Texas paramedic pleads not guilty to pipe bomb charge

By Lisa Maria Garza

WACO, Texas (Reuters) - A Texas paramedic who responded to a fertilizer plant explosion last month pleaded not guilty on Wednesday to possessing pipe bomb components, his lawyer said, after agreeing to postpone his detention hearing.

A hearing for Bryce Reed scheduled for Wednesday afternoon in Waco was canceled, Daryl Fields, a public affairs officer for the U.S. Attorney's Office in the Western District of Texas, said in a statement.

Reed, 31, faces one count of unlawfully possessing an unregistered destructive device, and faces up to 10 years in prison if convicted. He was indicted by a federal grand jury in Waco on Tuesday, Fields said.

Reed entered a plea of not guilty, said his lawyer, Jonathan Sibley.

Lawyers for the prosecution and defense agreed on Wednesday that Reed would postpone his detention hearing, waive his arraignment, enter a not guilty plea and remain in federal custody, Fields said.

Reed was among the first to respond to the April 17 fertilizer plant explosion that killed 14 people and injured about 200 in the town of West. Texas officials on Friday announced a criminal probe into the blast.

The McLennan County Sheriff's office said last week that no evidence linked Reed's arrest to the plant disaster, and the U.S. attorney's office said last week that authorities would not speculate on whether there was any connection.

Sibley told reporters on Wednesday that he is frustrated that federal officials have not said definitively that Reed's arrest is not connected to the explosion.

STRONGER STATEMENT

"There needs to be a stronger statement from federal agencies who said they won't speculate," he said outside the federal courthouse in Waco. "It's unfair because there's no evidence linking him to what happened in West on April 17."

Federal prosecutors said in court papers on Friday that authorities had found a section of pipe 3-1/2 inches long and 1-1/2 inches in diameter, end caps, fuses and explosive powder this month at a home in Abbott, Texas, a town near West.

They said the resident of that home, whom they did not identify, told police the components came from Reed, who was arrested on Thursday.

"We haven't even had a chance to see the proof yet," Sibley said. "I don't think there's any evidence showing he's a danger to the community."

Reed was a volunteer emergency medical technician but was relieved of his role on April 19, two days after the blast, according to an email sent to the Texas Department of State Health Services on Friday by an administrator for West's emergency medical services.

Reed had no history of complaints or disciplinary action filed against him with the state, said Carrie Williams, a spokeswoman for the health services department. No reason was given in the email for his dismissal.

Reed faces up to 10 years in prison if convicted.

Investigators are expected to announce on Thursday the results of a probe into what caused the explosion, a state agency said on Tuesday.

The State Fire Marshal's Office and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives will release the findings of their joint investigation at a news conference, according to a news release from the fire marshal's office.

(Editing by Corrie MacLaggan, Bob Burgdorfer, Gary Hill, Kevin Gray and Mohammad Zargham)

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Texas EMT to plead not guilty to explosives charge

WACO, Texas (AP) — A lawyer for a Texas paramedic arrested on charges of possessing bomb-making material says his client will plead not guilty and had no connection to the fertilizer plant explosion that killed 14 people last month.

Waco attorney Jonathan Sibley said in a prepared statement Saturday that his client, Bryce Reed anxiously awaits his next court appearance Wednesday, which will include a detention hearing.

Authorities arrested Reed on Friday, but stressed that he has not been linked to the April 17 explosion in West.

The statement said Reed remained "heartbroken" about the explosion, in which he lost friends, and wants to continue to help his community rebuild.

Reed was a first responder, but two days after the explosion was "let go" from West EMS for unknown reasons.

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Brotherhood members face torture charge in Egypt

CAIRO (AP) — Two Muslim Brotherhood officials have been sent to trial on charges of kidnapping and torturing three men during protests in November following Islamist President Mohammed Morsi's decrees, since rescinded, that granted him near absolute powers.

The case in the Nile Delta city of Damanhour north of Cairo is the first of its kind against Morsi's Brotherhood and is likely to embarrass the group at a time it is trying to fend off opposition charges of monopolizing power in the deeply polarized country.

Mohammed Bahnasy, a lawyer for the three victims, told The Associated Press on Sunday that the case was referred to trial a day earlier. The two Brotherhood local officials — Mustafa el-Khouli and Mohammed Abdel-Radi — have not been detained.

An arrest warrant has been issued for el-Khouli, who has failed to respond to a summons for questioning, according to Bahnasy. Abdel-Radi was questioned and released pending the start of the trial, according to him and another lawyer involved in the case, Mohammed Abdel-Aziz.

The Brotherhood's chief lawyer, Abdel-Monaim Abdel-Maqsoud, said the decision to refer the two to trial was "hurried" and described the investigation as "flawed."

He told the AP defense witnesses showed up at the prosecutors' office on Saturday to testify that el-Khouli and Abdel-Radi were innocent, only to be told it was too late.

"Everything will now have to wait for the trial," he said. "I am surprised at the speed with which this has been done. We have many cases of Brotherhood victims of violence and we have not seen any of them go to trial yet," said Abdel-Maqsoud.

He confirmed that the case against the two was the first of its kind since the ouster two years ago of autocrat Hosni Mubarak.

Bahnasy said the three men allegedly kidnapped and tortured were Mahmoud Ali, 17, Mohammed Mansour, 18, and Mustafa Farag, 21. He said the three were detained separately for up to five hours during clashes between supporters and opponents of Morsi at Damanhour's main square on Nov. 24.

El-Khouli was identified by Bahnasy and Abdel-Aziz as the administrative head of the Brotherhood's office in Damanhour. They said Abdel-Radi is a senior member of the local branch of the Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party.

The two were sent to court following a two-day sit-in by the three victims and their supporters outside Damanhour's prosecution office to protest against what they claimed was stalling on a trial.

The Damanhour case is just one of a series of bouts of political violence in the turmoil roiling Egypt since the overthrow of Mubarak's regime in February 2011.

The violence has deepened the political schism tearing Egypt apart since Morsi took office nine months ago as the country's first ever freely elected president.

At least a dozen offices belonging to the Brotherhood and its Freedom and Justice Party were ransacked, some torched, by protesters angered by Morsi's decrees.

The decrees gave immunity from the courts to an Islamist-dominated panel that drafted and hurriedly adopted a new constitution. The document was later ratified in a nationwide referendum.

One major bout of violence was on Dec. 5 when Morsi supporters were shown on video posted on social networking sites to be running impromptu detention centers outside the presidential palace in Cairo, where they tortured protesters during daylong clashes in the area.

The Brotherhood says at least 10 of its supporters were killed that day, but the opposition disputes the figure and maintains that Morsi supporters started the violence when they set upon peaceful protesters staging a sit-in outside the palace.

On March 22, the two sides clashed outside the Brotherhood's national headquarters in an eastern Cairo district. Both sides, according to witnesses, detained and beat members of the rival side during daylong clashes with rocks, sticks and firebombs.

The violence that day had its roots in an incident a week earlier when Brotherhood supporters assaulted a small crowd of protesters painting anti-Morsi graffiti on the street outside the Brotherhood's headquarters. One Brotherhood supporter was caught on camera slapping a female protester to the ground.

The Brotherhood maintains that its supporters were provoked and that they had pleaded with the activists not to paint abusive graffiti or plaster flyers on the headquarters' walls.

Morsi blames thugs for the political violence and accuses the opposition of providing political cover for it. The opposition, mostly liberal and secular, maintains that it does not condone violence.

Bahnasy said the referral documents leave no room for doubt that the alleged detention and torture of the three men took place in the Brotherhood's Damanhour offices and quotes witnesses as saying they had seen sticks, tasers and swords inside the group's headquarters.

"I will study every relevant legal book to prepare for this case," said Bahnasy, a native of Damanhour. "I will do nothing but this case and I will pursue it to the very end."

Mahmoud Duweir, a Damanhour activist, said he was at the city's main square when the Nov. 24 incident took place.

"All three came out with their clothes ripped. They had bruises and marks of blows from sticks on their bodies."

A Brotherhood supporter, Islam Massoud, was killed in clashes in the square a day later in a case that has been intensely publicized by the group.

The Brotherhood says he was killed by opposition protesters. But Bahnasy, Abdel-Aziz and Duweir insist he was slain by a single blow to the head by a Brotherhood supporter who mistook him for a protester during pitched street battles.

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Mubarak's last PM found not guilty on corruption charge

CAIRO (Reuters) - An Egyptian court acquitted Ahmed Shafik, the last prime minister of deposed president Hosni Mubarak, on a charge of embezzling public funds when he was civil aviation minister, a court official said on Sunday.

Shafik, who is on a watch list at border points, was tried in his absence over allegations that he, former civil aviation minister Ibrahim Mannaa, and former Egypt Air chief Tawfiq el-Asi embezzled over 23 million Egyptian pounds ($3.4 million). All three were found not guilty, advisor Ahmed Yousef said.

Shafik, who was a presidential candidate in 2012, left for Abu Dhabi last June two days after his opponent, the Muslim Brotherhood's Mohamed Mursi, was declared president.

He still faces another corruption charge over his alleged allocation of 40,000 square meters of state land to Mubarak's sons Alaa and Gamal. The ex-leader's sons are in prison, also facing corruption charges.

Their 84-year-old father will be retried from next Saturday after an appeal to quash his life sentence for the killing of protesters by security forces was upheld.

On Sunday the prosecutor general ordered Mubarak's detention for another 15 days for a separate investigation over corruption charges and embezzling public funds. The move ensures that he will remain in custody.

($1 = 6.8383 Egyptian pounds)

(Reporting by Omar Fahmy; Writing by Asma Alsharif; Editing by Paul Taylor and Stephen Powell)

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Suspended priest to plead guilty to drug charge

PARIS, April 2 (Reuters) - Paris St Germain 2 Barcelona 2 - Champions League quarter-final, first leg result At Parc des Princes Scorers: Paris St Germain: Zlatan Ibrahimovic 79, Blaise Matuidi 90+4 Barcelona: Lionel Messi 38, Xavi 89 penalty Halftime: 0-1; Teams: Paris St Germain: 30-Salvatore Sirigu; 26-Christophe Jallet, 13-Alex, 2-Thiago Silva, 17-Maxwell; 29-Lucas, 32-David Beckham (24-Marco Verratti 70), 14-Blaise Matuidi, 27-Javier Pastore (19-Kevin Gameiro 76); 18-Zlatan Ibrahimovic, 11-Ezequiel Lavezzi (7-Jeremy Menez 66) Barcelona: 1-Victor Valdes; 2-Daniel Alves, 3-Gerard Pique, ...

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NY mogul's daughter arrested on heroin charge

Mar 26 (Reuters) - Leading money winners on the 2013 PGATour on Monday (U.S. unless stated): 1. Tiger Woods $3,787,600 2. Brandt Snedeker $2,859,920 3. Matt Kuchar $2,154,500 4. Steve Stricker $1,820,000 5. Phil Mickelson $1,650,260 6. Hunter Mahan $1,553,965 7. John Merrick $1,343,514 8. Dustin Johnson $1,330,507 9. Russell Henley $1,313,280 10. Kevin Streelman $1,310,343 11. Keegan Bradley $1,274,593 12. Charles Howell III $1,256,373 13. Michael Thompson $1,254,669 14. Brian Gay $1,171,721 15. Justin Rose $1,155,550 16. Jason Day $1,115,565 17. Chris Kirk $1,097,053 18. ...

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APNewsBreak: Conn. priest to admit to drug charge

NEW HAVEN, Conn. (AP) — A suspended Roman Catholic priest accused of taking in more than $300,000 from sales of methamphetamines plans to plead guilty to one of the charges against him, according to a court filing Tuesday.

Kevin Wallin is scheduled to appear in U.S. District Court in Hartford next week for a hearing in which he would plead guilty to conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine, according to the filing obtained by The Associated Press.

A message left with his attorney wasn't immediately returned.

Authorities say the 61-year-old Wallin had meth mailed to him from co-conspirators in California and made more than $300,000 in drugs sales out of his Waterbury apartment in the second half of last year.

He also bought a small adult video and sex toy shop in the nearby town of North Haven named Land of Oz & Dorothy's Place, authorities said.

Wallin, dubbed in some media as "Monsignor Meth," was the pastor of St. Augustine Parish in Bridgeport for nine years until he resigned in June 2011, citing health and personal problems. He previously served six years as pastor of St. Peter's Church in Danbury until 2002.

He was granted a sabbatical in July 2011. The Diocese of Bridgeport suspended him from public ministry last May.

Federal agents arrested Wallin on Jan. 3, and a grand jury indicted him and four other people on drug charges on Jan. 15. All are charged with one count of conspiracy to distribute 500 grams or more of a substance containing meth and 50 grams of actual meth, a crime that carries 10 years to life in prison upon conviction. That's the charge that Wallin plans to plead guilty to.

Wallin was also charged with six counts of possession with intent to distribute and distribution of meth.

An undercover officer with the state task force bought meth from Wallin six times from Sept. 20 to Jan. 2, paying more than $3,400 in total for 23 grams of the drug, authorities said.

Federal agents say they learned through wiretaps and informants about other sales Wallin was making.

Connecticut U.S. Attorney David Fein said federal and state authorities worked together in "the dismantling of what we allege was a significant methamphetamine distribution organization that spanned from California to Connecticut."

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Israeli wanted on bribery charge arrested after Peru extradition

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israel arrested a former judge suspected of receiving millions of dollars in bribes as he arrived back in the country on Sunday after being extradited from Peru, authorities said.

A spokeswoman for Israel's Justice Ministry said Dan Cohen, who fled Israel in 2005, arrived back after Peruvian President Ollanta Humala approved a long-standing request for extradition.

Humala's predecessor, she said, had rejected Israel's requests. The two countries do not have an extradition treaty.

Cohen will now face bribery and other charges, she said.

Eli Levy, who has worked on the case for years as an investigator at the Israel Securities Authority, the country's markets regulator, told Army Radio he only learnt on Friday Cohen would be sent back to Israel.

Cohen served as a district judge between 1978 and 1981 and a director at state-run utility Israel Electric Corp between 1993 and 2004.

He was indicted in a number of affairs, including bribery connected with an IEC tender worth hundreds of millions of dollars for gas turbines in 1999. Siemens was one of the bidders, submitting its offer via its Israeli subsidiary.

The ISA said Cohen used his influence and status at IEC to guarantee Siemens, which was bidding against General Electric, a win in exchange for about 1 million euros ($1.3 million) that would be deposited in a foreign bank account.

Levy said in total, Cohen took about $4 million in bribes from different companies.

($1 = 0.7654 euros)

(Reporting by Steven Scheer and Ari Rabinovitch; Editing by Sophie Hares)

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Walesa avoids hate crime charge for anti-gay words

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Polish prosecutors say they will not charge former President Lech Walesa with hate crimes for recent remarks deemed offensive to gays.

Walesa, a communist-era fighter for democracy and Nobel Peace Prize laureate, sparked outrage among liberal Poles by saying March 1 that gays have no right to a prominent role in politics. He said gay lawmakers should sit in the back of Parliament, or "even behind the wall."

That prompted Ryszard Nowak, director of the National Committee for the Defense Against Sects and Violence, to file a complaint with prosecutors in Gdansk, Walesa's hometown. He said Walesa was promoting the hatred of a sexual minority.

But Renata Klonowska, head of the regional prosecutor's office in Gdansk, said Wednesday that investigators found Walesa did not commit a crime under Polish law.

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Egypt: Christian arrested on molesting charge

ASSIUT, Egypt (AP) — An official says a Coptic Christian has been arrested on charges of molesting a neighbor child, adding to sectarian tensions in Egypt's south. The arrest came after Muslims set fire to the Copt's house.

The incident took place in Assiut province. Over the weekend, there were clashes between Christians and Muslims in another southern province. Christians charge they are targets of more frequent attacks since the Muslim Brotherhood took power in Egypt last year.

In the Assiut incident, Chief Investigator Lt. Col. Mohamed Essami said Monday that the 30-year-old Copt, Karam Attallah, was accused by Muslims of molesting his 9-year old neighbor, Mohammed Abdel-Al. Angry Muslims ransacked and set fire to Attalah's house and threatened other Christian residents. Security and military forces intervened to stop the violence.

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