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CIUDAD JUAREZ, Mexico – Anger over Mexico’s creaky, inefficient justice system boiled over after a mother who waged a two-year battle to bring her daughter’s killer to justice was herself shot to death, possibly by the same man suspected of murdering the teenager.

A security video recording shows masked men pulling up in a car in front of the governor’s office in the northern city of Chihuahua. One appeared to exchange words with anti-crime crusader Marisela Escobedo Ortiz, who was holding a vigil outside.

She tried to flee by running across the street, but the gunman chased her down and shot her in the head late Thursday, said Jorge Gonzalez, special state prosecutor for crime prevention.

Escobedo was taken by ambulance to a hospital, where she died within minutes.

On Friday, a group of demonstrators gathered outside the Interior Department in Mexico City to protest the killing, briefly scuffling with police while chanting “Not one more death!”

And far to the north in Ciudad Juarez, where Escobedo’s 17-year-old daughter’s burned and dismembered remains were found in a trash bin in June 2009, activists protested outside the state prosecutors office with signs demanding “Justice for Marisela.”

Thursday’s slaying “shows that in Mexico it is the victim who suffers, without protection,” veteran anti-crime activist Alejandro Marti said.

The scandal resulted in the suspension of three judges who had ordered the release of the main suspect in the daughter’s killing after he was absolved by a court in April for lack of evidence.

That man, Sergio Barraza, is now a chief suspect in the mother’s death, said Carlos Gonzalez, a spokesman for the attorney general’s office in Chihuahua state, where Ciudad Juarez is located.

Escobedo’s daughter, Rubi Frayre Escobedo, disappeared in Ciudad Juarez, across from El Paso, Texas, in 2008.

After the body was discovered last year, the mother launched a campaign pressing for a conviction in the case. Escobedo staged numerous marches, once wearing no clothes, wrapped only in a banner with her daughter’s photograph.

“This struggle is not only for my daughter,” Escobedo said through a megaphone at that march, her voice breaking. “Let’s not allow one more young woman to be killed in this city.”

Three days ago, she planted herself in front of the offices of Gov. Cesar Duarte and vowed not to move until investigators showed progress in the case. In an interview with the newspaper El Diario on Sunday, Escobedo said she had received death threats from Barraza’s family.

Duarte said state security officials had been assigned to guard Escobedo, although from a distance. He said their failure to protect her Thursday would be investigated.

Duarte had also called on the state’s top court to suspend the three judges.

On Friday, court president Javier Ramirez Benitez said they would be suspended pending an investigation. Ramirez Benitez said an oversight commission found earlier this year that the case was improperly handled.

Prosecutors said Barraza, Frayre’s live-in boyfriend, admitted murdering her and led police to the body. But at trial he proclaimed his innocence and claimed he had been tortured into confessing. The judges ruled in April that prosecutors failed to present material evidence against him.

The case exemplifies the problems of the judicial system in Chihuahua state, one of the first to adopt oral trials instead of the closed-door interrogations and filings of documents used for most Mexican trials.

Despite training, Chihuahua police and prosecutors have struggled to adapt to a system that puts the burden of proof on prosecutors. Many homicide cases have been thrown out for lack of evidence or never make it to trial.

Often, police rely solely on confessions that suspects later claim were made under duress. Newly captured suspects in much of Mexico are often displayed to the press with bruised faces.

Police in Ciudad Juarez have been overwhelmed by drug gang battles that have made the city one of the world’s deadliest. More than 3,000 people have been killed in the city of 1.3 million this year alone.

Records obtained by The Associated Press show that last year, when 2,600 people were killed in Ciudad Juarez, prosecutors filed 93 homicide cases and got 19 convictions.

Chihuahua’s judicial deficiencies go back years before the new system was implemented, before drug violence soared to unprecedented levels.

In the 1990s, hundreds of women were killed around Ciudad Juarez, about 100 of whom were sexually assaulted and dumped in the desert.

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MANAMA, Bahrain – Iran is trying to build a nuclear bomb, posing a threat to its neighbors, and the United States is “very ready” to counter Iran should it make a move, the top U.S. military officer said Saturday.

Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, reassured Persian Gulf nations nervous that an increasingly militarized government in Iran might try to start a war.

“The United States takes very seriously our security commitments in the Gulf region,” Mullen said following a meeting with Bahrain’s king. Bahrain, directly across the Gulf from Iran, is home to a large U.S. Navy base that would be on the front lines of any war with Iran.

“We’re very ready,” Mullen said, an unusually direct acknowledgment that the United States has contingency plans to counter Iran should it make a move. “There are real threats to peace and stability here, and we’ve made no secrets of our concerns about Iran.”

Iran denies it is seeking a nuclear weapon, and denies U.S. claims that it sponsors terrorists. Iran has wary relations with many of its neighbors, who are trading partners with the oil giant but distrust the theocratic government.

“Concerns about Iran’s nuclear program are very real and inform a lot of the decision making” among Gulf nations, said Adam Ereli, the U.S. ambassador in Bahrain.

The U.S. fears that if Iran masters the technical challenge of building a bomb it could set off a nuclear arms race around the Gulf.

“From my perspective I see Iran continuing on this path to develop nuclear weapons, and I believe that that development and achieving that goal would be very destabilizing to the region,” Mullen said.

He gave no specifics about U.S. plans or defenses, but the Navy base is headquarters for ships and aircraft that monitor Iran and could be used to deter or defend against what military officials fear would be an attack that would come without warning. The base also houses Patriot missiles.

The U.S. keeps tabs on Iran through extensive air surveillance in the Gulf and from naval patrols that regularly engage in formal communication with Iranian ships.

“I would like someday to think that they would be responsible regional and international players as opposed to what they are right now,” Mullen added. “I just haven’t seen any steps taken in that regard.”

Mullen said he supports the current strategy of applying economic and political sanctions on Iran to try to dissuade it from building a bomb, while engaging Iran in international negotiations over the scope of its nuclear program. Iran claims it is seeking nuclear energy.

Mullen repeated his view that a pre-emptive military strike on Iran’s known nuclear facilities is a bad option that would set off “unintended consequences,” but one the United States reserves the right to use. The Obama administration has said it will not allow Iran to become a nuclear weapons state but has never said exactly what steps it would take to prevent that.

“I’ve said all options have been on the table and remain on the table,” Mullen said.

Iran is currently under four sets of U.N. Security Council sanctions and subject to additional penalties imposed separately by the United States, European countries and others. The most recent round of Security Council sanctions were adopted in June.

The Obama administration and its European allies are prepared to impose additional sanctions if Iran fails to meet international demands to prove that its nuclear program is peaceful, a senior U.S. official said Friday.

Gary Samore, the White House coordinator for arms control, told a Washington think tank that the U.S. and its partners will keep up pressure on Iran to come clean about its nuclear ambitions.

Leaders of six U.S.-allied Gulf Arab nations said this month they are watching Iran’s nuclear ambitions with “utmost concern,” and appealed to the West for a greater voice in the renewed talks with Tehran.

The statement from the Gulf Cooperation Council — powerful Saudi Arabia and its fast-growing neighbors — appeared to cast off a bit of the group’s traditional caution and adopt a harder tone. The group warned Iran not to interfere in Gulf Arab affairs and called on it to reject “force or the threat to use it.”

Iran holds frequent military drills along the Persian Gulf — primarily to assert an ability to defend against any U.S. or Israeli attack on its nuclear sites, but also to send a message to Arab neighbors on its southern border.

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LONDON (AFP) – Prince Harry has said he hopes to emulate the “fantastic” charitable work of his parents, who remain an inspiration to him.

The prince’s comments, in an interview with Germany’s Bild newspaper, newspaper, were made ahead of a visit to Berlin on Saturday where he was due to receive an award for his humanitarian and charity work.

Harry was scheduled to accept a Golden Heart during Ein Herz fur Kinder (A Heart for Children), Germany’s largest televised fundraising gala.

Past recipients include Hollywood actress Salma Hayek, the 2009 winner, while in recent years Jane Fonda, Sharon Stone and Queen Silvia of Sweden have all been presented with the honour.

Harry told Bild about the influence his mother Diana, Princess of Wales and father, the Prince of Wales, have had on his charity work.

“My mother was an inspiration to me, and my brother. And also to so many people around the world,” he said.

“She did so much fantastic work with her charities and I think people particularly warmed to her because of the way she was able to put them at ease, no matter what environment or situation they were in.

“Her compassion was obvious to see. Like her, I realise I am in a privileged position as a member of the Royal Family, and I have to use what I have been given to highlight important issues.”

Harry said that his mother always remained in his thoughts, and added: “But I have also learnt an awful lot from my father who has worked with loads of charities for decades.

“I am still just starting out with my charity work, but if I could follow the fantastic charitable work they have done, and continue to do, then I don’t think I can go far wrong.”

The prince is patron of a number of children’s and humanitarian charities – the most prominent is Sentebale, an organisation he co-founded in 2006 to help disadvantaged youngsters in the African country of Lesotho.

“There is a great deal that I am proud of that Sentebale has achieved over the past few years and the difference we have made to so many children, but I am also impatient and want to do more and more, Harry said.

The prince is making his first trip to Berlin but said in the interview he had been to Germany twice before and joked about the football rivalry between Britain and his hosts.

“I know the German people are always very welcoming so I’m looking forward to meeting Berliners … as long as nobody mentions anything about the football,” he said.

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NEW YORK (Reuters) – Lawyers for the first Guantanamo detainee to have faced a U.S. civilian trial have asked the judge either to clear the Tanzanian terrorism suspect or grant him another trial.

A U.S. jury found Ahmed Khalfan Ghailani, 36, not guilty of all but one charge in November following a five-week trial. He had been accused of conspiring in the 1998 al Qaeda bomb attacks on U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania that killed 224 people.

In court papers made public on Friday, his lawyers urged U.S. District Court Judge Lewis Kaplan to rescind the verdict against Ghailani.

“Ghailani submits that his conviction should be vacated and the charges either dismissed or remanded for retrial,” the court papers said.

The lawyers said that by largely acquitting the man, “the jury did not believe the government had proved its case.”

Ghailani was convicted of one count of conspiracy to damage or destroy U.S. property with explosives, and cleared of 284 other conspiracy and murder charges.

In their verdict, the jury also found Ghailani’s actions “directly or proximately caused death to a person other than a co-conspirator,” a subset of the one charge.

The lawyers, however, said this was contradictory and should not be allowed to stand in light of the acquittal on all other counts.

Ghailani faces at least 20 years in prison and could spend the rest of his life behind bars.

Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said he would seek life in prison for Ghailani at his sentencing on January 25. The U.S. attorney’s office declined to comment on the defense request.

Ghailani’s trial was watched closely as a test of President Barack Obama’s approach to handling the 174 terrorism suspects held at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, including Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, a self-professed mastermind of the September 11 attacks on the United States by al Qaeda.

Obama has vowed to close the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay amid international condemnation of the treatment of detainees, but he has run into political resistance at home.

Ghailani’s near acquittal was denounced by most Republicans, who say all terrorism suspects should be tried in military tribunals. Proponents of federal trials pointed out Ghailani was still convicted, and that the trial showed U.S. criminal courts were up to the task of handling these cases.

Ghailani was moved to Guantanamo Bay in late 2006 and transferred to New York in June 2009 to stand trial.

(Reporting by Basil Katz; Editing by Ellen Wulfhorst and Stacey Joyce)

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LOUISVILLE, Ky. – An astronomer argues that his Christian faith and his peers’ belief that he is an evolution skeptic kept him from getting a prestigious job as the director of a new student observatory at the University of Kentucky.

Martin Gaskell quickly rose to the top of a list of applicants being considered by the university’s search committee. One member said he was “breathtakingly above the other applicants.”

Others openly worried his Christian faith could conflict with his duties as a scientist, calling him “something close to a creationist” and “potentially evangelical.”

Even though Gaskell says he is not a creationist, he claims he was passed over for the job at UK’s MacAdam Student Observatory three years ago because of his religion and statements that were perceived to be critical of the theory of evolution.

Gaskell has sued the university, claiming lost income and emotional distress. Last month a judge rejected a motion from the university and allowed it to go to trial Feb. 8.

“There is no dispute that based on his application, Gaskell was a leading candidate for the position,” U.S. District Judge Karl S. Forester wrote in the ruling.

Gaskell later learned that professors had discussed his purported religious views during the search process. Gaskell told the AP in an e-mail that he didn’t grow frustrated, but felt “one should not allow universities to get away with religious discrimination.”

University scientists wondered to each other in internal e-mails if Gaskell’s faith would interfere with the job, which included public outreach, according to court records.

The topic became so heated behind the scenes that even university biologists, who believed Gaskell was a critic of evolution, weighed in by citing a controversial Bible-based museum in Kentucky that had just opened.

“We might as well have the Creation Museum set up an outreach office in biology,” biology professor James Krupa wrote to a colleague in an October 2007 e-mail. The museum was making national headlines at the time for exhibits that assert the literal truth of the Bible’s creation story.

Science professors cited a lecture Gaskell has given called “Modern Astronomy, the Bible and Creation,” which he developed for “Christians and others interested in Bible and science questions…,” according to an outline of the lecture. Gaskell told the AP he was invited to give the lecture at UK in 1997, and organizers had read his notes.

The wide-ranging lecture outlines historical scientific figures who discuss God and interpretations of the creation story in the biblical chapter Genesis. Also in the notes, Gaskell mentions evolution, saying the theory has “significant scientific problems” and includes “unwarranted atheistic assumptions and extrapolations,” according to court records.

Gaskell was briefly asked about the lecture during his job interview in 2007 with the chair of the Department of Physics and Astronomy, Michael Cavagnero, according to Gaskell’s deposition. Gaskell said he felt that questions related to religion during the job interview were “inappropriate.”

“I think that if I had a document like this and I was advocating atheism … I don’t think it would be an issue,” he said of his lecture.

Science professors also expressed concern that hiring Gaskell would damage the university’s image.

An astrophysics professor, Moshe Elitzur, told Cavagnero that the hire would be a “huge public relations mistake,” according to an e-mail from Cavagnero in court records.

“Moshe predicts that he would not be here one month before the (Lexington) Herald-Leader headline would read: ‘UK hires creationist to direct new student observatory.’”

University spokesman Jay Blanton declined to comment Monday because the litigation is pending.

Gaskell said he is not a “creationist” and his views on evolution are in line with other biological scientists. In his lecture notes, Gaskell also distances himself from Christians who believe the earth is a few thousand years old, saying their assertions are based on “mostly very poor science.”

Gaskell’s lawsuit is indicative of an increasingly tense debate between religion and science on college campuses and elsewhere, said Steven K. Green, a law professor and director of the Center for Religion, Law & Democracy at Willamette University in Salem, Ore.

“I think it reflects a phenomenon that the sides in this debate are becoming more encamped, they’re hunkering down,” Green said. “Because certainly within the biology community and within the science community generally, they see the increasing attacks creationists are making as very threatening to their existence — and vice versa, to a certain extent.”

Gaskell was uniquely qualified for the new position at the University of Kentucky, according to court records, because he oversaw the design and construction of an observatory at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. He also advised UK during the building of the MacAdam facility. He currently teaches at the University of Texas.

His attorney, Frank Manion, said scientists at UK were too quick to place Gaskell on one side of the creation-evolution debate.

“Unfortunately too many people get hung up on the idea that you have to be one extreme or the other,” said Manion, who works for American Center for Law & Justice, which focuses on religious freedom cases. They say “you can’t be a religious believer and somebody who accepts evolution, which is clearly not true. And Gaskell’s a perfect example of that.”

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Online:

UK MacAdam Student Observatory: http://bit.ly/gKvvkB

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