Anti-war students offer reward for Rice arrest
New Zealand group offers $3,700 to detain visiting U.S. secretary of state
WELLINGTON, New Zealand - New Zealand students protesting the Iraq war offered a reward to anyone who carries out a citizen's arrest of Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice during her visit to the country Friday.
The Auckland University Students' Association is seeking Rice's arrest for her role in "overseeing the illegal invasion and continued occupation" of Iraq, Association President David Do said. The group is offering a $3,700 reward.
Rice is making her first trip to New Zealand after attending a Southeast Asian security forum in Singapore. She is scheduled to arrive from Australia late Friday and fly out early Sunday.
Rice, asked about the protest at a news conference Friday with the Australian foreign minister in Perth, Australia, said: "Protests are a part of the Democratic society and student protests are particularly a long honored tradition in democratic society. I can only say that the United States has done everything that it can to end this war on terror, to live up to our international and national laws and obligations."
She also reiterated the Bush administration's desire to close the detention center at the U.S. naval base at Guantanamo, Cuba, where about 270 terrorism suspects still are being held — another flashpoint for international critics of the U.S. war on terror.
New Zealand officials have said they declined U.S. requests in 2005 and early 2006 to resettle some Guantanamo Bay detainees as refugees in New Zealand.
"Guantanamo is a detention center that ... we would very much like to close," Rice told reporters. "The problem of course is that there are dangerous people there who cannot be returned and put among innocent populations. We are hopeful that there will be the beginnings of the military tribunals for people who are there, but let's not forget that a lot of innocent people have died at the hands of terrorists. We must do everything that we can within our obligations legally and in terms of our treaty obligations to prevent that from ever happening again."
U.S. officials traveling with Rice said that they were aware of the citizens' arrest threat here but that it won't affect her plans.
But police in Auckland, New Zealand's biggest city, warned that "anyone who attempts to penetrate the police lines of security around the secretary will not be allowed to follow through with their plan."
District Commander Superintendent Brett England said "the consequences of such a security threat could be very serious indeed."
On Saturday, Rice will hold talks with Prime Minister Helen Clark and Foreign Minister Winston Peters, meet with business leaders and attend an official dinner.
Rice is due to fly to Samoa early Sunday for meetings with South Pacific foreign ministers, seen by observers as an important event for the South Pacific region — an area where the U.S. has pledged to strengthen its level of engagement.
McCain may act within days on VP pick
Aides predict announcement after Obama’s return, but before Olympics
Anxious to counter the blanket media coverage that has followed Sen. Barack Obama on his overseas journey, Sen. John McCain is weighing whether to announce his running mate in the coming weeks before the spotlight shifts to China and the opening of the Olympic Games next month.
"He's in a position to make on short notice if he wanted to," said Charles R. Black Jr., one of McCain's top political advisers.
Two top aides to the presumptive Republican nominee said the decision is likely to be announced after Obama returns from Europe on Sunday and before the Beijing Olympics begin Aug. 8. They said the campaign fears that unanticipated events coming out of China -- whether in the form of athletic accomplishments or human rights protests -- could deflect attention from the announcement if it were made during the Games.
The Olympics conclude the day before the Democratic nominating convention opens in Denver, and the GOP convention begins in Minneapolis-St. Paul just four days after the Democratic gathering ends.
Aides to the most likely candidates to join McCain on the ticket, meanwhile, offered terse "no comment" replies when asked whether they have been asked to provide documents that the campaign can use to vet backgrounds.
Contenders remain mum
The list of likely contenders includes former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney, Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty, Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, former U.S. budget director Rob Portman and former Pennsylvania governor Tom Ridge.
Asked several questions about the selection process, Romney spokesman Eric Fehrnstrom repeatedly declined to comment. Representatives for Portman, Jindal and Pawlenty also would not say whether they have provided documents to McCain aides.
Ridge, a close friend of McCain's, said in an interview that he has had no conversations with the senator or his staff about being a running mate.
"I have not. I can only be interested if John is," Ridge said Tuesday. "I'm not lobbying for it. I'm not seeking it."
Ridge, who was first elected to Congress in 1982, at the same time McCain came to Washington, bonded with the Arizona Republican as a fellow Vietnam War veteran. He has been considered as a potential running mate before, providing vetting documents during the 2000 campaign to Dick Cheney, who was handling then-Texas Gov. George W. Bush's selection process.