Egypt's ex-president Mubarak has cancer: lawyer (Reuters)

CAIRO (Reuters) – Egypt's former President Hosni Mubarak is suffering from cancer, his defense lawyer said on Monday, citing a medical report to assess whether the former leader is fit enough to face trial.

Mubarak, 83, was forced from office in February in a popular uprising driven by anger at high-level official corruption and widespread poverty. He is due to stand trial on August 3 for the killing of protesters and abuse of power.

"Mubarak has cancer and this was included in the last medical report," lawyer Farid el-Deeb told Reuters.

He declined to say whether he was referring to a new medical report that had not been made public. Satellite news channel Al Jazeera's English language website cited Deeb as saying Mubarak had "stomach cancer and the tumors are growing."

A committee of doctors appointed to assess Mubarak's state of health said in late May that he should not be moved to a prison hospital because he was depressed, had poor blood circulation and was at risk of a sudden heart attack.

The committee also said he had tumors in his gall bladder and pancreas, for which he had had operations in the past. However, the committee did not say at the time whether those tumors were malignant -- that is, cancer -- or benign.

No one at the prosecutor's office was available for comment.

Mubarak has not appeared in public since retreating to his family's villa in the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh shortly after his overthrow.

He made a recorded statement in April in which he denied accusations of corruption and vowed to defend his reputation.

The former leader was detained in hospital in Sharm in mid-April after officials said he had heart problems during initial questioning.

Mubarak's health was a subject of frequent speculation as he aged in office, particularly since he had gallbladder surgery in March last year. While he was in power, officials always denied he had any life-threatening illness such as cancer.

The timing of his latest illness means he has been spared jail, fuelling talk that the former decorated air force officer was getting special treatment from the army which took power after his overthrow.

(Reporting by Yasmine Saleh; Writing by Tom Pfeiffer; Editing by Peter Graff)

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Van der Sloot lawyer quits in Peru

Onetime suspect in Natalee Holloway case faces a possible murder charge in PeruHis attorney has quit, citing unspecified differences over strategyPeruvian woman found dead in hotel room registered to van der Sloot

(CNN) -- Joran van der Sloot's lawyer has quit defending him against murder allegations in Peru, citing unspecified differences over strategy.

Van der Sloot, the onetime suspect in the 2005 disappearance of Alabama teenager Natalee Holloway, faces a possible trial on first-degree murder and robbery charges in the killing of 21-year-old Stephany Flores. His lawyer, Maximo Altez, filed papers to withdraw from the case Tuesday.

"I cannot defend this case in the way he wants me to," Altez told In Session. He would not elaborate.

Flores was found dead in a Lima hotel room registered to van der Sloot in May 2010. Police say van der Sloot took money and bank cards from her wallet and fled to Chile, where he was arrested a few days later.

Peruvian authorities have yet to file formal charges against van der Sloot, who is expected to appear in court for a preliminary hearing on June 8. Once the discovery phase of the case ends, prosecutors will file charges and a trial date will be set.

Altez has been defending van der Sloot on a pro bono basis and said he expects a public defender will be assigned to the case. He said the lack of payment did not play a role in his decision to quit.

"I thought this case would be a good opportunity to show the world that in Peru detainees are abused, and the Peruvian justice system is very informal," he said. And he said he will continue to represent van der Sloot in a related habeas corpus case claiming human rights violations during his arrest -- a case that would be thrown out if Altez withdrew from that case too.

Altez threatened to quit the case once before after complaining of receiving threats by phone, e-mail and Facebook.

The 23-year-old van der Sloot was once the prime suspect in the disappearance of Holloway, who vanished at age 18 while on a graduation trip to the Caribbean island of Aruba. He was arrested twice but never charged in connection with her disappearance.

Shortly after his 2010 arrest, a federal grand jury in Alabama indicted him on charges that he tried to extort $250,000 from the Holloway family. Van der Sloot offered to provide what turned out to be bogus information about the whereabouts of Natalee Holloway's remains in exchange for the money, according to the charges.

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Lawyer: Mladic too ill to face charges

Rally against arrest of Ratko Mladicvar cnnWindowParams = window.location.toString().toQueryParams();if(typeof cnnWindowParams.video != "undefined") {if(cnnWindowParams.video) {cnnLoadStoryPlayer('world/2011/05/29/robertson.mladic.rally.cnn', 'cnnCVP1', '640x384_start_art', playerOverRide, T1);}} else {$('cnnCVP2').onclick = function() {if ($$('.box-opened').length) {$$('.box-opened').each(function(val){Element.fireEvent(val, 'click');});}cnnLoadStoryPlayer('world/2011/05/29/robertson.mladic.rally.cnn', 'cnnCVP1', '640x384_start_art', playerOverRide, T1);};$('cnnCVP2').onmouseover = function() {$('cnnCVP2').className = 'cnn_mtt1plybttn cnn_mtt1plybttnon';};$('cnnCVP2').onmouseout = function() {$('cnnCVP2').className = 'cnn_mtt1plybttn';};}NEW: Ratko Mladic has been joking and requesting Russian novels, the prosecutor saysThe former Bosnian Serb general would not be able to participate in a trial, his lawyer saysHe is wanted on charges including genocide over the 1995 Srebrenica massacreClashes broke out between Mladic supporters and police on Sunday

Belgrade, Serbia (CNN) -- Ratko Mladic's lawyer has requested a new medical examination for the former Bosnian Serb general, arguing that Mladic is not healthy enough to face charges of genocide at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, he said Monday.

Mladic would not be able to participate in a trial because of his ill health, lawyer Milos Saljic said.

He wants Mladic examined by specialists "who can investigate his specific needs," including a gastroenterologist, cardiologist, psychiatrist and neurologist.

Mladic, 69, is wanted in connection with the massacre of nearly 8,000 Muslim men and boys at Srebrenica in 1995. He was captured Thursday after more than 15 years in hiding.

His lawyer expects the Serbian court's response by Tuesday, he said. The court has already ruled Mladic is fit to stand trial.

Saljic also plans to file a formal appeal against extradition, he said, adding that it would put it in the mail by noon (6 a.m. ET) Monday.

And he is applying for Mladic's unpaid pension from the years when he was in hiding, he said, saying he was acting on behalf of Mladic's family.

Chief prosecutor Vladimir Vukcevic denied Monday that Mladic was in poor health, saying that he was "lively and joking," and had asked for Russian classics to read. He said Mladic would be sent to The Hague within days if his extradition appeal fails.

Mladic's son, Darko, told an ultranationalist rally Sunday that that his father is sick.

"He needs medical treatment that he is not getting," the younger Mladic said.

He described his father as "a freedom fighter," and said he had "defended his own nation, defended his people, which was his job."

The younger Mladic called on protesters to keep their demonstration peaceful. "Tomorrow if I'm able to visit my father, I will tell him of this and he will cry again," he said.

Protesters clashed with Serbian police at the demonstration.

Nearly 20 people were injured in the violence -- seven police and 12 civilians -- according to police. They said they made more than 100 arrests.

The Serbian Radical Party held its protest Sunday in front of Serbia's parliament building.

Despite calls for calm from the event's organizers, demonstrators on the fringes of the rally threw rocks at police.

Hundreds of officers, some in riot gear and others on horseback, moved in against the crowd. Some beat and kicked protesters. Police stayed on the streets as the demonstrators scattered.

"We are gathered here to peacefully protest the betrayal by (Serbian President) Boris Tadic and his bosses in Brussels," party leaders told the crowd before the clashes erupted. "We have had enough economic humiliation by our enemies, who are destroying our country ... in every way."

At the protest -- which was attended by members of Mladic's family and thousands of others -- speakers demanded that Tadic step down and asked that elections be held immediately.

Mladic gave himself up without a fight, despite having two handguns, according to Rasim Ljajic, the government minister in charge of searching for fugitive suspected war criminals.

Officials located Mladic in a village called Lazarevo, north of the Serbian capital, after culling information from his former comrades, those who supported him financially and his close family members, Ljajic said.

It is not clear what source led investigators to the former military commander.

His arrest clears a major hurdle that once stood between Serbia and its long-awaited entrance into the European Union, but the move could also usher in political backlash from the country's electorate, some of whom consider Mladic a hero.

"We're conscious of this danger," Ljajic told CNN Saturday. "We know we did something that didn't bring us joy or applause from the public. But we also know that we took great responsibility and did something that the political elite of any country is supposed to do."

He called Mladic's capture "a political investment," noting the government's desire to bring the war crimes suspect to justice "even if citizens punish us in the next elections."

The massacre at Srebrenica, which sparked international outcry and preceded a NATO bombing campaign, is now remembered as the worst atrocity in Europe since World War II.

Mladic allegedly presided over the five-day slaughter in July where Muslim men and boys were systematically executed in what was described at the U.N. war crimes tribunal as "the triumph of evil."

Mladic's forces encircled the town, a U.N.-declared "safe area" where thousands of Bosnian Muslims had sought refuge, allegedly conducting wholesale slaughter and rape, despite the presence of a few hundred lightly armed Dutch U.N. peacekeepers charged with protecting the area's residents and its refugees.

The former general is considered the last of the fugitive war criminal suspects in the region, following the capture of Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic and former Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic, who died in jail in 2006 during his trial at The Hague.

At the rally Sunday, a defiant Darko Mladic told the crowd, "We will never accept those who bombed us to write our history. For centuries we have been fighting for our own state, for our own country to give us security. We don't allow illiterate Westerners to write our history."

A medical team has determined that Mladic is healthy enough to be extradited to face a war crimes tribunal, a court spokeswoman in Belgrade said Friday.

While the war crimes suspect suffers from several chronic conditions, the team said there are no immediate problems barring a move.

This comes after five doctors examined Mladic Thursday night, according to Saljic, the lawyer.

CNN's Ivan Watson contributed to this report.

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Lawyer: Genocide suspect Ratko Mladic 'a ruin of a man'

Belgrade, Serbia (CNN) -- After more than 15 years in hiding, onetime Bosnian Serb commander Ratko Mladic was in a Belgrade jail Thursday night to face charges that he presided over Europe's worst massacre since World War II.

Mladic was the highest-ranking fugitive to remain at large after the conflicts that accompanied the breakup of Yugoslavia in the 1990s. His arrest followed a three-year investigation, President Boris Tadic announced in a dramatic news conference Thursday morning.

Tadic told CNN's "Connect the World" that he expected Mladic to be transferred to the U.N. war crimes tribunal for the former Yugoslavia "within seven days." He said Serbian authorities are still investigating who aided Mladic during his decade and a half on the run, but he called allegations that the country's military sheltered him "rubbish."

Notorious Hutu militia leader captured

"At the end of the day, he was protected by a very small group of people from his family," Tadic said. He acknowledged that Mladic may have been aided by military officers early on, "but at the end of that process, I don't believe that," Tadic said.

Mladic's lawyer, Milos Saljic, said Mladic's hearing was halted and rescheduled for Friday when he could not address the judge "because of his physical and psychological condition." Saljic called the ex-general "a ruin of a man" who has suffered two heart attacks and three strokes since 1996.

"He is no longer the monumental personality he used to be," Saljic said. He said doctors would evaluate whether Mladic is fit to return to court on Friday.

Hundreds of riot police patrolled central Belgrade as the 69-year-old Mladic made his initial appearance on war crimes charges in a special Belgrade court. One squad chased away a crowd of 100 to 200 people, including one man who waved a Serbian flag, but they were far outnumbered by other people eating dinner or otherwise enjoying a warm spring night.

The former Yugoslav army officer was the commanding general of Bosnian Serb forces during the 1992-95 war that followed Bosnia-Herzegovina's secession from Yugoslavia. The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia has charged him with leading a genocidal campaign against Bosnia's Muslim and Croat populations, including "direct involvement" in the 1995 killings of nearly 8,000 men and boys in the Muslim enclave of Srebrenica -- the worst European massacre since the Holocaust.

However, Mladic remains a hero to some Serbs, and small outbursts of anger were seend in Belgrade late Thursday. A passenger in a speeding car hurled a full beer can at a Serbian television truck, while another driver shouted, "I like Ratko Mladic" and an obscenity as he passed the courthouse.

After midnight, three men stood beneath the building, clapping and chanting Mladic's name.

"That man fought for us, for my father and mother," 28-year-old Goran Stijela told CNN. One of his companions, Midorag Rodjenkov, called Mladic "a martyr for Christ."

Mladic was transferred from Lazarevo, about 80 km (50 miles) north of Belgrade, earlier Thursday. In a statement issued after the arrest, the tribunal said it looked forward to his "expeditious transfer" to its custody in The Hague, Netherlands, for trial.

Once there, he will be allowed to enter a plea to the charges against him, which include genocide, crimes against humanity and violating the laws of war, the court said.

"The arrest of Mladic is a milestone in the Tribunal's history and brings the institution closer to the successful completion of its mandate," the tribunal said. The sole remaining fugitive from the court is former Croatian Serb leader Goran Hadzic, "and the Tribunal hopes he will be arrested in the very near future."

Mladic is accused of leading a campaign of "ethnic cleansing," widespread killing, forcible deportations, torture, forced labor and physical, psychological and sexual violence during the Bosnian war.

The international police agency Interpol praised the arrest as "a triumph for international justice." Interpol officials had met with Tadic in January to discuss closer cooperation in the hunt for war crimes suspects, the organization's secretary-general, Ronald Noble, said in a statement on Mladic's capture.

"After today's arrest, no one should doubt Serbia's commitment to the rule of law and justice," Noble said.

Tadic said the arrest will help the process of reconciliation throughout the Balkans and should pave the way for Serbia's entry into the European Union. EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton hailed the arrest as a victory for "the rule of law in Serbia" and praised Tadic and his government for "this courageous action."

Mladic had been on the run since the Bosnian war ended in 1995. The Croatian newspaper Jutarnji List was the first to report his arrest, saying police were doing DNA tests on a suspect to determine whether he was the notorious former commander.

Mladic was the last fugitive from a triumvirate of Serbian leaders accused of genocide against Muslims and Croats as the three populations fought a brutal war over Yugoslav territory.

Former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic was toppled in 2000 and sent to face charges in The Hague, but he died in 2006 while the trial was still going on. Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic was arrested in July 2008 and is now on trial in The Hague.

Karadzic was removed from power under the Dayton Peace accords that ended the Bosnian war. He went into hiding, grew a full white beard and long hair, and was working in an alternative medicine clinic in Belgrade -- right under the noses of authorities -- when he was captured.

Karadzic has insisted on defending himself at The Hague. Prosecutors accuse him of deliberately obstructing the trial with delaying tactics, and judges have threatened to impose a defense lawyer on him if he does not cooperate.

The Bosnian war was the longest of the conflicts spawned by the breakup of Yugoslavia in the early 1990s. Backed by the Milosevic government, Bosnian Serb forces seized control of more than half the country and launched a campaign against the Muslim and Croat populations.

The United Nations declared Srebrenica to be a safe haven, and tens of thousands of Bosnian Muslims flooded in, expecting protection. But a small contingent of Dutch U.N. peacekeepers, lightly armed and aware that no reinforcements were coming, stood aside and allowed Mladic's troops to overrun Srebrenica, leading to the slaughter.

NATO intervened in the conflict, bombing Bosnian Serb military positions. The United States brought the leaders of the warring factions to an agreement in Dayton, Ohio, in 1995, bringing the violence to an end.

CNN's Ivan Watson, Richard Allen Greene, Joe Sterling, Moni Basu and Lateef Mungin contributed to this report.

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Lawyer: IMF head charged over alleged attempted rape

Dominique Strauss-Kahn became the IMF's 10th managing director in November 2007.NEW: Police: Detectives arrest Dominique Strauss-Kahn on Sunday morning Police say Strauss-Kahn was naked when he tried to forced himself on a N.Y. hotel employeeThe hotel employee escaped, and police took Strauss-Kahn off a Paris-bound flightStrauss-Kahn did well in polls of possible French presidential candidates

New York (CNN) -- The head of the International Monetary Fund was arrested early Sunday in connection with an alleged sexual assault of a New York hotel housekeeping employee, police said.

Dominique Strauss-Kahn, 62, has been charged with criminal sexual act, attempted rape and unlawful imprisonment, his attorney Benjamin Brafman said in an e-mail early Sunday.

New York Deputy Police Commissioner Paul Browne said detectives formally arrested Strauss-Kahn at 2:15 a.m.

Police pulled Strauss-Kahn off an Air France flight destined for Paris at John F. Kennedy International Airport on Saturday after the alleged incident, according to Browne.

He was taken into custody and brought to a Manhattan police station for questioning, Browne said.

Hours earlier, Browne said, Strauss-Kahn emerged naked when the 32-year-old hotel employee entered his room to clean it around 1 p.m. Saturday at the Sofitel hotel.

The housekeeping employee said she didn't think anyone was in the luxury $3,000-a-night suite when she entered, Browne said Sunday morning.

Browne said Strauss-Kahn ran after her down the hallway of the suite. The suite has its own foyer, hallway, living room, bathroom, conference room and bedroom.

The woman said Strauss-Kahn pulled her into a bedroom and started attacking her.

She fought him off, she told investigators, but Strauss-Kahn then dragged her into the bathroom and forced himself on her. Police said Strauss-Kahn tried to remove her underwear, but the woman got away.

The employee ran to the front desk, Browne said. Hotel staff alerted the New York Police Department.

By the time officers arrived, Strauss-Kahn had left, leaving his cell phone behind at the hotel, according to Browne.

"He left in a hurry," Browne said. "The alleged victim was taken to Roosevelt Hospital (in Manhattan) and was treated for minor injuries," Browne said.

Authorities learned the IMF head was on an outbound flight at Kennedy airport. New York police asked their counterparts at the Port Authority to hold the plane.

Two plain-clothes Port Authority police detectives boarded the aircraft "just before the door closed" on the flight, and found Strauss-Kahn seated in first class, said a law enforcement official who had been briefed on the investigation.

He "offered no resistance" when he was led off the plane, after which he was turned over to New York police, the official said.

The hotel is cooperating with authorities, said John Sheehan, the hotel's director of safety and security.

"We're taking this matter extremely serious, as it's developing," Sheehan said.

A former French finance minister, national legislator and economics professor in Paris, Strauss-Kahn became the IMF's 10th managing director in November 2007. He is also chairman of the IMF executive board.

While Strauss-Kahn hadn't officially entered the race, recent French opinion polls showed him leading prospective Socialist Party presidential candidates.

The surveys suggested he could pose a challenge to incumbent French President Nicolas Sarkozy in the 2012 election.

The IMF, based in Washington, is a major world player in economic inequalities and crises.

Strauss-Kahn became embroiled in controversy soon after joining the IMF, amid reports -- which he later acknowledged -- that he'd had an improper relationship with a female employee. The physical relationship was consensual, an independent inquiry found.

The world body's executive board concluded in October 2008 that "there was no harassment, favoritism or any other abuse of authority by the managing director."

"Nevertheless, the executive board noted that the incident was regrettable and reflected a serious error of judgment on the part of the managing director, as he has acknowledged and for which he has apologized," the IMF said in a statement at the time.

Strauss-Kahn also issued a statement following the closing of the investigation, noting that he'd "apologized for it to the (board of directors), to the staff of the IMF and to my family," as well as "the staff member."

"I agree with the board that the personal behavior of the managing director sets an important tone for the institution and I am committed, going forward, to uphold the high standards that are expected of this position," he said in the statement.

CNN's Miguel Susana, Rick Martin and Ross Levitt contributed to this report.

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Chinese lawyer freed, another missing

Teng Biao is freed after 70 days in custodySoon after his release, another lawyer is seized by unknown people "We've seen a serious backsliding in human rights," a top U.S. diplomat says

Beijing, China (CNN) -- Chinese authorities freed a prominent lawyer held for more than two months shortly after a U.S. official called for his release, a rights group said.

Teng Biao was released Friday after 70 days in custody, according to a U.S. Embassy spokesman.

China Human Rights Defenders also confirmed that he was no longer detained.

His release comes after two days of talks between the U.S. and China in Beijing.

"We've seen a serious backsliding in human rights," said Michael Posner, assistant U.S. secretary of state for democracy, human rights and labor.

During his meetings with Chinese officials, Posner highlighted the lawyer's case along with a host of other activists, artists and religious groups.

Posner said Thursday that relations between the United States and China could suffer as a result of the crackdown on activists following calls for a revolution in February.

However, celebration of his release was quickly muted when another lawyer was taken into custody soon after.

Li Fangping was seized by unidentified people while leaving an office building in Beijing and has been out of contact since then, according to China Human Rights Defenders.

Li has represented several high-profile individuals, including lawyer Chen Guangcheng, who remains under house arrest in Shangdong Province following his release from prison.

He also defended Zhao Lianhai, an outspoken food safety activist and parent of a child contaminated by melamine-tainted milk powder in 2008.

China Human Rights Defenders said Li told his wife by phone on Friday that "I may be gone for a period of time ... can't talk more."

Attempts to contact Li since then have gone unanswered.

"Releasing Dr. Teng is welcoming news, but China cannot continue to play this game of letting one go and taking another in if China wants to be seen as a responsible international partner," Bob Fu, founder of the nongovernmental organization China Aid, said in a statement.

Calls to Chinese officials for comment were not returned.

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Lawyer for mother guilty of attempted murder says system failed her

By the CNN Wire Staff STORY HIGHLIGHTSAttorney Kevin James says his client did not intentionally withhold medication"Certainly there was no motive in this case," he saysKristen LaBrie was found guilty of attempted murderJames says she was allowed to slip through the cracksRELATED TOPICSMassachusetts General HospitalCancerMental HealthRead more about this story from CNN affiliate WHDH.

(CNN) -- The attorney for the Massachusetts mother found guilty of attempted murder for withholding medications from her cancer-stricken son said Tuesday the system failed his client.

"Some of the times when people have mental problems they have a hard time reaching out. That's the purpose of social workers. Social workers are supposed to be able to detect when people have problems. The social workers on this case failed to do that. Certainly the warning signs were there," attorney Kevin James said on CNN's "Issues with Jane Velez-Mitchell."

"Why didn't the people that knew better, why didn't they come forward and help?" he asked.

Kristen LaBrie was found guilty Tuesday of attempted murder, assault and battery and causing bodily harm to a child for failing to give her son, Jeremy Fraser, cancer medications, according to CNN affiliate WHDH. Fraser, who also was autistic, died in 2009 at age 9, WHDH reported.

"Certainly there was no motive in this case," said James. "She did not intentionally withhold the medication from little Jeremy."

Prosecutors had argued that LaBrie knew exactly what she was doing when she stopped giving her son his cancer treatment, WHDH reported.

LaBrie, who testified in her own defense during the trial, was placed in handcuffs inside the courtroom after the jury delivered its verdict, video from WHDH showed.

She will be sentenced on Friday, the Boston affiliate reported.

"Mass General Hospital let this woman go," James said, referring to Massachusetts General Hospital. "They should have known that there were issues here -- should have known that maybe they were requesting too much of this single, 38-year-old woman to take care of a severely autistic child that now had cancer."

Watch ISSUES with Jane Velez-Mitchell Monday through Sunday at 7pm ET on HLN. For the latest from ISSUES click here.

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