Red Mosque Raid; Libyan AIDS Case: Court Upholds Death Penalty for Six Nurses, One Doctor; Britain Steps up Campaign to Stop Practice of Female Circumcision
JIM CLANCY, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Pakistan says its operations against militants in Islamabad's Red Mosque is over, but the political fallout may be just beginning.</s>DET. INSPECTOR CAROL HAMILTON, LONDON METROPOLITAN POLICE: It's horrendous. It is physical and emotional torture of children.</s>RALITSA VASSILEVA, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: It's an ancient practice that still scars millions of lives. Now London police say some immigrants are bringing it home to Britain.</s>CLANCY: California dreaming. The Golden State's population is booming, but its public services are on overload.</s>VASSILEVA: And Kwik E Mart or caricature-mart? Real-life cartoon characters intermingle with real life, but it's no laughing matter for some. It is 9:00 p.m. in Islamabad, 5:00 p.m. in London. Hello and welcome, everybody, to our broadcast -- report broadcast around the globe. I'm Ralitsa Vassileva.</s>CLANCY: I'm Jim Clancy. From Sacramento to New York, wherever you're watching, this is YOUR WORLD TODAY. A story being watched all around the world. Pakistani forces breathing a little easier now that the weeklong standoff of the Islamic extremists at Islamabad's Red Mosque is finally, in their words, over.</s>VASSILEVA: The trouble could just be beginning for the Pakistani president. The White House is supporting President Musharraf's decision to storm the mosque, but not everybody at home is as happy with the decision. Anjali Rao has more.</s>ANJALI RAO, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): One day after Pakistani forces began an assault on the Red Mosque, the last parts of the complex are now secure. It is the final act in a bloody, weeklong siege. Officials say there are no more militants left inside and cleanup operations are now ongoing.</s>GEN. WAHEED ARSHAD, PAKISTAN ARMY SPOKESMAN: The clearing and the combing operation is required to sanitize the area and to ensure that for subsequent use of this area, even for visit of the media, for example, this whole area needs to be sanitized because we don't want exposure to grenades or mines or any other explosives lying around.</s>RAO: Among the dozens of dead Islamist fighters, rebel leader Abdul Rashid Ghazi. The chief cleric of the hard-line mosque demanded Taliban-style rule in the capital, Islamabad. The Pakistani military says he was killed in a hail of gunfire in the basement of a religious school on the compound. As the standoff comes to an end, many questions remain. First and foremost, the final death toll and whether any women or children were killed in the siege. Pakistani officials say none have been found dead so far, but some anxious relatives of students inside the mosque continue to wait for word on their loved ones. And some observers wonder why it came to this. "This should not happen," this man says. "Muslims are being killed on both sides. On one side, the security forces' men are Muslims, while on the other, those inside the mosque are also Muslims." Also in question, how the crisis will affect beleaguered president Pervez Musharraf, under criticism for not confronting the militants sooner. Anjali Rao, CNN, Hong Kong.</s>CLANCY: Meantime, in U.S., anxiety rising about the possibility of new terror attacks. Details sketchy right now about what is just prompting all of the official concern. Homeland Security chief Michael Chertoff says he has -- and we're quoting here -- a "gut feeling" that something could happen in the next few months. Pressed on just why, he notes that al Qaeda tends to be more active in the summer months. It is a concern shared by a member of the panel that investigated the U.S. response to the 9/11 attacks.</s>MICHAEL CHERTOFF, HOMELAND SECURITY SECRETARY: I don't think it's quite like the summer of 2001. That, of course, was a time when the Taliban controlled all of Afghanistan. We could easily be attacked. The intent to attack us remains as strong as it was on September 10, 2001.</s>LEE HAMILTON, FMR. 9/11 COMMISSIONER: My gut has always told me that we would be hit again in the United States. There can be no doubt at all about the intent. I think the secretary was quite right about that. They have repeated it again and again and again. They want to kill Americans and kill as many Americans as possible. What is less sure is their capability, but we've seen evidence of that in Europe. We would be very, very foolish to be complacent in this country.</s>CLANCY: More specifically, other officials point out that al Qaeda has been able to plot and train more freely in the tribal areas in the Afghan-Pakistan border in recent months. That is, of course, where Osama bin Laden and his top deputy, Ayman al-Zawahiri, are believed to be hiding -- Ralitsa.</s>VASSILEVA: Jim, now to Libya, where the supreme court has upheld death sentences for five Bulgarian nurses and one Palestinian doctor convicted of infecting hundreds of Libyan children with the AIDS virus. But there's still hope that their lives could be spared.</s>VASSILEVA (voice over): First convicted three years ago of an unspeakable crime, if true, five Bulgarian nurses and a Palestinian doctor found guilty of deliberately infecting more than 400 Libyan children under their care with the virus that causes AIDS. Fifty children have died. Since their arrests in 1999, the doctor and nurses have insisted on their innocence.</s>SNEZHANA DIMITROVA, DEFENDANT (through translator): No matter what people say, I'm simply innocent. That's all.</s>VASSILEVA: Libyan prosecutors claim they infected the children as an experiment to find a cure for AIDS, but respected international experts testifying for the defense say poor hygiene, not the medics, are to blame. They found the HIV strain in Libya's hospital was present before their arrival in Libya.</s>DR. ROBERT GALLO, CO-DISCOVERER OF AIDS VIRUS: And the fact that these children are infected with a wide variety of these kinds of viruses -- wide number of strains of these viruses, strongly indicate that non-sanitary conditions were being used. That is, contaminated syringes and needles, et cetera.</s>VASSILEVA: Through the years, the nurses have said they held out hope they could be released. The Libyan high judicial counsel is scheduled to review the case on Monday, but there are guarded hopes that a deal for their release could be reached out of court. Libyan leader Moammar Gaddafi's son heads a foundation for the children's medical aid. The foundation announced the medics have reached a deal with the families of the victims to help fund their children's treatment. But it's not clear if the Bulgarian government will accept the deal. Bulgaria has said it wants to help care for the children but it can't accept a deal that implies the nurses' guilt. The release of the nurses would be sure to anger the family of the sick children who want them to pay for their children's tragedy.</s>VASSILEVA: So now the victims' families and the medics await Monday's high judicial council review. It has the power to commute the sentences or pardon the medics, but experts think a more likely resolution is an out-of-court settlement that could free the medics and provide for the health care needs of the infected children.</s>VASSILEVA: Police in Britain are stepping up efforts to stop a practice that is still common in parts of Africa. And that is female circumcision. As Phil Black reports, it's a procedure that leaves girls physically and emotionally scarred. And we warn you this report contains some disturbing images.</s>PHIL BLACK, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): This young girl is a victim of an ancient custom still damaging millions of lives today. Eight-year-old Fusia (ph) is undergoing female circumcision, also known as female genital mutilation. This was in Kenya, but the terrible images are now being used as an educational tool by police in London, who say this is happening in the British capital.</s>HAMILTON: Absolutely. You can't just stop something that has been in tradition since the time of the pharaohs. And we have now 28 practicing countries. And all of those countries will have immigrant population here.</s>BLACK: Police here say the approaching summer holiday period is the time most likely for British girls to undergo female circumcision, because the break from school allows time to heal.</s>HAMILTON: It's horrendous. It is physical and emotional torture of children.</s>BLACK: It is a tradition for mostly African and some Middle Eastern countries, often carried out to ensure chastity. Police say the mutilation is often planned for visits to family homelands. The precise number of British victims is impossible to know, but the police and counselors like Faduma Hussein believe it may be tens of thousands, mostly Muslim girls.</s>FADUMA HUSSEIN, COUNSELOR: It's not a religious obligation. It's not in the Koran. And people are starting to know more about the religion now, and that's a good reason why they have to stop it.</s>SALIMATA BADJI-KNIGHT, MUTILATION VICTIM: I was about four and a half. And they told us we are going to a picnic.</s>BLACK: Salimata Badji-Knight suffered genital mutilation in Senegal. It was organized by her grandmother.</s>BADJI-KNIGHT: No one can come and tell me, oh, there is nothing wrong with this. It's not true. It had dramatically changed my life forever. And there's nothing I can do to change that.</s>BLACK: Doctors say the practice kills. It can also cause lifelong psychological trauma, serious menstrual and urinary tract problems, and complications during pregnancy. (on camera): It is practiced in many countries and cultures and a number of different religions. But victims around the world have one thing in common -- they belong to patriarchal communities. And police in London believe for this to stop, it is men who must stand against it. (voice over): Police have offered a $40,000 reward for information from the public about cases of female mutilation. It's been a specific crime here four years, but so far no one has been convicted. Police say they hope to change that soon. Phil Black, CNN, London.</s>CLANCY: All right. We've got to take a short break. But still ahead, police say they've solved a crime that's been a mystery for nearly four years now.</s>VASSILEVA: This is the bizarre case of a pizza deliveryman involved in a bank robbery. But was the man with a bomb around his neck a victim or a criminal? We'll find out.</s>CLANCY: Plus, millions of refugees from Zimbabwe flooding into neighboring South Africa. Can South Africa do anything to help end the economic crisis next door?</s>VASSILEVA: Up next, though...</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I remember one time walking into the BMW dealer to buy a pair of gloves. And so I walked out with the gloves and a new BMW.</s>VASSILEVA: It's a secret people keep even from their closest of friends. Are you among those who are addicted to debt?