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Your World Today

Hezbollah Gives Cash Handouts to Lebanese; U.N. Seeking Troops for Peacekeeping Mission; Some Iranian Moderates Not Die-Hard Supporters of Hezbollah

Aired August 18, 2006 - 12:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

HALA GORANI, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: On the move. Thousands of Lebanese troops march deeper south to sustain a 5-day-old cease- fire.
Money talks. Hezbollah hands out big cash payments to civilians who lost their homes.

And inconsistencies in the story of the man who confessed to having killed JonBenet Ramsey.

Hello and welcome to YOUR WORLD TODAY.

These are just some of the stories we're following for you in this broadcast seen around the world.

I'm Hala Gorani in Beirut.

Welcome, everyone.

We are five days into the cease-fire between Israel and Hezbollah, and still no firm date as to when the expanded U.N. force will take positions in southern Lebanon. But as more countries volunteer, we are starting to get a picture of their reservations.

All this, as Hezbollah is handing out big cash sums to some of those who lost their homes in Israeli air strikes.

We begin here in Lebanon with the latest on those Hezbollah payment handouts, but also on a day of mass funerals in Qana.

Our Jim Clancy joins us now live from the Lebanese capital with more -- Jim.

JIM CLANCY, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: All right, Hala. Good to be with you.

Not good in the town of Qana this day. Tears and sorrow, a town, a small town that has suffered more than any other in this conflict.

Some 29 people were laid to rest, all of them civilians. Fourteen of them were adults, 15 were children.

A July 30th Israeli bombing strike on the town killed a place where people were said to be taking shelter. A lot of controversy over that strike, but many people in the town of Qana had not been able to bury their dead because of the fighting.

They had that chance today. Some of the coffins brought out with photographs of the victims on the front of them.

Qana, in the words of its own residents, became a symbol for the entire world of the pain and the civilian casualties of this conflict. In addition, two Hezbollah fighters were also buried in Qana this day.

Meantime, in the southern suburbs of Beirut, Benjamin Franklin's image kept popping up everywhere. Not, of course, the man himself, but his portrait on U.S. currency.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CLANCY (voice over): Counting it out: 120 not exactly crisp $100 bills. That's $12,000 being handed out by Hezbollah to every household in Beirut's southern suburbs whose home was destroyed in the war with Israel. And yes, Hezbollah prefers working in U.S. dollars.

"I registered one day, and two days later they called me to come and get paid," said a smiling resident. Adding, "This is something really nice. God bless them, and long live Sayed Hassan and the guys," referring to Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah and his followers.

If the damage was widespread and devastating, Hezbollah's grassroots organization is damage control with uncommon efficiency everywhere. Aid groups report that when they reached stranded villagers in southern Lebanon for the first time this week, they found Hezbollah had already been there. Residents were happy to take more handouts, but flatly said Hezbollah had already met their needs.

As Lebanese sign up for the $12,000 payout, nobody asks, where is the money coming from? Political sources here tell CNN Iran furnished between $600 million and $700 million for Hezbollah's immediate use. Some see the avalanche of cash as evidence Iran and Hezbollah are going overboard to erase the bad memories of a conflict they ignited.

In Lebanon, $12,000 is a huge sum, more than most workers even make in a year, and far beyond the actual cost of rent and furniture. Hezbollah's opponents also complain that the handouts further undermine the elected government. More than humanitarian aid, it's political subterfuge.

"I don't believe that if the money went to the Lebanese government the suburbs would be rebuilt," this man said. There's more confidence in the Hezbollah than in the government.

Another told us, "The money might be coming from other countries, but as long as Hezbollah aims to help people, there's nothing wrong with that, nothing at all."

That may be fodder for debate, but Hezbollah is pulling the carpet out from under its critics, not with promises, but with cold cash.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CLANCY: Now, if you look at the figures of the number of destroyed homes, 15,000 in the words of Hassan Nasrallah, but others say that figure could be much higher, even double that. It's going to be a problem.

Some people say there's not enough apartments to rent, there's not 15,000 units or more. And particularly in the south, where entire villages were flattened in the fighting, it's going to be very difficult for those people as well.

But you can bet, Hala, Hezbollah will have a reply.

Back to you.

GORANI: All right, Jim. Let's talk about troop deployment. This is a crucial element in making this cease-fire work.

Now, although the U.N. force is having issues gelling, Lebanese troops are wasting no time deploying there in the southern part of Lebanon. Tell us about that.

CLANCY: Well, you know, as you say, I mean, one of the key issues here is the U.N. troops. When the Lebanese decided to go down there, to send their troops down there, they did so, because they said, if we don't, then the international troops aren't going to deploy. And they're really worried about how that's progressing.

But as far as the Lebanese army goes, they've been getting a rapturous welcome just about every place that they went. Shebaa, a little town very close to the Israeli border, a town from which Shebaa Farms, the disputed piece of land, gets its name, a rapturous welcome there. People throwing race.

There was folk dancing in the streets. I understand the troops could barely get into the town because so many of the residents were out there to cheer them on. Two sheep were slaughtered as part of the celebrations there.

And residents saying that whatever the reputation is of the Lebanese army, tonight they feel more secure because the army has deployed down there. It's been pretty amazing to see how quickly the Lebanese army has been able to get its forces out there on the streets in some of these towns and villages -- Hala.

GORANI: All right. A lot quicker than the U.N. forces, Jim Clancy.

The U.N. is having trouble, it seems, making good on its -- on its promise to deploy 13,000 additional U.N. forces. Let's break it down for you.

Italy's government has approved a plan to send up to 3,000 troops. Bangladesh has offered about 1,700 forces. But some of Europe's big players appear to be hesitating and bulking.

CNN senior U.N. Correspondent Richard Roth has that story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RICHARD ROTH, CNN SR. U.N. CORRESPONDENT (voice over): It was a U.N. gathering where the guests were highly encouraged to come bearing not gifts but peacekeepers. Nearly 50 countries were invited in hopes they would offer soldiers for an enhanced U.N. deployment between Israel and Lebanon.

The U.N. says it needs some 3,500 troops within days or run the risk of a lack of security if the cease-fire breaks down. After the closed-door meeting, the U.N. official receiving offers said he was now relatively optimistic the required contributions could be met.

MARK MALLOCH BROWN, DEP. U.N. SECRETARY-GENERAL: So, a reasonable start, but we're certainly -- and I would say the show's on the road -- we're in business.

ROTH: In principle, the U.N. says they got enough troops to hit their targets. But many of the pledges included conditions or require approval by national parliaments. And diplomats say the nations that offered large amounts of troops, such as Bangladesh, Malaysia and Indonesia, have difficulty in getting them to southern Lebanon.

EMYR JONES PARRY, BRITISH AMB. TO U.N.: There have been some quite promising responses. The key crucially will be what is being offered in that room is made available as soon as possible.

ROTH: The big European countries appear hesitant to plunge in. Earlier, France said it would only add 200 additional soldiers to the 1,900 already assisting. Germany,, concerned about a potential face- off with Israeli soldiers, offered sea patrols to stop an inflow of illegal weapons.

THOMAS MATUSSEK, GERMAN AMB. TO U.N.: Today, I was in a position to offer a rather substantive maritime component.

ROTH: The biggest concern remains the rules of engagement. The French, who co-wrote the Security Council resolution, have called the troops order "fuzzy." In the meeting, countries were offered a PowerPoint presentation of the rules of use of force, but nations demanded e-mails and documentation to send to their governments urgently.

(on camera): U.N. officials now expect a second meeting in New York will be necessary next week in order to update and lure in more countries to the operation in south Lebanon.

Richard Roth, CNN, United Nations.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

GORANI: Well, another potential problem in putting together this U.N. force are diplomatic relations between Israel and some of the countries that might contribute. Israel says it would be difficult, if not inconceivable, to allow countries that don't recognize its state to patrol the Israeli-Lebanese border.

Malaysia and Indonesia have both offered to take part in the U.N. force but have no diplomatic ties with Israel. Israel's U.N. ambassador, Dan Gillerman, told BBC News, "To expect countries who don't even recognize Israel to guard Israel's safety, I think we would be a bit naive."

Well, the U.S. president, George W. Bush, was asked about this situation in Lebanon at Camp David a few minutes ago, especially regarding Hezbollah and its influence in the country.

This is what he had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The first reaction, of course, of Hezbollah and its supporters is declare victory. I guess I would have done the same thing if I were them. But sometimes it takes people a while to come to the sober realization of what -- of what forces create stability and which don't. Hezbollah is a force of instability.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GORANI: The U.S. president there.

Well, Israel's fight with Hezbollah appears to be having an influence on internal Israeli politics concerning the Palestinian- controlled West Bank, as well. According to the Israeli newspaper "Haaretz," Ehud Olmert told his cabinet ministers that a pullout from the West Bank is no longer his top priority. The report says support for such a move appears to be dwindling with the Israeli military fighting on two fronts in recent months, Lebanon, and, of course, Gaza.

Let's turn now to the standoff over Iran's nuclear program. The U.S. government is threatening to push for quick sanctions against Tehran if it doesn't suspend uranium enrichment by the August 31st deadline.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TOM CASEY, U.S. STATE DEPT. SPOKESMAN: The resolution, which was backed by -- you know, fully in the Security Council, including by Russia, says that in the event that Iran does not respond favorably and does not take up -- take up the call of the international community to meet its requirements, including a full suspension of uranium enrichment activity, that the next step will be sanctions. And so I think it's agreed to by the council, including by the P-5, plus one, that that would be the next step, in the event that Iran fails to comply.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GORANI: Well, in response, a former Iranian president warned the U.S. not to escalate its role in the dispute. Influential cleric Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani made the comments during Friday prayers, saying, "We expect the United States would have learned enough not to enter another conflict in order to disturb security in our region. We hope to be able to solve this regional and world dispute in a proper way through negotiation."

You are with YOUR WORLD TODAY, seen around the world.

We will take a short break now and we'll have a lot more when we come back.

Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

GORANI: Welcome back.

As we've been reporting extensively over the last few weeks, Iran has been accused, almost daily, of supporting Hezbollah, not only morally, but also financially and militarily. And the militant group does enjoy some popularity in Iran.

But as Aneesh Raman, who now joins us live from Tehran, is going to tell us, I understand, Aneesh, is that there is a quiet minority who aren't that -- aren't big fans of Hezbollah.

Tell us more about that.

ANEESH RAMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Hala, throughout this war between Hezbollah and Israel, the face from Iran has been one of unbridled anger amid the protesters. We found out today, though, that's only half the story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RAMAN (voice over): Tucked amid the northern mountains is a Tehran that is rarely seen. Here, along this hiking trail, there are no flags of Hezbollah, no posters of its leader, Hassan Nasrallah. Instead, just some kabobs on the grill and couples using the crowd to show affection discretely.

These are Iran's moderates, like 41-year-old Fariba (ph). "To say the recent war," she tells me, "overshadowed all aspects of people's life here would not be accurate." And, she says that "In the west they think Iranians are closed-minded and shortsighted." "That," she says, "is incorrect as well."

(on camera): Moderates in Tehran make up a quiet majority, but on this issue, as with virtually every other, they are overshadowed by a much more vocal and conservative minority.

(voice over): Throughout the war in Lebanon, these were defining images of anger in Iran, demonstrations often punctuated by chants of "Death to America, Death to Israel" and an eagerness to join the fight that is still in evidence after Friday prayers at this conservative mosque. "Did the Israelis prove their power by attacking innocent children?" asked this woman. "If they are men, they should come and fight us."

"As soon as the supreme leader gives the go-ahead, I and my three sons will go and join Hezbollah," says this former general.

They are, perhaps, the two faces of Iran, hard-line protesters and moderate hikers (ph). But both sides know they matter little compared to this face, that of Iran's president, who seems intent on confronting the United States over Iran's nuclear program.

Even among moderates, there is now a feeling of foreboding, and even among moderates, that the U.S. shoulders the blame.

Fariba (ph) tells me that because almost the entire Middle East, one way or another, is being assaulted by America, Iran will gradually be dragged into this war.

And so even amid the serenity of these mountains, these are tense times in Iran.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

RAMAN: And, Hala, the tensions only likely to rise. Next week, a big week on the nuclear dispute. Iran set to give its answer as to whether the country will suspend its uranium enrichment -- Hala.

GORANI: And what are we expecting on that front, Aneesh?

RAMAN: No sign that Iran is going to take any deal that requires it to stop its nuclear program. One, officials say here, it's for peaceful energy purposes. There's a sense on the ground among the Iranians I talked to that sanctions may now be inevitable -- Hala.

GORANI: All right. Thanks very much.

Aneesh Raman from Tehran.

Well, that's the view many from the Middle East for now.

Back to Stephen Frazier at the CNN Center -- Stephen.

STEPHEN FRAZIER, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Hala, thank you very much.

We've been tracking the progress of a British jet en route from London's Gatwick Airport to Egypt, which instead made an emergency landing on Friday in Brindisi, Italy. The pilot of the plane, an Excel Airways 767, decided to divert the flight after somebody found a note written on the back of an air sickness bag.

It said there was a bomb on board. We now know that no bomb has been found by investigators searching the plane after all 280 passengers were taken off on the ground in Brindisi. Just a few moments ago, President Bush warned the government of North Korea not to proceed with any kind of nuclear testing. This country, of course, riling the international community last month when it test-fired a series of missiles.

Now there are officials in the U.S. government who say a nuclear bomb test could possibly be in the works. Sources are telling CNN that recent surveillance images show there is a change at one suspected underground nuclear site.

Officials say the images show suspicious truck activity and the presence of a certain kind of cable that could lead to monitoring of the site from remote distance. The officials say they couldn't draw firm conclusions about what this activity means. The president saying in his remarks a few moments ago he had no evidence of any increased activity there.

Now to Iraq, where the government is imposing a two-day vehicle ban in parts of Baghdad, just ahead of a weekend Shia religious ceremony. Insurgents of one stripe or another have often targeted religious gatherings with bombs. And in a country where religious identity increasingly chooses sides in a bloody civil conflict, is there any middle ground remaining?

Harris Whitbeck found one community where Sunni and Shia have maintained ties.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

HARRIS WHITBECK, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Under a portrait of one of the most revered holy men in his faith, Imam Hussein Sadoon Munjid (ph) cradles his newborn grandson. His family gathered around to celebrate a joyful moment.

It is a respite from the tension that comes from living in a city racked by suicide bombings and kidnappings. His home a cocoon of safety in times of war.

Sadoon and his wife Mulkia (ph) are Shia Muslims. They have lived for 22 years in this apartment complex in Baghdad, sharing moments of happiness and sorrow with their neighbors. Neighbors like Amira, one of Mulkia's (ph) closest friends, and her husband, Mujit (ph), who are Sunni.

The sectarian differences that have racked Iraq, pitting Sunnis against Shias, are nowhere to be found here. The two women have seen each other's children grow up and they share the same fears about their futures.

A few months ago, Amira had to change her oldest son Omar's (ph) name to the Shia name Ahmed (ph). His Sunni name made him a potential target for Shia death squads.

AMIRA, SUNNI NEIGHBOR (through translator): He travels through many checkpoints. We don't know if they're real or fake. That's why I changed his name to Ahmed (ph). WHITBECK: Next door, Sadoon and Mulkia (ph) understand their neighbor's fears, but they don't really understand the sectarian violence.

SADOON, SHIA NEIGHBOR (through translator): This is something new. I never heard problems between Shias and Sunnis. My father used to make tea outside the house and invite all the neighbors, and I never heard anyone ask the other if he was a Sunni or a Shia.

WHITBECK: Munjid (ph) says religious differences are no reason for war.

AL NAEIB, SUNNI NEIGHBOR: We are Muslims. And any kind of Muslim doesn't believe in these things, killing or trying to kidnap people or doing harm to another Muslim.

WHITBECK: In these two homes, even if for just a short while, the war seems far away.

Harris Whitbeck, CNN, Baghdad.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FRAZIER: A humanitarian group says the Iraqi tribunal that is trying Saddam Hussein and other co-defendants cannot give the former president a fair trial. It is called Human Rights Watch, and it says the tribunal's attempts to try this genocide case does not meet certain international standards. The tribunal is currently in recess until October 16th.

Still ahead, the legal battle over an anti-terrorism tool and the U.S. government suffering a setback over its wiretapping program. But who will have the last word?

And he is much more than a Nobel Prize-winning author. When Gunther Grass speaks, Germany listens. But how will this new controversial confession play out?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Daryn Kagan at CNN Center in Atlanta.

More of YOUR WORLD TODAY in just a few minutes.

First, though, let's check on stories making headlines.

President Bush responding today to a federal judge's order calling for a halt to his domestic wiretapping program. The judge ruled that eavesdropping on Americans' phone calls and e-mail without a warrant tramples the Constitution.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BUSH: Those who herald this decision simply do not understand the nature of the world in which we live. You might remember last week working with the great -- with people in Great Britain, we disrupted a plot, people trying to come and kill -- kill people.

The -- this country of ours is at war. And we must give those who are -- whose responsibility it is to protect the United States the tools necessary to protect this country in a time of war.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAGAN: President Bush has been meeting with his economic advisers at Camp David as midterm elections approach. Mr. Bush says Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid remain among the country's biggest challenges.

Now to the JonBenet Ramsey case. Here is what we know at this hour.

A law enforcement source tells CNN that John Mark Karr revealed graphic details about the condition of JonBenet Ramsey's body, details that were not known to the public. A Ramsey family attorney tells The Associated Press Karr only thought he was writing to Patsy Ramsey. He said correspondence was actually being routed to someone else and then given to police.

Karr's brother tells an Atlanta TV station the family will provide information today showing the allegations against him are, in their words, "ridiculous."

Day five of the Mideast cease-fire. Long-term law enforcement still a major concern. Fifteen thousand Lebanese troops are expected in southern Lebanon by the end of the day. Italy agrees to send as many as 3,000 troops to join them, part of a 15,000-member U.N. peacekeeping force.

And Hezbollah has started handing out cash to Lebanese whose homes were hit by Israeli air strikes. Hezbollah officials say civilians who lost their homes are receiving $12,000.

Ford is slashing production for much of the rest of the year. One hundred and sixty-eight thousand fewer vehicles will roll off the assembly lines in 2006. The move will idle 10 North American plants for extended periods.

This is said to be the deepest cut in production at Ford since the 1980s. Ford says the cutback is part of a broader plan to turn the company around.

Cool and unusually humid weather in Wyoming. That's helping firefighters rein in an 11,000-acre blaze. Crews have carved a barrier around half of the wildfire. But hundreds of evacuated residents are being kept from their homes until firefighters can make more progress.

Let's check in and see what the weather picture looks like across the country.

Here is Reynolds Wolf.

(WEATHER REPORT)

KAGAN: You parents already know that TV can have a numbing effect on your kids. Now there's proof.

Researchers have found that children watching cartoons appear to feel less pain from a needle than kids that are not watching television. The study's author says what's especially disturbing is the cartoons were more comforting than mom. He calls it the excessive power of television.

And if you're trying to lose extra weight, here's a suggestion, use a smaller plate and a smaller spoon. A new study in the "American Journal of Preventive Medicine" says plate size influences portion size.

All right.

John Mark Karr's e-mails are creating quite a buzz today. Two detectives have seen the correspondence, and they will join CNN's "LIVE FROM".

Meanwhile, YOUR WORLD TODAY continues after a quick break.

I'm Daryn Kagan.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

GORANI: Welcome back to YOUR WORLD TODAY. I'm Hala Gorani, reporting live from Beirut. Here are some of the top stories we're following for you.

A bomb square Friday on board a British passenger jet forced the plane to land safely at the southern Italian city of Brindisi. The budget airline Excel says a note on a sickness bag on the plane said there was a bomb on board. Investigators found no bomb. All 280 people on board were evacuated safely. The Boeing 767 was bound for Egypt from Gatwick Airport near London.

Also in the headlines, the United Nations is working to deliver some 13,000 new peacekeeping forces to southern Lebanon. Italy's government has approved a plan to send up to 3,000 troops, but many of Europe's big players, such as France, are dragging their heels, it seems. There's still questions about the rules of engagement. Meanwhile, Hezbollah is stepping in to offer cash to families whose homes were destroyed by Israeli airstrikes in southern Beirut.

An Israeli newspaper reports Prime Minister Ehud Olmert told his cabinet that a pullout from the West Bank is no longer his top priority. The report in "Haaretz" says support for such a move appears to be dwindling, with the Israel military fighting on two fronts in recent months -- Lebanon, of course, but Gaza, as well.

Well, that's a look at the headlines. Stephen Frazier, back to you.

FRAZIER: Not back to me, Hala. We're not taking it back yet. Before we leave you there, we'd like to thank you for all the reporting you've done from Beirut and ask, before you leave, what stands out in your mind among all the events you've seen there in the month that you've been in Beirut, covering those?

GORANI: Well, I think perhaps what we saw, the aftermath of the bombing in the southern suburbs. That was one thing that we covered just a few days ago. It's difficult to imagine the scale of the devastation when you just see it on television. The southern suburbs haven't at all been entirely destroyed, but those buildings that have been flattened cover a wide area of many blocks. So it is something that is very impressive to see and something that you don't expect the scale of to be that massive on TV.

As I said, another thing that we've been covering is the environmental impact of some of the airstrikes. There is a very large oil slick that hit the coast of Lebanon, and the impact of that is going be long-lasting. Not just for the next few months, but for the next few years, because it affects the fishing industry. It affects tourism, as well, which Lebanon relies on so much.

As the weeks were going by, we had the sense that the conflict might escalate. But in the last few days, the cease-fire has held. And it seems as though perhaps in the next few weeks, we'll be able to see if the U.N. force, the expanded UNIFIL, will be able to help keep the peace with the Lebanese troops. So we really lived this conflict from its beginning to its very end, including all the very loud bomb blasts we heard so clearly from our position here -- Stephen.

FRAZIER: All right, Hala. In fact, your friends here at CNN Center recall it was in the middle of one of your interviews that that largest attack took place, interrupting you. And we carried on from there, with more evidence of what that all represented. So we're looking forward to seeing you back here soon.

GORANI: Thanks so much.

FRAZIER: Let's turn now to other news, including some surprise announcements.

A Nobel prize-winning novelist has now confessed to serving in the Nazi forces during World War II. And not just any Nazi forces, the Waffen-SS, Hitler's special guard. Gunter Grass has written his memoirs of growing up under the pull of Nazi propaganda.

Andrew Carey has more on this writer's remarkable story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ANDREW CAREY, ITV CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Gunter Grass has always been much more than just a Nobel Prize-winning author. Demanding his country come to terms with his past, he's been Germany's moral compass, a man with unimpeachable moral authority. And when Gunter Grass speaks, there's a sense that he's speaking for the nation, no matter how outspoken he is.

Consider this comment about George W. Bush. GUNTER GRASS, AUTHOR (through translator): The present American president is a man who likes to see himself as a cowboy, with a smoking gun in the fight against evil.

CAREY: So when Grass admitted, in a new autobiography, that he'd served in the Waffen-SS at the end of the second World War, it dropped like a bombshell. He'd always acknowledged serving in the army during the Nazi era, but the Waffen-SS was one of Hitler's elite units, taking a lead role in carrying out the Holocaust.

"For decades, I refused to admit the word," he writes, "And the double letters, SS. What I accepted with the stupid pride of youth, I was silent about after the war from a growing sense of shame."

The admission has pushed his book, "Peeling Onions," to top of the bestseller's list. But it's also led to calls that he hand back his Nobel Prize. His standing in society, say some, diminished.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He always liked to celebrate himself. And he's a human being, like everyone, and he's not the German moral. And he lost now his position as a German moralist and we discover that he's just a hypocrite.

CAREY: On Thursday evening, Grass went on German television to defend himself. "I played no part in any crime during the war," he told the interviewer, "but I should not have waited so long to tell the story."

GRASS (voice-over): Those who want to judge me may judge me. But what I am experiencing at the moment, at least from some people, is driven more by an unwarranted self-assurance and a wish to condemn me.

CAREY: Some German newspapers have suggested his admission was an attempt to preempt the release of information held in Germany's military archives, something his publisher has denied.

On the streets of Berlin Friday morning, opinion was divided.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I knew from some elder people, people my father knew. And so at that time, in 1944, 1945, you were forced to go to the SS. And so was not a thing that had inspired (INAUDIBLE). But I think he should have mentioned it very earlier.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think he wants to finish this history of his life, and this history, this old history, with -- he wants to all stories tell, old. Yes. He want to tell the truth.

CAREY: That truth now more complicated and more difficult than Grass had previously told.

Andrew Carey, CNN, London.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FRAZIER: Still ahead, more on the discovery of an ancient Peruvian headdress in a London lawyer's office. We'll take a look at the practice of buying and selling stolen art.

And the motives of a child murder suspect. Why would he confess to involvement in such a gruesome crime?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

FRAZIER: Welcome back. Seen live in more than 200 countries across the globe, this is YOUR WORLD TODAY on CNN International.

One day after an American was detained in Thailand for the 10- year-old murder of a child beauty queen JonBenet Ramsey in the United States, there seem to be more questions than answers about his arrival. John Mark Karr is in Bangkok, waiting to be returned to the United States to face charges of murder, kidnapping and sexual assault. It's not clear exactly when he's going to be making the trip.

During a chaotic news conference yesterday, Karr said he was with JonBenet when she died, said also that her death was accidental.

But we've also received some new information from a law enforcement source who says Ramsey -- that JonBenet Ramsey's father has provided authorities -- no, that Karr provided authorities with details about this case that were not publicly known.

According to the source, he offered graphic and gruesome physical details about the condition of the body of the 6-year-old girl,details which heretofore were known only to the medical examiner and to investigators in the decade-old case.

There are also some puzzling doubts about Karr's story. Here are some of the discrepancies. According to Thai police, Karr said he picked up JonBenet Ramsey from school, and then drugged her, then sexually assaulted her. But the murder actually occurred during a Christmas holiday break -- there was no school. And the autopsy report found no evidence of drugs in the child's body.

Karr's ex-wife says he was with her in Alabama around the time of JonBenet's murder in Colorado. His brother says the family will provide information soon that will show the allegations against Karr are "ridiculous," in the brother's words. And Karr also said the killing was an accident, but the gruesome crime scene showed great violence, evidence that does not support the claim of an accidental death.

So now, shifting gears. Are you tired of those commutes that go on and on at rush hour? And are you looking for some entertaining way to spend your downtime waiting in line in the car, or at the cash register or even sitting in your physician's office? Now there's technology that permits you to watch television on something you probably are already holding in your hands.

Femi Oke join us now with our "Changing Earth" segment.

And this is a change some people may not welcome. FEMI OKE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, you hold that in your hand, that technology. I was reporting from South Africa recently, Stephen, for CNN, and we weren't able to watch the show from our outside broadcast setup. One of the team had a brand-new mobile phone. It looked rather like this one. So here's your phone, you slide that up, and if you push a little button on there, you press that and you get television. So we're not able to hook this one up because this was is on trial in Italy. We also have trials in South Africa.

So we sent our Alfonso Van Marsh to Johannesburg so you could see exactly how this works.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ALFONSO VAN MARSH, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): When South African choreographer Thembi Nyandeni needs a break from working on her musical, she pulls out her cell phone.

THEMBI NYANDENI, MOBILE TV TESTER: So I don't have to go home now, because there's a program I like to watch so I just watch it here, lunch time.

VAN MARSH: Nyandeni is part of a test group in South Africa, watching digital video broadcast to handset technology, or DVBH. Makers are hoping for a commercial license for the mobile TV Technology, which would put South Africa among the first countries to utilize TV on the go.

(on camera): Mobile TV works a lot like the cable in your own home. This telephone is equipped with a special receiver which allows you to bring in encrypted television signals, even if you're living in an area where you're not getting a strong cell phone signal.

(voice-over): Only a couple hundred people in South Africa have the high-tech handsets, in test areas like Capetown, Soweto and Johannesburg.

The trial service offers programming from news and movies to cartoons and sport. And mobile wants to have the technology available nationwide by the time South Africa hosts the world cup in 2010. The still-under discussion flat fee-based service looks to be a cash cow of potential customers.

LINDA VERMASS, CEO, M-MOBILE: It's a subscription. Whether one person watches it or one million people watch it simultaneously, the quality is not affected, because it's true broadcast technology.

VAN MARSH: Technology, one technofile predicts, that might not be welcomed by everybody.

GUS GILBER, TECHNOLOGY EXPERT: You can see this being a major problem in the workplace, for instance, with productivity and son, people sneaking on their cell phone and watching the game on their handheld TV.

VAN MARSH: Though some workers may argue that's only a problem if you get caught. Alfonso Van Marsh, CNN, Johannesburg, South Africa.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

OKE: I'd say these phones are remarkable. I was doing live shots with my colleague Jim Clancy in the field in Johannesburg, and we'd throw it to the break, and then go back and watch the television on a mobile phone, and we'd be on TV. It was really bizarre. About 15-seconds delay, Stephen.

You're holding the brand-new Nokia one. So that one's going to be available quite soon. And this was the original one that Nokia brought out, and they're on trial right now in Italy and in South Africa. There's no price tag attached yet, so we'll have to wait and see.

But would you buy it?

FRAZIER: I would. In fact I love this larger screen on this one. And i've been fiddling with it here, Femi, to see if I could get your program.

OKE: "INSIDE AFRICA," 6:30 GMT.

FRAZIER: There we go. We wanted to give you a little programming note. On "INSIDE AFRICA" this week, we're focusing on the AIDS epidemic. So join Femi for more on what Africa's doing to fight HIV and what experts are saying about their effort, advances that they're making there.

Still ahead, from the Elgin marbles to ancient Egyptian mummies, where do cultural treasures rightfully belong? We'll talk to an art expert.

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FRAZIER: Just yesterday we got a look at Peru's equivalent of the Mona Lisa, a beautiful, prized, ancient gold headdress looted from a grave in Peru 20 years ago. It's going back to where it belongs now because police seized it in the law office of a lawyer who apparently was arranging a handover back to authorities from a client who remains anonymous at this date. This raises the important questions about the return of cultural treasures to their homeland. And joining us to talk about that is Jasper Gaunt, who is curator of Greek and Roman art at the Michael C. Carlos Museum at Emory University. Mr. Gaunt, thank you for joining us here.

JASPER GAUNT, CURATOR, MICHAEL C. CARLOS MUSEUM: Thank you for asking me.

FRAZIER: This particular item here, of great fascination. You were involved in a similar case, your institution, in the return of a mummy to Egypt. Tell me about that, briefly.

GAUNT: Well this was the body, which turned out to be of the pharaoh Ramses the first. And he came to us as part of a much larger collection of Egyptian funeral art, mostly coffins, mummy, scarabs and other paraphernalia from the graves. And this was a collection that had been acquired by the Niagara Falls Museum, which was a hotel up on Niagara Falls and the man who had the hotel thought that he would make more money if he had a museum, so he sent somebody up in there with some cash in the middle of the 19th Century and they came back with all these things.

We brought the collection enbloc and muddled up in those objects there turned out to be the body of somebody that we determined was a royal personage, a pharaoh. And even as we purchased them, these objects, we had made contact with Egyptian authorities and said, by the way, this exists. We have it. And if it turns out to be a royal body, if you would like to have it back, you'd be very welcome to it. And they said when it turns out to be a royal personage, Ramses I, so packed it up and sent it back.

FRAZIER: And so it's back there now, I'm sure much to the delight of everyone concerned about cultural patrimony, you know the sense of who we are, how we got here. And yet there seem to be much more protracted arguments about other items. I lived in England when the Elgin marbles, you know these wonderful columns were the subject of controversy and they still are. Why don't the English do what you did?

GAUNT: Well there's a very big difference between the possession or the display of a body and the possession or display of a work of art. A work of art was ultimately made to be enjoyed, to be looked at, almost all of them were, even ones put in the grave were made to delight the person in the after-life.

So the importance of them is to be made available to as many people as possible. The Elgin marbles of course -- they were acquired by Thomas Elgin from the first Lord Elgin in Athens in the early 19th Century. He went to the government at the time, which had been in power for many hundreds of years. He got permission to take them away. He took them. He took them back to England. They've been there ever since. Some people felt at the time that this was going too far. It's been debated ever since. But it was a legal transaction.

FRAZIER: Legal, then, by the standards of the day.

GAUNT: Yes.

FRAZIER: Of course now there seems to be a great trend towards the repatriation of these items. Some museums advocating a return at some cost to themselves, and their own collections. Even so, now there are still times when somebody may come to you and you might have to wonder if you're seeing no evil or holding your nose when you make an acquisition. How do you determine that you've got something that's correctly acquired?

GAUNT: Well there are all sorts of ways you can go about this. Some objects are published many years ago, and you just go to the journals or the monographs or whatever and you look up the publication record of this object. Some have passed though auction houses. Some have, you know, have been documented one way or another. They might be customs forms documenting that it arrived in the United States such and such a time. Sometimes there isn't though. And for those, you can consult the art lost registry, which is a database of images in London, and they check objects against things that have been reported as stolen. And then you try and talk to friends and to colleagues in the field, and to establish whether this object really was around, you know, out, you know, in a genuine collection, at such and such a date.

FRAZIER: And that, of course, is a very difficult thing to determine. I'm sure everyone's watching very closely the trial of a curator for the Getty Museum. We're out of time now, so we can't pursue that, but I'm sure that's casting a shadow over everybody's work, or at least people are following it with great interest because of this.

GAUNT: They're following it with great interest, but it also ushers in a new moment of greater loans from the republic of Italy and we have an exhibition, as it happens, at the Carlos, of those items now.

FRAZIER: Well here we are. Well Jasper Gaunt, thank you for joining us with these insights today.

GAUNT: Thank you, thank you for having me.

FRAZIER: Well that is it for this hour of YOUR WORLD TODAY. For Hala Gorani in Beirut and for the rest of our staff around the globe, I'm Stephen Frazier, thank you. This is CNN.

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