Tunisian Islamists rally to show "power of street"

TUNIS (Reuters) - Thousands of Islamists marched in Tunis on Saturday in a show of strength, a day after the funeral of an assassinated secular politician drew the biggest crowds seen on the streets since Tunisia's uprising two years ago.

About 6,000 supporters of the ruling Ennahda movement rallied to back their leader Rachid al-Ghannouchi, who was the target of angry slogans raised by mourners at Friday's mass funeral of Chokri Belaid, a rights lawyer and opposition leader.

"The people want Ennahda again," the Islamists chanted, waving Tunisian and party flags as they marched towards the Interior Ministry on Habib Bourguiba Avenue in the city centre.

The demonstration was dwarfed by the tens of thousands who had turned out in Tunis and other cities to honor Belaid and to protest against the Islamist-led government the day before, shouting slogans that included "We want a new revolution".

Belaid's killing by an unidentified gunman on Wednesday, Tunisia's first such political assassination in decades, has shaken a nation still seeking stability after the overthrow of veteran strongman Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali in January 2011.

The family of the slain politician has accused Ennahda of responsibility for his killing. The party denies any hand in it.

"We are here to support legitimacy, but if you prefer the power of the street, look at the streets today, we have this power," Lotfi Zitoun, an Ennahda leader, said in a speech to the Islamist demonstrators in Tunis.

Tunisia's political transition has been more peaceful than those in other Arab nations such as Egypt, Libya and Syria, but tensions are running high between Islamists elected to power and liberals who fear the loss of hard-won liberties.

FREEDOMS THREATENED

"We have gained things - the freedom of expression, the freedom to meet, to form organizations, parties, to work in the open," said Radhi Nasraoui, a veteran human rights campaigner.

"The problem is that these freedoms are still threatened, and there are attempts (by Islamists) to touch the gains of women," she told Reuters.

After Belaid's death, Prime Minister Hamadi Jebali promised to form a non-partisan, technocratic cabinet to run the country until an election could take place, despite complaints from within his own Ennahda party and its two junior non-Islamist coalition partners that he had failed to consult them.

Jebali told France 24 television on Saturday that he would resign if political parties refused to support his proposal, which he said was intended to "save the country from chaos".

The state news agency TAP said the prime minister would unveil his new government next week.

Secular groups have accused the Islamist-led government of a lax response to attacks by ultra-orthodox Salafi Islamists on cinemas, theatres, bars and individuals in recent months.

Prolonged political uncertainty and street unrest could damage an economy that relies on tourism. Unemployment and other economic grievances fuelled the revolt against Ben Ali in 2011.

Tunisia's stock exchange has fallen 3.32 percent since Belaid's assassination.

France, the former colonial power, ordered its schools in Tunis to stay closed on Friday and Saturday, warning its nationals to stay clear of potential flashpoints in the capital.

Some of the Islamist demonstrators shouted "France, out", in response to remarks by French Interior Minister Manuel Valls which were rejected by Jebali, the prime minister, on Friday.

"We must support all those who fight to maintain values and remain aware of the dangers of despotism, of Islamism that threatened those values today through obscurantism," Valls had said on Europe 1 radio on Thursday in comments on Tunisia.

"There is an Islamic fascism which is on the rise in many places."

Tunisian Foreign Minister Rafik Abdessalem described Valls's remarks as "worrying and unfriendly".

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Russian opposition activist put under house arrest: media

MOSCOW: A Russian court on Saturday put prominent opposition leader Sergei Udaltsov under house arrest amid accusations he incited mass disorder to overthrow President Vladimir Putin, local media reported.

The Basmanny court in Moscow was responding to a request by investigators who said Udaltsov was not showing good behaviour and not cooperating with the authorities.

The judge said that Udaltsov could flee abroad or "try to carry out his criminal intentions".

Under the terms of his house arrest, Udaltsov must stay at his home until April 6 and is banned from using the telephone or Internet. He may only speak to his family, his lawyers and investigators.

The 35-year-old leader of the Left Front, who until now has remained under travel restrictions that prevented him from leaving Moscow, faces 10 years in prison if a probe leads to a conviction.

Authorities opened a probe after state-controlled television broadcast a documentary in October that alleged Udaltsov was plotting a violent uprising against Putin's government.

Udaltsov denies the accusations.

Before appearing in court, he told the media: "In my opinion nothing has changed that justifies putting me under house arrest."

"I responded to all the investigators' summons and I did not leave Moscow," he added.

Russia's investigative committee had said Friday that Udaltsov was being uncooperative with authorities.

"Sergei Udaltsov has not lived where he is registered for a long time, his mobile phones are often switched off, making it more difficult to summon the accused by the investigator," the committee said in a statement.

The committee said that Udaltsov "continues to commit illegal acts", saying the activist had taken part in an unauthorised protest in January where he had called on demonstrators to "launch unlimited protest action".

Udaltsov's lawyers said they would appeal against the decision.

One of the most radical voices in the protest movement, the shaven-headed activist rose to prominence during unprecedented protests against Putin's 12-year political dominance in the winter of 2011, and has been one of the key speakers at opposition rallies.

He is the first prominent opposition leader to be put under house arrest since those protests -- a sign that the Russian authorities may be preparing to ramp up pressure on the opposition as they seek to cauterise dissent.

Another opposition activist, Ilya Yashin, described the arrest as "unpleasant news but pretty much expected".

"Arrests, searches and questioning of opposition figures by the authorities is becoming the norm now," he told Moscow's Echo radio. "Their methods are becoming harsher."

A total of 19 people are being prosecuted for last year's events, 12 of whom are in pre-trial detention. They each risk 10 years in jail.

Two of Udaltsov's allies have already been detained and charged in the probe, including Leonid Razvozzhayev, an aide to an opposition parliamentary lawmaker.

Razvozzhayev's case raised concern internationally after he said he was kidnapped in Ukraine and forced back to Russia, where he was detained and tortured.

He told rights groups that he admitted to the charges of causing mass unrest under duress and claims his family was given death threats.

Anti-corruption blogger Alexei Navalny was also detained but later released.

According to the non-government organisation Human Rights Watch, Russian civil society was subject last year to the worst repression since the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991.

- AFP/jc

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Six Maharashtra policemen arrested for involvement in Dhule riot

DHULE (MAHARASHTRA): Six police personnel were on Friday arrested for allegedly taking part in vandalism during the last month's communal riot in north Maharashtra's Dhule city, police said.

They were remanded in one-day police custody by the local court.

The accused were seen indulging in looting and violence in a video clip shot during the riot which rocked the city on January 6, they said.

Apart from the six policemen, three local journalists and another unidentified man showed up in the clip, sources said.

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Health officials: Worst of flu season may be over

NEW YORK (AP) — Health officials say the worst of the flu season appears to be over.

The number of states reporting intense or widespread flu dropped again last week. By some measures, flu activity has been ebbing for at least four weeks. Deaths from the flu or pneumonia have been dropping for two weeks.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released the latest flu numbers on Friday.

This flu season started about a month earlier than normal. Outbreaks began in the late fall, and the dominant flu strain is one that tends to make people sicker.

It's been nine years since a flu season started like this one, and that proved to be one of the deadliest. So far, this season has been labeled moderately severe.

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Rescued Ethan Spends Birthday With SWAT Heroes

As a beaming 6-year-old Ethan said "cheese" for photos and played with toy cars at his birthday party, there were no immediate signs of the turmoil the young boy had endured just days earlier.

The boy, identified only as Ethan, was held hostage in a nearly week-long standoff in Alabama. He was physically unharmed after Jimmy Lee Dykes kidnapped him from a school bus and held him hostage in a booby-trapped underground bunker.

Ethan was rescued by the FBI Monday after they rushed the bunker where Dykes, 65, was holding him. Dykes was killed in the raid.

On Wednesday, Ethan celebrated his sixth birthday at a local church with abundant hugs from his family and friends as well as from the SWAT team, FBI agents and hostage negotiators who had rescued him.

Click here for photo's from the Alabama hostage situation.

"Welcome home Ethan" signs hung on the walls of the church for the homecoming celebration.

Ala. Hostage Standoff Over: Kidnapper Dead, Child Safe Watch Video

In his first interview, Ethan's adult brother Camren Kirkland described to ABC News the text messages the family would get from the hostage negotiators.

"We did know when, at times, he was asleep and that was normally around nine o'clock at night," Kirkland said.

He said the messages kept the family going throughout the ordeal.

"That was actually a lot of comfort," he said. "I could actually go lay my head down."

Kirkland said he never left his mother's side and the whole family was present when they got the call that Ethan had been rescued.

"The said, 'We have Ethan,'" Kirkland said, recalling the moment they found out Ethan had been saved.

Click here for a psychological look at what's next for Ethan.

The FBI special agent whose call it was to send the team into the bunker revealed to ABC News that Dykes left behind writings and that while in the bunker with Ethan, he'd become agitated and brag about his plan.

"At the end of the day, the responsibility is mine," he said. "I thought the child was going to die."

Dykes shot and killed a school bus driver, Albert Poland Jr., 66, last Tuesday and threatened to kill all the children on the bus before taking the boy, one of the students on the bus said Monday.

Dykes had been holed up in his underground bunker near Midland City, Ala., with the abducted boy for a week as police tried to negotiate with him through the PVC pipe. Police were careful not to anger Dykes, who was believed to be watching news reports from inside the bunker, and even thanked him at one point.

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Violence mars funeral of Tunisian opposition leader

TUNIS (Reuters) - Tens of thousands of Tunisians turned out on Friday to mourn secular opposition leader Chokri Belaid, whose assassination has deepened a political crisis and led to violent protests against the Islamist-led government.

Teargas and smoke from burning cars at times wafted over the Tunis cemetery where Belaid was buried in the country's biggest funeral since independence leader Habib Bourguiba died in 2000.

Braving chilly rain, at least 50,000 people gathered to honor Belaid in his home district of Jebel al-Jaloud in the capital, chanting anti-Islamist and anti-government slogans.

Belaid's assassination has shocked a country which had hitherto experienced a relatively peaceful political transition since an uprising that inspired others around the Arab world.

It has heightened tensions between dominant Islamists and their secular opponents against a backdrop of frustration at the lack of social and economic progress since President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali was forced to flee the country in January 2011.

"The people want a new revolution," shouted mourners in Tunis, who also sang the national anthem.

Violence erupted near the cemetery as police fired teargas at demonstrators who threw stones and set cars ablaze. Police also used teargas against protesters near the Interior Ministry, a frequent flashpoint for clashes in the Tunisian capital.

Police arrested 150 people during the disturbances in Tunis, Interior Ministry spokesman Lotfi Hidouri said.

Crowds surged around an open army truck carrying Belaid's coffin, draped in a red and white Tunisian flag, from a cultural center in Jebel al-Jaloud towards the leafy Jallaz cemetery, as a security forces helicopter flew overhead.

"Belaid, rest in peace, we will continue the struggle," crowds chanted, holding portraits of the politician killed near his home on Wednesday by a gunman who fled on a motorcycle.

Some demonstrators denounced Rachid Ghannouchi, leader of the ruling Islamist Ennahda party. "Ghannouchi, assassin, criminal," they chanted. "Tunisia is free, terrorism out."

CLASHES IN GAFSA

Police fired teargas to disperse anti-government protesters throwing stones and petrol bombs in the southern mining town of Gafsa, a stronghold of support for Belaid, witnesses said.

Crowds there had chanted "The people want the fall of the regime", a slogan first used against Ben Ali.

In Sidi Bouzid, the southern town where the revolt against the ousted strongman began, about 10,000 marched to mourn Belaid and shout slogans against Ennahda and the government.

Banks, factories and some shops were closed in Tunis and other cities in response to a strike called by unions in protest at Belaid's killing, but buses were running normally.

Tunis Air canceled all its flights because of the strike, a spokesman for the national airline said, adding that normal service would resume on Saturday.

After Belaid's assassination, Prime Minister Hamdi Jebali, an Islamist, said he would dissolve the government and form a cabinet of technocrats to rule until elections could be held.

But his own Ennahda party and its secular coalition partners complained they had not been consulted, casting doubt over the status of the government and compounding political uncertainty.

On Friday Jebali reiterated his plan for a cabinet of technocrats, saying this would not need the approval of the National Constituent Assembly because he was not dissolving his government, but would replace all of its members.

"This government is ready," he told reporters, without disclosing the names of his new ministers.

"HOPE EXISTS"

No one has claimed responsibility for the killing of Belaid, a lawyer and secular opposition figure.

His family have blamed Ennahda but the party has denied any hand in the shooting. Crowds have attacked several Ennahda party offices in Tunis and other cities in the past two days.

"Hope still exists in Tunisia," Fatma Saidan, a noted Tunisian actor, told Reuters at Belaid's funeral. "We will continue to struggle against extremism and political violence."

She called for national unity, saying: "We are ready to accept Islamists, but they don't accept us."

While Belaid had only a modest political following, his criticism of Ennahda policies spoke for many Tunisians who fear religious radicals are bent on snuffing out freedoms won in the first of the revolts that rippled through the Arab world.

Secular groups have accused the Islamist-led government of a lax response to attacks by ultra-orthodox Salafi Islamists on cinemas, theatres and bars in recent months.

The economic effect of political uncertainty and street unrest could be serious in a country which has yet to draft a new constitution and which relies heavily on the tourist trade.

Mohamed Ali Toumi, president of the Tunisian Federation of Travel Agencies, described the week's events as a catastrophe that would have a negative impact on tourism, but he told the national news agency TAP no cancellations had been reported yet.

France, which had already announced the closure of its schools in Tunis on Friday and Saturday, urged its nationals to stay clear of potential flashpoints in the capital.

The cost of insuring Tunisian government bonds against default rose to its highest level in more than four years this week and ratings agency Fitch said it could further downgrade Tunisia if political instability continues or worsens.

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Golf: Fisher Jnr takes Joburg Open lead with showy 62

JOHANNESBURG: Trevor Fisher Jnr shot to a shared lead with a record nine-under-par 62 second round of the Joburg Open at the Royal Johannesburg and Kensington Golf Club on Friday.

Tied with fellow South African Richard Sterne, who shot 65, Fisher lead countryman George Coetzee by three strokes. South Africans Keith Horne and Charl Schwartzel, as well as Chilean Felipe Aguilar, are five behind.

The 33-year-old Fisher had good rhythm from the start with an eagle on the par-five second, followed by birdies on the third and ninth, and five more on the inward nine.

"It was a great day out there. Everything just happened for me and I sank the putts I needed to sink. I was happy and patient with myself - walked slow and did everything slow - and it was just a good day," he said afterwards.

He was cautiously proud of the lowest round ever at the Joburg Open, co-sanctioned by the European Tour and the local Sunshine Tour.

"It's nice to have the record. But I'm going to focus on my game and not worry about what everyone else is doing. It's just a number - I've got to go out there and still try to make birdies," said the 2012 Sunshine Tour Players' Player of the Year.

Sterne held onto his overnight lead with a second bogey-free round in a row, staying in the run for a win after a close second at the Omega Dubai Desert Classic last week.

"You would like to stay up there and give yourself a chance come Sunday, but it's not so easy being up there from day one," said the 31-year-old.

"You've got guys there who've won a few tournaments and obviously Charl (Schwartzel) is there. And George Coetzee - he hasn't won, but he's due. It's a long way from over -- we're only halfway," he said.

Each competitor in the 210-strong field chasing a 206,050-euro ($278,744) first prize, plays one round over the west course and one over the longer, more challenging east course, where the final two rounds will be staged.

- AFP/de

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SC pulls up CBI in Babri Masjid demolition case

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court Thursday pulled up the CBI for its submission that BJP leader LK Advani and other party leaders present at Ayodhya on December 6, 1992, had committed a "national crime" in the conspiracy that led to demolition of the disputed Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid structure.

Taking a dim view of the submission, a bench of Justice H.L. Dattu and Justice Ranjan Gogoi said that the investigating agency should not pre-judge the case till it was decided either way by the apex court or the special court.

"Please don't call it a national crime or a matter of national importance until we or the special court (trying the case) come to a definite conclusion," Justice Dattu told senior counsel P.P.Rao, who appeared for the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

The court's response came during the hearing of a petition by the investigating agency challenging the Allahabad high court verdict that discharged Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Advani, Shiv Sena supremo Bal Thackeray and 19 others in the Babri Masjid demolition conspiracy case.

The CBI again came in for drubbing for taking more than nine months in moving the apex court to challenge the Allahabad high court verdict discharging Advani and other leaders of conspiracy charge.

The probe agency had moved the apex court Feb 18, 2011, nearly nine months after the Allahabad high court May 20, 2010, discharged Advani, Thackeray and 19 others of the charges of criminal conspiracy in the demolition of the Babri Masjid.

"If you say that this is a case of national importance... can you say that the translation of documents would take days together and the filing of case will take months," Justice Dattu observed when senior counsel Rao sought some more time.

The court read through its order sheets to show that the investigating agency took three adjournments for filing documents.

"When you filed the first affidavit, court asked you to file a better affidavit. You did it. Can we ask you to file another affidavit to improve your case?" the court observed as Rao sought some more time as he was appearing for the first time and had to peruse the records.

Adjourning the hearing for a week, the court said that investigating agency would not file any more documents except for those relied on by the special CBI court and the high court in arriving at their judgments. It directed the hearing of the matter Feb 13.

The CBI in its appeal before the apex court said that the high court verdict discharging Advani and others of the charge of criminal conspiracy "is inconsistent with the previous judgment rendered by the Allahabad High Court on Feb 12, 2001".

The Lucknow bench of the Allahabad high court by its Feb 12, 2001, order had held that the trial court committed no illegality in taking "cognizance of joint consolidated charge-sheet" and "all the offences were committed in the course of the same transaction to accomplish the conspiracy".

The high court order had noted that the "evidence for all the offences was almost the same."

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Southern diet, fried foods, may raise stroke risk

Deep-fried foods may be causing trouble in the Deep South. People whose diets are heavy on them and sugary drinks like sweet tea and soda were more likely to suffer a stroke, a new study finds.

It's the first big look at diet and strokes, and researchers say it might help explain why blacks in the Southeast — the nation's "stroke belt" — suffer more of them.

Blacks were five times more likely than whites to have the Southern dietary pattern linked with the highest stroke risk. And blacks and whites who live in the South were more likely to eat this way than people in other parts of the country were. Diet might explain as much as two-thirds of the excess stroke risk seen in blacks versus whites, researchers concluded.

"We're talking about fried foods, french fries, hamburgers, processed meats, hot dogs," bacon, ham, liver, gizzards and sugary drinks, said the study's leader, Suzanne Judd of the University of Alabama in Birmingham.

People who ate about six meals a week featuring these sorts of foods had a 41 percent higher stroke risk than people who ate that way about once a month, researchers found.

In contrast, people whose diets were high in fruits, vegetables, whole grains and fish had a 29 percent lower stroke risk.

"It's a very big difference," Judd said. "The message for people in the middle is there's a graded risk" — the likelihood of suffering a stroke rises in proportion to each Southern meal in a week.

Results were reported Thursday at an American Stroke Association conference in Honolulu.

The federally funded study was launched in 2002 to explore regional variations in stroke risks and reasons for them. More than 20,000 people 45 or older — half of them black — from all 48 mainland states filled out food surveys and were sorted into one of five diet styles:

—Southern: Fried foods, processed meats (lunchmeat, jerky), red meat, eggs, sweet drinks and whole milk.

—Convenience: Mexican and Chinese food, pizza, pasta.

—Plant-based: Fruits, vegetables, juice, cereal, fish, poultry, yogurt, nuts and whole-grain bread.

—Sweets: Added fats, breads, chocolate, desserts, sweet breakfast foods.

—Alcohol: Beer, wine, liquor, green leafy vegetables, salad dressings, nuts and seeds, coffee.

"They're not mutually exclusive" — for example, hamburgers fall into both convenience and Southern diets, Judd said. Each person got a score for each diet, depending on how many meals leaned that way.

Over more than five years of follow-up, nearly 500 strokes occurred. Researchers saw clear patterns with the Southern and plant-based diets; the other three didn't seem to affect stroke risk.

There were 138 strokes among the 4,977 who ate the most Southern food, compared to 109 strokes among the 5,156 people eating the least of it.

There were 122 strokes among the 5,076 who ate the most plant-based meals, compared to 135 strokes among the 5,056 people who seldom ate that way.

The trends held up after researchers took into account other factors such as age, income, smoking, education, exercise and total calories consumed.

Fried foods tend to be eaten with lots of salt, which raises blood pressure — a known stroke risk factor, Judd said. And sweet drinks can contribute to diabetes, the disease that celebrity chef Paula Deen — the queen of Southern cuisine — revealed she had a year ago.

The National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, drugmaker Amgen Inc. and General Mills Inc. funded the study.

"This study does strongly suggest that food does have an influence and people should be trying to avoid these kinds of fatty foods and high sugar content," said an independent expert, Dr. Brian Silver, a Brown University neurologist and stroke center director at Rhode Island Hospital.

"I don't mean to sound like an ogre. I know when I'm in New Orleans I certainly enjoy the food there. But you don't have to make a regular habit of eating all this stuff."

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Marilynn Marchione can be followed at http://twitter.com/MMarchioneAP

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Suspect Tried to Flee Country Before Cop Shooting

The fired ex-California cop who set off a region-wide manhunt after allegedly shooting three police officers this morning -- one fatally -- had initially gone to a yacht club near San Diego where police say he attempted to steal a boat and flee to Mexico.

Police say that former police officer Christopher Jordan Dorner, 33, who officials believe posted an online manifesto outlining his plan to "terminate" his former colleagues and their families, is armed with a long gun and might have several other guns and high-capacity magazines. He is also believed to have access to military uniforms because he has served in the Navy.

"We are considering him armed and dangerous," Lt. Julia Engen of the Irvine Police Department said.

Police allege that he went to the yacht club Wednesday night at Point Loma, Calif., near San Diego to steal the boat. He aborted the attempted theft when the boat's propeller became entangled in robe, law enforcement officials said. It was at that point he is believed to have headed to Riverside, where he allegedly shot two police officers.

"He pointed a handgun at the victim [at the yacht club] and demanded the boat," Lt. David Rohowits of the San Diego Police Department said.

Police say the expert marksman shot at four officers in two incidents overnight, hitting three of them: one in Corona, Calif., and the two in Riverside, Calif.

Sgt. Rudy Lopez of the LAPD said two LAPD officers were in Corona and headed out on special detail to check on one of the individuals named in Dorner's manifesto. Dorner allegedly grazed one of them but missed the other.

"[This is an] extremely tense situation," Lopez said. "We call this a manhunt. We approach it cautiously because of the propensity of what has already happened."

The Riverside Police Department said two of its officers were shot before one of them died, KABC-TV reported. The other is in stable condition with two gunshot wounds, police say.

"They were on routine patrol stopped at a stop light when they were ambushed," Lt. Guy Toussant of the Riverside police department said.

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In the manifesto Dorner published online, he threatened at least 12 people by name, along with their families.

"Your lack of ethics and conspiring to wrong a just individual are over. Suppressing the truth will leave to deadly consequences for you and your family," Dorner wrote in his manifesto.

A badge and identification belonging to Dorner have been found in San Diego, according to San Diego police Sgt. Ray Battrick. Dorner's LAPD badge and ID were found by someone near the city's airport, and turned in to police overnight, The Associated Press reported.

Police around Southern California are wearing tactical gear, including helmets and guns across their chests. The light-up signs along California highways show the license plate number of Dorner's car, and say to call 911 if it is seen. The problem, police say, is that they believe Dorner is switching license plates on his car, a 2005 charcoal-gray Nissan Titan pickup truck.

Los Angeles Police Department Chief Charlie Beck said today that 40 protective details have been deployed to protect officers and their families.

"We are taking all measures possible to ensure safety of our officers and their families," he said.

Dorner is also believed to be responsible for the weekend slayings of an assistant women's college basketball coach and her fiancé in what cops believe are acts of revenge against the LAPD, as suggested in his online manifesto.

Lawrence was found slumped behind the wheel of his white Kia in the parking lot of their upscale apartment complex in Irvine Sunday and Quan was in the passenger seat.

"A particular interest at this point in the investigation is a multi-page manifesto in which the suspect has implicated himself in the slayings," Maggard said.

Police said Dorner's manifesto included threats against members of the LAPD. Police say they are taking extra measures to ensure the safety of officers and their families.

The document, allegedly posted on an Internet message board this week, apparently blames Quan's father, retired LAPD Capt. Randy Quan, for his firing from the department.

One passage from the manifesto reads, "I will bring unconventional and asymmetrical warfare to those in LAPD uniform whether on or off duty."

"I never had the opportunity to have a family of my own," it reads. "I'm terminating yours."

Dorner was with the department from 2005 until 2008, when he was fired for making false statements.

Randy Quan, who became a lawyer in retirement, represented Dorner in front of the Board of Rights, a tribunal that ruled against Dorner at the time of his dismissal, LAPD Capt. William Hayes told The Associated Press Wednesday night.

According to documents from a court of appeals hearing in October 2011, Dorner was fired from the LAPD after he made a complaint against his field-training officer, Sgt. Teresa Evans, saying in the course of an arrest she had kicked a suspect who was a schizophrenic with severe dementia.

After an investigation, Dorner was fired for making false statements.

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