New York: Missing journalists, activist found safe

Four journalists and a peace activist missing since March 24 safely left Iraq Tuesday after being released from a Baghdad prison where they were held for a week, editors said in Melville.

Newsday correspondent Matt McAllester and photographer Moises Saman contacted their editors shortly after noon CST to say they had crossed into Jordan.

Two other missing journalists, Molly Bingham, a freelance photographer from Louisville, Ky., and a Danish freelance photographer, Johan Rydeng Spanner, were with the two Newsday staffers. The group had been held in a cellblock inside the Abu Ghraib prison since March 25, according to Charlotte Hall, Newsday’s managing editor.

An American peace activist, Philip Latasha, also was with the group, Hall said.

California: Reservist declares conscientious objection

With his sister carrying his duffel bag and his mother holding his hand, a 20-year-old Marine reservist surrendered to the military Tuesday and declared himself a conscientious objector.

Wearing camouflage fatigues, Lance Cpl. Stephen Funk turned himself in at the locked gates of the Marine Corps reserve center in San Jose where he was assigned, weeks after refusing to report when called up to active duty.

“Ultimately, it’s my fault for joining in the first place,” said Funk, who didn’t show up when his unit was deployed to Camp Pendleton. “It wasn’t as well thought out as it should’ve been. It was about me being depressed and wanting direction in life.”

Funk said he’s attended every major San Francisco Bay area anti-war rally since finishing his military training last fall. He insisted his decision had nothing to do with the war in Iraq.

Those applying for a conscientious discharge must submit a detailed letter explaining how their feelings have changed since joining the military.

Applications for conscientious discharges always increase during wartime. There were 111 granted during the 1991 Gulf War. Only 28 were granted last year, military officials said.

New Mexico : Teachers suspended for war posters

Two high school teachers in Albuquerque said Tuesday they have been placed on leave for refusing to remove war-related student artwork posted in their classrooms.

Highland High School teachers Allen Cooper and Geoffrey Barrett said they were told Monday night that they would be suspended if they did not remove the posters.

Barrett, who teaches history and current events, said the student art carried both anti-war and pro-war messages, and was created as part of a class assignment.

Cooper said one of the signs in question in his classroom read “No War Mr. Cooper.” It was written by an Afghani student who has had family members killed in U.S.-led bombings in Afghanistan, he said.

“I really agonized over this,” said Cooper, an English teacher. “I don’t want to be suspended. I just want to teach my classes.”

Delaware: Servicemen’s remains arrive at Dover air base

The remains of six Americans killed in the war against Iraq arrived early Tuesday at the military mortuary at Dover Air Force Base, officials said.

Two sets of remains arrived on a flight from Ramstein Air Base in Germany, and four came from Naval Station Rota, Spain, said Lt. Olivia Nelson, a base spokeswoman.

They brought to 32 the number of bodies brought to Dover from the war in Iraq, Nelson said.

The base’s Charles C. Carson Center for Mortuary Affairs is the Defense Department’s largest mortuary.