World Scene

By | Friday, October 3, 2008

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BRITAIN

Police chief quits in rift with mayor

LONDON | London's police chief had weathered controversy over terrorist attacks and the shooting death of an innocent man, but he quit Thursday, done in by a showdown with the city's new mayor.

Ian Blair's announcement came as a surprise. It is unusual for the force's top officer to resign early - his contract ran through 2010 - and even more rare to openly air political disagreements.

Mr. Blair made a point of telling reporters that he was being forced out by Mayor Boris Johnson rather than by any criticism of his dramatic time at the Metropolitan Police.

Since Mr. Johnson's election in May, there were suggestions that relations between the new mayor and the police chief were frosty. Mr. Johnson's Conservative Party considered Mr. Blair, who was appointed to the department's top job in 2005, as too close to the governing Labor Party.

GERMANY

Soldier pleads guilty in Iraq killings

VILSECK | A U.S. soldier pleaded guilty Thursday to charges of accessory to murder and was sentenced to eight months in prison for his role in the killing of four Iraqi prisoners who were bound, blindfolded, shot and dumped in a canal.

Spc. Steven Ribordy, 25, of Salina, Kan., also will receive a bad-conduct discharge from the Army as part of a plea deal. In addition, he agreed to testify against other members of his unit.