WORLD
WARSAW, Poland — Lech Walesa said Tuesday he has quit the Solidarity trade union that he founded and which helped bring down communism in Eastern Europe.
"I have given up my membership last year because Solidarity and I have gone separate ways," he told The Associated Press.
Walesa also said he plans to stay away from events marking the 26th anniversary of Solidarity's founding on Aug. 31 in part because he disapproves of the union's support for Poland's new conservative leaders.
The 62-year-old Nobel Peace laureate said he left after Solidarity members ignored his criticism of their support for the Law and Justice Party and its leaders, twin brothers Lech and Jaroslaw Kaczynski, during last fall's election campaign.
Lech Kaczynski won the presidency and Jaroslaw is now prime minister.
BAGHDAD, Iraq — Iraq has launched its own probe into the alleged rape and murder of a 14-year-old girl by U.S. soldiers even though they face a possible court-martial in the case, an official said Tuesday.The investigation into the rape-slaying started Thursday, said chief prosecutor Adnan Mahmoud of the criminal court in Mahmoudiya, where the March 12 assault took place.Mahmoud is part of the investigation panel along with Mahmoudiya's mayor, police chief and the head of the town's main hospital.He said the panel interviewed witnesses and inspected the house where Abeer Qassim al-Janabi, 14, was raped, shot dead and set on fire, allegedly by a group of U.S. soldiers who had observed her for days. Also killed in the house were her 5-year-old sister and parents.The gruesome murders have bolstered Iraqi allegations of misconduct by American soldiers, including illegal killings, beatings and other abuse.
