EXCLUSIVE: CIA Secret 'Torture' Prison Found at Fancy Horseback Riding Academy

ABC NEWS:  The CIA built one of its secret European prisons inside an exclusive riding academy outside Vilnius, Lithuania, a current Lithuanian government official and a former U.S. intelligence official told ABC News this week.

Where affluent Lithuanians once rode show horses and sipped coffee at a café, the CIA installed a concrete structure where it could use harsh tactics to interrogate up to eight suspected al-Qaeda terrorists at a time. A full report on the can be seen on ABC's World News with Charles Gibson tonight.

"The activities in that prison were illegal," said human rights researcher John Sifton. "They included various forms of torture, including sleep deprivation, forced standing, painful stress positions." more

World Cup teams are locked, with loaded questions for some

The final day of qualifying for soccer's 2010 World Cup in South Africa brought a gamut of emotions Wednesday as the 32-team field for next year's tournament finally was set into stone.

Algeria, Greece, Slovenia, Portugal, France and Uruguay are in.

As a result, Egypt, Ukraine, Russia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Ireland and Costa Rica are out.

So there will be no Guus Hiddink coaching in South Africa, and no Andrei Arshavin playing there either.

But if he recovers from his ankle injury, FIFA world player of the year Cristiano Ronaldo will be there with the Portuguese team, and Michel Platini, UEFA's president, will be able to cheer Les Bleus, thanks to some curious officiating in Paris.

France qualified when it came from behind to tie Ireland, 1-1, in overtime and thus advance, 2-1 on aggregate goals.

France's William Gallas scored the decisive goal after teammate Thierry Henry handled the ball but was not called for the foul. "I will be honest, it was a handball," Henry said. "But I am not the referee."

Robbie Keane, who scored Ireland's goal that forced the overtime, was incensed, hinting at conspiracy by FIFA first in the seeding process and then in the match itself.

"They're probably all clapping their hands, Platini sitting there on the phone to Sepp Blatter [FIFA's president], texting each other, delighted with the result," Keane said.

Hiddink, Russia's coach and the man who led both the Netherlands and South Korea to the semifinals in previous World Cups, might be sending or receiving a few texts himself.

He is unlikely to remain in his job after Russia was beaten, 1-0, by Slovenia in Maribor, Slovenia, and he skipped the postgame news conference.

Slovenia advanced on the away goals rule, having scored in a 2-1 loss in Moscow on Saturday.

"My guys became immortal," Slovenia Coach Matjaz Kek said after Zlatko Dedic supplied Wednesday's all-important goal.

Ukraine was another favored team that fell by the wayside. It tied Greece, 0-0, in Athens and was expected to win at home. Instead, the Greeks again packed their defense, got a goal from Dimitris Salpigidis, and made it stand up.

"We will play exciting football when we have [Lionel] Messi, Kaka, [Andres] Iniesta and Xavi on the team," joked Greece's 71-year-old German coach, Otto Rehhagel, who led Greece to its Euro 2004 title.

Portugal made no mistake in its series with Bosnia-Herzegovina, winning, 1-0, in Lisbon and by the same score in Zenica, Bosnia, on Wednesday, this time on a goal by Raul Meireles.

Earlier in the day, in a fiery encounter in neutral Khartoum, Sudan, Algeria qualified for its first World Cup since 1986 when it overcame Egypt, 1-0, on a goal by Antar Yahia.

The game was a winner-take-all playoff after the teams had ended up tied on points in their African qualifying group and on all the other tiebreakers.

Two-time World Cup winner Uruguay became the 32nd and final team to qualify for South Africa when it played Costa Rica to a nervous 1-1 tie in Montevideo.

Sebastian Abreu put Uruguay ahead, 1-0 on the night and 2-0 on aggregate, before Walter Centeno scored for Costa Rica to ensure a tense finale.

Next up is the Dec. 4 World Cup draw in Cape Town, South Africa, to determine the first-round groups and games.

US, partners working on ‘consequences’ for Iran

SEOUL, MANILA:  President Barack Obama on Thursday said the United States and its partners were now discussing "consequences" in the form of toughened sanctions on Iran after its apparent rejection of a nuclear deal.

Obama said he left the door open for Iran to accept international efforts to defuse the nuclear crisis, but bemoaned that the leadership had been "unable to get to yes," so Washington and partners were now discussing "consequences."

Western powers are gearing up for talks on a fourth round of U.N. sanctions against Tehran over its nuclear program but will not target Iran's energy sector to ensure Russia's and China's support, a European diplomat said Wednesday.

The decision to begin exploring the possibilities for new punitive measures against Tehran reflects the growing impatience in the United States, Britain, France and Germany, the four Western powers that have joined forces with Russia and China to persuade Iran to freeze parts of its nuclear program.

"We have waited long enough for Iran," a European diplomat said on condition of anonymity. "We and our friends in the (six powers) agree it is time to consider next steps at the U.N."

But the scaling back of the West's expectations for new U.N. steps against Iran for defying Security Council demands to stop enriching uranium shows that the Europeans and Americans have accepted that Moscow and Beijing, with their close trade ties to Tehran, will not let Iran's economy be crippled.

Literature of the 60s

Meanwhile, Iran dismissed on Thursday the possibility of sanctions over Tehran's rejection of a deal to send enriched uranium abroad for further processing.

"Sanction was the literature of the 60s and 70s," Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said at a news conference during a visit to the Philippines.

"I think they are wise enough not to repeat failed experiences," he said, speaking through an interpreter. "Of course it's totally up to them."

Iran's ISNA news agency quoted Mottaki on Wednesday as rejecting the draft deal brokered by the U.N. nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

The IAEA had said Iran should send some 75 percent of its low-enriched uranium to Russia and France, where it would be turned into fuel for a Tehran medical research reactor.

The decision is expected to anger the United States and its allies, which had called on Iran to accept a deal which aimed to delay Tehran's potential ability to make bombs by at least a year by divesting Iran of most of its enriched uranium.

Mottaki reiterated that Tehran was willing to discuss the deal but only if the swap of enriched uranium for nuclear fuel took place within Iran.

Karzai sworn in for 2nd term, vows to combat corruption

KABUL:  President Hamid Karzai was sworn in for a second term on Thursday morning in a ceremony in which he made peace and reconciliation his top priority and said he wanted Afghans to assume control of their own security by the end of his five-year term.

In a 30-minute acceptance speech in the presidential palace, Karzai hit many of the same notes that he had during the election. He invited insurgent fighters to lay down their arms and said he would convene a grand council to promote reconciliation.

"Securing peace and an end to fighting are the most significant demands of our people," Karzai said, according to an English translation of his prepared remarks. "It is a recognized fact that security and peace cannot be achieved through fighting and violence. ... Afghanistan has placed national reconciliation at the top of its peace-building policy."

Speaking from a podium in front of a row of Afghan flags, Karzai also highlighted the need to reform his government and combat corruption--two issues of urgency for American officials as Karzai forms a new cabinet. He said he will push for a new law that would require all senior officials, especially ministers, governors and deputy ministers, to declare their property and assets. He said he would convene a conference in Kabul to generate new ideas for fighting corruption.

"The government of Afghanistan is committed to end the culture of impunity and violation of law and bring to justice those involved in spreading corruption and abuse of public property," Karzai said. "Corruption and bribery constitute a very dangerous problem. We want to follow this issue seriously."

Karzai spoke in front of hundreds of people including a host of foreign dignitaries, including Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari. Clinton, on her first visit to Afghanistan as secretary of state, held a breakfast meeting at the embassy Thursday morning with senior diplomats from coalition countries fighting in Afghanistan. After the inauguration she planned to have lunch with Karzai at the foreign ministry, her second meeting with the president in two days. She has delivered a message about the need to battle corruption and improve governance.

Residents of Kabul woke on Thursday to extreme security precautions. Afghan security forces were posted throughout the city to guard against Taliban violence. Many roads were blocked and traffic was kept off the streets, particularly around the presidential palace and American diplomatic and military and headquarters.

On a cold sunny morning, after listening to the national anthem outside in front of Afghan soldiers, Karzai walked along a red carpet under a white archway and into a palace ceremonial hall. He was greeted by a standing ovation before taking a seat in the front row, across the aisle from Zardari and Clinton. Karzai was sworn in by the chief justice of Afghanistan's supreme court, and then his two vice presidents, Mohammad Qasim Fahim and Kareem Khalili, took the oath.

Karzai's new term begins amid growing doubts within the Obama administration of Karzai's ability to control the bribery and cronyism that have sapped the Afghan public's confidence in the government. The growing Taliban violence has also become an urgent concern, and Obama said he is very close to making a decision about whether to send thousands more American soldiers into the war.

Algeria book World Cup spot

Cairo:  A stunning first-half strike by defender Antar Yahya crushed Egyptian dreams as Algeria booked their ticket to the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.

Les Fennecs beat Egypt 1-0 at the neutral playoff venue of Sudan's Khartoum Stadium.

A playoff was required as a result of Saturday's dramatic 2-0 win for Egypt in Cairo when Emad Meteab scored the second goal in the dying moments of injury time.

The result delayed Algeria's passage to the World Cup finals as both sides finished level on points and goal difference at the top of African qualifying Group C.

Algeria become the fifth African nation to reach the finals, alongside Cameroon, Nigeria, Ivory Coast and Ghana.

South Africa qualified as the host nation.

Concentration lapse

Egypt dominated possession without creating many goal scoring opportunities, while Algeria always looked dangerous on the break.

Yahya's 39th minute winner came against the run of play when he took advantage of a lapse in concentration by Egypt's defenders to hit a perfect volley in off the underside of the crossbar with his right foot from an acute angle.

The win means Algeria will make their first appearance at a World Cup since 1986 and once again highlighted Egypt's inability to carry their impressive form in Africa - they have won the African Cup a record six times - into World Cup qualification tournaments.

Security at the game had been carefully managed due to violence at the previous qualifier. At least 32 people were injured following Saturday's game.

Off the pitch, the rivalry had turned even more bitter with fans battling each other in both Cairo and Algiers.

Security

Sudan announced a security plan to deal with the influx of fans pouring into the country with organisers bracing for a closely fought grudge match between two long-time rivals.

Al Jazeera's Amr el-Kahky, who watched the match with fans in the Egyptian capital, Cairo said:

"The fans are sad, everyone is sad. Some people are really disappointed with the Egyptian performance, but some others are very proud of this generation of Egyptian players who have achieved a lot but failed to qualify."

"Everyone, more or less, was congratulating Algeria saying that what happened in Cairo, the stoning of the Algerian bus, was not characteristic and nothing has so far been reported on Egyptian streets."

"It is really saddening for the Egyptians, but what is more saddening for them is that they are accused of being hooligans and they insist they are not."

Egypt last appeared at a World Cup in 1990.

Failing once again to reach the game's biggest stage is likely to be hard to take for the passionate football-supporting Egyptian fans.