& çâÌæÚUæð´ ·¤è ¥ôÚU Îð¹Ùæ ÁæÚUè ÚU¹ð´ ¥ÍæüÌ ¥ÂÙð ÜÿØ ÂÚU ŠØæÙ ÚU¹ð´Ð ãæÚU Ù ×æÙð´, €UØô´ç·¤ ·¤æ× ·¤ÚUÙð âð ¥æÂ·¤ô ©gðàØ ·¤è Âýæç# ãôÌè ãñ ¥õÚU ÁèßÙ ·¤æ ¹æÜèÂÙ ÎêÚU ãôÌæ ãñÐ ÖÜð ãè ÁèßÙ ×ð´ ç·¤ÌÙè Öè ·¤çÆÙæ§ü €UØô´ Ù ¥æ°, çÁ™ææâæ ¥õÚU ©ˆâæã ÕÙæ° ÚU¹ð´Ð ŠØæÙ ÚU¹ð´, ÜÿØ ã×ðàææ ¥æÂ·Ô¤ Âæâ ãôÌð ãñ´ çÁ‹ãð´ ÂæÙð ·Ô¤ çÜ° ÂýØæâ ¥æÂ ·¤Öè Öè àæéM¤ ·¤ÚU â·¤Ìð ãñ´Ð

Obama tackles Guantanamo

Turns to economy on day one

AFP, BBC ONLINE, Washington
US President Barack Obama yesterday began the job of hauling his. crisis-weary nation out of its "winter of hardship" by taking action to halt Guantanamo trials and convening top economic and foreign policy aides.
His first move came in the form of an order to prosecutors at the controversial military tribunals in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, seeking a suspension of the trial proceedings.
Military judges were expected to rule later Wednesday on the request, which would halt until May the military trials of five alleged plotters of the September 11. 2001 attacks as well as a Canadian held on
accusations of killing a US soldier in Afghanistan.
Obama yesterday confronted the grim realities of the multiple national security and. economic crises dogging the United States, in his first full day in the Oval Office.
The president basked in a wave of jubilation at a singular moment of US history’ on Tuesday, vowing to remake America after he was sworn in as the first black president before a stunning crowd of an estimated two million people.
After waltzing into the night with wife Michelle at 10 inaugural balls, the president was expected at a multi -denominational national prayer service called to bestow blessings on his administration at Washington National Cathedral.
But a daunting line-up of meetings with top economic and military aides loomed, including top US war com--mander General Petraeus, with the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan and the plummeting economy on a full
SEE PAGE 15 COL 7
FROM PAGE 16
plate of issues following a Wall Street free fall.
In one of the first full moves of his presidency, Obama late Tuesday issued a document to prosecutors at military tribunals in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, seeking a suspension of trials of war on terror suspects.
Obama on Tuesday night also ordered last minute regulations signed by his predecessor, George W Bush, to be put on hold.
Congressional leaders say they intend to pass the economy stimulus bill by the middle of February.
And Obama promised that on his first day in office he would give his military commanders a new mission - to end the war in Iraq.
More than 140,000 US troops are still stationed in Iraq, five years after an invasion, whicn die new president consistentlyopposed.
President Obama has promised to withdraw combat troops from Iraq within 16 months-and tire Iraqi government has said that US forces are welcome to leave before the 2012 deadline set at theend oflast year.
On Wednesday, a judge overseeing pie military tribunal of Canadian Omar Khadr at the camo ordered the trial suspended for 120 days in line with Obama's request.
Several other cabinet positions are still to be confirmed.
The US Senate, which traditionally moves swiftly to affinn a new president's cabinet, approved six members on Tuesday, including Janet Napolitano as homeland security secretary and Steven Chu as energy secretary.
Within days, Obama is expected to issue an executive order requiring the closure of the camp, in line with his campaign promises, but it was not clear how long it would take to shutter the controversial facility.
’The president was set to huddle with his top economic advisors as he plots a way to navigate a massive 800 billion dollar plus stimulus package through the US Congress in a bid to salvage the US economy.
On Capitol Hill, Obama's pick for Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner faced a grilling at his Senate confirmation hearing which was delayed by Republican after it emerged he failed to pay34,000 dollars in due taxes in past tax returns.
Geither issued a contrite apology last week over the omis-rectecrand vras expected to nave an uncomfortable time before the Senate Finance Committee though ultimately to prevail.
Democratic Senator Chuck Schumer said yesterday that given the depth of the crisis, Geithner was widely acknowledged as the expert best poised to cope.
"He is just right for the job, I think there is a broad consensus, both Democrats and Republicans that he is the right guy for the job," Schumer told MSNBCtelevision.
After meeting his economic team, Obama, in his first formal day as commander-in-chief of the US military was set to meet the JointChiefs of Staff.
A defense official told AFP the meeting would also include Petraeus, the US commander in southwest Asia and the architect
of former president George Bush's troop surge in Iraq which Obamainltiallyopposed.
During the 2008 presidential campaign, Obama vowed to call in top military brass on his first day in office and order them to formulate a plan to get US troops outoflraq within 16months.
The president said in his inaugural address on Tuesday that 'we will begin to responsibly leave Iraq to its people rind forge a hard-earned peace in Afghanistan."
The Senate was expected to vote to confirm Hillary Clinton, Obama's former fierce Democratic primary opponent, as secretary of state later on Wednesday night.
On Tuesday, Obama claimed his place in history as leader of a nation stained by the legacies of slavery and racial segregation, and told Americans they have to pull together to pick tneir way outofragingstorms.
"We nave chosen hope over fear, unity of purpose over conflict and discord,” Obama, 47, said in a somber inaugural address to a stunning two million-strong crowd which took sharp issue with the two-term Republican presidency of GeorgeW. Bush.
"Today I say to you that the challenges we face are real, they are serious and they are many.
"They will not be met easily, or in a short span of time. But know this, America - they wiU be met."
Ihe former Illinois senator took office amidst the worst economic crisis since the 1930s, with tens of thousands of US troops locked in Iraq and Afghanistan and a nuclear showdown with Iran looming
The inauguration on the steps of the US Capitol, which was partially built with slave labor, broke the highest racial barrier in the United States and goes some way to reconciling civil rights leader Martin Luther King'sdreamofracial unity.