Washington

Al-Qaida ‘sleepers’ in U.S., attorney general says

The al-Qaida terrorist organization maintains an aggressive network of underground “sleeper” cells in the United States and is trying to smuggle even more terrorists into the country by having them pose as ordinary visitors, Atty. Gen. John Ashcroft said Thursday.

“Today the United States is at war with a terrorist network operating within our borders,” Ashcroft testified before a congressional panel on homeland security. “Al-Qaida maintains a hidden but active presence in the United States waiting to strike again.”

Ashcroft’s comments came as Justice Department officials disclosed that most of about 1,200 people detained in the Sept. 11 dragnet have been deported on immigration violations, though some were released after being cleared of criminal involvement in the attacks. Only 73 people remained in federal custody on Thursday, none on charges related to terrorism. Most face immigration violations.

New York

Judge: 9-11 material witnesses can be held without charges

A federal judge on Thursday declared as constitutional the government’s jailing of witnesses in the Sept. 11 investigation without bringing charges.

Judge Michael Mukasey’s ruling was issued in the case of an illegal immigrant who asked to be immediately deported rather than held for questioning before a grand jury probing the terrorist attacks.

The detainee’s request was based partly on the reasoning of another Manhattan federal judge, Shira Scheindlin, who in April tossed out perjury charges against a Jordanian student accused of lying about his associations with two of the Sept. 11 hijackers.

Scheindlin wrote: “Relying on the material witness statute to detain people who are presumed innocent under our Constitution in order to prevent potential crimes is an illegitimate use of the statute.”

But Mukasey, in his opinion Thursday, said Scheindlin’s decision was “poorly reasoned” and failed to fully consider the law’s history or other judges’ opinions in similar cases.

The detainee was identified only as John Doe. A message left with his lawyer, Neil Cartusciello, was not immediately returned.

After Scheindlin’s ruling, Atty. Gen. John Ashcroft defended the roundup of witnesses after Sept. 11.

Toronto

Government ends strike in time for pope’s visit

The provincial government on Thursday ordered 23,500 striking city employees, including 841 garbage collectors, back to work ensuring that Toronto will be shipshape when Pope John Paul II visits later this month.

To end the largest strike by municipal workers in Canadian history, the government approved a bill to settle stalled negotiations between the city of 2.6 million people and its employees.

The strike began June 26, leaving uncollected garbage in some areas piled more than six feet high and stretched for a city block to rot and stink in hot summer weather. It also closed swimming pools and day-care centers while reducing public health inspections to a minimum.

In announcing the legislation that forces the workers back to their jobs while the labor dispute goes to binding arbitration, Ontario Premier Ernie Eves cited the threat of a public health hazard.