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Sunday, November 5

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Editor's Note: The CNN Wire is a running log of the latest news from CNN World Headquarters, reported by CNN's correspondents and producers, and The CNN Wire editors. "Posted" times are Eastern Daylight.

Sharon's heart function improves as infection threat subsides

JERUSALEM (CNN) -- Former Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon has been moved out of an intensive care unit, three days after he was taken there for treatment of an infection that threatened his heart function, a spokesman at the Haim Sheeba Medical Center said.

Sharon, who has been comatose since suffering a stroke in January, remained in stable condition Monday as his heart function has improved, the spokesman said. (Posted 2:53 a.m.)

Klansman serving life for civil rights killing dies at 82

(CNN) -- Former Ku Klux Klan Imperial Wizard Samuel Bowers, who was serving a life term for the 1966 murder of civil rights leader Vernon Dahmer, died Sunday at 82, a spokeswoman for the Mississippi Department of Corrections told CNN.

Bowers died of cardiopulmonary arrest in the hospital unit of the state penitentiary at Parchman, Miss., spokeswoman Tara Booth said. He had been in the hospital since last December.

Bowers was found guilty of murder and arson in the 2 a.m. firebomb killing of the 58-year-old voting-rights advocate as he, his wife and two of their children slept in their home in rural Mississippi. Dahmer stayed in the house and shot at the Klan members as his family escaped the flames and bullets.

Four all-white juries were unable to reach a verdict until, in the fifth trial in 1998, a racially mixed jury returned a guilty verdict in less than three hours. Bowers was not among the Klan members who carried out the firebombing, but he planned the scheme. (Posted 2:52 a.m.)

Ecevit dead

(CNN) -- Bulent Ecevit, the Turkish politician, poet and journalist whose career spanned nearly half a century, died Sunday at 81.

Ecevit died at 10:40 p.m. (3:40 p.m. ET), in a military hospital in Ankara, where he had been in a coma since suffering a stroke on May 18, the hospital said in a written statement. His lungs collapsed, it said.

Soon after the news was made public, thousands of mourners gathered outside the hospital in a show of grief over the death of the former prime minister and former member of Turkey's Parliament whose secularist leanings and intellect helped shape his country's politics. (Posted: 10:22 p.m. ET)

Klansman serving life for civil rights killing dies at 82

(CNN) -- Former Ku Klux Klan Imperial Wizard Samuel Bowers, who was serving a life term for the 1966 murder of civil rights leader Vernon Dahmer, died Sunday at 82, a spokeswoman for the Mississippi Department of Corrections told CNN. Bowers died of cardiopulmonary arrest in the hospital unit of the state penitentiary at Parchman, Miss., spokeswoman Tara Booth said.

He had been in the hospital since last December. Bowers was found guilty of murder and arson in the 2 a.m. firebomb killing of the 58-year-old voting-rights advocate as he, his wife and two of their children slept in their home in rural Mississippi. Dahmer (prono: DAY-mer) stayed in the house and shot at the Klan members as his family escaped the flames and bullets. (Posted: 10: 21 p.m.)

3 more U.S. troop deaths in Iraq

BAGHDAD (CNN) -- Two Marines and a soldier were killed in Al Anbar Province, the U.S. military said Sunday. The Marines, assigned to Regimental Combat Team 5, died over the weekend -- one on Saturday and the other Sunday -- from wounds incurred Saturday in Al Anbar Province, the U.S. military said. A soldier assigned to 1st Brigade, 1st Armored Division died Sunday, also from wounds suffered in Al Anbar Province. Two other U.S. troops died on Saturday in Iraq, the U.S. military said. (Posted: 6:52 p.m. ET)

Cheney to hunt on Election Day

(CNN) -- Vice President Dick Cheney will spend Election Day hunting in South Dakota, his press secretary said Sunday.

Cheney, who voted early in Wyoming, will work Monday morning at the White House, and then depart Washington for South Dakota, said Lea Anne McBride, his press secretary.

It will be Cheney's first hunting trip since February, when he accidentally shot a hunting companion while attempting to fire at a covey of quail on a private ranch in Texas. (Posted: 6:38 p.m. ET)

Ecevit dead

(CNN) -- Bulent Ecevit, a former Turkish politician and writer, has died at 81, Turkish officials said Sunday. Ecevit was a former prime minister and former member of Turkey's parliament. (Posted: 5:45 p.m.)

Security forces attacked in Beruit

BERUIT (CNN) -- A grenade was fired late Sunday at a building housing internal security forces in the famed Corniche Mazaraa district of West Beruit, but resulted in no casualties, Lebanese security forces told CNN.

The attack came on the eve of political discussions intended to defuse rising political tensions in Beruit between the government of Prime Minister Fouad Siniora and pro-Syrian Iranian allies led by Hezbollah. Security forces reported that cars were set ablaze in the attack, the latest in a series of such attacks against Lebanese security forces in the past several weeks. (Posted: 4:14 p.m. ET)

Survey: Gas prices dip nearly 2 cents in 2 weeks

(CNN) -- The average price of a gallon of self-serve regular dipped nearly 2 cents over the past two weeks, to $2.18, according to a national poll released Sunday.

The "Lundberg Survey" compared prices at about 5,000 gas stations on Nov. 3 with prices at those same stations on Oct. 20, and found they had dropped 1.92 cents, Publisher Trilby Lundberg told CNN.

That brings the total drop over the past 12 weeks to 84 cents per gallon for self-serve regular gasoline, Lundberg said. Drivers in Tulsa, Okla., paid the least, at $1.99 per gallon; Honolulu drivers paid the most, at $2.77. (Posted: 4:12 p.m. ET)

Fired pastor admits to 'sexual immorality' in letter to his congregation

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colorado (CNN) -- Less than 24 hours after being fired from the megachurch he founded, evangelical Pastor Ted Haggard confessed to a "lifelong" sexual problem, saying he is "a deceiver and a liar," in a letter read to members of his New Life Church Sunday.

"There is part of my life that is so repulsive and dark that I've been warring against it all of my adult life," he said in the letter read by Pastor Larry Stockstill, a member of the board of overseers of New Life Church.

Haggard apologized to his congregation in the letter and asked for their forgiveness.

In his letter, Haggard also took responsibility for his "inconsistent statements" to the media that have "further confused the situation."

Responding to allegations from Mike Jones who claimed the prominent pastor had paid him for sex over a three-year period, Haggard only admitted receiving a massage from the Denver man, in an interview Friday with CNN affiliate KUSA.

The pastor took full responsibility for his actions, saying "I am guilty of sexual immorality" and noted that "the things I did opened the door for additional allegations."

Haggard asked the congregation to also forgive his accuser, who Haggard said revealed "the deception and sensuality that was in my life." (Posted 3:22 p.m.)

Bush praises Saddam Hussein trial, verdict as 'milestone' for Iraq

WACO, Texas (CNN) -- Hours after a five-judge panel in Iraq sentenced Saddam Hussein to death for crimes against humanity, President Bush Sunday said the trial that led to Sunday's guilty verdict is "a major achievement for Iraq's young democracy."

"Saddam Hussein's trial is a milestone in the Iraqi people's efforts to replace the rule of a tyrant with the rule of law," said Bush, speaking on the tarmac of Waco's airport before heading to Nebraska for a campaign event.

Hussein, ousted from power following the U.S.-led military invasion in 2003, was sentenced to death by hanging Sunday after he was convicted for the brutal 1982 crackdown on the Shiite town of Dujail.

Two other defendants were also given the death sentence. (Posted, 2:25 p.m.)

2 Sunni TV stations shut down, accused of inciting violence following Saddam verdict

BAGHDAD (CNN) -- Iraq's Interior Ministry Sunday closed two Sunni satellite stations accused of inciting sectarian violence following the announcement of Saddam Hussein's death sentence, a ministry official told CNN.

Iraqi police and soldiers ordered the employees of First Channel (Zawra) and Salaheddin TV to leave their offices in Tikrit, Hussein's hometown.

That is where as many as 2,000 people took to the streets to protest Sunday's verdict and sentence against the former Iraqi leader, defying the government's curfew.

Following the crackdown, Salaheddin TV -- based in Tikrit -- aired a graphic with the name of the station while First Channel (Zawra) went to black.

First Channel (Zawra) is controlled by Mishaan al-Jabouri, the chairman of Al-Watan Sunni Party and member of Iraq's parliament.

Earlier in the day, a witness said the protesters in Tikrit carried posters of the former president and were shooting into the air. The numbers of demonstrators grew after the sentence was announced.

A complete movement ban -- both people and vehicles -- was imposed on Sunday in the provinces of Baghdad, Diyala and Salaheddin -- where Tikrit is located. (Posted 1:16 p.m.)

U.S., British reaction to guilty verdicts in Saddam Hussein trial

CRAWFORD, Texas (CNN) -- U.S. and British officials Sunday lauded the guilty verdict in the trial of former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein, and White House spokesman Tony Snow said suggestions that Iraqi judges timed the verdict to coincide with Tuesday's elections in the United States were "preposterous."

Interviewed by CNN's Suzanne Malveaux at President Bush's ranch in Texas, Snow praised the Dujail trial verdict, including sentencing Hussein to death by hanging for crimes against humanity.

"It demonstrates that you've got an independent Iraqi judiciary and that they were applying their own laws," the White House spokesman said.

British Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett -- whose country is the second-most prevalent and powerful nation in the U.S.-led coalition in Iraq -- "welcomes" the decision the five-judge panel made in sentencing Hussein and the other defendants, who have "faced justice and have been held accountable for their crimes." (Posted 9:25 a.m.)

Israel continues military raid in Gaza

GAZA CITY (CNN) -- Israel's military crackdown on Palestinian militants in northern Gaza continued for a fifth day Sunday, with the deaths of a Hamas militant and a Palestinian policeman by Israeli fire, according Palestinian medical sources.

At the start of his weekly Cabinet meeting Sunday, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said the Gaza operation "is limited in time but we have no intention of announcing when it will end."

The Israel Defense Forces said it is not aware of the attack described by the Palestinian sources which killed a militant and a police officer. However, the IDF did say it carried out an airstrike west of Beit Hanoun targeting two militants carrying a rocket-propelled grenade. It did not say if those militants were killed.

The Gaza operation has focused on the town of Beit Hanoun since it began on Wednesday. In the past five days, approximately 40 Palestinians have been killed, 30 Palestinians have been arrested and seven groups of rocket launchers have been targeted by Israeli fire, an Israeli army spokesman said.

Among those killed was a 12-year-old Palestinian girl, whose death Saturday by an Israeli sniper was an accident, according to Israel Defense Forces. The IDF is investigating the girl's death. (Posted 8:44 a.m.)

Iraqi PM: Saddam era now 'in the past'

BAGHDAD (CNN) -- "The Saddam Hussein era is in the past now, as was the era of Hitler and Mussolini," said Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki Sunday, shortly after a five-judge panel sentenced former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein and two others to death by hanging in the Dujail case.

He promised the Iraqi people would see no more "mass graves," "wars" and "ethnic cleansing."

"We want an Iraq where all Iraqis are equal before the law," he said. "The policy of discrimination and persecution is over."

Al-Maliki's comments came on the heels of the announcement of the long awaited Dujail trail verdicts, which began in October 2005.

"Saddam Hussein was the worst ruler in the history of Iraq. His party is the worst party in Iraq," al-Maliki said.

He is now "forced to pay for the bullets used to execute their loved ones," yet "execution would not compensate them for their losses or would bring back any of their loved ones." (Posted 7:12 a.m.)

Mortar fire, fighting reported in Baghdad; 1 insurgent killed in raid south of Yusufiya

BAGHDAD (CNN) -- Mortar fire and fighting were reported on Sunday in Baghdad, but it is unclear whether the hostilities were related to the decision by the Iraqi High Tribunal death sentence for former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein.

Police said seven mortar rounds landed on different locations in Adhamiya, a Sunni neighborhood in northern Baghdad around 11:30 a.m. on Sunday.

Clashes erupted between Iraqi soldiers and gunmen in the same neighborhood.

In central Baghdad, soldiers and gunmen fought as well around noon.

There were no further details on the incidents, and no word yet on casualties.(Posted 6:59 a.m.)

2,000 protesters hit Tikrit streets while other Iraqis celebrate Saddam's death sentence

BAGHDAD (CNN) -- About 2,000 protesters hit the streets in Saddam Hussein's hometown of Tikrit on Sunday, defying the government's curfew to support of Hussein while in other Iraqi towns residents celebrated the former dictator's death penalty sentence.

In Tikrit, a witness said the protesters carried posters of the former president and were shooting into the air. The numbers of demonstrators grew after the sentence was announced.

A complete movement ban -- both people and vehicles -- was imposed on Sunday in the provinces of Baghdad, Diyala and Salaheddin -- where Tikrit is located.

In the predominately Shiite areas of Sadr City and southern towns in Wasit province, and the southern city of Najaf, gleeful Iraqis took to the streets in celebration. --From CNN's Mohammed Tawfeeq (Posted 6:38 a.m.)

Saddam, two others get death sentence in Dujail case

BAGHDAD (CNN) -- Iraq's High Tribunal on Sunday sentenced former President Saddam Hussein and two other defendants to death by hanging in the crimes against humanity case over the brutal crackdown in 1982 in the Shiite town of Dujail, north of Baghdad in Salaheddin province.

Iraqis defied a curfew in the capital and spilled out onto the streets in Baghdad to celebrate the verdict, news footage showed. And, the U.S. Ambassador to Iraq praised the verdicts and sentencing as "an important milestone for Iraq."

"A former dictator feared by millions, who killed his own citizens without mercy or justice, who waged wars against neighboring countries, has been brought to trial in his own country - held accountable in a court of law with ordinary citizens bearing witness," Zalmay Khalilzad said in a statement issued swiftly after the court judgments were rendered.

Along with Hussein, his half-brother and former intelligence chief Barzan Hassan, and Awad Bandar, former chief judge of the Revolutionary Court also got death.

Taha Yassin Ramadan, former vice president of Iraq, got life in prison.

Mohammed Azzawi Ali, a former Dujail Baath Party official, was acquitted because there was insufficient evidence against him, the court said.

The three others, Abdullah Kadhem Ruwaid, Ali Dayem Ali, and Misher Abdullah Ruwaid were sentenced to 15 years.

There will be automatic appeals for the four who were sentenced to death and life in prison.

The 50-minute session was dramatic.

Hussein entered with a Quran in hand, as he had in the past. He began screaming Allahu Akhbar -- God is great -- as the verdict and sentencing was read.

He also shouted "damn you and your court."

And speaking to someone in the court he said, "don't push me boy." It wasn't immediately clear to whom he was speaking, however.

Defense attorney Ramsey Clark was also in court but he was soon ousted by judges.

The court asked Clark to leave, saying he had come here from America to mock the Iraqi people and this court.

Clark has previously served as U.S. attorney general. -- From CNN's Aneesh Raman, Jomana Karadsheh, and Mohammed Tawfeeq (Posted 5:24 a.m.)

Two U.S. troop deaths Saturday in Iraq

BAGHDAD (CNN) -- Two U.S. troops died on Saturday in Iraq, the U.S. military said.

A Marine died Saturday from "non-hostile causes" while operating in western Iraq's Anbar province, the U.S. military announced Sunday. The service member was assigned to Regimental Combat Team 7.

The name was being withheld pending notification of relatives.

Earlier, the military announced the Saturday death of a U.S. soldier, killed when his patrol was attacked with small-arms fire in western Baghdad.

The soldier was assigned to Multi-National Division - Baghdad. His name was being withheld pending notification of relatives.

This brings the number of U.S. military fatalities in the first five days of November to 13. The number of American fatalities in the war is 2,831.

The killings continue an ominous trend this autumn: an uptick in U.S. military deaths. October's toll was 105, the fourth-highest monthly total of the war, more than three-and-a-half years on. (Posted 5:23 a.m.)

Iran willing to 'study' request for holding talks with U.S. over regional issues

TEHRAN (CNN) -- Iran would "study" a request for holding talks with the United States over regional issues including Iraq, Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman Mohammad-Ali Hosseini said, according to state-run Islamic Republic News Agency IRNA.

The announcement came during a weekly news briefing on Sunday.

The United States has long been at odds with Iran, believing the Islamic nation is using its civilian nuclear program as a front for work on nuclear weapons. Iran insists that its program is strictly for peaceful purposes.

U.S. officials also assert that Iran is helping to foment the sectarian strife between Sunnis and Shiites in Iraq. (Posted 3:09 a.m.)

Iraq, U.S. differ on casualties in big Baghdad gun battle

BAGHDAD (CNN) -- Iraq's Interior Ministry reiterated its account of a bloody pitched battle Saturday afternoon between al Qaeda in Iraq militants and police in a southern suburb of Baghdad.

The account drastically differs from the U.S. military's story about the incident, which is now saying no militants died.

Fifty-three al Qaeda in Iraqi militants and four Iraqi National Police died in a fierce afternoon-long gun battle in a southern suburb of the Iraqi capital of Baghdad, the ministry spokesman, Brig. Gen. Abdel Karim Khalaf told CNN on Saturday.

He said about 600 police from the police force's Second Brigade conducted an anti-insurgent operation in Tawaitha, and fighting lasted from 11 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

Nine police officers were wounded in the conflict and police confiscated vehicles and munitions, the ministry said.

The U.S. military basically confirmed the report on Saturday, saying 52 militants were killed. But on Sunday it changed its account, saying no militants died and at least eight were detained Saturday. (Posted 2:37 a.m.)

Gunmen kidnapped a university professor in Baghdad

BAGHDAD (CNN) -- Gunmen kidnapped a professor at Baghdad's Mustansriyah University after storming his house in eastern Baghdad Saturday evening, an official with Baghdad emergency police said.

The gunmen who kidnapped Dhiya al-Din Mehdi Hussein were driving in two vehicles, the official said.

--From CNN's Mohammed Tawfeeq in Baghdad (Posted 2:19 a.m.)

Haggard ousted as leader of New Life Church and National Association of Evangelicals

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (CNN) -- A board overseeing the 14,000-member New Life Church on Saturday forced the Rev. Ted Haggard out as pastor, citing his "sexually immoral conduct" -- ousting him from the church he started in his basement more than 20 years ago.

In addition to being replaced as head of New Life Church, the National Association of Evangelicals named a new interim president Saturday, effectively stripping Haggard of the position.

The new president, Leith Anderson, is a senior pastor of Wooddale Church in Eden Prairie, Minn., and is "a man of great personal integrity and spiritual leadership," board chairman L. Roy Taylor said in a statement.

The statement said the selection of a new interim president was made during a conference call Friday, the day Haggard admitted that he received a massage from a Denver man who claimed the prominent pastor had paid him for sex over a three-year period, and that he had bought methamphetamine. Haggard, in an interview with CNN affiliate KUSA denied having sex with Mike Jones and said he did not use the drug and threw it away. (Posted 12:56 a.m.)

Sotomayor pressed on abortion, gun control Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor avoided direct answers Wednesday to persistent questions about her personal views on abortion and gun control by repea ...

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