Thursday by Royal Military Police, but did not name the marines.

While the ministry said the marines were not arrested in Afghanistan, it would not specify where the arrests took place or give any further details on the alleged murder.

"The investigation will now be taken forward and dealt with by the Service Justice system," the ministry said in a statement, adding that "as with any serious incident of this nature, there will be an internal review to identify lessons learned."

Britain has 9,500 troops in Afghanistan — the second largest foreign force after the United States — based in the southern Helmand province.

About 500 troops will leave this year, ahead of the withdrawal of all international forces at the end of 2014.

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Yemen says "terrorists" killed US embassy worker

SANAA, Yemen (AP) — Yemeni President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi said Friday that "terrorists" were behind the assassination of a security official for the U.S. Embassy in Sanaa.

Hadi, according to Yemeni official TV, sent condolences to the family of Qassem Aqlani, who was killed in drive-by shooting by a masked militant on a motorcycle near his house on Thursday.

"Aqlani died as a martyr after terrorists killed him," Hadi said. "The way he was killed reflects the barbarism and aggression of this outlawed group that is violating Islam and its principles that ban bloodshed."

The killing, the latest episode in an assassination campaign aimed at top military and security officials, raised concerns the country's al-Qaida offshoot is growing bolder after suffering defeats this year in a U.S.-Yemeni military offensive.

Washington considers Yemen's al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula as the world's most dangerous branch of the terror network. In addition to drone strikes, the U.S. is supporting the government's fight against the group by providing help with logistics and military advisers.

Concerns over security at American embassies in the region are increasing after last month's deadly attack by militants against a U.S. diplomatic mission in Benghazi that killed the U.S ambassador to Libya and three other Americans. Protesters also stormed several U.S. embassies in Arab nations — including the one in Sanaa — in outrage over a film denigrating Islam's Prophet Muhammad.

US deficit tops $1 trillion for fourth year

Graphic shows the U.S. budget deficit

WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. budget deficit has topped $1 trillion for a fourth straight year, but a modest improvement in economic growth helped narrow the gap by $207 billion compared with last year.

The Treasury Department said Friday the deficit for the 2012 budget year totaled $1.1 trillion. Tax revenue rose 6.4 percent from last year to more than $2.4 trillion, helping contain the deficit.

The government's revenue rose as more people got jobs and received income. Corporations also contributed more tax revenue than in 2011.

Government spending fell 1.7 percent to $3.5 trillion. The decline reflected, in part, less defense spending as U.S. military involvement in Iraq was winding down.

Barack Obama's presidency has now coincided with four straight $1 trillion-plus annual budget deficits — the first in history and an issue in an election campaign that ends in Nov. 6.

Obama's Republican challenger, Mitt Romney, contends that Obama failed to achieve a pledge to halve the deficit he inherited by the end of his first term.

When Obama took office in January 2009, the Congressional Budget Office forecast that the deficit for that year would total $1.2 trillion. It ended up at a record $1.41 trillion.

The increase was due, in part, to higher government spending to fight the worst recession since the Great Depression of the 1930s Tax cuts enacted under President George W. Bushand wars in Iraq and Afghanistan contributed to the deficits.

The budget gaps in 2010 and 2011 were slightly lower than the 2009 deficit as a gradually strengthening economy generated more tax revenue. But the deficits still exceeded $1 trillion.

Obama is campaigning for a second term with a pledge to cut deficits by $4 trillion over the next decade. He says he would do so by ending the Bush-era income tax cuts for higher-income Americans and by restraining the growth of spending.

Romney has said he would cut spending growth to help narrow the budget gap. He would cap spending at 20 percent of the economy by 2016. Spending in 2012 accounted for about 23 percent of the economy.

The government borrowed about 31 cents of every dollar it spent in 2012. The string of $1 trillion-plus deficits has driven the national debt above $16 trillion. The magnitude of that figure has intensified debate in Congress over spending and taxes but little movement toward compromise.

Many fear the budget deadlock will send the economy over a "fiscal cliff" next year, when tax increases and deep spending cuts will take effect unless a budget deal is reached.

Obama wants to eliminate the income tax cuts for families that make more than $250,000.

Republicans in Congress and Romney have resisted. They argue that with the economy still weak, the government should not be raising anyone's taxes.

Congress may address the budget crisis during a lame-duck session of Congress after the November elections.

Dallas mother gets 99 years in prison for gluing toddler daughter's hands to wall, beating her

DALLAS - A Dallas woman who beat her 2-year-old daughter and glued the toddler's hands to a wall was sentenced Friday to 99 years in prison by a judge who described his decision as a necessary punishment for a brutal, shocking attack.

Elizabeth Escalona did not immediately react as State District Judge Larry Mitchellpronounced the sentence at the end of a five-day hearing. Prosecutor Eren Price, who originally offered Escalona a plea deal for 45 years, had argued that she now thought the 23-year-old mother deserved life.

Mitchell said his decision came down to one thing.

"On Sept. 7, 2011, you savagely beat your child to the edge of death," Mitchell said. "For this you must be punished."

The beating left Jocelyn Cedillo in a coma for a couple of days.

Escalona's other children told authorities their mother attacked Jocelyn due to potty training problems. Police say she kicked her daughter in the stomach, beat her with a milk jug, then stuck her hands to an apartment wall with an adhesive commonly known as Super Glue.

Jocelyn suffered bleeding in her brain, a fractured rib, multiple bruises and bite marks, a doctor testified. Some skin had been torn off her hands, where doctors also found glue residue and white paint chips from the apartment wall.

Escalona pleaded guilty in July to one count of felony injury to a child.

Price said Escalona would be eligible to apply for parole in 30 years.

Mitchell could have sentenced Escalona to anywhere from probation to life in prison. Asentence as long as 99 years is rare for felony injury to a child cases in Texas, but not unheard of. According to the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, about 2,100 inmates are serving prison sentences for felony injury offences involving a child, elderly or disabled victim. Just fewer than 5 per cent of those inmates are serving sentences of 99 years or more, including life.

Defence attorney Angie N'Duka said afterward that the sentence was "way too harsh" and suggested the widespread attention her client's case had received contributed to the sentence.

"It's a lot of pressure, a lot of pressure on the parties," N'Duka said.

Price said prosecutors decided to ask for a longer sentence after receiving more evidence they wouldn't have had if Escalona had taken a deal for 45 years.

"We feel like the judge listened very carefully to a very difficult week of testimony, and we feel like he did exactly what the evidence called for," Price said.

Throughout the hearing, Price sought to portray Escalona as a liar, a monster and an unfit mother. She forced Escalona Thursday to look at enlarged photos of the bruises her attack left on Jocelyn.

Price argued Friday that if a stranger had beaten Jocelyn the same way, no one would hesitate to give that person life in prison. Escalona had mishandled a "beautiful gift" of a daughter and failed to recognize what she had done, Price argued.

"The 45-year recommendation was for somebody who was going to take ownership of what she did, appreciate what she caused," Price said.

Sending her to prison for decades would protect her children's future, Price argued.

"You can give Jocelyn and her brothers and sister peace," she said. "You can give them peace, so that when they're sitting around the dinner table at Thanksgiving with their big family, they're not worried that their mother is going to come walking through the door."

Defence attorney Angie N'Duka asked for probation or a prison sentence shorter than 10 years. N'Duka argued that her client was a "train wreck" waiting to happen before the attack, the product of a broken home, abuse and a childhood that included illegal drugs and hanging out with gang members.

N'Duka repeated that she did not want to minimize the injuries from the attack.

"They are despicable, but then the question is, 'What is justice for Jocelyn?'" she said, adding later: "Giving Elizabeth the opportunity to be a better mother, giving her the opportunity to get counselling services, will be justice for Jocelyn."

Escalona's five children, including Jocelyn and a baby born after the attack, are in the care of their grandmother, Ofeila Escalona.

Mitchell listened to both lawyers and took a short break before delivering his sentence.

The judge said he believed many of the allegations that Escalona was abused as a child. "And again, outside of the context of this trial, I think even the state would find you to be a sympathetic figure, because they prosecute people for what was done to you," Mitchell said. "But I can't consider that evidence outside of the context of this trial."

He then announced the sentence. A family member of Escalona began sobbing and screaming, "No!"

N'Duka told reporters that Escalona had asked afterward, "What about my children?"

Ofelia Escalona had asked for leniency for her daughter. After the sentencing, she left the courtroom with a solemn expression, ignoring reporters' shouted questions.

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